Topic: Gaining weight?

[Mathew C]

I want to gain weight. Not muscle; no, I want to gain fat.

This fall, I ventured into the world of cycling. It's a wonderful sport if you approach it from a noncompetitive point of view (as a traceur who can't drive, I find it perfectly within the philosophy of parkour to use my bike as a more efficient means to get around my state). Anyway, I lost some weight while cycling. To be specific, my body fat percentage is about 6% right now, and I'm not sure how healthy or safe that is. So, unless someone thinks that's a reasonable amount (here comes my real question):

What are some healthy sources of fat I can add into my regular diet?

(I've since started to more closely monitor my calories burned while cycling to make sure that they come from nice carbs, and my BF% has plateaued)

[Steven Low]

Butter, avocados, coconut, olive oil, nuts, nut butters, etc

Put olive oil on everything and you're good.

[Mathew C]

That all sounds delicious
Thanks!

What would be a reasonable BF% to aim for? I've always been pretty lean

[Steven Low]

10-12% tends to be a good range for endurance athletes.

[Mathew C]

I'm not sure I've ever hit 10% 

[Mathew C]

I'm already consuming about 3500 calories a day (that's on rest days)
... I'll aim for 8% for now

[Grayson]

GOMAD!

Gallon of whole milk a day, if man enough for it

[Rafe]

Wanting to gain weight is good wanting to gain a little fat is fine not wanting to gain muscle is bizarre, anyways if your training and trying to gain weight especiall from that low you should gain about 1 pound of lbm to 1 pound of fat which would be a good thing for you. I think you need some insulin driving food in order to gain weight personally milk is great, sweet potatoes, rice. High carb consumption may not be ideal for long term health I am agnostic but carbs certainly help weight gain.

[Dan Elric]

Wanting to gain weight is good wanting to gain a little fat is fine not wanting to gain muscle is bizarre, anyways if your training and trying to gain weight especiall from that low you should gain about 1 pound of lbm to 1 pound of fat which would be a good thing for you. I think you need some insulin driving food in order to gain weight personally milk is great, sweet potatoes, rice. High carb consumption may not be ideal for long term health I am agnostic but carbs certainly help weight gain.

I am going to go ahead and say milk is actually the best choice.
1) Most of the calories come from fat which doesn't affect insulin levels.
2) Milk is generally fortified with D vitamins, which I've seen estimates say that nearly 75% of Americans are deficient in (not to mention vitamin D is kick ass anyway).
3) It has lots of protein.
4) It is delicious (for most people).

Foods with high glycemic indexes have to be eaten in carefully managed portions since those same foods are typically calorie dense as well (potatoes, rice, bread).  The thing is that these foods cause undue hardship on the body to process, but more importantly, they are a culprit of inflammation.  Inflammation is not something we want.

[20draws10]

Is it really that unhealthy to have such a low body fat percentage?
I'm at like 4% or something without even trying. Kind of a combo of parkour, being a health freak, and my natural self. I consume basically 0 fat on the average day.
Should I change this? Is there really a serious risk with having low body fat?

[Rafe]

You are not 4 percent Mathew is probably not 6 percent, most people have no idea what being that lean actually means, when a bodybuilder diet down to 4 percent the find sitting painfull because their is no fat between their skin and their glute muscles, the lose their libidos completely the feel completely terrible.

Here are some pictures of guy who legitimately 5.5 percent bodyfat, http://leangains.blogspot.com/2009/10/some-pics.html

If you have good energy, good libido, and good stamina your not to lean and your probably deluding yourself about how lean you are.

[GoldenSlumbers]

The only benefit I can see would be under extreme conditions.  When you start to go without eating for a certain amount of time your body will break down fats and muscle if necessary for energy.  Obviously you'd rather have your fat stores burned instead of the alternative.

[20draws10]

Well I got tested a few months ago at the doctors and he said that I was about 4% on certain spots of my body. It was the pinch test or whatever you want to call it, so idk how accurate it is.

I just don't want to get stuck in a situation where this could be potentially dangerous for me.

[FastGuppy]

You're probably around an average of 6-8 percent which isn't good. Get more fat.

[FastGuppy]

I want to gain weight. Not muscle; no, I want to gain fat.

This fall, I ventured into the world of cycling. It's a wonderful sport if you approach it from a noncompetitive point of view (as a traceur who can't drive, I find it perfectly within the philosophy of parkour to use my bike as a more efficient means to get around my state). Anyway, I lost some weight while cycling. To be specific, my body fat percentage is about 6% right now, and I'm not sure how healthy or safe that is. So, unless someone thinks that's a reasonable amount (here comes my real question):

What are some healthy sources of fat I can add into my regular diet?

(I've since started to more closely monitor my calories burned while cycling to make sure that they come from nice carbs, and my BF% has plateaued)

I use to be a professional cyclist. The only trick is to eat more of what you are now. Same ration of protein/carbs/fats.

[Andy Animus Tran]

Well I got tested a few months ago at the doctors and he said that I was about 4% on certain spots of my body. It was the pinch test or whatever you want to call it, so idk how accurate it is.

I just don't want to get stuck in a situation where this could be potentially dangerous for me.

Uhm.. your doctor's retarded.  You can't have a percentage of body fat on a "certain spot of your body."  Doesn't work that way.  You may hold less fat there, but it has nothing to do with your body fat levels overall, nor is there any way to measure it.

First of all, you're pretty confused.. and not as much a health freak as you think.  You say you consume just about "zero" fat.  Bullshit.  You'd be going through so many health problems that your rightful place would be in a hospital.  There's a difference between body fat and dietary fat..  As far as dietary fat goes, we need it.  We need it for proper hormonal functions, among countless other things.  You must eat fat.  No way around that.

Second, a 4% body fat level sustained for any lengthy period of time will cause health complications.  A 6% body fat level is iffy.  Leaner guys who like to stay very lean who safely hover around 8%.  The rest of the male population out there is lucky if they can comfortably maintain 10-12% consistently.

In any case, the solution is simple: eat more.