Is metabolism unchangeable?

Maybe some of you are in the same class like me, you call it hardgainer.

I'm now 23 and 1,85m around 71kg. 

Of course i want some kilos on my bones. I look ripped, thats the good part, but thats not enought

My question is, can you change your metabolism speed or the quality?

To eat a lot more than most people is manageable, but just a few days with less calories, everything drops down. Over the years it's really stressing me a lot, i have to think about eating the whole day and if i miss a meal it's damned hard to catch up till the day ends. Actually i'm taking 3200 cal/day and nothing happens since weeks. I'm training F1 3x a week and i think i have enough sleep, 7-9 hours.

A second point is, that i don't want to eat everyday the same, because of my student budget there is a small range of it, especially if it has to be very healthy. 

Please don't phrase "your metabolism changes when getting older". It will not happen to me, i know the doctors story about that. But my genetic says no - my father, grandfather...are still like me now. 

problem seems to be, that my body doesn't get much out of food, i have to use the toilet more often than normal people, i think that's a proof  

Can you teach your body to be more efficient with nutrition? Is just eating a lot more the only solution?

Is this healthy in long term? Just put more in and let more out...

Can you slow down the digestion with some foods or is it better to eat in different times, maybe more before going to sleep?

William 

Eat more. Try going gluten free.
Make sure you have 1.8-2.0g of protein per kg of BW, some carbs, lots of fat for calories, that works for me. There is no such thing as being a hardgainer, you are just not eating enough. You're on a budget? So am I. Drink 200ml of whipping cream a day, that's 900 calories, and see what that does.

Sorry, this does not work for me. Last year i gained just with having about 4500 cal/day. After one month with this i couldnt stay this high, it was just to much, it also worked for me, because is was holiday and i had the time to eat whole day. I think i have enough protein. And there comes the second problem, of course i can eat 4500 cal/day, but this does not sound healthy for me, and no i don't want to drink such crap everyday, i did this and i just avoid junk if i can. So, i want to try if there is another solution, because there must be a reason my body responses that way, so there must be something to change from the other side.

Sure, there is something to change from the "other side". Stop training.

Falcon said:

Sure, there is something to change from the "other side". Stop training.

If i stop training, nothing changes, i need nearly the same amount of food. I'm not getting fat also if i would just lie in bed the whole day.

I tried everything the last years, i'm not saying i can't change, but there must be a better way than just "bulking", which also isn't a real solution in longterm.

I am too, if you will, a hardgainer.

People say "You just need to eat more", but that is often harder than it sounds. There is just so much you can eat in a day and not feel like a baloon. I find I am sleepy if I eat too much, and the GOMAD(gallon of milk a day) didn't work for me either.

I think what you and me both need to do is to take things slowly. Where exactly are you in your training? If you are at the beggining, like I am, there are probably quite a few gains to be had in say, a year or two.

I have lately started to implement Joshua's nutrition advice(only for one week, so I can't tell for sure) but I have gained a little weight. I also notice better recovery after workouts.

Since starting gymnastic training, I don't really care anymore if I gain weight or not. I'm sure I'll gain some, but it is no longer my primary goal.

And just for reference, I'm 193 cm and 77 kg.

Some of the science is a bit brushed over but this may have some of the answers you're after, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAQr77QMJiw

Duff said:

I am too, if you will, a hardgainer.

 

People say "You just need to eat more", but that is often harder than it sounds. There is just so much you can eat in a day and not feel like a baloon. I find I am sleepy if I eat too much, and the GOMAD(gallon of milk a day) didn't work for me either.

 

I think what you and me both need to do is to take things slowly. Where exactly are you in your training? If you are at the beggining, like I am, there are probably quite a few gains to be had in say, a year or two.

 

I have lately started to implement Joshua's nutrition advice(only for one week, so I can't tell for sure) but I have gained a little weight. I also notice better recovery after workouts.

