What’s My Story?

Hey there!
I’m Rohan, and I’m based in Toronto, Canada. I’ve been a hard-gainer for pretty much all of my life, and I still run on the same metabolism. Which means that I get full after eating just the snacks, probably gain nothing if I eat junk here and there, and the idea of eating a calorie surplus consisting of high-quality foods still haunts me. However, what has changed is my knowledge about calorie management, how fitness and nutrition are more of a lifestyle than a 3 months plan, and how transforming a body takes patience and consistency, more than anything else.

What Supplements Did I Use During the Transformation?

More people have been interested in knowing what supplements I’d used than what nutrition and workout I’d followed. This is not wrong, but you need to realize the importance of the right diet before you move on to supplements.

As I’ve often mentioned in my articles, if you’re looking for general fitness, which this site focuses on, you can achieve it without using any supplements. However, given the busy schedules that we have, and the amount of time we have to prepare our meals makes it difficult to get our calories and macro-nutrients in through diet alone. Which is why supplements are often brought into the diet. I’ve never been a fan of taking 5-6 supplements at a time, which is why I always stick to basics. Here are some of the only four supplements I’ve used:

Mass Gainer: No matter what others say about weight gainers being loaded with excessive sugars, they’ve always been on my side during initial bulking days. While I do agree to some point that mass gainers are expensive and have a high sugar content compared to whey protein supplements, the utility that it provides is genuinely helpful. For us, it is not just about eating more, but also about eating frequently and being consistent with eating more every day.
For someone like me who does not has the appetite to gulp down calorie-dense food in every meal that I eat, I had to look for other options. Mass Gainer, if taken in the right way, can be a great help. All you need to do is find the right calories and macro-nutrient requirement, try to reach the goal with whole-foods and shakes as much as you can, and then fill in the small gaps with a mass gainer. I generally took it after workout and during breakfast, but it completely depends. Don’t worry if you aren’t sure where to start, in the next section I’ll explain the steps that you can take to start gaining weight.
Whey Protein: A whey protein supplement is something that you’ll have to invest continuously in, since getting enough protein in a day is difficult, given our busy schedules. However, if you can try fulfilling your protein requirements with food alone, there’s literally nothing better than that. In fact, I always suggest people to try completing their requirements through food alone, and if you fail, then go for supplements. I’ve tried various whey protein supplements in the past, all of which have been reviewed on this website. You’ll get more information on this in the next section.
Creatine Monohydrate: One of the cheapest yet highest quality supplements that you can invest in, creatine is going you somewhat change the way you lift, allowing you to lift more than you did before starting supplementing. However, there are certain side effects and precautions that you should be aware of, all of which have been discussed on this website. Creatine helps your body retain water, and it helps you improve your performance in the gym. Definitely a must if you’re putting on weight. Don’t forget to cycle it though. More information on this in the next section.
BCAA: While I’m not a fan of BCAA’s, I’ve tried using them as intra-workout drinks. The only reason for going with BCAA’s is because I feel a sudden rush to drink flavored drinks during my workout, and nothing more.
Multivitamins: This is something that I take regularly, no matter what fitness routine I’m on. It may not help directly in gaining weight, but I make sure that I get enough vitamins and minerals to keep my body functioning properly, and not be deprived of any nutrients.

You could go on to take several other supplements to gain weight, however, the basic ones will remain the same.

SuperFood Supplements:

Years of trying to put on weight by eating more, trying new diet plans, eating cheat meals and experimenting with new supplements had led to a common problem: Indigestion!

When you are a hard-gainer, you may sometimes have to force feed your stomach to eat more, even when you don’t want to. This is not healthy at all, but we all make mistakes. I focused solely on eating more calories, without realizing that my body was craving for more healthy foods than just junk.

Ultimately, the result was clear: Chronic Acidity and Indigestion. Antibiotics would often help, but it would be back when I would leave the medicines.

Ultimately, the only cure was a healthier lifestyle, which included a healthy eating and sleeping routine, apart from workout. I was fortunate enough to come across this really great line of Superfood Supplements, which were a blend of several green superfoods.

If you are someone who has chronic acid reflux, a poor digestive system, bad immune system or just need an energy boost, you should try considering a superfood supplement( only after consulting a doctor). Here are some SuperFood Powders that I recommend:

SuperGreen Tonik: Launched by one of my friends Adam, this supplement is a blend of 15 superfoods to help you fuel your body in mind. Checkout my complete SuperGreen Tonik Review to grab an additional 10% discount.
Detox Organics: Another great superfood blend, Detox Organics is chocolate flavored and consists of 25 organic superfoods, helping you boost energy, improve digestion and eliminate inflammation. Checkout my Review of Detox Organics to get a 10% off on your complete order.
Athletic Greens: Another great product that I tried and felt the changes, Athletic Greens is a premium green supplement. Checkout my Review on Athletic Greens for details.

How Do You Start Your Transformation?

