How to Gain Weight/Keep it on with a habit?

[SceneBG]

Try before going to hunt your addiction to take some food early before dope.Morning your organism start working and it is not blocked by any chemicals.Next, after take your dope get big meal for lunch and when the sun goes down you can get something light.Look what supplements can take with lunch if money is not a problem.
The main rule which every doctor and dietolog will tell you is:
Morning=very good breakfast for energy and dope purpses.
Lunch =again get what you want to keep your body full of energy.
Dinner=Get one chips and something sweet at least 30-40 minutes before bed.
PS:If you have problems like most of us, (especially me:() get some herbs or pills cause you need to throw away processed food quickly and in the empty place comes the next.
I tried to be simple for understanding, but that is the truth.Sometimes I can' go to toilet two weaks, but anyway every time when went to toilet is a real adventure, like some mate with big penis start fuck me without vaseline lol.I hate this and when i saw in toilet I know what job can find in a second and take very good money-joke of course.
SceneBG!
 

[Snout]

This thread is really interesting to me. Opus and dead cat are two of the very best posters we have and this sparring fascinates me. We should have a junkie debate club! I'm being completely sincere, much respect to both of you, I've learned a shit ton from both of you.

[Opus]

If I were king, to get EBT (Food Stamps) you would have to take a class in nutrition and food economics first. But if I were king it would be harder to get a license to have babies than one to drive a car.

The OP was about an inability to gain weight while using narcotics. My response was that narcotics do not cause you to lose weight but spending food money on dope will.

Obtuse or humorless?

Oh ok so that was just a joke, you were trying to be funny and I missed it? Right, and so I'm either obtuse or/and humorless? IE, I'm dense because you're such a clever, funny fucking wordsmith and that shit went way over my head.

Ok bro, got it. lol..

I think the words you chose there make that statement really ironic, which in turn I find pretty funny. So really I think the answer to your question is probably "neither." Try again?

I read the article and grokked the map, and there are definitely some interesting points made. But even if every single one of the obese people living in a "food desert" could pin their condition directly on a lack of access to anything heathier, which I think is a pretty big stretch- but I'll give you that to make a point, what about the rest of the country where this is also a massive problem, what's their excuse? I don't see many "food deserts" in CA or AZ, but we both know these states have the same types of problems, so it's obviously a lot more complicated than saying "people are over-weight cos the store with the good food is too far away."

From the NYT article:

“It’s a subtle, complicated link, but they’re very much linked, so the strategic response needs to be linked in various ways,” said Linda I. Gibbs, the deputy mayor for health and human services. “We tackle the challenge on three fronts — providing income supports, increasing healthy options and encouraging nutritious behavior.”

To that end, the city offers a Health Bucks program that encourages people to spend their food stamps at farmers’ markets by giving them an extra $2 coupon for every $5 spent there.

The city has also created initiatives to send carts selling fresh fruits and vegetables to poor neighborhoods, and to draw grocery stores carrying fresh fruit and produce to low-income areas by offering them tax credits and other incentives. The city last month announced the first recipients of those incentives: a Foodtown store that burned down last year will be rebuilt and expanded in the Norwood section of the Bronx, and a Western Beef store near the Tremont subway station will be expanded.

But the Bronx’s hunger and obesity problems are not simply related to the lack of fresh food. Experts point to a swirling combination of factors that are tied to, and exacerbated by, poverty.

Poor people “often work longer hours and work multiple jobs, so they tend to eat on the run,” said Dr. Rundle of Columbia. “They have less time to work out or exercise, so the deck is really stacked against them.”

Indeed, the food insecurity study is hardly the first statistical measure in which the Bronx lands on the top — or, in reality, the bottom. The borough’s 14.1 percent unemployment rate is the highest in the state. It is one of the poorest counties in the nation. And it was recently ranked the unhealthiest of New York’s 62 counties.

“If you look at rates of obesity, diabetes, poor access to grocery stores, poverty rates, unemployment and hunger measures, the Bronx lights up on all of those,” said Triada Stampas of the Food Bank for New York City. “They’re all very much interconnected.”

The point being: it's a complex, multi-faceted issue. I still believe that ultimately, for most, things like a BMI > 30 or type II diabetes are largely brought on by choices made. And while there may be people living out in a "food desert" of 711s and Circle Ks, who have to ride a bus or take a cab to cover the mile+ to the grocery store -- I don't think that automatically means those peoples' health problems could easily be directly attributed to a lack of choices. Just because the Quick-Mart is closer than the Safeway, doesn't mean we're eating potato chips and soda for dinner, at least I'm not anyway, you eat what you want..