 

Since starting gymnastic training, I don't really care anymore if I gain weight or not. I'm sure I'll gain some, but it is no longer my primary goal.

 

And just for reference, I'm 193 cm and 77 kg.

 

 

I'm no in my 3rd month with F1, but before i did 2 years of bodyweight exercises with results that were ok, i played 3-4 times football a week so my primary goal was football.

I know patience is golden in this case and that's ok. But yeah i tried things, not gomad, but others and with junk i can gain, but thats no way for me and shouldn't been part of this topic.

I'm more interested in how i can affect my metabolism by myself, you know?

Joshuas nutrition post was the first i read here and yeah sounds good, but there was nothing new for me but the thing with sodium, eat often, drink much, eat between sets if possible, i tried this the first weeks,  but felt nothing changed. I did not had more power or anything else. Everything i change in nutrition ends just in a fraction of a change, body isn't reacting to changes.

Of course mass isn't everything for me, healthy life is, just with a few more extra kilo

spinelli said:

Some of the science is a bit brushed over but this may have some of the answers you're after, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAQr77QMJiw

One hour and in english? i have to split this

I wrote a long post, but then my browser refreshed 

So, in short: changing your metabolism isn't ideal for muscle gain at all, and if your primary goal is to gain weight, you need to eat even more. It probably isn't healty, you won't feel as good, but if you really want it, go for it. Do whatever it takes.

Like my martial arts teacher used to say: "You want to get good? Then you won't mind another 10 kicks to the leg." 

You metabolism can change to a degree, most likely wont happen till 25+, I see you are 23, I myself could never gain weight, weighed 61kg till last winter, I was 26 then, 1.65m tall. Now I am 70kg and leaner, but I also eat better, and work on cutting out all stress and BS. I think those are factors also.

Duff said:

I wrote a long post, but then my browser refreshed 

 

So, in short: changing your metabolism isn't ideal for muscle gain at all, and if your primary goal is to gain weight, you need to eat even more. It probably isn't healty, you won't feel as good, but if you really want it, go for it. Do whatever it takes.

 

Like my martial arts teacher used to say: "You want to get good? Then you won't mind another 10 kicks to the leg." 

Sorry for your browser!

Yeah, but i have to find a solution that works for me the rest of my life and bulking all life long sounds just not right

MattProulx said:

You metabolism can change to a degree, most likely wont happen till 25+, I see you are 23, I myself could never gain weight, weighed 61kg till last winter, I was 26 then, 1.65m tall. Now I am 70kg and leaner, but I also eat better, and work on cutting out all stress and BS. I think those are factors also.

I hope it changes, but i hoped that i can slow down my digestion for example too give my body more time to be efficient with food, or other methods like that. 

I also notice, that i loose weight fast, there's a point where my body wants to go, this is 72kg - i never get under this also if i'm really eating poor. 

I heared that oatmeal is pretty slow digest by the body, but I guess eating oatmeal everyday is not better than bulking everyday... :/

Maybe you can check your thyroid by a doctor, I hope there is no problem, but the thyroid can slow or speed up your metabolism.

Hope you will find a solution

Forgot to mention when I gained 15lbs last winter, I started eating oatmeal every single morning, now I believe breakfast is the most important meal. Everyone I know that is very lean usually skips breakfast or does not eat enough at this time for what they need.

Edit: someone beat me to it with the oatmeal!

I'm 168cm, 60kg @13% body fat. I've had a fast metabolism my entire life, however i've noticed that the older I have gotten the easier it is to put on weight. I use to be self conscious about my weight but since i'm doing gymnastics now I only care about strength and mobility. Hell Yuri van Gelder, although short, is only 63kg and his got mass. In my opinion don't waste your time with weight gain diets, how on earth are you going to eat like that for the rest of your life? On a side note, one plus side of being an ectomorph is being able to maintain a low body fat whilst eating whatever we want. We ectomorphs have a gift.   

