Help! What's Failing? Nutrition or Training?

[CorStar]

Hello, I am a 25 year old woman, 5'1 and 92 pounds, looking to put on 10 pounds (give or take a few). I have been weight training for about 3 weeks now (3-5 times a week with a short warm-up and a 1/2 hour to an hour of weight training.) I've been varying muscle splits, types of exercises, weight, amount of reps and sets etc, trying to get comfortable with lifting heavier and trying to figure out what works best for me (both what I enjoy and what gives me the best "burn.")

As for nutrition I've been aiming to eat between 1800 and 2000 calories a day, using food exchanges as a reference. I shoot for 16oz protein (some lean, some not so), 7 starch servings, 3 fruit servings, 1 serving of beans/legumes, 1-2 servings of dairy, 3-4 veggies, and 3-4 added fats. I allow myself the occasional "treat" as well, like an alcoholic drink or a piece of cake. I don't always meet the goals, occasionally go over, and sometimes swap things for others.

So far I have seen some results, a little more definition overall, but have not put on any weight. I am going on vacation in a week and when I get back would like to start a more formal routine. My big question is what do you think has been failing me so far. I was expecting to have put on a couple of pounds. Am I most likely not training hard enough or correctly? Will a more vigorous or structured workout routine make the difference? OR is it simply that I'm not eating enough to put on weight?

Thanks,

[discdoggie]

You need to eat LOTS more. And forget"
"burn.". You need to reach muscular failure. Or near. Heavier. Failure in the 8-10 range.

[terracotta]

You need to eat LOTS more. And forget"
"burn.". You need to reach muscular failure. Or near. Heavier. Failure in the 8-10 range.

I agree.

Start here - www.hotnfit.com/muscle_building/

[Rowyn]

Three weeks is nowhere near enough time to see muscle weight gain. Haphazard training methods work for a little bit with new people because they are doing something versus nothing. However, a proven training program will get you results faster with less trial and error.

Eat food by the gram, not by food exchange. There are lots of free calorie counting websites out there that will break your food intake down into macronutrients for you.

Good luck!

[sonti]

Just another thought but I recall another post by this OP saying she was down to 80lbs at one point 'due to illness' -> she didn't specifiy, but if it was anorexia or another eating disorder, then perhaps she has some serious metabolic damage to be dealing with too. I'm not too well-versed on the issue but I have heard from others here that they've needed rather exceptionally high calories to gain after that.