Am I malnutritioned?

I'm a 16 year old male, weigh 52kg and I am 5" 10'. My biceps are only 10 inches. I'm a pure vegetarian so meat/fish/eggs aren't an option if I were to eat meat. How can I consume 3500 calories a day plus enough protein to grow my (non - existent) muscle mass. My parents say I'm fine but I'm very concerned about my weight. All my friends tease my small arms and can wrap their hands around my biceps -.- I'm really weak as well so I can't really do home exercises as I have no starting strength. Someone please recommend something I can do to gain weight safely?

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

kkboyk

21

Original post by AnIndianGuy

I'm a 16 year old male, weigh 52kg and I am 5" 10'. My biceps are only 10 inches. I'm a pure vegetarian so meat/fish/eggs aren't an option if I were to eat gym. How can I consume 3500 calories a day plus enough protein to grow my (non - existent) muscle mass. My parents say I'm fine but I'm very concerned about my weight. All my friends tease my small arms and can wrap their hands around my biceps -.- I'm really weak as well so I can't really do home exercises as I have no starting strength. Someone please recommend something I can do to gain weight safely?

You do not show the symptoms for it, then no.

eat meat.

The word is malnourished

Reply 4

Oscar.

13

Original post by AnIndianGuy

if I were to eat gym.

You can do that?!

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Reply 5

Kartace

16

*Malnourished - malnutritioned isn't a word I'm afraid.

Reply 6

Oscar.

13

You should do some research into vegan foods which have high protein and high fat

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Reply 7

AnIndianGuy

OP

16

Original post by ChickenMadness

eat meat.

Great advice haha!

Reply 8

SophieSmall

21

Original post by AnIndianGuy

I'm a 16 year old male, weigh 52kg and I am 5" 10'. My biceps are only 10 inches. I'm a pure vegetarian so meat/fish/eggs aren't an option if I were to eat gym. How can I consume 3500 calories a day plus enough protein to grow my (non - existent) muscle mass. My parents say I'm fine but I'm very concerned about my weight. All my friends tease my small arms and can wrap their hands around my biceps -.- I'm really weak as well so I can't really do home exercises as I have no starting strength. Someone please recommend something I can do to gain weight safely?

According to your BMI you are quite underweight. Now some will come on here spouting that BMI is nonsense because it isn't accurate for everyone. Now while that is true and BMI is not accurate for everyone, the people it is not accurate for are those on the opposite end of the scale classed as overweight when actually they just have large muscle mass. This is because BMI does not differentiate between muscle mass and fat. However when you are underweight, it doesn't need to differentiate between muscle and fat because either way you weigh less than what is deemed healthy at your height.

For one, you are likely not eating enough calories to maintain your weight. Let alone gain weight. I recommend you make a my fitness pal account, record what you usually eat for a week or so and find out the average amount of calories you are eating a week. This will give you an eye opener to begin with. At your height and weight you need to eat at least 1888 calories just to maintain your weight if you do little to no exercise all day. For light exercise (1-3 days a week) you need to eat at least 2164, moderate (3-5days) you need 2439 a day and for heavy (6-7 days) you need 2714 a day. Now for your height I would have expected a higher number of necessary calories, But because you are quite light the calories aren't as high as they really should be. Remember to gain weight, you need to eat more than those calories for your respective exercise levels. Also I used this TDEE calculator to come to those numbers: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

There are plenty of vegan sources of protein. However you'll need to eat larger portions than the meat or animal product counterparts as they don't have quite as much protein. Do a bit of research and see what you can come up with to fit into your diet.

Now obviously you aim to gain muscle, though be aware you will also gain fat. And to be honest, that is probably necessary right now. Now I don't aim personally to gain muscle so I won't pretend to know what to tell you. But I'm sure someone else will come along and give you some answers @Angry cucumber

Take a look at the fitness FAQs it will have a lot of information for beginners, as well as basic nutritional knowledge you'll need to understand in order to make sure you are eating a correct and balanced diet for your goals and needs. But coming down to the absolute bare basics of what you need to do: Eat above your TDEE in calories and to gain muscle eat more protein and follow whatever exercises the FAQs say is best for your goals.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 9

kant_touch_this

7

invest in some decent high grade supplements and get those special bars that are carb loaded and designed to make you gain weight rapidly, before you can build muscle you have to gain weight, lord i wish i had your problem

Reply 10

Angry cucumber

20

Your BMI is pretty damn low, you're very very light for your height. You're 30kg less than me at the same height as myself. You need to learn to eat, add in peanut butter on toast or something equally calorific between meals or something similar to add calories to your diet. You are thin but it can be rectified. The fitness FAQ will give you plenty of ideas hopefully http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3014757

Good luck

Reply 11

ecoworrier

12

Nuts! They're an amazing source of healthy unsaturated fat and protein and are very calorie dense so you can eat a handful yet get a great boost and not feel really full. I'm also vegan :smile: