Nutrition for weight gain: how to gain weight

Examination by a doctor

Visit your doctor and undergo the prescribed examination. Excessive thinness (especially sudden weight loss) with a balanced diet and regular physical activity should raise alarm: something has gone wrong in the body. Reasons for weight loss include:

• endocrine system problems
• tumor development
• allergic reactions
• diseases of the gastrointestinal tract
• parasites, etc.

Timely detected and treated pathologies help restore metabolism and gain normal body weight. Consult a nutritionist to help you create a balanced diet. Perhaps a specialist will prescribe a course of vitamins and, if indicated for you, steroids.

If you are underweight, you should consult your doctor.

What are the reasons for too little weight?

Before looking for a suitable diet for weight gain and switching to “mass”, you need to understand the reasons that could lead to lack of body weight. The main ones most often are:

• Genetic predisposition. For some people, a thin physique is a norm that they will have to put up with throughout their lives. If your body is not predisposed to weight gain, achieving the desired result will not be easy.
• Metabolic disease. It not only makes you gain weight rapidly, but can also seriously cause you to lose weight.
• Improper eating behavior. Anorexia is a terrible eating disorder. In especially advanced cases, it can be fatal.

To find your ideal weight, you can calculate your body mass index. There are dozens of special calculators for this. It should be understood that normal weight depends not only on height, but also on gender and age. So self-diagnosis based on BMI is not the best way to determine your optimal weight. It is better to visit a specialist who will not only determine your BMI, but will find the cause of excessive thinness.

For those who want to get better: useful tips

1. Simply increasing the size of portions and increasing the amount of carbohydrates consumed is the main mistake of those who want to gain weight quickly. Such a diet will lead to problems with the gastrointestinal tract and can even cause aversion to food, fraught with anorexia. Increase your caloric intake slowly, by 200 calories per day. The basic principle of a weight loss diet is to eat more calories than you burn.
2. Establish split meals - at least five to six meals a day every 3-4 hours. It is important to approach the new regime smoothly: you are used to eating 3 times a day - first introduce the fourth snack, then accustom yourself to the fifth, sixth. You must be comfortable, otherwise your body will experience stress.
3. Half an hour before meals, drink a glass of vegetable or fruit juice, but try not to drink during the meal itself. Drink drinks between main snacks to provide extra calories.
4. Juices stimulate appetite, which is very important when gaining weight. Non-alcoholic beer is also shown in reasonable quantities. It stimulates the production of gastric juice and bile, helping the gastrointestinal tract, therefore it is indicated for low acidity.
5. Forget about fast food, canned food, fried foods, refined foods, lard - such food, and even in large quantities, will lead to obesity and digestive problems. You need to get your weight back to normal, not become fat.
6. Breakfast should not be a quick snack, but a complete meal. Scientists have proven that optimal saturation of the body with carbohydrates and proteins occurs precisely thanks to the first, morning meal.
7. Be sure to restore your sleep patterns and regulate your psychological state. This is especially important if you are pregnant, because weight loss will affect not only the mother, but also the baby. The support of parents, friends, and a loved one during a period of weight gain cannot be overestimated. In severe cases, such as anorexia nervosa, modern psychotherapy can help.

Protein is the main building material during weight gain.

Basic principles of nutrition

In order to gain weight and build muscle mass, you need to eat right. Sweets and fast food, of course, would help you gain weight, but they do not bring any benefit. In this case, body weight will increase due to an increase in fat deposits. These products also contain substances that are harmful to the digestive system.

Therefore, those who want to gain weight wisely need to count the calories in their diet and include healthy foods in it in the same way as those who plan to lose weight. To begin with, the energy value of the diet should increase by 200-300 kcal per day. Besides:

• The nutritional value of the diet should be 4 g of carbohydrates, 2-3 g of protein and 1 g of fat per kilogram of body weight per day.
• Proper nutrition should be fractional, that is, designed for 4-5 meals a day. It is best to organize 3 main meals and 2 snacks, since the human body can absorb no more than 40 g of protein at a time.
• Portions should be small, but high in calories.
• 30 minutes before a meal, you should drink a glass of freshly squeezed fruit or vegetable juice: this will improve the process of absorption of nutrients.

In total, you need to drink at least 2 liters of water per day, but in between meals. You should not drink water directly after lunch or dinner. In the same way, you can’t exercise immediately after eating; you need to wait at least 2 hours.

Weight Gain Products

Squirrels

To gain weight, your body needs the main building material - protein. Remember how breastfeeding babies recover quickly? They absorb a volume of milk equal to 1/5 of their body weight per day.

A young body needs more calories to develop. Girls under 25 years old need about 2000 cal per day with a sedentary lifestyle, about 2400 with an active lifestyle. When gaining weight - at least 3000.

It is no coincidence that one of the ways to gain weight for a girl with acute weight loss is to regularly consume 3 glasses of infant formula. Or a more familiar drink - full-fat milk (cow's, goat's, and if you can get it - high-calorie and nutritious buffalo milk).

Your diet must include:

• dairy products: country or store-bought sour cream 25% fat, butter, cottage cheese, kefir
• chicken and quail eggs, and nutritionists allow the consumption of two to eight eggs per day when building muscle mass
• seafood and fatty fish, which must be included in the diet at least twice a week, as an option, fish oil
• first courses of beans: peas, beans, lentils
• meat: chicken, pork, veal, turkey

Carbohydrates

A variety of porridges cooked in milk and butter will help you gain weight without harming your health. A good option is rice, which will help saturate the body with carbohydrates. To increase the calorie content of the dish, you can cook the cereal in broth.

