How to Gain Weight! Simpler than Losing it

Approximately two-thirds of people in the world are either overweight or obese.

But we are not gonna talk about losing weight, but about How to gain weight! However, many people suffer from the reverse problem of being excessively thin. This is a cause for concern since being underweight may be just as harmful to your health as fat.

Furthermore, many people who are not clinically underweight wish to increase muscle. The basic concepts are the same whether you are clinically underweight or merely want to acquire muscle weight.

This article explains a simple approach for rapidly healthily gaining weight.

What Does the Term “Underweight” Really Mean?

Underweight is characterized as having a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18.5. This is thought to be less than the body mass required to maintain maximum health.

In contrast, everybody above the age of 25 is considered overweight, and everyone over the age of 30 is considered obese.

To find out where you fall on the BMI scale, use this calculator (opens in a new tab).

However, keep in mind that the BMI scale, which solely considers weight and height, has several flaws. It makes no allowance for muscular mass.

Some people are naturally thin yet remain healthy. Being underweight on this scale does not always imply that you have a health condition. Compared to men, girls and women are around 2–3 times more likely to be underweight. In the United States, 1% of males and 2.4 % of women aged 20 and up are underweight.

What Are the Health Implications of Being Underweight?

Obesity is presently one of the world’s most serious health issues.

Being underweight, on the other hand, maybe just as harmful to your health. According to one study, being underweight was connected with a 140% increase in the risk of dying young in males and a 100% increase in the risk of dying young in women.

Obesity, on the other hand, was connected with a 50% increased risk of premature mortality, implying that being underweight maybe even worse for your health. Another study discovered an increased risk of premature mortality in underweight males but not women, indicating that being underweight may worsen for males.

Being underweight can also affect your immune system, increase your risk of infection, cause osteoporosis and fractures, and create reproductive issues. Furthermore, underweight persons are considerably more prone to develop sarcopenia (age-related muscular loss) and may be predisposed to dementia.

Being underweight can be as harmful as being fat, if not more so. Underweight people are more likely to have osteoporosis, infections, reproductive issues, and die young.

Several factors can contribute to someone being underweight.

Many medical problems can result in unhealthful weight loss, including:

• Anorexia nervosa, a serious mental condition, is one example of an eating disorder.
• Thyroid issues: An overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) can increase metabolism and lead to undesirable weight loss.
• Celiac disease is the most severe form of gluten sensitivity. The majority of celiac disease sufferers are unaware of their condition.
• Diabetes: Uncontrolled diabetes (mostly type 1) can result in significant weight loss.
• Cancer: Cancerous tumors frequently burn many calories, causing a person to lose a significant amount of weight.
• Illnesses: Certain infections might cause a person to lose a lot of weight. Parasites, TB, and HIV/AIDS are examples of such diseases.

If you are underweight, you should consult a physician to rule out any major medical concerns.

This is especially crucial if you’ve lately begun shedding a lot of weight without even trying.

How to Gain Weight in a Healthy Manner

It is essential to do things correctly if you want to acquire weight.

Binging on drinks and donuts may help you gain weight, but it may also harm your health.

If you’re underweight, you’ll want to build a good mix of muscle mass and subcutaneous fat rather than a lot of harmful belly fat.

Many persons of normal weight develop type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other health concerns linked with obesity.

As a result, eating nutritious meals and leading a healthy lifestyle is critical. The next chapter examines various efficient methods for gaining weight quickly without jeopardizing your health.

Even if you’re wanting gain weight, it’s critical to eat largely healthful meals.

Consume More Calories Than Your Body Uses

The most crucial thing you can do to gain weight is to develop a calorie surplus, which means you consume more calories than your body requires. You may use this calorie calculator to figure out how many calories you need. According to the calculator, if you want to gain weight slowly and consistently, aim for 300–500 calories more than you expend each day.

If you want to gain weight quickly, aim for 700–1,000 calories more than your maintenance amount. Remember that calorie calculators are simply estimations. Your daily calorie requirements may vary by several hundred calories, give or take.

You don’t have to track calories for the rest of your life, but it might help you get a sense of how many calories you’re eating in the first few days or weeks. There are plenty of excellent tools available to assist you.

To acquire weight, you must consume more calories than your body burns. Aim for 300–500 calories per day more than your maintenance level for modest weight gain, or 700–1,000 calories for rapid weight growth.

Consume a Lot of Protein

Protein is the single most important ingredient for gaining a healthy weight.

Muscle is formed of protein, and without it, the majority of the excess calories may be stored as body fat.

According to research, a high-protein diet allows much of the excess calories to be converted into muscle during periods of overfeeding. Keep in mind, though, that protein is a two-edged sword. It’s also quite filling, which may dramatically lessen your hunger and appetite, making it more difficult to consume enough calories.

Aim for 0.7–1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (1.5–2.2 gram of protein per kilogram) if you’re aiming to gain weight. You can even go over that if you consume a lot of calories.

Meats, fish, eggs, numerous dairy items, legumes, almonds, and other high-protein foods are available. If you fail to acquire enough protein in your diet, protein supplements such as whey protein might help.

Protein serves as the foundation for your muscles. Eating enough protein is necessary to grow muscle weight rather than fat weight.

