Vince Gironda Weight-Gain Diet

The following extract comes from Vince Gironda’s 1984 Book: Unleashing the Wild Physique (available here). This book cannot be recommended highly enough, from VInce’s no nonsense take on steroids to his innovative training techniques. Today’s post comes from Vince’s advice on weight gain.

The real secret to gaining weight is food. The more you eat, the more you’ll gain. While eating three nutritionally balanced meals a day is good, it is even more beneficial to eat or more meals per day. Eat smaller meals – but more often – every three hours. If you can’t find the time to eat six meals a day, try eating three main meals with snacks between meals and before going to bed.

The cardinal rules of weight gaining are:

• Never overeat at any one particular meal (this causes bloating and gas and may actually cause a weight loss)
• And never allow yourself to get hungry

You want to always keep a constant supply of protein and other nutrients to the muscles. Include a great deal of broiled meats and thick stews in your diet as well as lots of raw vegetables. Drink a lot of half & half, my protein mixture, or certified raw milk throughout the day.

Try to follow regular sleeping, eating, and training habits. endeavour to calm down and stop burning up calories through nervous energy. Get control of your emotions. Nervous energy shuts off all your endocrine secretions, causing weight loss.

The importance of a good breakfast cannot be stressed enough. It is the most important meal of the day, supplying the body with nutrition and fuel after many hours of having no food. And be sure to supplement your diet with my recommendations, since the high-protein meals outlined are not necessarily well-balanced meals.

After each meal allow your food to digest thoroughly by lying or sitting with your feet propped up on a high footstool. This allows one-third of the blood in the body to concentrate around the stomach for maximum digestion, and it also allows the food to remain there longer.

And finally, don’t smoke! It interferes with gaining weight as it destroys your appetite by raising the blood-sugar level. It also shrinks the capillaries and interferes with muscle growth.

Breakfast

• 4-9oz. liver, chops, steak, hamburger, brains, kidney or fish
• 4-6 eggs or 4 oz. natural cheese
• 1 glass certified raw milk, half & half or raw cream
• 2 slices rye or whole-wheat toast with sweet butter

Supplements 

• 1 Vitamin B Complex
• 1 Vitamin C Complex (300mg)
• 3 Vitamin E Capsules (600 -1200IU)
• 10 Alfalfa Tablets
• 10 Kelp Tablets
• 3 Tri-Germ and Wheat Germ Oil Capsules
• 1 Halibut Oil Capsule
• 1 Hypothalamus Tablet
• 1 Hypo-Zyme Tablet
• 3 Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) tablets (before meal)
• 3 Digestive Enzyme Tablets (after meal)
• 1 Lipotropic Tablet (250 mg of choline, instal, methionine)
• 4 Calcium Tablets
• 1 Zinc Tablet with PABA (Para-Aminobenzoic Acid)
• 3 Lysine Tablets
• 3 Multi-Glandular Tablets (Nucleo Glan Male or Female)

Lunch

• Eggs (no limit)
• Meat (any kind, no limit)
• 8 oz. cottage cheese
• Raw vegetable salad
• Fruit

Supplements

• 1 Iron Tablet
• 4 Calcium Tablets
• Same as breakfast with the omission of Vitamin E, Tri-Germ, Wheat Germ and Halibut Oil Capsules.

Dinner

• Same as lunch (choose different foods)
• Yogurt
• Fruit

Supplements

• Same as lunch

Special Supplements

• 10 Amino-Acid and Desiccated Liver Tablets (every 3 hours)
• 5 Yeast Tablets (every 3 hours)
• 10 grams of arginine, ornithine (before retiring)
• 5 grams of tryptophan (before retiring)

Snacks

• Half & Half
• Vince’s Special Protein Drink
• Half & Half and Ginger Ale

with

• Between-meal sandwiches with cheese, eggs, meat, tuna fish, or peanut butter on rye or whole-wheat bread.

By the way, for those of you wondering, Vince’s special protein drink was as follows:

• 12 oz. half & half
• 12 raw eggs
• 1/3 cup protein powder (Typically Rheo H. Blair’s product)
• 1 banana

If you’re on the other end of the spectrum and need help shifting unwanted weight, why not check out Vince’s ‘Definition Diet’, available here.