Help a hardgainer eat more!!

[josh223]

Hi all let me start off by saying I'm 21 years old, 6 foot tall, and weigh about 170-175 lbs.
I have been working out for 7-8 years, and recently I have been trying really hard to maintain a better diet to help bulk up.
I also have a fairly high metabolism, so much of my food that I eat does not do much to increase my weight.

I'm going to give a little introduction of my workout history and my goals in the sport of bodybuilding.

It first started at a young age of 13-14 before high school. But when I started High school I got into football and took things more seriously. I was learning how to workout good and increase strength and overall fitness. When I was that young starting out my height was pretty low (5 foot 9) and my weight was at about 185. I also had much more body fat.
At that age my appetite was so extreme I could eat 5-8 full course meals a day with heavy snacking between meals!

I met a personal trainer who was one of those professional bodybuilding trainers. He was an old school professional trainer. The people he trained were always at competitions, but he trained all natural non steroidal users. I got into his workout plan for about a year or so.
While following this extremely strict regimen, I started to make good gains. My strength took a while but I noticed my fat was shedding and my muscles were beginning to harden and be very noticeable. After half a year of this my strength started to increase, as did my size. At the time I was at 7% BF, weighing 175 pounds with all lean muscle. I was getting compliments from everyone.
He started to get more strict on the diet I'll post the diet now

7 AM: Half of a cantaloupe, and a bowl of All bran whole oats cereal, banana. orange juice to drink (sometimes eggs)

9AM: 2 whole tomatoes sliced, half cucumber sliced, in a bowl with apple cider vinegar poured on top. and an apple. water to drink

10AM: mashed potato with flax seed meal, green beans, lean unbreaded chicken, protein shake to drink

12PM: protein/granola bar

2PM: mashed potato w/flax seed, fish or chicken again, salad & grapes

4PM till 5:30PM GYM

6PM: chicken or fish, green beans, mashed potato w/flax seed, protein shake.

8PM: granola bar, and cereal if hungry still
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That was pretty much it, as you can see very very strict, low fat, high complex carb diet.

after a few months of that diet I lost 15 pounds while packing on lean quality muscle.

Anyways, It's been a couple years since that diet I have not been following it exactly but I'm trying to get back to it.

my problem now is I don't have as much of an appetite anymore and I got very bored of that diet, I remember when I was following it 100% that eating was under control and I never thought about it. Plus being a hungry growing teen my appetite was so intense that I would be so hungry as to eat such a boring strict diet.

Now I might add I am also on a medication called Adderall, which is an Amphetamine that causes appetite suppression, similar to Ephedrine.

Between that and not having the appetite of a growing 17 year old, with a high metabolism, I find it very hard to gain weight.
I workout 3-4x per week, but I do heavier weight and less reps as I'm trying to bulk up and gain strength.

Is there any suggestions on an easier diet to follow that will help me increase my weight? Any supplements or medications to increase my appetite? Trust me I know the only thing keeping me at my weight is the amount of food I eat. Thanks all and sorry for rambling

[Back In Black]

That's a fairly awful diet but fair play if it worked. Suspect that was down to a good routine and raging testosterone levels of a 17 year old!

Can you list your current diet, incuding macro breakdown? How long you have been on it and how your weight/body composition has changed.

Also your bodyfat?

[josh223]

You are right, I was trying to give a general outline of the old diet, but Its not exact I think i might be missing parts but I cant remember its been a while.

Anyways I am not following much of a diet but ill post what I eat so hopefully I can get some help on what to change and what to add.

morning - cereal (all bran or raisin bran), apple, banana. sometimes eggs and bacon

post breakfast - burrito, or sandwich or small snack

lunch - potato, burrito if i didnt eat earlier, sometimes salad, chicken

post lunch - protein shake, granola bar, veggies

dinner - meats always, and usually pasta, or rice & grean beans or broccoli and/or corn. but I have trouble finishing all foods sometimes due to lack of appetite from the adderall

evening snack - cheese, sometimes cereal, other


The foods I eat are not bad, I just dont eat enough. And I usually dont even eat as much as I posted, thats just the type of foods that i generally eat.

Anyways I was thinking about talking to doctor about lowering adderall dose, or adding a medication to increase appetite. Know any supplements?
Another thing is I dont usually run/cardio, but when I do my appetite goes up.. lol
I've been also drinking 2 protein shakes a day

I appreciate your help, I'm going to go hit the weights now but I'll be back on later thanks

also BF is 10-11% at the moment and I weigh 173 my body is very similar, but I'm not as cut since over a year or 2 ago I broke my elbow and have been working hard since to gain my weight back up. My lifts are getting past where I was, but with a better diet I know I will be able to reach my 200+ pound goal eventually!

[BBrian]

On a side note, I get the feeling that the Adderrall, which is an amphetamine, is playing a large role in your difficulties. It's going to increase your heart rate and metabolism by strides and kill your appetite as long as you're taking it. In fact I'd go as far as to say that until you stop taking it, this problem will not go away. I'm not a fan of prescribing psychostimulants to kids in large, as I feel it's unnecessary in most cases and only teaches young people poor discipline habits, teaching them that instead of applying will-power they can just take a pill. Do you not feel that you can't handle school without it? I believe that this stuff is prescribed with far too few reservations and that the majority of students taking it simply do not need it.