Here’s a step-by-step plan on how you can go about starting your fitness journey towards gaining healthy weight:

Go through these articles and understand the process of gaining weight:
How to Gain Weight with a Fast Metabolism
The Top Exercises to Gain Weight
Static vs Dynamic Stretching
Calculate your caloric and macro-nutrient requirement to gain a specific amount of weight in a given time frame:
Daily Calorie Calculator
Body Mass Index Calculator
Find out the right foods that’ll help you gain weight, so that you save time by focusing on calorie dense foods instead of filling ones that do not give you any calories ( you should still consume these for their health benefits):
The Complete Weight Gain Foods List
Find out what supplements to take, why they work and which ones to avoid:
Answer these simple questions and get personalized recommendations for supplements based on your body type
Best Weight Gain Supplements
Best Mass Gainers Around the World
Mass Gainer vs Whey Protein
Creatine for Weight Gain
Take action, and post your journeys: All the information here will only be useful if you take action and start taking the right steps in getting the body you want. If you’ve already completed your journey, transformed your body, in between a transformation and wish to share your progress, send me the details on Email and we’ll make sure to include it in our Journeys page.

Am I Allowed to Make Transformations Plans for You?

To answer the question in one word, No, I’m not legally allowed to make transformation or nutrition plans, because I haven’t yet given the exam that legally allows me to do so. However, I’ve completed the training and have the knowledge to do so.

Does that mean that all the experience I’ve gained has gone waste? Not necessarily. In fact, this is the reason I prefer to share my personal views about supplements on this website instead of paid personalized plans, along with science-based tips on nutrition and weight management.

Moreover, the main focus of this website is towards helping you gain healthy weight, which is a part of general fitness and not professional bodybuilding. More advanced workout programs and nutrition plans are often used by professionals who wish to make bodybuilding as their profession, or are working towards a specific goal in fitness. On this website, you’ll see the information that is related to general fitness, and specifically weight gain.

Also, I feel it is important to understand your body and how it reacts to different workouts, before you go for a personalized plan. For instance, what works for others may not work for you. Hence, during the initial period, try educating yourself with information about your workouts and nutrition, then go on to experiment and find what works best for you. An easier way could obviously be to hire a personal trainer and let them do this for you.

What Changes Can You Expect After Your Fitness Journey?

When you take up a fitness routine, including weight gain or weight loss, you go towards a major transformation of your life, which is not just limited to your body. Yes, you will see a change in your overall fitness and body, but here are some other changes you can expect:

More Confidence: The first and most important aspect of your life that’ll be impacted is your confidence. Since you will have to make conscious decisions to take care of your body, avoid things that delay the process or aren’t healthy for your body, and finally see your muscles grow better and stronger, you’ll see your confidence shoot up as you go through.
Improved Fitness: This is a no brainer. The main reason for you going through a healthy weight gain journey is not just because you want to gain weight, but also to achieve a higher level of fitness in your body. Working out consistently along with the right nutrition gives you exactly what you want, including better stamina, reduced risk of heart diseases and better mood.
Better Discipline: This is one of the side benefits of going through a fitness journey, and ultimately the most rewarding. When you realize the importance of working out consistently and with persistence, combined with the schedule of eating nutritious food in almost every meal of yours, you gain a lot of discipline in terms of your lifestyle and habits. After a successful weight gain/fitness journey, you’d be able to focus much more on taking care of your body, be respectful of what you put inside it, and be mindful of what decisions you take to make fitness as a part of your life.
Look Your Best: The reason why you as a hard-gainer are looking to gain weight could be to look better, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Taking care of your body and looking your best is the best self-investment you can do, and with the right workout and nutrition, you’re bound to get to a point where you keep becoming better, and look your best.
A Better Overall Personality: Last but not the least, your overall personality will reflect through your decisions. When you decide to put hours in the gym, take the right nutritious foods diet, drink plenty of water and get quality sleep everyday, you’re ultimately focusing on investing your own body and bringing positive changes to your lifestyle. This definitely reflects, and you’d be able to see much more positive results in your life, as compared to the time when you lived a sedentary lifestyle.

Why You Should Start Now?

Most people are often intimidated at the beginning of the fitness journey, knowing that it’ll probably take months or even years to get their dream body. My answer? Two years are two years, including a good lifestyle will not escalate or slow down these two years. But at the end of the two years? You will be at a much better place in terms of confidence and self-worth than you are currently, and you would thank yourself more than anything! (Only if you start now)

Given that gaining weight will not just transform your body, but your overall personality, how you look, your confidence, how you feel and your decisions, it is important that you start not tomorrow, but today!

Do I Get Paid to Do This?

I do not get paid to write articles and supplement reviews on this website, and everything is available to you for free. Also, there are no advertisements on this website.

The product links that you might see in some of the articles are Affiliate Links, and I might sometimes get a small commission when you make a purchase using these links. There is absolutely no additional cost to you. In fact, you might actually get discounts if you use these links, since oftentimes these websites give additional discounts to the readers. The small fee that is generated through these affiliate links gets re-invested in providing high quality articles and supplement reviews on this website.

Connecting with Me

If you have questions related to gaining weight, try going through the articles once, or use the search bar on the right corner to filter articles. Chances are, most of your questions will already have been answered on the website.

If you have a personal question related to workout, nutrition or supplement, that can help others in their weight gain journey, use the Gaining Tactics Q&A Forum and you’ll receive answers from other professionals on their journeys.

Other than that, you can connect with me with your questions or just say hi using the Contact Form, my Email or connect with me on the Instagram Page that I’ve recently started.

Happy Gaining!