That food-desert map seems to me to correlate really closely to other maps I've seen that represent various other obesity statistics in comparison to the rest of the country, which I think is interesting, and which I also think backs my position that there are varied and complex factors at play. Being poor is a bitch and it makes life really fucking hard, but these same types of health problems transcend socio-economic lines, big time.

Basically I think that although there are parallels easily drawn between economic class and diet related health problems like a high BMI; I still think plenty of people regardless of the size of their wallet or food budget are more than willing to drive past the nearest grocer in favor of an easy big mac, big ass soda and a truckload of fries. I think the problems are much more deeply rooted in ignorance, negligence and apathy rather than circumstance -- for MOST people -- and I think that's pretty obvious. Obviously exceptions occur, but the point remains..

[Z]

At various points in my life I paid more attention to my diet then anyone reasonably should.  When you count calories to try to gain weight you realize just how different the reality is to what you think.  People say they eat healthy, and don't know how they get fatter.  The reality is that they eat massive amounts of questionable foods, and either don't or won't see it for whatever reason.  The opposite is true too.


Food and weight isn't the mystery science that some people make it out to be.  There aren't phantom calorie sinks or injections, although hormones can change what your body does with them.  Thermodynamics still rule.


So: Eat more often.  Choose calorie rich foods.  Learn how your body reacts to protein/fat/carb ratios, and find what works for you.  It is pretty easy to count calories now with the plethora of smartphone apps that work with upc codes.  Go to the gym if you want.  It gets to be pretty fun, and it helps you work up an appetite.  The caveat is that you will definitely need to pay more attention to what you eat if you do go.


I personally feel that people blame thyroid problems first without getting into the basic underlying problems.  If someone has a pain in their arm you do a physical exam before a biopsy.  Start with the easy to control things, and work from there.


You can find a lot of info on google.  If you get stuck I can try to point you in a good direction.

[duck]

I know a lot of people gain weight when they get on methadone, but I know others --  myself included -- lose weight or stabilize while on methadone. I plumped up like a motherfucker when I got off the clinic and didnt have a habit.  It felt like more than just eating more, too, felt like I was packing on weight much more regardless the intake.

[Snout]

I've always been an atypical junkie. When I'm using dope, I gain weight. When I'm loaded, my body seems to slow so much, I get fat. When I use less, I cook more, excercise, work harder, eat healthier. My yoga practice resurfaces. When I'm on methadone, then I get huge. My weight routinely varies by about 50 pounds based on my use. Right now I'm 99% clean, and at the low end of the spectrum.
     For me, using more means needing more money, which means spending more time in the bakery, which means eating more In the bakery! It is way easier to make money for dope by working rather than "ripping and running." I've never understood my fellow junkies who thought it was easier to make money through crime, it always seems like feast or famine. Going to work everyday always ensures a constant flow of dope, for me anyway.

[Mr.pooper]

Very good advice given in this thread.

I agree most Americans are under-educated on food nutrition.
In school I think I spent 1 day learning how to read nutrition labels in a health class.

The problem doesn't seem to be lack of calorie intake. There is a surplus of calories to be had for very cheap.
However there  is a  lack of nutritional value to  go along  with those calories. Most people seem to know the "2000 calories a day" part, but nothing beyond that. They do not typically know how many grams of protein, fats, and carbs are needed in  a day. (This is individual based on your lifestyle and overall goals)

You mentioned you have tried protoen shakes. Most of those are complete marketing bullshit. Take a look at the ingredients, it's all sugar.

 I've heard from some serious OG gym heads that any nutrients are ruined in the process of making those powders. And the amount of nutrients reported are before the "making process" destroys the nutrition.

The best results I achieve for putting on solid muscle goes hand in hand with diet and exercise. (The results you see will be 20% exercise, and 80% nutrition)

You can eat well for cheap. I get a huge bag of frozen chicken breasts from Safeway for like $12 (sometimes $10 on sale) that lasts me most of the week. Thaw, season with spices , wrap in foil, bake. It's delicious and juicy.

Frozen salmon filets are cheap where I live. Those thaw in like 20 mins. Wrap in foil with some olive oil and kale. Bake. Add some brown rice to each meal. Make sure your water intake is half gallon a day+...Enjoy the awesome gains.

