Gain Weight Fast: 5 Proven Healthy And Safe Ways

Overweight or obese individuals are searching for ways to lose weight fast while the skinny ones are searching for ways to gain weight fast. That’s the irony of life. If you are underweight or skinny, you should be concerned. It is as bad to your health as being overweight or obese. Moreover, there are many people out there who are not clinically underweight/skinny but still want to add some extra flesh or muscle weight.

I will be sharing with you today, healthy, safe and simple strategies to gain weight fast.

What Does It Mean To Be Underweight?

Anyone having a body mass index (BMI) below 18.5 is considered to be underweight and it’s much more common in women and girls than in men and boys (about ratio 1:2). This is estimated to be less than the body mass needed to sustain optimal health. In the other hand, BMI above 25 is considered overweight while BMI over 30 is considered obese. If you want to calculate your BMI, use this calculator to check and see where you fit on the BMI scale.

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The BMI scale has a limitation. It only takes the weight and height of an individual into account neglecting the muscle mass. Naturally, some people are very skinny but still healthy. Being underweight according to this scale does not necessarily mean that you have an underlying health problem.

What Are the Health Consequences of Being Underweight?

Being underweight could be just as bad for your health as Obesity.

According to a study, people who are underweight have about 140% greater risk of early death for men and about 100% for women. In comparison, people who are obese have about 50% greater risk of early death for both men. This shows that being underweight maybe even worse for your health than being overweight.

Another study found an increased risk of early death in underweight men, but not women, suggesting that being underweight may be worse for men.

Being underweight can also impair your immune function, raise your risk of infections, lead to osteoporosis and fractures and cause fertility problems.

Also, people who are underweight are much more likely to get sarcopenia (age-related muscle wasting) and may be at greater risk of dementia.

What Causes Someone to Become Underweight?

Several medical conditions have been linked with abnormal weight loss. They include:

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• Diabetes: Having uncontrolled diabetes (especially type 1) can lead to severe weight loss.
• Cancer: Cancerous tumours often burn large amounts of calories and can cause someone to lose a lot of weight.
• Eating disorders: This includes anorexia nervosa, a serious mental disorder.
• Thyroid problems: Having an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) can boost metabolism and cause unhealthy weight loss.
• Celiac disease: The most severe form of gluten intolerance. Most people with celiac disease don’t know that they have it.
• Infections: Certain infections can cause someone to become severely underweight. This includes parasites, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

If you’re underweight, make sure to see your doctor and check for any serious medical conditions. The earlier the better. This is particularly important if you have recently started losing large amounts of weight without even trying.

How to Gain Weight Fast the Healthy Way

If you want to gain weight fast, it’s very important to do it right. Relying on soda, doughnuts and other junk foods may help you gain weight, but it can destroy your health at the same time. There are many cases of people with normal weight getting type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and other health problems often associated with obesity.

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Therefore, it’s absolutely essential to eat healthy foods and live an overall healthy lifestyle while trying to gain weight.

It’s in your best interest to gain a balanced amount of muscle mass and subcutaneous fat rather than a lot of unhealthy belly fat.

We will now look at some effective ways to gain weight fast, without ruining your health at the same time.

• Eat More Calories Than Your Body Burns: The most important thing you can do to gain weight is to create a calorie surplus, meaning you eat more calories than your body needs. You can determine your calorie needs using this calorie calculator. According to the calculator, you have to aim for 300–500 calories more than your body can burn each day. Then, to gain weight fast, you have to aim for around 700–1,000 calories above your body’s maintenance level. However, calorie calculators are limited in the sense that they only provide estimates. As a result, your daily calorie intake may be increased or decreased by hundreds per day. In a nutshell, make sure you consume lots and lots of calories per day.

