Five Tips to Gain Weight for Skinny People
While obesity is a big problem nowadays which can lead to many health problems, being underweight is also not good for your body as it also can give rise to many health-related issues. There should be a perfect balance and for that, you must take enough measures to have a balanced weight according to your height. You can check whether you are underweight by using a Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator. It can be checked online by considering your weight, height, age, and gender to calculate a score and if your BMI is less than 18.5, that means you are underweight.
Being underweight can create both physical and mental issues in you, so it’s important that you need to weigh as much to keep you healthy and fit. Physical issues may include malnutrition, osteoporosis, less muscle strength, hypothermia, and weak immunity and you might feel less confident about your appearance which can lead to issues such as avoiding social gatherings, getting depressed, etc. It’s important to have a perfectly balanced weight and if you are underweight, here are five tips for you to gain weight.
Eat a Lot of Proteins
Protein is very important to gain weight as it forms the building blocks of your muscles. Having a sufficient amount of protein in your daily diet is needed to gain muscle weight instead of just accumulating fat in your body. To increase your weight you shall have 0.7-1 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.5 – 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram). Foods that are high in protein include meats, fish, eggs, dairy products, legumes, nuts, and others. If you are a vegetarian then tofu, lentils, soya, various kinds of seeds, and nuts are very good supplements of protein. Protein supplements such as whey protein can be helpful if you are not getting enough protein in your diet but before taking protein supplements always consult a dietician or a doctor who can advise you about what kind of protein supplements can help you to gain weight without having any side effects.
Increase Your Intake of Energy-Dense Foods
If you want to gain weight then eating energy-dense foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes can be very useful. However, it makes you feel full fast and makes it hard to get enough calories. You can add good amounts of spices, sauces, and condiments to these foods to make them tasty. The tastier your food will be, the more you can have them. Toppings with extra calories can also be quite helpful. You can have these foods in addition to your regular three-time meals.
Weight Lifting Exercise
Only eating may not be sufficient enough to gain weight, so doing weight lifting exercises is necessary if you want to gain weight fast as it improves your strength and expands your muscle. Doing weight-lifting exercises will help you to gain muscle mass instead of just increasing fat in your body. While aerobic exercise burns calories and helps to lose weight, weight lifting exercises such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, and other presses and rows help in building muscle that leads to weight gain. Join a gym and it’s even better to hire a professional trainer who will guide you to do exercises that can help you gain weight.
Increase Your Calorie Intake
Not having enough calories in your body is the main reason for you being underweight so you need to increase your calorie intake to gain weight and create a calorie surplus. Calorie surplus means you have more calories in your body than you burn and for that, you need to eat more calorie-rich foods than your body requires. Foods rich in calories include meats, eggs, peanut butter, beans, nuts, etc. Checking your calorie needs using a calorie calculator is advisable. Keep track of your daily calorie intake and make sure that you have more calories per day than you burn them, otherwise, it’s of no use. Your body needs to have additional calories to gain weight.
Eat Mini-Meals.
Many people struggle with a poor appetite, because of some underlying condition or simply because they can’t eat large amounts of food at once. Such people can divide their meals into small meals and eat them at regular intervals as it will help to increase their calorie intake. For example, after waking up, you can have some nuts or fruits, and after an hour you can have your breakfast according to your capacity of eating. Again after two hours eat something and use these processes throughout the day.