Also try to stay away from simple sugar. Simple sugar is a chronic, dose dependent, hepatotoxin. Some studies have found it to be 5x more addictive than cocaine. Look at the way people consume sugars. They crave them, over use, usually bingeing, despite negative health consequences.  It's also been linked to a VAST amount of health problems in the US. It's added into 80% of grocery store foods. Sugar hides behind many names. They have gotten clever at hiding it on nutrition labels. Look out for stuff on nutritional labels like dextrose, sucrose, maltodextrin, evaporated cane syrup, etc. It's all the same thing basically.

Hope some of this helps!

[nikita70]

Gain weight!!! OMG, easier said than done!!!
Sorry for not being helpful at all.

I wasn't able to gain and keep the proper weight (like at least 55kgs with 160cm) since about 25 years, when I got strung out the first time.
Before I joined MMT I was assigning it to my addiction (according to what stereotypes do indicate), however, since I started the treatment and things didn't change at all/seemed to be still the same, I realized that it must be something else.
Losing weight while person sticks deadlocked in their ongoing run of scoring and shoting up is easy to comprehend and quite obvious, but nothing "excuses" the same happens as you're provided with the regular suplies and live some relatively stable life.

In my case it seems to have psychological background-I'm just disable to care on me properly, as I'm living independent life-I mean the position no one else does care on me, in meaning shopping, cooking, preparing food etc.
My mental diseases/compulsive disorders sometimes bothers me so much that I just don't pay attention to and/or can't deal with such "thingies" like eating.
I know it because every time I was in some institution (like rehab center or jail) I've been able gaining weight pretty soon, regarding there were just the others keeping an eye on me and carrying on.

I consider it being fucking lame/embarassing and truly doubt this being your case. But you never know...

Good luck anyway, I know how the "wry looks"/"bad eyes" hurt, what is actually pretty fucked up, cos EVERYONE is (theoretically) bitching about being TOO FAT (just notice there're NOT any "GAINING WEIGHT" miraclous receipes).
They tell you being "slim", but seems no one wants to watch you looking like that.

[Opus]

Very good advice given in this thread.

You can eat well for cheap. I get a huge bag of frozen chicken breasts from Safeway for like $12 (sometimes $10 on sale) that lasts me most of the week. Thaw, season with spices , wrap in foil, bake. It's delicious and juicy.

Frozen salmon filets are cheap where I live. Those thaw in like 20 mins. Wrap in foil with some olive oil and kale. Bake. Add some brown rice to each meal. Make sure your water intake is half gallon a day+...Enjoy the awesome gains.

Also try to stay away from simple sugar. Simple sugar is a chronic, dose dependent, hepatotoxin. Some studies have found it to be 5x more addictive than cocaine. Look at the way people consume sugars. They crave them, over use, usually bingeing, despite negative health consequences.  It's also been linked to a VAST amount of health problems in the US. It's added into 80% of grocery store foods. Sugar hides behind many names. They have gotten clever at hiding it on nutrition labels. Look out for stuff on nutritional labels like dextrose, sucrose, maltodextrin, evaporated cane syrup, etc. It's all the same thing basically.

Hope some of this helps!

This is good info. My public education didn't include much on nutrition either. Maybe a little in home ec., but not much at all.

We do the same thing with chicken and fish - buy it in bulk and stick it in the freezer. Farm raised Tilapia is cheap and tasty, we eat a lot of that stuff, in fact it's what I'm gonna cook tonight. I'm feeling lazy so I'll keep it easy: two tilapia fillets, a can of mushroom soup and I'm gonna cook a spaghetti squash too (I'm on a diet so no pasta for me atm), and eat the fish over the squash (it really is just like pasta!). Grand total investment: maybe ~$6 for two+ servings, if I didn't have the fish I could get the two fillets for $5, so that would make it maybe 10bux for two good sized servings.

Interesting theory about the nutrients in the protein powder being destroyed, I'm gonna look into that cos at times I rely on that stuff for calories, even though I know it has a lot of sugar in it.

I also agree that sugar is like fucking crack - I had to give that up too (aside from a very occasional piece of chocolate). This dude I knew years ago said one day that he thinks if sugar were discovered today, it would be considered a drug - which it basically is. Especially refined sugar. Shit wars have been fought and lots of people killed over sugar. Pretty gnarly shit, really..

