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How to gain weight
By Annie 
February 26, 2009
February 26, 2009
Photo by nataliej, shared via Flickr.
If you read any newspaper or watch the news today, you will likely hear about the increasing rate of childhood and adult obesity. Piggybacked on that article, you will probably read about some new ways to lose weight or cut back on fat and calories. This is all well and good. But for people who need to gain weight - often underweight toddlers or athletic adolescents - the process can be equally challenging.
Successful weight gain for those who need it requires the combination of a balanced eating plan with regular physical activity. A healthy, high-calorie diet and exercise will ensure that you gain weight in the right places, putting on lean muscle and some fat at the same time.
Trying to gain weight? Make it your strategy to plan ahead for extra meals and snacks, because the key to the weight gain battle is to take in more calories than you burn. Try to add two or three big snacks between three medium-size meals. If you spread out your food choices during the day, you can enjoy your meals and snacks without feeling overstuffed.
Calories and protein are your allies. Tip the scale towards weight gain by picking foods that are calorie dense, or high in calories. While rich desserts and fried foods quickly come to mind, be sure to choose foods that pack other nutrients, such as protein, vitamins and minerals, in addition to calories. Look on the Nutrition Facts labels for foods which contain at least 200-300 calories per serving and greater than 10% vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium or iron.
Aim to choose these high calorie foods:
A few more strategies:
In addition to this nutrition plan, aim for 30-60 minutes of physical activity at least 5 days/week to help build lean muscle mass while gaining weight.
If you've been struggling to gain weight, tell us what strategies have worked for you!
Successful weight gain for those who need it requires the combination of a balanced eating plan with regular physical activity. A healthy, high-calorie diet and exercise will ensure that you gain weight in the right places, putting on lean muscle and some fat at the same time.
Trying to gain weight? Make it your strategy to plan ahead for extra meals and snacks, because the key to the weight gain battle is to take in more calories than you burn. Try to add two or three big snacks between three medium-size meals. If you spread out your food choices during the day, you can enjoy your meals and snacks without feeling overstuffed.
Calories and protein are your allies. Tip the scale towards weight gain by picking foods that are calorie dense, or high in calories. While rich desserts and fried foods quickly come to mind, be sure to choose foods that pack other nutrients, such as protein, vitamins and minerals, in addition to calories. Look on the Nutrition Facts labels for foods which contain at least 200-300 calories per serving and greater than 10% vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium or iron.
Aim to choose these high calorie foods:
- Carbohydrates: granola, bagels, biscuits, cornbread, brown rice
- Fruits: canned fruit in syrup, dried fruits
- Vegetables: avocado, olives, potatoes, peas, corn, squash
- Meats: lean beef, pork, lean poultry, beans, eggs, nuts and peanut butter
- Dairy: whole milk, fruited yogurts, hard cheeses, ice cream, puddings, milkshakes
- Fats: Choose healthy fats and oils such as olive and canola oil
A few more strategies:
- Use milk in place of water in soups and sauces.
- Sprinkle powdered milk into casseroles for added calories, protein and calcium.
- Add avocado, cheese, and salad dressings to sandwiches.
- Mix cooked, chopped meat, wheat germ, nuts, beans or cheese into side dishes and pasta.
In addition to this nutrition plan, aim for 30-60 minutes of physical activity at least 5 days/week to help build lean muscle mass while gaining weight.
If you've been struggling to gain weight, tell us what strategies have worked for you!
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Regarding the physical activity recommendation, its probably good to do weight-bearing exercises to promote muscle growth, or low-impact cardio that won’t burn up too many of the calories the eater is trying to sneak in! Yoga or walking seem like good choices.
Great suggestions KiwiLog--you are right! Weight-bearing exercises such as walking, yoga or elliptical training would encourage muscle development and help to prevent osteoporosis!
Ooh ~ interesting post.
I’ve been lucky enough to be fairly thin most of my life but after nursing my daughter thru a milk allergy, I became REALLY skinny.
Although I don’t have any specific ideas for how to gain weight, I applaud posting re: the issue. I don’t think people understood how hurtful it is/was to hear how skinny I looked (knowing that it did NOT look “good” but instead I looked unhealthy and sick). In general, I think it’d be nicer if everyone just stayed away from comments about other’s weight (or lack thereof).
Thanks!
Thank you so much for bringing attention to this topic. Many people say, “I’d love to have that problem!”, but they don’t realize the health problems and fatigue that can come with being underweight. One thing my doctor recommended that worked well for me was replacing a lot of my daily water intake with 100% fruit juice. I found that grape juice had the most calories (150 cal/8 oz.), so that’s what I usually drank. It’s not ideal if you are working on weight gain over long periods of time (and I’m sure my dentist wasn’t thrilled), but it’s a good way to get extra calories if you need to gain weight over a period of several months at a time.
So glad to see the conversation around this topic. D, I have to admit, your opener was my first thought on reading Annie’s piece as well. It’s nice to work with people who can teach you things! :)
I have trouble keeping my weight down, but my kids have trouble keeping weight on. This is posing a challenge to me as I tend to use non-fat food items when I cook, while the kids could use whole products. I’m thinking snacks will be key… Another tip I’ve heard is adding Carnation Intant breakfast to milk for extra calories and limiting juice drinks to one per day, 2 glasses of milk per day so that they don’t fill up on these instead of food.