*By Ben Brewster, our newest contributing author*

You’re trying to gain weight. You train hard for one hour 3-4 times a week, you’re getting adequate sleep and recovery, and you don’t have a glaring muscle imbalance that is holding you back. You eat when you’re hungry (sometimes more often), and don’t stop until you’re full. And yet, you still can’t pack any muscle onto your skinny frame. You’ve only achieved modest gains in the weight room and chalked up huge gains only to those who have “freaky” genetics. If this sounds like you, listen up. Here’s a tip that helped me gain 10 lbs of muscle in 7 weeks, up to 193lbs from 183lbs, after spending the previous 4 months working to make similar gains.

Track your nutrition.

I’m going to assume you already eat clean, more or less. I’m going to take that leap that you never touch fast food and soda, and that you work on maintaining a high-protein diet with plenty of healthy fats, including lean meat, fruits, veggies and nuts. Let’s assume you have the quality of the food covered, but you still aren’t making great gains in the gym. Let’s talk about quantity. You think you’re eating enough to gain weight. You are rarely hungry.

You’re wrong.

Now, I’m no expert nutritionist, but everything in my experience indicates the body wants nothing more than to maintain homeostasis. This is a fancy way of saying that to stimulate new growth you must push your body beyond what it feels comfortable with. Yeah, I know this already, you’re thinking. Maybe so, but as you think about finishing that last gulp of protein shake or saving it for later, your body is going to be fighting you every step of the way trying to tell you that you’re full. My point:

It is remarkably easy to trick yourself into thinking you’re getting sufficient calories.

Back to my story. I had done my research and knew I should be getting at least 4,000 calories a day, but never took the time to write down everything I ate throughout the day or add up my average total caloric intake. I did this, finally, and it turns out I was missing the mark from 750 – 1250 calories each day! Granted, I don’t always know exactly how many calories I consumed on any given day, but at least now I know within a few hundred.

Again, I’m no nutritionist, but another benefit I’ve noticed is that my already quick metabolism seems to have shot through the roof! After a couple weeks of this, I began to feel hungry much faster, even though I was eating far more than I used to! My gut tells me that this is part of the reason I have not gained any visible fat.

Here’s roughly what I eat every day, though it varies a bit. I know it’s not perfect, but it’s what I‘ve come up with given my current circumstances.

Breakfast:
Chicken Omelet: 540/52
Cup Milk: 110/8
TOTAL: 650cal/60g protein

Morning Snack:
Peanut Butter Sandwich: 420/16
2 small handfuls cashews (2 oz): 320/8
TOTAL: 740/24

Lunch:
Chicken, 6 oz: 275/50
Yogurt: 170/5
1 cup OJ: 110/2
Sweet Potato: 80/2
TOTAL: 635/59

Post-Workout Meal:
2 scoops EAS Whey Protein: 240/46
Peanut Butter Sandwich: 420/16
TOTAL: 660/62

Dinner: Varies 600-900 calories, >40 grams protein
TOTAL: 600-900/30+

Post-Dinner Snack:
Super Mass Shake: 750/48
(1/3 cup oats, 1 cup milk, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 scoop whey)
TOTAL: 750/48

Pre-Bedtime Snack:
Cup Milk: 110/8
2 Flameout Caps: 25/0
1.4 Cup Cottage Cheese: 50/7
TOTAL: 185/15

NEW TOTAL: 4220-4520 Calories/298g protein

In conclusion, you really need to have a general idea of what your caloric intake is every day. I’m not asking you to painstakingly record every meal, but a general idea and plan to follow is huge when it comes to pushing your body out of its comfort zone and spawning new muscle growth.