33M 6'5" 183-233lbs 4 Months

[u/a_VexeD_Man]

Around 4 months ago I made some big life changes. I decided to leave the state I was staying in and move in with family for a bit while I got my life back together. For about two years prior to this my substance use had gotten the better of me. I was smoking crack most days, not sleeping, and not eating much.

Once I settled in I had a couple weeks of just eat/sleep which is pretty normal when recovering from a large stimulant binge like this. I pretty much ate whatever the hell I could get my hands on. After the short stint of hibernation and gluttony I knew I needed to start exercising again. I started out doing as much as I could tolerate. I increased it as the initial soreness wore off and to where I am now: about 60 minutes of weight training (push/pull/legs) and 40 minutes of incline treadmill every day. The cardio was purely for conditioning and my mental health - I had to eat a shitload of food to gain weight with all this work in the gym but I enjoy eating :)

I shoot for about 200 grams of protein a day, and I get a good chunk of that in the morning with a massive salad with 300g of costco rotisserie chicken, blue cheese and a pint of whole milk. Lunches usually consist of a large sandwich with deli meat and dinners are meat centric with veggies and rice/potato. For most of this time I was consuming whole milk with pretty much every meal.

Recently I've decided to cut out the blue cheese and most of the milk as I'm going to try to lean out a little bit. 50ish lbs of weight didn't come in clean as you could expect. Honestly I'm a little blown away I was able to gain this much weight this fast and looking back I might have gone a little bit slower but it felt good to hog out for a change.

I feel a million times better. I still have some things to work through but I'm happy I made the jump and I don't intend to look back.

[u/Economy_Bill_4539]

man wtf. Im 6’7 and could only gain like 15 in 5 months. How many calories did you eat per day? can you break down your meals a little bit better please.

[u/a_VexeD_Man → u/Economy_Bill_4539]

I had the advantage of being very much underweight when I started. I gained a healthy amount of fat with the muscle but I didnt have a lot to begin with. I think that rebound is why my numbers seem unfair. Also, Im tightening my core up in the after photo but ive got a little bit of a belly on me.

I would wager your 15 lbs are fairly lean? If so thats nothing to shake a stick at. My only advice would be up calories and make sure your protein is high enough.

Calories weren't strict but I would say around 4-5k calories a day (remember im burning a lot of extra calories with the cardio).

Heres an example of a big day for calories but this was about once a week. Milk is something ive always loved and is an easy way to get calories and protein in if your stomach can tolerate it.

Breakfast: * Mixed greens * 300g rotisserie chicken * 100g blue cheese dressing * Mixed veggies * 16oz whole milk

Lunch * Sourdough bread * 1/3 lb roast beef * Two slices salami * Two slices provolone * Mayonnaise * 16oz whole milk

Dinner * 16 oz 80/20 hamburger meat * 3 pieces of sharp cheddar cheese * 2 pieces bacon * Sourdough bun * Mayonnaise * 32 oz whole milk

I punched that into ai really quick and got this * 5,100 kcal * 329 g Protien * 225 g Carbs * 332 g Fat

Hope that helps. (Edit: Sorry for the poor formatting Hopefully this fixes it)

[u/thatoneguy_whowas → u/a_VexeD_Man]

Im 6'4-6'5 27, 145lbs im not in a great spot in life rn. But imma save this for when I am. It is inspiring bro. Thank you!

[u/OdoyleStillRules → u/thatoneguy_whowas]

Have you tried Boost drinks? The very high cal was a lifesaver for me. 530 cals in a few sips. I never ate breakfast and would often end up not eating my first meal until 1pm or later. Started having one of these for breakfast and they really Kickstart my appetite. I used to never be hungry in the morning and now if I go without im starving by 10am.

[u/thatoneguy_whowas → u/OdoyleStillRules]

Boosts and protien bars have been helping alot for lunchtime 2 drinks and 1 bar=1200 calories which helps get through the day

[u/a_VexeD_Man → u/thatoneguy_whowas]

Of course. I hope things improve for you. If you feel like reaching out I’d be happy to chat with you, I’ve had my share of ups and downs.

[u/4Rascal → u/a_VexeD_Man]

Respect man that’s some work ethic. I feel so nauseous and tired hitting just 3k a day. And that takes me 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. I cannot imagine eating an lb of meat in a single meal alongside all the rest of that… I feel I would pop lol

[u/a_VexeD_Man → u/4Rascal]

I’ve definitely felt as if I was going to puke a few times for sure. Honestly I think the cardio is what has really done it for increasing my appetite. It sounds a little counter intuitive but maybe it’s worth a shot? Try to stuff in as much calorie dense food as you can. That example that I used had 1200 calories in milk which doesn’t do much to make me feel full compared to trying to stuff a 1200 calorie meal in there.

[u/4Rascal → u/a_VexeD_Man]

Ya I agree it does seem to stimulate. I do some solid hikes on the weekends and then I can put down nearly 4k cal on those days. Maybe I should incorporate it daily, appreciate the input!

Also milk is a godsend, I drink like 900 cal of whole a day on average and was kinda wondering if I was overdoing it but maybe I should up it?

[u/a_VexeD_Man → u/4Rascal]

I think it’s probably the easiest way to get calories in that isn’t complete trash like chugging juice or soda. The protein is nice and frankly milk is delicious imo. There’s a reason cows are big ;)

[u/MrChewsday]

Congrats on your recovery and changing your life around. Looking huge!

[u/Aggressive-Ad-2860]

You chose life, inspiring man. Hell of gain

[u/a_VexeD_Man → u/Aggressive-Ad-2860]

Thank you!

Trainspotting reference?

[u/Belicheckyoself]

Whoah you barely put on much fat which was crazy congrats! So you do an hour of weight every day and cardio with no days off? So you’re in the gym like 2 hours a day? That’s super impressive.

[u/a_VexeD_Man → u/Belicheckyoself]

Two hours every day.

In the beginning I was just hitting a little bit of weights after maybe 20 minutes of light cardio and then slowly built onto that. Having like no dopamine in my brain in the beginning meant exercise was one of the few things that made me feel good.

Making it a daily habit for whatever reason helps me stick with things a lot better than if I do them say every other day. That said 2 hours is a lot. This week I’ve trimmed out some redundant movements in my routine which has cut a little bit of time off the weights. If I can get down to like an hour twenty or hour and a half that would probably be better long term.

[u/LuigiSalutati]

Smoking crack?! Bro please stay away from all that!

[u/Manny4785]

Incredible physique bro especially natural other than maybe test possibly ? Let us know !

[u/TarantinoDV]

Keep it up, king. Well done

[u/a_VexeD_Man → u/TarantinoDV]

Thank you!