Although you are not entering into a fashion contest you might want to think about your attire.  Lets face it you can not walk into a gym and work out in a pair of blue jeans.  Proper attire is a must.

Myself I feel the most comfortable in a pair of workout or running pants.  I always pick out a pair that are not going to strangle me, I want them to be loose fitting so that I can get plenty of movement.  I also prefer dark colors like black or blue because when I sweat I don’t want it to look real obvious.  Secondly I prefer the type that have pockets no matter how light I want to travel, there is always something that I have to have, most of the time it is just the key to my locker, but I have to have it.

The next item is a shirt of course.  Here I just pick any comfortable T-Shirt, but for god sake don’t just show up in a plain white T.  Again I want it to be comfortable, I don’t like working out in a shirt that seems to be wrestling me and trying to hide in my armpits.

Shoes, often overlooked but anyone who has had a really good pair of shoes to work out in knows exactly what I am talking about.  A bad pair of shoes can ruin your form and posture and suck the joy out of your work out.  Don’t worry whether they are labeled athletic,cross trainer, running or what ever sub-category the shoe store has filed them under.  You want ones with good support that actually lace up!! Forget velcro or any of that other stuff, you want real laces.

Another thing that I wear, but you don’t have to is a hat.  Any baseball style hat will do.  For me it puts me in the right mindset for a work out and seems to focus me, I am not looking around distracted my eyes are drawn to the task at hand.  This may differ for you, but to me the hat is a must have.

One more thing to keep in mind.  You are going in there to workout so when you go the beach you will look good.  Save all the posturing for the beach, there will be plenty of time for the super snug shirt showing of ‘the guns.’  Also you don’t want to walk in dressed head to toe like your sponsored by Under Armor or Nike.  You are here to workout and achieve your goals, and you will, don’t get distracted by hype.  I promise you that muscles don’t know what brand you are wearing.

I can think of no greater motivation than this.  Remember how last year you promised yourself when next summer rolls around things were going to be different.  Remember the year before that.  We have all been there and we have all seen the next summer roll around and alas, it was the same old us.

It really is going to be different this time because now you have a plan.  You have an actual concrete plan that will work.  First thing is first though, you need to take a picture of yourself.  I know this is a bit painful and I am not talking about a full nude shot or anything like that, but a picture of yourself without a shirt on.  The reason will become more evident.

When you look at your day one photo, the one that you took when you decided to turn it all around, it will remind you of how far you came.  I know you don’t want to do it, but I am not asking you to post it on the web or anything like that, it is just for your own records.  This will show you how you truly look, the good, the bad and the ugly.  Don’t worry though this is soon to be the old you.

In one month you are going to take another photo of yourself and you will be amazed at the progress you have made.  Actually look at the two photos and how far you have come.  Now you are starting to see some real progress.  Just imagine how you are going to look next month.  Starting to feel better about yourself now.  Next month you won’t be able to wait to take that photo!

Gaining weight and building muscle is going to require exercise.  There is no other way around it.  If you just sat around eating all the calories your suppose to and live a very sedimentary life, you are going to regret it.  Good weight gain is going to require a good exercise program to follow.

Following a good exercise program with your goals in mind is going to make all of the difference.  After all the goal here is to look good, and that is one thing that exercise is good at, so don’t try to fight it, like Nike commercials say  ‘Just do it.’

You are also going to have to pick a workout routine that is geared for gaining weight.  I know there are hundreds designed for people to lose weight, but there are really some quality programs for us too.  When you see most people in the gym they appear to be just copying one another, a kind of monkey see, monkey do routine.  This is a path to failure.

You have got to understand what you are doing and why your doing it.  By this I do not mean just knowing what baody part you are working, but why you are working it.  This will be much clearer when you actually start in on your workout program, right now just keep it in the back of your head and don’t worry if no one else at the gym is doing what you are doing.

Ahh protein we certainly need a lot of it if we are going to put on some muscle.  Let’s be honest one of the reasons you want to put on weight is you want the muscle, so you can look good at the beach.  You are going to need protein.  Your body uses protein to repair muscles, it is that simple.

Not giving your body enough protein is going to hinder their ability to heal the muscles and become stronger.  On average a person needs about one gram of protein for every 2.2 pounds of body weight to build and maintain muscle, and that is what we are after.  Exercise and working out is also going to affect the body’s need for more protein, so if you are serious about putting on muscle and your working out I would suggest 2 grams of protein for every 2.2 pounds of body weight per day.

Do not make the mistake of trying to get all of that protein in you in one sitting, it will not work.  You need to divide out throughout the day or else people at work will just be saying ‘Here comes Old Gassy.”  Do not obsess over it, or it will just leave you to confused just make sure you get the appropriate amount everyday.

My own weight gain story is probably much like yours,  I have been thin all of my life.  I have always struggled to put on weight, without much success until I decided to get serious about it.  Standing six feet tall weighing only 148 pounds.  I decided it was finally time to actually start trying to get that good physique.

All through high school I played sports and led a pretty active life, but when I got older my weight, or lack of it started to bother me more.  I kept putting off finding a good diet and workout, sometimes I would get really interested, but then would only follow it half-hearted, sometimes not at all.  Everyone would tell me “you’re so lucky all I have to do is think about food and I’ve gained a couple of pounds.”  I assure you I did not feel lucky at all.

I turned as most people do to the internet to find out how to gain weight, there were what seemed hundreds of sights on how to lose weight but nothing geared to the skinny guy trying to put weight on.    After trying unsuccessfully to try ‘to do it myself’ I realized that I actually needed a plan, a real plan.  Not just eating more of the same food that I have always ate, but a real plan that would work.

I always said that if I could I would try to help those people that are in the same boat as me, that is why I created this website to help the hard-gainer as we are called and give some information to everyone else out there who is struggling.