Jamez said:

 In my opinion don't waste your time with weight gain diets, how on earth are you going to eat like that for the rest of your life? On a side note, one plus side of being an ectomorph is being able to maintain a low body fat whilst eating whatever we want. We ectomorphs have a gift.   

 

 

Yeah, the advantage is we are well prepared for the modern life, where sugar is everywhere

Indeed for me is bulking whole life no option.

PhilTaylor said:

I heared that oatmeal is pretty slow digest by the body, but I guess eating oatmeal everyday is not better than bulking everyday... :/

 

Maybe you can check your thyroid by a doctor, I hope there is no problem, but the thyroid can slow or speed up your metabolism.

 

Hope you will find a solution

Thanks! Oatmeal sounds ok, it's always in my post workout milk-shake, maybe i should add more through the day. I'm lucky not to eat paleo-style, this would make things much harder with out grain products.

I always wanted to check my thyroid, will try this next weeks.

Isn't oil slowing down digestion too? 

Or what about eating less one day a week so the body wants to get more after that? Just heard this, but never tried.

I am a hard gainer when it comes to my arms for some reason.... But after 4 months on f1 and eating shit loads of carbs and protein I now see my arms developing. It is a very minor gain for such a long time but its just barely noticeable.

I think consistency is key and if you really are getting a lot of calories and enough protein then eventual you will see results with f1. Not in weeks but in months. Are you sure you are getting enough protein? I knock back as much as 180 grams a day at just under 90 kilo body weight to see any results.

I might be wrong here but aren't slowing down digestion of food and metabolism different things?

Digestion: Process of breaking down food in the digestive tract so that it can be absorbed by the body

Metabolism: Process of Cells releasing energy

If I'm correct in the above then slowing digestion down will not make much difference given that you're consuming the same amount of energy as before... I could well be wrong about this though

Edit: On topic, you could try to eliminate fidgeting and unnecessary movement, this would slow your metabolism down slightly

Yes they are different things, but they are connected in someway. Well, they are in my understanding, so don´t take me to serious.^^

I guess there are 3 advantages if you slow down your digestion:

1. Your body has more time to digest and filter the nutrition out of your food
2. The pace of the nutrient release is slower and also more constant, your body will be longer supported with nutrients, due to this fact you have to eat less for the same time frame, as if you eat fast digest food, to stabilze a constant nutrient release in to the body.
3. Your body can absorbed the nutrients better

And the metablosim needs substances to be able to work, so it should be kinda effected by the slower digestion:

less substances ---> less metabolism

But in this case you have the normal amount of substances, but they get absorbed slower so it should be like:

slower substances uptake ---> slower metabolism, because the substances are released over a long time frame.

Again I don´t really know if this is really true, so I guess you should wait for someone with more knowledge^^

But if it not true oatmeals for breakfast are still great!

Normaly you wait a bit longer than usual to eat again after breakfast, due to work, school, etc. so a slow digest meal is really good for breakfast, it will support you a very long time and gives you constant energy.

PhilTaylor said:

Yes they are different things, but they are connected in someway. Well, they are in my understanding, so don´t take me to serious.^^

 

I guess there are 3 advantages if you slow down your digestion:

1. Your body has more time to digest and filter the nutrition out of your food
2. The pace of the nutrient release is slower and also more constant, your body will be longer supported with nutrients, due to this fact you have to eat less for the same time frame, as if you eat fast digest food, to stabilze a constant nutrient release in to the body.
3. Your body can absorbed the nutrients better

And the metablosim needs substances to be able to work, so it should be kinda effected by the slower digestion:

less substances ---> less metabolism

 

But in this case you have the normal amount of substances, but they get absorbed slower so it should be like:

slower substances uptake ---> slower metabolism, because the substances are released over a long time frame.

 

 

 

Thats, what i thought too  

I thought there must be a connection between digestion and metabolism. So i was searching for ideas how to affect both in the way to eat more efficient and so on.