Gaining Weight Naturally: Tips for a Healthy Approach to Putting On Pounds
Gaining weight in a healthy manner is as difficult for some people as it is for others to lose it. Being underweight or seeking to increase your body mass means focusing on the right foods for an overall good diet and working out in such a way as to realize toned muscle rather than packing on fat. Here’s a guide on how one can gain weight naturally, avoiding some of those very unhealthy short cuts.
1. Know Your Body’s Requirements
You will have to, first of all, understand what your body needs, and that means knowing how many calories are needed per day. These depend on a lot of factors, including one’s age, gender, activity level, even metabolism. If you want to gain weight, you have to be on a calorie surplus, taking in more calories than are being burnt by your body.
First, use a calorie calculator to find out what your TDEE is. Once you have determined what your TDEE is, you will want to add around 300-500 calories to this intake. This will be the steady rate where you can pack on weight without overloading your system.
2. Eat Nutrient-Dense Foods
Gaining weight should be about proper food choices rather than relying on junk foods or sugary snacks to pack pounds. Nutrient-dense food choices will also provide you with the essential vitamins and minerals a body requires for overall health. Here are some calorie-dense nutritious foods that will help you naturally gain weight:
Healthy fats: Avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and fatty fish like salmon and mackerel are excellent sources of healthy fats that can add calories without compromising your health.
Whole grains: Brown rice, oats, quinoa, and whole wheat bread are great sources of carbohydrates that provide long-lasting energy while contributing to weight gain.
Protein Foods: Chicken, turkey, beef, eggs, beans, and other legumes; yogurt, cheese, and milk are essential for muscle building and repair.
Dried Fruit and Smoothies: Dried fruits such as raisins, apricots, and dates are good sources of high calories and don’t take much space. Consume them along with smoothies combined with fruits, vegetables, protein powder, and nut butters that help in quick calorie intake.
3. Eat More Frequently
Eating more frequently will help the body absorb those calories that it needs to gain weight. Instead of having just three main meals each day, one should be able to eat five to six meals throughout the day. In that way, not only is one getting enough calories, but it is also assisting the body with better nutrient absorption.
Snack between meals on healthy choices such as nuts, trail mix, protein bars, or whole grain crackers with cheese. One can also drink liquid meals like smoothies and shakes as a way of taking in extra calories without feeling overly full.
4. Strength Training
It is not all about gaining fat while gaining weight. The secret to healthy weight gain lies in building lean muscle mass. This you can develop by doing some strength exercises: weight training, resistance bands, and even some bodyweight motions like squats and push-ups that help raise your overall mass.
Muscle is denser than fat, and it will make your body firmer and leaner, instead of bloated. Aim for at least three strength training sessions per week; make sure that most of your exercises are compound exercises targeting several groups of muscles.
5. Drink High-Calorie Beverages
Liquid calories are a great way to increase your intake because there is no need for volume. Some options include: smoothies, protein shakes, whole milk, and 100% fruit juices. It’s much easier to tolerate large volumes of liquids rather than food, so beverages are a great way to add extra calories and nutrients with less fullness.
Here are some calorie-enhancing drink ideas:
Smoothies with nut butter: you only need to blend banana, almond butter, whole milk, and a little honey for a tasty and calorie-rich smoothie.
Greek yogurt drinks: these are high in protein but can be even more calorie-dense with the addition of fruit and seeds.
Milkshakes: you can make milkshakes with whole milk, ice cream, peanut butter, and chocolate for a sweet calorie boost.
6. Avoid Empty Calories
Gaining weight, one gets pretty tempted to snack on fast food or candies or other junk food items because those are considered an easy and fast way of putting on pounds. However, this is high in empty calories-meaning useless foods that bear almost no useful calories. Consuming them on a long-term basis can develop body fat unlike muscles.
Instead, fill up on whole, nutrient-rich foods that feed your body the good stuff it needs. Satisfy a sweet tooth with homemade baked goods like oatmeal cookies or energy bars with natural sugars such as honey or maple syrup.
7. Get Enough Sleep and Control Stress
Sleep and management of stress are two most commonly overlooked reasons for weight gain. Either a lack of proper sleep or extremely high levels of stress will offset your metabolism and make it far more difficult for one’s body to gain weight. Get 7-9 hours of good quality sleep per night to give your body the rest and recovery time it needs, especially under strength training.
It will also serve to keep stress in check because activities such as yoga, meditation and breathing exercises reduce the stress levels in an individual. Also, maintaining the level of cortisol accordingly helps in proper digestion and growth in muscles.
8. Be Patience
It does not happen that somebody gets overweight in no time. So, the natural gain in weight requires patience, which should hold consistent for changes in eating behaviors, training principles, and proper resting. So, a rather gradual weight increase is easier, healthier, and more permanent over time.
Conclusion
Gaining weight naturally and healthily is about making conscious choices and being consistent. Give your body all the nutrient-rich foods, strength training, and calorie surplus, and over time, results will come without compromising one’s well-being. It’s not about the number on that scale; it‘s about the right way to gain weight and give your body what it needs nutritionally for a solid and healthy base.
