Expert: Joanne - 4/1/2007

Question
I was really skinny my whole younger years.(1-12) At age 13 and 14, i got a little chunkier. I was around 5'8 and 200 pounds. Over the summer of 2006, when I was 15, I got down to 155. I started being active and eating the right foods. I also grew to be 6 foot. The same thing happened to my father when he was young. He was skinny his whole life, then got chunky for a couple years, then he grew and hes been thin ever since. My mother has also been in good shape all of her life. I maintained being 155 from August 2006 until November 2006. I was eating healthy, and Lifting Weights and Exercising daily. Then, i stopped lifting and started eating less. By January 2007, I was down to 142. The Lowest I have been was 132 on March 6, 2007. I am now back into lifting again. I eat 7 times a day, aiming for 2800-3500 calories depending on if it is a training day or not. I eat healthy; lots of milk, 100% juice, whole wheat grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, healthy unsaturated fats, but fried or junkfood in moderation. My body fat is only 3%. My goal is to get up to around 155-160 again and improve my body fat to around 7%. I am a wide receiver for the football team. How can i assure that the weight i gain will be mostly restored lean muscle mass and not just body fat? Currently I am 136 and my strength in the weight room has been increasing."


Answer
You will need to continue to weight train regularly to ensure that you are building muscle, and making use of the extra calories you are eating.  I'd recommend doing a little cardio every week just in order to keep your heart and lungs in shape as well, but as a rule, don't spend too much time on it.

Try to get most of your calories from protein sources rather than fats, but also try adding things like cream and cheese to most of the foods you eat.

I would maybe also recommend getting blood tests done if you continue to lose weight without trying, or don't seem to put any on despite upping your calorie intake!

Holly