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• Eat Plenty of Protein: Protein is the single most important nutrient for gaining healthy weight. Muscle is made of protein and without it, most of those extra calories may end up as body fat. Studies show that during periods of overfeeding, a high-protein diet causes many of the extra calories to be turned into muscle. However, keep in mind that protein is a double-edged sword. It’s also highly filling, which may reduce your hunger and appetite significantly, making it harder to get in enough calories. If you’re trying to gain weight, aim for 0.7–1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (1.5–2.2 grams of protein per kilogram). You can even go above that if your calorie intake is very high. High-protein foods include meats, fish, eggs, many dairy products, legumes, nuts and others.
• Eat Plenty of Carbs and Fat and Eat at Least 3 Times per Day: Many people try restricting either carbs or fat when trying to lose weight. This is a bad idea if your goal is to gain weight, as it will make it harder to get in enough calories. Eat plenty of high-carb and high-fat foods if weight gain is a priority for you. It is best to eat plenty of protein, fat and carbs at each meal. It is also a bad idea to do intermittent fasting. This is useful for weight loss and health improvement but can make it much harder to eat enough calories to gain weight. Make sure to eat at least three meals per day and try to add in energy-dense snacks whenever possible.
• Eat Energy-Dense Foods and Use Sauces, Spices and Condiments: Again, it’s very important to eat mostly whole, single-ingredient foods. The problem is that these foods tend to be more filling than processed junk foods, making it harder to get in enough calories. Using plenty of spices, sauces and condiments can help with this. The tastier your food is, the easier it is to eat a lot of it. Also, try to emphasize energy-dense foods as much as possible. These are foods that contain many calories relative to their weight. Here are some energy-dense foods that are perfect for gaining weight; Nuts (Almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, etc), Dried fruit (Raisins, dates, prunes and others), High-fat dairy (Whole milk, full-fat yoghurt, cheese, cream), Fats and oils (Extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil), Grains (Whole grains like oats and brown rice), Meat (Chicken, beef, pork, lamb, etc), Tubers: (Potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams), Dark chocolate, avocados, peanut butter, coconut milk, granola, trail mixes. Many of these foods are very filling, and sometimes you may need to force yourself to keep eating even if you feel full. It may be a good idea to avoid eating a ton of vegetables if gaining weight is a priority for you. It simply leaves less room for energy-dense foods. Eating whole fruit is fine, but try to emphasize fruit that doesn’t require too much chewing, such as bananas.

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• Lift Heavy Weights and Improve Your Strength: To make sure that the excess calories go to your muscles instead of just your fat cells, it’s absolutely crucial to lift weights. Go to a gym and lift 2–4 times per week. Lift heavy and try to increase the weights and volume over time. If you’re completely out of shape or new to training, consider hiring a qualified personal trainer to help you get started. You may also want to consult with a doctor if you have skeletal problems or any medical issue. It’s probably best to take it easy on the cardio for now — focus mostly on the weights. Doing some cardio is fine to improve fitness and well-being, but don’t do so much that you end up burning all the additional calories you’re eating.

10 More Tips to Gain Weight Fast

Combining a high calorie intake with heavy strength training are the two most important factors.

That being said, there are several other strategies to gain weight fast.

Here are 10 more tips to gain weight fast:

1. Don’t drink water before meals. This can fill your stomach and make it harder to get in enough calories.
2. Eat more often. Squeeze in an additional meal or snack whenever you can, such as before bed.
3. Drink milk. Drinking whole milk to quench thirst is a simple way to get in more high-quality protein and calories.
4. Try weight gainer shakes. If you’re really struggling then you can try weight gainer These are very high in protein, carbs and calories.
5. Use bigger plates. Definitely use large plates if you’re trying to get in more calories, as smaller plates cause people to automatically eat less.
6. Add cream to your coffee. This is a simple way to add in more calories.
7. Take creatine. The muscle building supplement creatine monohydrate can help you gain a few pounds in muscle weight.
8. Get quality sleep. Sleeping properly is very important for muscle growth.
9. Eat your protein first and vegetables last. If you have a mix of foods on your plate, eat the calorie-dense and protein-rich foods first. Eat the vegetables last.
10. Don’t smoke. Smokers tend to weigh less than non-smokers, and quitting smoking often leads to weight gain.

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Gaining Weight Can Be Difficult, and Consistency Is the Key to Long-Term Success

Article Source: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-gain-weight#section2