Underweight is not a healthy sign. It is essential to have a body weight which is proportionate to your height to stay fit and healthy. Your ideal body weight depends on your height, age and gender. Like overweight, underweight can bring lots of sufferings for health. Some common causes of being underweight are excessive physical activity, skipping meals, fasting, stress, malnutrition, tuberculosis, cancer, diabetes, genetic factors, lack of sleep and a weak digestive system.
It can be difficult for someone to gain weight as it is a time taking issue. When you eat more calories and gain weight, you can expect your body to respond by reducing your appetite and boosting your metabolism. This is largely mediated by the brain, as well as weight-regulating hormones. So you should expect a certain level of difficulty. In some cases, you may literally need to force yourself to eat despite feeling stuffed.
If you want to gain weight follow the below diet.
- Eat more calories than your body burn. Keep in mind that calorie calculators only provide estimates. Your needs may vary by several hundred calories per day.
- The single most important nutrient for gaining healthy weight is protein. Studies show that during periods of overfeeding, a high protein diet causes many of the extra calories to be turned into muscle.
- High-protein foods include meats, fish, eggs, many dairy products, legumes, nuts and others. Make sure to eat at least 3 meals per day, and try to add in energy-dense snacks whenever possible.
- 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: Olive oil and avocado oil.
- Grains: Whole grains like oats and brown rice.
- Meat: Chicken, beef, lamb, etc. Choose fattier cuts.
- 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.
- Eating whole fruit is fine, but try to emphasize fruit that doesn’t require too much chewing, such as bananas, lichi.
- Having a bowl of butter rice every day at night can help in considerable weight gain.
- Eat a mango along with a glass of warm milk daily for a month. Follow this remedy 2-3 times a day for best results.
- If you want to increase your weight naturally and safely, eat honey with banana regularly.
Besides all these foods, there are several more things you can do to gain weight even faster.
- Don’t drink water before meals. This can fill your stomach and make it harder to get in enough calories.
- Drinking milk to quench thirst is a simple way to get in more high-quality protein and calories.
- Definitely use large plates if you are trying to get in more calories, as smaller plates cause people to automatically eat less.
- Squeeze in an additional meal or snack whenever you can, such as before bed.
- Add cream to your coffee. This is a simple way to add in more calories.
- Proper sleeping has been considered to be very important for muscle growth.
- If you have a mix of foods on your plate, eat the calorie-dense and protein-rich foods first. Eat the vegetables last.
- Quit smoking as smokers tend to weigh less than non-smokers, and quitting smoking often leads to weight gain.
