Any suggestions for my 20 year old son to gain weight?

Question

My 20 year old son has been trying to gain weight for nearly a year. He is about 5' 10, and only weighs 130 pounds. He works out, and is very strong, but way too thin. He has seen his doctor, had a full exam, and blood work done. He tried drinking Ensure in addition to his regular diet, and after two weeks found he had LOST two pounds. Recently he bought the most fattening ice cream he could, and made himself milkshakes every day, but again did not gain a pound. He is getting very frustrated, and I am out of ideas for him. Anyone else?

Oops, I made a mistake - he is actually 5'11".

Answer 1

Weight Gainer....You can buy it at health food stores. It's a powder, which comes in different flavors, that can be made into a thick shake by mixing it with 2% milk. He needs to drink 1/2 of the shake 45 minutes before bed and the second half 20 minutes before bed. It needs to be taken at this time so that he doesn't burn off the extra calories due to activity.
This, along with a high calorie diet, will help.

Answer 2

Don't sweat it, give him a few years and he will gain some weight. At his age I was really active and had a physically strenuous job, I was 5'10" and 130 pounds. My doctor said my body fat was way too low (3%). I tried everything to gain weight also. I had no success until I was about 25 then I started to gain weight. It may seem crazy, but I grew also. I gained about 20 pounds, and when I moved to management I put on about 30 more pounds. Now Im 30 weight 180 and 5'11. I look alot better now, I look like I should.

Answer 3

I had much the same problem when I was young and did the same things to correct the problem. I once wore 26/36 Levi's, was 5'11' and 140 at best. The heaviest thing I wore were my work boots. Now at the age of 57 it is a different story I now weigh in the 240's and need to loose a bunch. I finally quit worrying about it. If the physical said nothing wrong then don't worry about it, Mother Nature will take care of the problem in due time.

Answer 4

Go light on the carbs and pump up the protein (peanut butter being my favorite healthy protein snack), it may be just the thing for him. It will be easier for him to gain muscle while he's busy shedding pounds. Not sure how his karate class is situated, but they seem more sedentary (disciplined to sit still and stand at attention, only doing small movements) than your son might need. Keep him in karate, but try to get him doing jump-ropes and jogging for short distances with fast running in between, on his non-karate days. Those two will definitely get his heart pumping a bit faster. Also, make sure he eats first thing in the morning. The longer you take to get around to eating breakfast, the more your body slows your metabolism (Simpler way to explain it: Your body doesn't get food immediately after waking up, so it thinks it will have to wait, it waits and doesn't start up digestion properly. After a while, your digestion naturally slows, becaue your body isn't expecting food immediately). Aside from all of that, it may be a medical condition and I would suggest seeing another doctor and explaining the situation for a second (and possibly a third) opinion. Heavy emphasis on getting more opinions, who knows what your pediatrician might've overlooked?

Answer 5

He works out a lot right? What kind of exercise does he do? Cut back on cardiovascular training and do more resistance and weight training. I'd recommend doing low reps and heavy weights.

I wouldn't count on milk shakes and icecream too much for gaining weight. Pack on muscle with clean high calorie food. Get him take more meat and carbs (pasta would be great).

I would also recommend taking some weight gainers. You can try looking for those at a local GNC store.

Answer 6

Lots of milkshakes and believe it or not ---bananas.I work with a man that was talking about this the other day and thats what he said will put the weight on.Plus every 7 years our bodies change.So next year your son will go through a change and will probably fill out more.When I married my 1st husband he was sooooo skinny but as he got older he filled out and became A MAN.Your son is still young.It will come.........

Answer 7

Feed him lots of protein such as peanut butter,steak,and things like that. Also instead of eating 3 times a day...eat 5. That should do it!! Hope your son gets better,no really!!

Answer 8

eat three big macs aday , they are 1200 calories each and tell him to relax and drink beer on the weekend, he'll gain weight in no time, but stop at 170 . it could affect your speed when running

Answer 9

Let him get to thirty. He will gain weight with age. Unhealthy food will lead to future health problems.

Answer 10

Try the protein shakes. Also increase calorie intake daily- that should do the trick.