Help me - I want to gain weight!

"Dear Gary I am a 57 year old male,as you might think from my name,and am what I consider to be underweight at 67 kilos. How,without spending a fortune does one put weight on when almost everything on the market today relates to losing weight. There must be more than me with this concern." Russel
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Gary Moller advises:

Dear Russel,
I assume that you want to put on muscle rather than fat.

Please consult your doctor if you have lost an unusual amount of weight recently. There could be a number of medical causes that need to be eliminated before you dive headlong into a weight gain programme.

Given that the health checks out all OK, then it is time to get into a diet and exercise programme.

Exercise
Consider joining a gym. Find one with an experienced personal trainer who you can hire to teach you the basics of safe and effective weight lifting. You only need to do three quality weights sessions per week to get a buildup of healthy muscle. One the day in between the weights, you should do something cardiovascular outdoors in the sun, like brisk walking or cycling. If you want to tone your upper body, join a canoe club and go for it!

Diet
Have a little protein several times a day – lots of small meals that are rich with chicken, lean meat, tuna, cheese, eggs and so on. Add fruit, salads and healthy carbohydrates like pumpkin and taro. Keep off the processed fats, sugars and flours. Some of these small meals could be in the form of my nutrient-packed Super Smoothie. Here is the recipe.

There are a few legal things that you can do to go a step further in getting bigger; but let’s not bother because the goal must surely be to look good and to feel great. Extremes of anything are usually not healthy.

Give this plenty of time and be consistent. If you do not put on much weight it may just be that being big and bulky is simply not in your nature.

Let me tell you about my failed body-building efforts many years ago: For three months I lifted weights with Marathon swimmer, Phillip Rush. We worked so hard. Phillip bulked up to the point where he could split his shirt. I gained a measly 1kg and actually looked skinnier than ever. The difference was in our body types – Phillip was highly mesomorphic while I was highly ectomorphic. These body types respond very differently to the same exercise and this can never be changed. Unless you can go back in time and change your parents!