Size has always mattered and it always will. Everything else being equal, the bigger player will be stronger, faster, more resistant to injury and recruited harder than the smaller player.

Want to get big? The first step is to acknowledge what you are doing now simply isn't working. Step two is to listen to a man who knows something about being big.

1) Your perception sucks

Believe it or not I know what it feels like to be small and skinny.

This was me back home after boot camp at my graduation party. Thirteen weeks earlier I arrived at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego at a strong and lean 220 pounds ready to go, and left at 190 pounds in good need of a buffet line.

Weight-loss, just like weight gain revolves around overall energy balance. Why did I lose thirty pounds over 13 weeks? I used more energy than I consumed. There is no denying my body didn't get enough calories to maintain my 220 pound frame. I had no intention of losing weight during boot camp, but it happened because I wasn't getting enough calories to support my body's metabolic demands. It is such a simple concept but so difficult for many folks to embrace. You're not gaining weight because you're not eating enough food.

Just like overweight people think they eat less than they do, skinny folks believe they eat much more than they actually do.

You tell me you eat a lot, okay, compared to who? Compared to your eight year old sister? Your grandma? me? Your teammates?

2) You still think muscle is gained in the gym

Ronnie Coleman, Arnold or any other beast of a man or women would never get the slabs of muscle they got without committing time and effort in the gym for years, but all of that effort in the gym would be minimized if they didn't understand that beef is built with beef.
To grow you must consume. Where else does the muscle come from...the barbell? I think not.

Weight training creates the right environment in the body to grow but without fuel and a whole heck of a lot of it there will be little to no growth. Get stronger and faster in the weight room, get bigger in the kitchen.

3) You don't have a plan

You want to get bigger, what did you eat for breakfast? How about lunch? Dinner? What about tomorrow? If I didn't say it first but I'll say it now. Fail to plan, plan to fail! If you're not willing to do some planning in advance then you don't have what it takes to get big.

Food must be easily accessible if you are the seeker of mass. If you have to take a bunch of time to prepare every meal chances are you will begin to skip some, which isn't an option for mass seekers like you and I.

4) If you have a plan you don't execute (consistently)

I eat a ton. Okay, maybe Wednesday you ate a ton. What about Tuesday, Thursday and Friday? Aren't the other days of the week just as important? Consistency is king and it couldn't be truer with gaining mass. Eating in mass quantities once or twice a week isn't a habit, doing it every day is.

5) Mindset, mindset, mindset

Skinny people have skinny mindsets. You want to grow, think big. You better believe you have what it takes and embrace whatever needs to be done to get there.

Skinny Mindset

• I don't like breakfast
• Breakfast makes me feel sick
• I don't wake up in time to eat breakfast
• I forgot to eat lunch
• I was just going to wait to eat until I got home
• I'm not hungry
• I don't feel like eating all that meat.
• I'm too full
• My stomach hurts
• There was nothing good to eat
• I didn't think about it
• I forgot to eat
• I was too lazy to make anything

Jacked Mindset

• When isn't food on my mind
• It's always a good time to eat
• It has nothing to do with being hungry
• If there's no protein it's a waste of a meal
• Taste is secondary, nutrition and calories are primary
• Wake-up: 1) bathroom, 2) eat....everyday!

There you have it five reasons why you are still skinny. Notice I didn't say a word about calories, types of food or even when to eat. Why? because mindset trumps everything else. Get your mind right first and then you can focus on the details.