Good post Mr. Pooper.

[Z]

I save a lot of money by buying chicken with the back and skin still on.  Often it is half the price of buying deboned chicken breasts, and it is very easy to debone them once you get used to it.  If you want to check for sugar in food another big one is High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Pretty nasty stuff and definitely worth avoiding.  If you need low cost high calorie food then beans are another essential purchase.  Dried beans are dirt cheap and very good for you. They are just long to rehydrate and you need to think ahead.


My thoughts on eating well are that it can take time and be cheap, or it can be quick and expensive.  If you are willing to put the time in to make your own foods and basics then you can eat extremely well with minimal amounts of money.  It is hard to eat well quickly and cheaply unfortunately.

[Sand and Water]

We do the warehouse thing (Costco, Sams Club etc) for buying chicken & other meats etc in bulk. I also use the vacuum seal Reynolds bags (after washing meats or pre-cooking which really saves a lot of time). It really helps $$ wise. Sad but true about sugar. I learned years ago it also contributes to the inflammatory process on top of all its other bad points & not just for diabetics.

Sucks b/c i LUV Pepsi in the can. I won't like giving up that treat, but this info is a good reminder to try! Bummed, but thanks to all for the info--am inspired to get rid of it where i can.

Sigh, after New Years football & face stuffing tradition, no real excuse so i spose it's good timing. Whether drugs, smokes or sugar, why is it almost everything i like bad for me lol.

[neighbor]

being overly thin nearly obliterated 7th and 8th grade for me. i was also way behind a growth spurt. and then by 9th-10th everyone else that hadnt hit puberty already, now did. I didn't and was already small. Things went from bad to "I dont want to leave my room" bad

I thnk its much less difficult on overweight kids than the underweight ones, simply because its pretty normal to be a guy and be heavy. not quite as normal to be rail thin as a man.

I straight up stopped going at some point in the 10th grade. I couldnt take the heckling.

I heard way too many holocaust references when I was in school
a small few were kinda funny Ill admit:
"dude I didnt know Auschwitz was still operational"

but the daily "bro I could lift you with my eyelids"
and ive got real small wrists so I got a lot of "omg are those really your wrists? I could like break you!" yea no you couldnt.
I was wearing a sweater to school everyday, in south florida, just to hide my wrists.
I just couldnt deal with it and stopped going,
my grades fell and finally they read something like ADBFIII. the good grades were from history and "weight lifing". Id never seen anyone wiht more than one "incomplete" class.  So yes
I was done with school at this point, almost 100% due to my weight.
Depression took a nose dive.

the only thing that  helped gain any weight during this period was something I heard from a doctor: eat 2 peanut butter sandwiches a night, after dinner right before bed.
I saw some improvement but I was still such an active little fuck back then that
I could burn 1000 calories if I turned my head too fast while talking. That, and I think
I was doing a lot less to gain weight than I actually was.

at some point between 10th and 11th I hit my growth spurt and grew a lot in a short amount of time. only problem was now I was just as thin, only now also lanky as fuck.

and all of this is before I started opiates. heaviest ive ever been was during a period where I had as much dope as I wanted. thats also the most Ive ever disliked the drug.
the "heroin makes you thin" myth is great. showcases the hardcore ignorance people have toward drugs in general. heroin makes you poor. and I think being poor might also make
someone thin. idk, something about not having the money to buy food just seems like
it would make it difficult to gain weight. but im no dentist.

and now looking back and thinking about it somemore, 4 entire grades in high school seems a lot to me now. the seniors made most of the freshman look like cabbage patch kids. like genuine adults walking around, 6'2 and heavily bearded, walking around with kids who looked like they could fit easily into their backpack.

Nowa days my metabolism has slowed but not much. I hover around 140 but I have to  eat calorie-rich foods inbetween every meal. Like chocolate large milkshakes in between 2 large meals a day will keep me normal.


oh yea and sugar addiction is a serious thing. itll get more exposure over the next few years when diabetes doesnt slow down.

[nikita70]

being overly thin nearly obliterated 7th and 8th grade for me. i was also way behind a growth spurt. and then by 9th-10th everyone else that hadnt hit puberty already, now did. I didn't and was already small. Things went from bad to "I dont want to leave my room" bad

I thnk its much less difficult on overweight kids than the underweight ones, simply because its pretty normal to be a guy and be heavy. not quite as normal to be rail thin as a man.

