What is the hardest part about gaining weight?

It’s a great question. As someone who has been tiny tiny tiny her entire life, I can confidently say (for me, myself) that gaining weight has always been a struggle.

There are so many resources out there for ‘how to lose weight’, but there’s really no clear guide on how to gain weight.

And I’m by NO MEANS saying this is / will be a guide for ‘how to gain weight’. I’m just here to track my own journey and what works for me and my body.

The hardest part about gaining weight (based on my own experience) is calorie intake. When I think about this concept, it makes complete sense why this would be hard for any tiny tiny tiny person. We’re small. We have a small stomach. It’s hard for us to eat a lot of food, a lot of calories.

I’ve always been someone who eats when they’re hungry and stops when they’re not hungry anymore. I’ve never really been a big ‘snacker’. Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday. I just don’t obsess over food. Don’t get me wrong. I loooovvvveeee a good dish of pasta or of course, Reese’s Cups, but I really don’t crave anything consistently.

Because of my struggle of eating more calories, I’ve been trying a couple of new things:

Eating a bowl of cereal right before I go to bed – (Disclaimer: I’m not a nutritionist, no idea if this is smart/healthy)
Protein shakes – I’ve been experimenting with a few protein shake options I got with my dad from Whole Foods. They’re fine. Definitely easier for me to drink rather than chew chew chew. I feel like they don’t have as many calories as I’d hope, but they do have like 20g of protein. My dad says they’re good for me at this stage of my strength training.
Big breakfast, Big dinner – I have never been a big ‘lunch’ girl. I like breakfast foods. I like dinners. I don’t really like sandwiches. I don’t like salads. I just get bored with the lunches I do eat (quesadillas and/or peanut butter sandwiches). So I’ve at least been trying to get a lot of calories in the morning and at dinnertime, right before my workout. BUT. I understand that I need to supplement for those lunch calories, so that’s where my “snacking” comes in.
Protein snacks – Protein Ballz, apples & peanut butter, tortillas (when I’m too lazy to make a quesadilla), granola bars / protein bars, pistachios & NUTS.
When I’m hungry, I eat something. It’s as simple as that. Maybe it’s not a full meal but maybe micro meals / mini meals, a little bit more than a snack but not an entree.

Caloric intake will DEFINITELY be a journey for me. As you might have seen in my strength training posts, my weight has stayed pretty consistent even though I do feel like I’m eating better/healthier and of course, I’m building up muscle which is heavier. I guess it could also mean that I’m burning fat because I’m working out and it takes a little longer for the muscle to build up? No idea. Like I said, I have no idea what I’m talking about when it comes to this shit. But I’m trying to ~learn~.

Strength Training Progress – Update for 4/26/2023

Weight – 4/26/2023

89 lbs

Workout Routine – 4/26/2023

Since today is legs/abs day, I figured it’d just hide the route and progress pictures in this post. I hate leg day. Abs are eh. But honestly, it’s probably just because I got twig legs and my abs aren’t strong enough yet. We will get there, though!

Legs / Abs