How to Gain Weight Naturally

Being underweight is a big Health concern these days. Gaining weight is not as easy as it seems to be. Many of you think overeating junk food and high-calorie food will help you to gain weight but it could be just as unhealthy as being overweight and can lead to health complications. In order to gain a healthy weight, eating the right food is important which helps you to gain a healthy weight not unhealthy fat. A process of weight gain consists of three main factors i.e. Eating enough, building muscle mass by doing the right exercises, and maintaining your gains by changing your lifestyle habits.

1. Eating Enough:

 In order to gain weight, it’s important to eat enough. Eating every three hours is the first step towards gaining weight. Eating six to seven smaller meals rather than three large meals helps you to get better regular nutrients and prevent your body from losing lean body mass. Eating smaller meals more frequently also helps to maintain the body's metabolism. Other points to gain weight in this section are as follows:

1. Choose high calorie, protein-dense food: Choosing high calorie plus protein-dense food like scrambled eggs with cheese, fish, yogurt with granola, and so on helps you to gain both weight and muscles. Try to eat a total of six to seven meals including both smaller meals and snacks.

• For Breakfast: Eat burritos, scrambled eggs with cheese, or fruit yogurt with granola and nuts
• For Lunch: chicken breast sandwich with any fruit that contains healthy fats like avocado, or tuna fish salad.
• For Dinner: Eat Grilled salmon with rice, baked potatoes with butter or sour cream, or steak with cooked vegetables.
• For snacks: apple with peanut butter, healthy smoothies or shakes with fresh fruit made with full-fat milk, carrots with hummus, cheese cracker, dry fruits, Granola bars, trial nuts, and seeds mix, or homemade wheat donut with cream cheese.

2. Drink whole milk not skim: Keeping yourself hydrated with water is good but this thing will make your appetite blunt as drinking water during or before meal time makes you fuller. Instead of that try drinking full fat milk to make yourself fuller on liquid during meal time. That doesn't mean, you should stop drinking water as every person has their different needs. Drink water half an hour after you are done with eating but don’t drink sugary beverages.  You can also try smoothies or shakes for better nutrient fulfillment or as a replacement for a smaller meal.

3. Eat plenty of fiber: Fiber is a type of carb which is different from other types of carbs. Other types of carbs contain sugar, starch that raises blood sugar levels. Eating plenty of fiber does not raise your blood sugar level. It helps to boost up muscle growth and the weight gain process.

4. Add extra carbs to your diet: Our body needs carbs to gain or maintain weight. Our body breaks down carbohydrates regularly in order to make energy. So, it’s important to add extra carbs to your diet that help you to gain more weight in a proper way. Peas, whole grain bread, potatoes, beans, vegetables, and other whole grains like quinoa, barley, oatmeal, etc. are good sources of complex carbs.

2. Do Right Exercise: 

Many people think exercise is only for those who want to lose weight but that’s not true. For gaining lean muscle mass you also need to do exercise. Gaining lean muscles can lead to weight gain. Lift more weight and limiting cardio is best for gaining muscles.

1. Eat before and after your workout:  Eating before and after your workout also helps you to gain weight and muscles. Eating complex carbs at least one hour before a workout helps to increase your stamina while Carbs and protein together help to heal your muscles after exercise. Try to consume healthy post-exercise snacks like peanut butter sandwiches, fruit smoothies, chocolate milk, yogurt, crackers with cheese, or whey- protein shake.

2. Build your muscle mass with strength training: For healthy weight gain, you should build lean muscle mass with the help of strength training. As healthy weight gain is equal to lean muscle mass. Doing strength training exercises like crunches, squats, and lunges, Pilates, weight lifting like a dead lift at least thrice a week helps to strengthen your muscles. You should take a class under a gym trainer or watch others first before exercising. Always remember, if you feel any type of pain, kindly stop doing that exercise.

3. Moderate prolonged physical activity: Activity is important for a healthy lifestyle and also for gaining weight. But don’t do excess training. Going overboard burns more calories which can lead to weight loss rather than gain.

4. Limit Cardio: Doing cardiovascular exercise is good as it strengthens the heart, manages diabetes and high blood pressure. It also increases stamina. But try to limit your aerobic exercises like jogging, swimming, biking, and hiking. Doing cardio on regular basis won’t pack on muscle and start losing weight.

3. Maintain your gains by changing your lifestyle habits: 

The last step in the weight gain process is to maintain your gains by maintaining healthy lifestyle habits. Always eat a healthy diet, get plenty of rest and exercise also. Healthy weight gain is something that you can’t get quickly, it’s a slow process. So, take it easy on yourself.

1. Avoid junk food: The best way to prevent unhealthy weight gain is to avoid junk food. But if you can’t avoid it totally, eat only once or twice a month. Consuming more junk food causes difficulty in maintaining healthy weight gain. Try to avoid fried food, sugary drinks, soda and focus on preparing your own food.

2. Avoid caffeinated drinks: Drinking caffeinated drinks suppresses your appetite. It also limits weight gain even if you eat high calorie food.

3. Take proper sleep: Quality sleep is really important whether you are trying to lose or gain weight. Sleep deprivation causes more hunger and appetite which later leads to obesity. Not just that, if you sleep less than 9 hours, you might feel less active or fatigued and can’t do any physical activity.

Conclusion

Always remember that the capacity of gaining weight is going to be different for every person. Some people tend to naturally have a lower appetite and that is why they witness difficulty in gaining weight. Stomach-related issues are also common in people who want to gain weight. These people are unfit to break down nutrients in the food and absorb them. Digestion disorders, medication, unhealthy gut, or a very low stomach acid are the reasons behind this. So, before doing anything, you should consult your doctor.