I am a beginner and I am trying to gain some lean muscle mass.

[NoSoup4U]

I know this is nothing new... but I really don't have any idea where to start. I am 5'10" 156 lbs. I have been weight lifting for 3 months now. ~6 days a week: 3 on - 1 off - 3 on. I havent been able to gain any weight at all.

I am not trying to get bulky at all just lean and muscular. I have been going through some serious depression for the past year and a half which led me to have a very sparse diet. I would eat 1 meal a day and maybe 1 snack. Now when I try to eat 3 meals a day I feel sick to the stomach and sometimes vomit because of it. So I am building up to a normal diet by drinking a Protein Shake for breakfast (Strawberries, Banana, Yogurt, Protein Scoop, Milk). and then maybe a tuna meal after workout, and either chicken breast (if I am hungry) but usually just another shake.

I am really trying to build up to 3 or 4 meals a day, but I have a feeling its a long time coming. But my question is what should I change to what I am eating now to gain more mass? while still being in the limitations of where I am appetite wise.

Here are some 3 month progress photos:

3 mnths ago
http://people.tamu.edu/~bpm7077/nosoup3monthsago.jpg
Now
http://people.tamu.edu/~bpm7077/nosoupback.jpg
http://people.tamu.edu/~bpm7077/nosoupnoflex.jpg
http://people.tamu.edu/~bpm7077/nosouptriceps.jpg
http://people.tamu.edu/~bpm7077/nosoupchest.jpg
http://people.tamu.edu/~bpm7077/nosoupsideflex.jpg
http://people.tamu.edu/~bpm7077/nosoupfrontflex.jpg

 

[Akateros]

Your links don't work.

As to what you should change, I'm sorry, but it's "eat." I've been exactly where you've been -- stopped eating due to depression, and then carried on not eating for somewhat too long -- and it is damn hard, indeed. But there's nothing else you can do.

Some things that helped me were thinking of food as medicine -- something necessary. However, with that, I would always stop eating when I felt "done" -- which sometimes was two or three bites in. One thing that led to was that I'd package up my meal, then cart it around with me, and eat more when I felt able. Thus, quite naturally, I ended up eating six or seven times a day -- which is really what you'd want, optimal for gaining lean mass and keeping the metabolism up (or in your case, possibly getting it moving again at this point). Half a meal is not as threatening as a full meal.

I'd recommend, right now, just getting yourself to the point where you can eat fairly comfortably, with more frequency. Try to keep your food choices healthy, but eat what you want to eat, what you feel like eating, rather than saying, for instance, "must eat chicken breast". (Getting back into eating with junk food, in any case of anorexia, whether primary or, as in your case, caused by depression, is in my opinion a big mistake.)

If that leads to you eating five or six teeny little snacks, right now, that's fine. If you wind up drinking two or three shakes through the day (maybe even splitting those -- get yourself an insulated cup or Thermos) so be it. (Although with the shakes, try nibbling something solid -- a strawberry or a cracker or something, just so your stomach gets the idea.) Be nice to yourself -- but remember, part of that is eating, and feeding your body.

 

[NoSoup4U]

Eating is becoming a real problem for me still. Even the shakes can make me sick. I have tried to eat small portions throughout the day but I always feel slowed down and sick afterwards. My stomach just needs to expand and get out of that pea-sized shape its in now... ill try to follow your advice and think of food as medicine and try something solid while drinking the shake...

BTW: I fixed the links....

 

[Akateros]

There's a kind of high, I remember, about not eating. And food just seems nasty. I remember feeling almost -- purity -- when I didn't eat, as though it was a virtue to starve. Just eat, literally, what you can. Don't worry about portions, or finishing what you have, or anything. Don't ever eat until you feel even a bit "full" (which often feels like "sick" at first), but any time you feel even the tiniest whisper of what might be hunger, have a bite of something. Try carrying round stuff that is very small -- raisins, or nuts if you can tolerate them (it was a long time before I could eat anything at all with fat in it without getting stomach cramps) or maybe a protein bar cut into little cubes and wrapped up again in foil or a baggie) so it's easy to just have one piece when you want.

Good luck.

 

[NoSoup4U]

There's a kind of high, I remember, about not eating. And food just seems nasty. I remember feeling almost -- purity -- when I didn't eat, as though it was a virtue to starve. Just eat, literally, what you can. Don't worry about portions, or finishing what you have, or anything. Don't ever eat until you feel even a bit "full" (which often feels like "sick" at first), but any time you feel even the tiniest whisper of what might be hunger, have a bite of something. Try carrying round stuff that is very small -- raisins, or nuts if you can tolerate them (it was a long time before I could eat anything at all with fat in it without getting stomach cramps) or maybe a protein bar cut into little cubes and wrapped up again in foil or a baggie) so it's easy to just have one piece when you want.

Good luck.

I am really glad to see the sincere help here. Thats lost in other forums. Thanks a bunch... seeing and reading people like you are what really makes me happy right now. I am a really emotional guy, as you can tell by my first post, and this is making me really happy, teary eyed



Do you have anything to say about the progression i had in those 3 months?