I straight up stopped going at some point in the 10th grade. I couldnt take the heckling.

I heard way too many holocaust references when I was in school
a small few were kinda funny Ill admit:
"dude I didnt know Auschwitz was still operational"

but the daily "bro I could lift you with my eyelids"
and ive got real small wrists so I got a lot of "omg are those really your wrists? I could like break you!" yea no you couldnt.
I was wearing a sweater to school everyday, in south florida, just to hide my wrists.
I just couldnt deal with it and stopped going,
my grades fell and finally they read something like ADBFIII. the good grades were from history and "weight lifing". Id never seen anyone wiht more than one "incomplete" class.  So yes
I was done with school at this point, almost 100% due to my weight.
Depression took a nose dive.

the only thing that  helped gain any weight during this period was something I heard from a doctor: eat 2 peanut butter sandwiches a night, after dinner right before bed.
I saw some improvement but I was still such an active little fuck back then that
I could burn 1000 calories if I turned my head too fast while talking. That, and I think
I was doing a lot less to gain weight than I actually was.

at some point between 10th and 11th I hit my growth spurt and grew a lot in a short amount of time. only problem was now I was just as thin, only now also lanky as fuck.

and all of this is before I started opiates. heaviest ive ever been was during a period where I had as much dope as I wanted. thats also the most Ive ever disliked the drug.
the "heroin makes you thin" myth is great. showcases the hardcore ignorance people have toward drugs in general. heroin makes you poor. and I think being poor might also make
someone thin. idk, something about not having the money to buy food just seems like
it would make it difficult to gain weight. but im no dentist.

and now looking back and thinking about it somemore, 4 entire grades in high school seems a lot to me now. the seniors made most of the freshman look like cabbage patch kids. like genuine adults walking around, 6'2 and heavily bearded, walking around with kids who looked like they could fit easily into their backpack.

Nowa days my metabolism has slowed but not much. I hover around 140 but I have to  eat calorie-rich foods inbetween every meal. Like chocolate large milkshakes in between 2 large meals a day will keep me normal.


oh yea and sugar addiction is a serious thing. itll get more exposure over the next few years when diabetes doesnt slow down.

This slim guy is going to make me burn another 1000 calories as I shake my head laughing. Seriously. Thank God he's not my neighbor., unless we'd spend the rest of our weight babbling as we'd run each to other in the staircase.
(Btw, just try to figure out, how many weight costs me preparing an average long post. I mean an average one, not this monster in suicidal section)

I'd never suppose Auschwitz' references working/being alive&kicking over the Ocean. This is quite obvious here, but US beats me.
By the other hand, I didn't know the trick with eyelashes. Oddly enough, no one wanted to lift me this way.

Peanuts butter works, indeed, still, for some reason, nothing prevails food prepared special for you by someone else-I have an impression it has its calories doubled.

[DeadCat]

Not to dig up an an old issue TOO much but his documentary; "San Franciso 2.0" from HBO. SHow the draatic changes takig b=plave right now in Sanfranisso that are make ing the basics of survival and the continuation of cumunity there almost impossible thanks to the wealth pouring in from Silicon Valley.

That means affording shelter and healthy food (and other aspets of healthy urban living) being econmially denied the "less than wealthy", which inclused the "lower" 70 or 80% of the country. As this happens, just finding shelter becomes more and more impossibe and that trend includes finding affordabe healthy food for the formerly "Middle Class,"

The oint being, the as the OPTIONS narrow, the CHOICES become ore and more limited until w are all earring insect bugers if we don't change our agribusiness model.

It is a very sobering video and I recomend anyone wwhith access to HBO or a password for HBO GO to watch it. It's bad enough of you are in your 20's and athing it but your heart really has to break for the people over 50 who sent their ntire lives in a city that is disappearing and has no room for them.

One exaple isa man is in his late 50's who worked a good job in finance for his whole life, now unemployed and through no fault of his own (by virtue of his age and the issues that come with it) who will probably won't find another decent job again, despite havng multiple degrees and 30 years of relevant experinece but by virue of his age isn't a good "investment" as an employee with a future. Now he lives in a tiney one "studio that is about the size of a jail cell. (Begins about about 1:20)

Tell him he's "Ignorant" for not finding healtheir food. He an only eat what he can afford and most of it isn't great.

This isn't directed at anyone . It's just a real problem we need to recognize and if we want a healthy citizenry will have to address.