Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I am too skinny. I would like to hold a bit more weight. My arms are skinny and my torso is flat. I have little definition. I almost feel boyish sometimes. How do i stay on paleo (2 weeks down and feeling better) and put on weight? I want to lose the spare tire and flab but i don't need to be any smaller. I need to fill out my shirts and gain some definition. It would make me just look healthier. I feel like I'm malnourished and fragile. Can I stay paleo and accomplish this?

flag	asked Sep 13 2011 at 0:25 ryan2283 169●7

	Tell me about your lifting program... – Daniel Kirsner Sep 13 2011 at 6:19
	I do crossfit about 2 days a week and play adult league competitive hockey once a week which i count for my sprints/cardio. Other than that i have the opportunity to weight lift at work but i don't really know where to start. I don't like doing the olympic lifts at work because they don't have the weights you can drop and theres no trainer to watch my form like in my crossfit WOD's. – ryan2283 Sep 15 2011 at 18:11

Ivan · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-13 01:04:25Z UTC

You sound like me. If you are very skinny but already have a spare tire, cortisol imbalance is very likely. You have a few options ahead - first fix cortisol issue completely, and so your spare tire will disappear, after which you will have to work towards gaining functional weight. But cortisol control is very tricky and generally tough. Otherwise another option is to start gaining weight (working out + bulking) while trying to keep the fat gain minimum. Yet another option is take it all slowly by just eating paleo and hoping that your body fixes itself, but I think that option is risky and too slow to remain motivated. I would personally prefer the second option, since its fast and gives a lot of confidence. I am assuming you will work out, because that will be a good way to gain muscle, and an excellent workout regimen would be to do Starting Strength. Robb Wolf had suggested in one podcast to do Starting Strength while trying to do GOMAD (probably a lot of whole milk, but not as high as 1 gallon a day, though I don't what he said exactly). I would highly suggest SS and milk+paleo to gain like 1-2lbs per week. You may want to keep track of your spare tire and other body measurements along with your weight gain. Then after a few weeks if you think your spare tire is too big, just try to cut your body fat a little bit and keep doing the cycles. At the end of the day you will have to figure out what works for you and it may be different from what works for me/anybody else.

vdh1979 · Answer 2 · 2011-09-13 00:55:49Z UTC

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Add some healthy carbs like sweet potato.

answered Sep 13 2011 at 0:55

vdh1979
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And lift weights. Eat paleo with 1-1.5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of bodyweight and lift heavy weights. You will gain weight. – ben61820 Sep 13 2011 at 1:24

Yes. It wasn't until I added more eggs and sweet potatoes to my post workout meals that I started to see major improvements. I've been gaining just less than a pound a week (going on 9 weeks now) and my belt is still the same size. In two weeks i'll have a body fat test, so we'll see then where that poundage was added! I can tolerate milk, so i've been drinking more milk. Normally I would only have half n half with coffee, but now i'm drinking about a quart a day. Thing with the milk is, stomach issues aside, it will promote not only muscle growth, but also fat. Lastly do carbs post workout! – Omid Khalili Sep 13 2011 at 2:00

Hey omid, in what form do you take in carbs after wo? just like dextrose in your shake? I try to reduce plan sugar in my diet, so this is a tricky thing here. – Flypp Feb 7 2012 at 15:52

Jeff · Answer 3 · 2011-09-13 00:36:22Z UTC

One of the biggest benefits of eating this way is improved gut health, which should help with the spare tire as well as absorbing nutrients better and allowing you to put on some muscle. Keep doing what you're doin and you should see some improvements.

Juvysen · Answer 4 · 2011-09-13 00:55:01Z UTC

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Mark's daily apple has a good post about this. I'm wondering the same thing because my husband has the same trouble.

answered Sep 13 2011 at 0:55

Juvysen
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	Whats the post? – ryan2283 Sep 13 2011 at 0:56
	marksdailyapple.com/gain-weight-build-muscle His stuff about how certain exercises help boost growth hormones and testosterone was really interesting to me. – Juvysen Sep 13 2011 at 1:03

animalcule · Answer 5 · 2011-09-13 13:24:34Z UTC

Yes, you can! Paleo is the only thing that's ever helped me move my set point a little bit higher.

First of all, stick with it. As a young man, simply eating plenty of whole foods for longer than a few weeks will likely take care of the body fat issue.

If you want to gain healthy mass, you have to start a weight-lifting regimen and eat to support that. Do the 'big lifts' (deadlift, squat, press) at high weights, and eat lots of calories. Aim for at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day.

And if you're working out, don't eat low-carb. I'd say at least 150g per day would be good, and you can go much, much higher. I stay away from most grains as they give me various problems, but tubers of all sorts are 'paleo' sources of starch with relatively few anti-nutrients.

Tom R. · Answer 6 · 2011-09-13 01:57:56Z UTC

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It sounds from your question that not only are you new to Paleo but you might not be all that experienced in the heavy weight training it takes to add muscle instead of fat. You have a lot of reading to do. I suggest adding this to your list: http://whole9life.com/2011/08/clean-mass-gain/

Go purchase the article for $2.50. Bottom line: you have to want to lift heavy things and eat a lot if you want to add substantial weight that isn't fat.

answered Sep 13 2011 at 1:57

Tom R.
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Don't need to spend 2.50 to learn to lift heavy and eat big... – cliff Sep 13 2011 at 2:13

Wow. Would appreciate feedback on the down votes. It's a good article by a well-respected individual in the Paleo community that directly addresses the question presented. Cliff, "life heavy and eat big," while a simple statement, leaves a lot of details to be filled in. What and how do you lift? How often? What are your rep schemes? What do you eat PWO? Cheese burgers or other food? What does one do to consume the 5,000 calories a day it takes to gain mass for some folks? Maybe you have it figured out, but others might need a little guidance. Dallas' article provides such guidance. – Tom R. Sep 13 2011 at 15:22

Im too skinny! Is it possible to gain heathy weight on paleo?

6 Answers