How can I look less painfully skinny?

Heavy booze, heavy smokes, swimming in the open ocean, fine women, and game meats. That's all you need.

Whiskey has certainly helped me pack it on during this quarantine.

Poho, you gotta get to the gym and pump that iron mate.

Stop running marathons. Don't run further than one mile.

MilertoMarathon wrote:

I mean I guess one of the problems I’m having is that I hate cooking. I moved out of my parents house right after I finished school and I’m on my own now. When I was in school I had access to a dining hall that I typically ate at every day so I was able to maintain weight easier. Are their any protein shakes or like that ensure drink that helps people at least maintain weight?

You already know the answer to this: Grow up, cook and eat properly.

Look, you've got to embrace it. You aren't "painfully skinny," you're slim. So am I, but probably 25 years older than you. I spent my 20s lifting, hoping to get bigger. Bodies don't always work that way. I can still wear my high-school clothes from the 1980s. Most people would kill for your metabolism, and in 20 years when all your high-school friends are stretching their shirt buttons, you win. In the meanwhile, highlight your advantage; buy thin leg pants and slim fit shirts. Otherwise you look like a kid wearing his dad's clothes (as my first boss told me). https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/fashion/shows/07DIARY.html

MilertoMarathon wrote:

Taller runner here that almost looks like a white absol Kiprop. I understand that running makes you skinny but is there anything I can do or add to my routine to make me look less painfully skinny. I was a mid distance runner in college and moved up to the marathon and now I find it very hard to keep weight on. I now find myself skinner then I was when I was running the 1500 by about 8 pounds. Is there anyway I can at least create the illusion that I’m not as skinny as I actually am. Lifting or dressing wise?

Now I will give you a proper advice, I was in the same situation like you. I am 1,84 m tall and did weight 62 kg with around 4,7 % body fat about 2 years ago and did ran a half marathon in 1:07 with around 100 km/week. I got injured and decided, enough is enough. I will put on some muscles. I ate mostly a lot of tuna, salmon, eggs, nuts, avocado, chicken, loads of vegetables , some fruits and carbs like rice or noodles. The main thing was, I had a calorie surplus, but was not binge eating. Moreover, I did every second day a lot of body weight exercises like push ups. I could not start with pull ups, since I could not do even one pull up, but I bought some equipment, which helped me to do some pull ups (they help you much more to gain muscles, since you get muscles by progressive overload - 8 to 12 reps per set produce the highest muscle growth) after one month of push ups (I did around 100 (5 times 20 ) push ups every second day for the first month). After 2 months I was able to do 5 pull ups. Now after 2 years I can do 20, please no hate comments - there exist people who outnumber me by a couple times. Anyway, I 'bulked up' until I weighted around 78 kg (around 1 year later) and then decided, now it is enough. I had around 17 % body fat then and certainly a lot of water in my body. Now I weigh 71 kg with around 6,5 % body fat and run around 130 km/week. Shortly ago I ran in a training session 31 min for 10 k. I was training for a half marathon, unfortunately corona cancelled all races. So there is a solution, but this needs time; you can not gain a lot of muscles, if you do not have a calorie surplus as a skinny man. So, Corona is a good point to start with gaining muscles. Let your shape drop a little bit, eat healthy and more than enough calories and do every second day body exercises appropriate for you level. In the first month, you will not see a lot of changes, but in the 2 and 3 month, changes start if you are consistent. I only wanted to show you, it is possible to look normal as a natural skinny runner by consistent work and to put on some muscles does not imply, you get slower - maybe even faster, but I do not know for sure, since I have not raced due to corona (but my training sessions are much faster now). And I am less injured, since I am eating more fat and protein now. I hope this helps.

MilertoMarathon wrote:

I understand that running makes you skinny but is there anything I can do or add to my routine to make me look less painfully skinny. Is there anyway I can at least create the illusion that I’m not as skinny as I actually am. Lifting or dressing wise?

May we trade places, please? I need some of that. (Age 62, just fought with the bathroom scale yet again. "No! No!")

By gaining weight. /EOT

preferably in an unnamed village by the sea

Pushups. Mix it up: inclines, declines, regular. You don't have to do a lot. A couple sets (20) a day, everyday. Don't expect to see immediate results. Make it part of your regular routine.

Appreciate all the responses,

It’s definitely interesting to get runners perspectives on this. Both my brothers used to play football and whenever I asked them for advice it would always be something condescending like “Cardio is for weaklings” or “stop running and just lift bro” Not a huge fan of all the stupid bro science that they preach. I will definitely add a lot of these to my routine. Currently training for CIM, so I have a lot of time to adjust my running to and add these exercises.