Fill up on carbs and fat, and eat at least three times a day.

When trying to reduce weight, many people try to restrict either carbohydrates or fat.

This is a terrible idea if you want to gain weight since it will make it more difficult to consume adequate calories.

If you want to gain weight, eat a lot of high-carb and high-fat meals. It is recommended to have a sufficient amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrates at each meal.

Intermittent fasting is also a terrible idea. This is beneficial for weight loss and health improvement. Still, it might make it much more difficult to consume enough calories to gain weight. Eat at least three meals each day and try to incorporate energy-dense snacks wherever feasible.

Eat at least three meals every day and contain lots of fat, carbohydrates, and protein to gain weight.

Consume Energy-Dense Foods and Make Use of Sauces, Spices, and Condiments

Also Read, 10 High Protein Vegetarian food for Muscle building 

Again, it is critical to consume largely entire, single-ingredient meals.

The difficulty is that these meals are more filling than processed junk meals, making it more difficult to consume adequate calories.

Using a variety of spices, sauces, and condiments can assist. The more delicious your meal is, the simpler it is to consume a large amount of it. Also, try to eat as many energy-dense meals as possible. These are foods that have a high-calorie content concerning their weight.

Here are some energy-dense meals that are ideal for weight gain:

• Almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, and other nuts
• Raisins, dates, prunes, and other dried fruits
• Dairy has a high-fat content: whole milk, full-fat yogurt, cheese, and cream.
• Extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil serve as fats and oils.
• Whole grains such as oats and brown rice are examples of grains.
• Meat: chicken, beef, pork, lamb, and so forth. Choose the fatty slices.
• Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams are examples of tubers.
• Dark chocolate, avocados, peanut butter, coconut milk, cereal, and trail mixes are good options.

Many of these meals are highly filling, and you may have to force yourself to continue eating even if you are full. If gaining weight is a priority for you, it may be best to avoid eating many veggies. It just makes less room for high-energy items.

Eating entire fruit is ok, but focus on fruit that doesn’t need much chewing, such as bananas. If you need additional ideas, check out this post on 18 nutritious meals to gain weight fast.

You may make it easy to consume more by adding sauces, spices, and condiments to your meal. As much as possible, base your diet on energy-dense foods.

Strengthen Your Body by Lifting Heavy Weights

Lifting weights is extremely necessary to ensure that the surplus calories go to your muscles rather than your fat cells.

Go to the gym and do weights 2–4 times a week. Lift heavy and try to gradually increase the weights and volume.

Consider hiring a certified personal trainer to assist you in getting started if you’re completely out of shape or new to training. If you have bone difficulties or any other medical concern, you should see a doctor.

It’s definitely advisable to skip the cardio for the time being and concentrate on the weights. Doing some activity to increase health and well-being is good, but don’t do so much that you wind up burning up all the extra calories you’re eating.

It is critical to lift hefty weights and increase your strength. This will assist you in gaining muscle mass rather than merely fat.

10 More ways to Weight Gaining

The two most significant components are a high-calorie intake combined with an intense strength exercise. Having said that, there are a few additional ways to gain weight rapidly.

Here are some additional weight-gain tips:

1. Water should not be consumed before meals. This might make it difficult to consume enough calories since it fills your stomach.
2. Eat more frequently. Include an extra meal or snack whenever possible, such as before bed.
3. Consume milk. To satisfy thirst, drink whole milk. It’s an easy method to acquire additional high-quality protein and calories.
4. Consider using weight gainer shakes. If you’re truly suffering, try weight gainer shakes. These are heavy in protein, carbohydrates, and calories.
5. Make use of larger plates. If you want to consume more calories, use large dishes because smaller dishes induce individuals to eat less.
6. Pour some cream into your coffee. This is an easy approach to increase the number of calories.
7. Consider creatine. Creatine monohydrate, a muscle-building supplement, can help you acquire a few pounds of muscular mass.
8. Get enough rest. Sleeping well is critical for muscular building.
9. Protein should be consumed first, followed by veggies. If you have a variety of items on your plate, start with calorie-dense and protein-rich meals. Consume the vegetables last.
10. Don’t light up. Smokers often weigh less than nonsmokers, and stopping smoking frequently results in a weight increase.

There are a few additional things you may do to accelerate your weight growth. Drinking milk, utilizing weight gainer shakes, adding cream to your coffee, and eating more often are examples.

Also Read, Looking For Fast Muscle Gain?: These 6 Steps Can Help

Putting on weight can be difficult, and consistency is the key to long-term success.

Gaining weight might be quite difficult for some people. This is because your body has a weight setpoint where it feels comfortable.

Whether you try to go under (reduce weight) or over (increase weight), your body opposes change by controlling your hunger levels and metabolic rate. When you eat more calories and gain weight, your body will respond by decreasing your hunger and increasing your metabolism.

This is mostly handled by your brain and weight-regulating hormones such as leptin.

As a result, you should be prepared for a certain amount of difficulty. In some circumstances, you may need to force yourself to eat even though you are full. Changing your weight is, after all, a marathon, not a sprint. It may take some time, and you must be consistent if you want to be successful in the long term.