About a year ago, I began my weight gain journey. I was at a point where I’d found myself smaller than I had ever been in life, weighing 123lbs. I wasn’t happy with my weight and after months of trying, I decided to get serious about gaining weight. Since opening up to social media, I’ve gotten an overwhelming amount of questions and responses from people, like me, who struggle to gain weight. For this reason alone, I’ve decided to share what worked for me.
Here are a few pictures that shows where I started (123 lbs) vs. throughout my journey. Currently, I weigh 153 pounds. Not pictured, but on my instagram (@alisha.sheffey) you will find more pictures of me at my current weight.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor; I am just sharing what worked for me in my own weight gain journey. All the tips mentioned below, are things that I tried and found success in.
Increase daily caloric intake:
From the moment I started tracking my meals via My Fitness Pal, I learned that I was only eating about 1,500-2,000 calories per day. If you are small and trying to gain weight, chances are, your metabolism is extremely high. I decided to increase my daily caloric intake to 3,000. I found this to be the key to gaining weight that stuck. Although I wanted so badly to maintain a 3,000 calorie/day diet, I struggled with having the appetite to eat that much. Can you relate? If so, keep reading…
Apetamin (Appetite increaser):
A friend of mine mentioned Apetamin to me upon learning about my weight gain journey. Apetamin is an appetite increasing vitamin that comes in pill and syrup form. When used properly, it will increase your appetite while decreasing your metabolism. After extensive research, I decided to give it a try. Once I got my hands on a few bottles of the syrup, I took 10ml, 3x times a day. I took it about 15 minutes before each meal. After a few days of taking Apetamin, I noticed my appetite starting to pick up. Please note, the first few days of taking it, you will be extremely lethargic. I would recommend starting on the weekends (if you work full time like me). This way, you will allow your body to get used to it. I’ve also tried taking energy pills with my Apetamin and it helped me to be able to function during the first few days of taking the medicine. Apetamin has been my saving grace since it came into my life. Please understand that the medicine alone doesn’t cause you to gain weight, but it will increase your appetite and slow down your metabolism.
High Caloric Diet
As mentioned above, 3,000 calories per day was the goal that I started to shoot for. Sure, I could load up on carbs because I love pizza and pasta, however, I wanted to eat healthy calories, so I did a little research. I decided to prepare meals that consisted of foods that were high in protein such as chicken breast, steak, and salmon. It is important to note that if you don’t work out and eat healthier foods, the weight can end up in some of your less favorable areas (love handles, stomach, etc).
Meal Prepping/Planning
Meal prepping is KEY! If you are generally busy and, on the go, it is important to plan and prep your meals for several reasons:
Whenever I fail to plan and prep my meals, I either spend too much money on foods that are not ideal, or I skip meals which results in me eating fewer calories for the day.
Check out the “My Weekly Meal Planning Routine” blog for more details on this process.
Here are samples of what my go-to meals look like when I meal prep:
Breakfast: 2-3 boiled eggs, 4 sausage links, 2 slices of toast topped with peanut butter, honey and sometimes banana slices. I also will eat 2 packets of apple cinnamon oatmeal with 2 cups of whole milk.
Lunch: Stuffed salmon, brussels sprouts or broccoli, sweet potatoes topped with honey, brown sugar and almond butter.
Dinner: Steak, shrimp potatoes, and either broccoli, asparagus, green beans or corn.
I try to shoot for around 1,000 calories per meal with snacks in between.
Snacks
In addition to planning your meals, plan healthy and high caloric snacks to eat in between meals. Almonds, trail mix, and homemade guacamole and chips are two of my go to snacks. I also drink fruit smoothies during the day and before bed.
Eat before bed
Generally, when trying to lose weight, a person will avoid eating before bed. For those of us wanting to gain weight, eating before bed works in your favor. Eating before bed allows your body to store the food instead of burning it off, like it would when you are up during the day.
FAQ’s?
How long should I take the Apetamin?
It is totally up to you and your weight gaining goal. Once I reached my goal weight, I continued to take Apetamin for about another week before weening myself off. To ween, I typically reduce the number of doses to 2 and then down 1-10ml dose per day. Eventually, I stop taking it, but I had to be more intentional and strategic with my diet. When I find that my diet slips and I start losing weight, I start Apetamin again to give myself a boost.
Should I work out while taking Apetamin?
It is recommended that you work out to prevent the weight from going to your stomach, love handles, and other less favorable areas. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t work out. I had a tummy tuck and hernia repair surgery back in March of 2019, so while I don’t “necessarily” need to work out. I do watch what I eat, and I do light exercising at home from time to time. *I am not promoting surgery; I am just being transparent with my journey.
Where can I purchase the Apetamin?
I bought my first few bottles from @apetamin.gaingoals in Instagram. Most recently I have been purchasing them from @queenofbodysculpting (also on Instagram).
What kind of energy pills do you recommend?
With my last Apetamin purchase from @queenofbodysculting, she gave me a bottle of Energybolizer pills to try. I’ve been taking them on and off for the past few weeks and they get the job done.
Is it possible to gain weight without Apetamin?
Absolutely! The key is having a good appetite eating lots of healthy calories consistently. If you can make yourself eat more, chances are, you can gain weight. For me, I just struggled with having the appetite.
Check out my Instagram (@alisha.sheffey) for more pictures!
2 Comments
wow you look so gorgeous.
I will try to achief the same with your hinds.
xoxo
Tina Wimpernverlängerung Salzburg
This is great tips! Thanks. Now i need the motivation to implement them and be consistent with.