Gaining Weight Fast for Hard Gainers.
When many people, especially girls are trying to shed pounds to lose weight, some are actually trying to put on weight. It is common to forget people who struggle to gain weight. So, you may think, “Gaining weight is easy. What is the big deal about it?” You may be surprised that for hard gainers, gaining weight, I mean, in a healthy way, is as much of a challenge too.
Most skinny people have high metabolism, and they tend to burn calories faster than others. Others are thin because they do not have the appetite to eat. Some elderly people are underweight because of the gradual loss of taste and smell, causing them to lose their appetite.
I know how difficult for skinny guys to gain weight, especially if they inherit it from their parents who are also skinny. But do not worry. Rest assured, I have been there and done that. Here are a few tips for gaining weight in a healthy way:
Top 4 Tips To Gain Weight In Healthy Way
1. Some hard gainers attempt to eat everything hoping to put on weight. When they do, they are putting on fat too. To gain quality weight, you have to consume quality nutrients.
- Eating more without a plan is unhealthy as you may eat junk food and oily food. Junk foods and fast foods normally have unhealthy saturated fats. You should still eat fats and oils, but take the healthy fats like omega-3 (from tuna, salmon, flax, and walnuts) and keep them in moderation. They should account for less than 30 percent of your total caloric intake. You do not want to simply gain weight with a poor diet leading to heart disease or stroke when you age.
- Eat foods that are high in calories. Add avocados and olive oil to sandwiches. Add chopped meat to your pasta sauce. Add peanut butter, jam or honey to your morning toast.
- Eat more protein-rich foods such as salmon, tuna, chicken breast, walnuts, lean meats, and seeds. Do We Need To Take Protein Supplement To Build Muscle? and Top 6 Protein Food.
- Eat more often with at least 5 to 6 meals a day. Dividing a few large meals into smaller meals is a good eating habit as you give a sense of fullness to your stomach without the bloating feeling.
- Do not skip meals, especially breakfast.
- If you are a snack person, eat more healthy snacks – The Easy Way To Control Weight By Eating Healthy Snack. Add condiments such as yogurt, sour cream, sauces, and dressings to plain foods and salads.
- Do not forget fruits and vegetables. Go for starchy ones like rice, pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, beets, and corn which give you extra calories. As for fruits, choose dense fruits like bananas, pears, apples, and pineapple over watery fruit (oranges, watermelon, berries).
- Drink healthy beverages such as ilk and fruit juices to add calories. Do not drink sugary sodas, which only add calories without nutrition. Avoid coffee because caffeine is a stimulant that helps increase metabolism, which is something you do not want.
2. You must exercise, but not high-intensity cardiovascular exercises. To gain weight, you need to build muscle mass and not accumulate fat on your tummy, thighs, or butts. In other words, if you want a nice toned body to go along with extra weight, you need to train with weights so that you have the weight in the form of muscle instead of the form of fat. Moreover, exercising will stimulate your food appetites. Go for compound workouts such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses, pull up, and push up. Make sure you weight train 3 to 4 times a week.
Ladies, do not be afraid of weight training as women will not be able to build bulky muscles due to the difference in hormones in your body compared to guys.
For guys, do not feel intimidated by muscle men in the free weight area. Start with light weight and get the form correct.
3. Get enough sleep. Check out the article of How Much Sleep is Enough and How Can You Sleep Better?
4. Be patient and do what I outline above religiously. Just like losing weight, gaining weight will not happen overnight. If you are lucky, you will see the result within 2 months. Otherwise, you need to be persistent until you see the change. It can be months or even years.
At the end of the day, your total caloric requirement has to be more than what you use to gain weight. All the best!
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I am Ankit Sharma Nutrition Consultant. My approach is holistic and customized to enable you to achieve true wellness – physically, mentally, and emotionally. I am from India but have clients across the globe. I can work with you to say goodbye to counting calories and short-term solutions. You will achieve long-term sustainable change in the way that they are eating, moving, living, and believing.