Feel free to introduce pasta and white bread into your diet. Many plump women may be jealous, because delicious baked goods will not harm you. However, don't overdo it! The amount of carbohydrates introduced into the diet for weight gain should not exceed 55% of all food eaten daily.

Chocolate

From time to time you can treat yourself to high-quality dark chocolate based on natural cocoa butter. It is better to avoid sweets with trans fats.

Vegetables

When preparing dishes, add more vegetables, stew them, boil them, bake them, and eat them in salads. It is recommended to actively introduce into the menu not only potatoes rich in starch, but also melons, cabbage, beets, and carrots. In vegetable salads, add sour cream or olive oil, which contains a lot of vitamin E - a stimulator of good metabolism.

Beverages

Between snacks, drink sweet tea and fruit drinks. Juices with pulp are recommended. Be sure to drink non-carbonated clean water - about 2-2.5 liters per day for normal metabolism.

Fruits and nuts

Eat persimmons, melons, apricots, bananas, dates, rich in vitamins and fiber for normal digestion. Dried fruits are a real storehouse of complex carbohydrates - an excellent snack option. Combine dates, dried apricots, and raisins with nuts and seeds, which are rich in essential acids - an important element in protein synthesis.

Principles of nutrition

It is known that weightlifters need a lot of protein to sculpt their body. Beginners, carried away by protein shakes, forget about micro- and macroelements, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, which are necessary for the normal functioning of the human body, regardless of his attitude to sports.

The best option to get this whole “healthy set” is to eat natural foods:

• meat;
• fish;
• vegetables;
• fruits;
• cereals;
• sour milk.

Successful nutrition for a bodybuilder is based on the following “three pillars”:

1. A good appetite.
2. Balanced menu.
3. Strict eating regimen.

An effective gain of lean muscle mass occurs with an increased caloric intake. At the same time, the source of additional calories and the time when to eat them are important so that the gain does not come from fat deposits.

Reception frequency

It is common practice to eat three times a day. But this routine is not suitable for bodybuilders. Strenuous strength training requires a lot of energy, which will not be enough if more than three hours pass between breakfast, lunch and dinner. The muscles do not receive nutrition and stop growing, and this negates the efforts expended in the gym.

Thus, to build muscle mass, meals should be evenly distributed throughout the day, taking into account the interval between them no more than 3 hours.

It turns out that you need to eat (including small snacks) 5-6 times a day to ensure the uninterrupted formation of muscle tissue.

The optimal regime for gaining weight is to give the body an hour or two to digest, and then go to the gym. After the load, give the body 30-40 minutes to recover, and then eat something.

Calorie content of food

When food is processed in the body, energy is released, measured in calories, which is spent on maintaining vital functions, including building tissue. Effective muscle building occurs when the number of calories delivered with food exceeds their daily consumption.

The required amount of calories for a pumping athlete depends on his:

• individual basal metabolism, which is affected by weight, age and height;
• level of daily physical activity;
• body type.

The calculation is carried out in three stages:

1. The total amount of energy required for life.

Men can calculate their indicators using the formula:

10 x B + 6.25 x R – 5 x L + 5, where

• B – weight in kilograms;
• P – height in centimeters;
• L – number of years lived.

1. Calories needed to maintain current weight.

Special coefficients are used that reflect the daily load level:

• 1,275 – up to 3 workouts per week;
• 1,55 – 3-5;
• 1,725 – 5-7;
• 1.9 – more than 2 per day.

The value obtained in the first paragraph is multiplied by the corresponding coefficient.

1. The number of calories an athlete needs to consume to gain weight.

The inherent ability of nature to gain weight quickly or slowly is taken into account by adding 15% or 20% to the figure obtained in step 2. So:

• those with a predisposition to be overweight (endomorphs) add 15%, as their weight grows quickly;
• thin men (ectomorphs) gain 20% as their weight increases slowly.

As a result of the calculations, a value is obtained that helps to build a nutrition program and, based on calorie indicators, select products for gaining muscle mass.

Proteins, fats and carbohydrates

Weightlifters who begin to master the rules of sports nutrition often make the mistake of giving preference to foods high in protein rather than including fats and carbohydrates in their diet.

In the body of an actively engaged athlete, when building muscle structure, complex hormonal processes take place that are impossible without fats. And without carbohydrates, you will not have the strength to withstand increased loads.

Only a balanced menu, including the required ratio of nutrients, allows you to build an effective diet for gaining muscle mass for men in order to achieve noticeable results in a short time.

This menu should contain:

• 30-35% proteins;
• 10-20% fat;
• 50-60% carbohydrates.

The averages given provide a range for individual adjustments based on body type, body type, and goals.

Water

Compliance with the drinking regime is an important component of protein nutrition.
For effective mass gain, you need to consume from 2 to 4 liters per day, depending on the weight of the athlete. You need to drink between meals.
You should not wash down your food, so as not to disrupt the physiological processes of digestion that facilitate the absorption of nutrients.

Sample menu for weight gain

Breakfast

Option 1. Sweet coffee with cream, a bun and toast with jam.

Option 2. Hercules with honey, with nuts and pieces of fruit.

Option 3. Rice milk porridge with butter, fruit.

Lunch

Option 1. Pie with meat or vegetables.

Option 2. Pasta with meatballs.

Option 3. Omelet with cheese, tomatoes.

Dinner

Option 1. Fish soup, macaroni and cheese, white bread.

Option 2. Soup with pasta and meatballs from beef and pork, with sour cream. Vegetable salad, white bread.

Option 3. Borscht with sour cream, mashed potatoes with fried fish.

Afternoon snack

Option 1: Popsicles, sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Fruit yogurt, banana.

Option 2. Sandwich with ham and greens.

Option 3. Milk with oatmeal cookies, gingerbread.

Dinner

Option 1. Meat baked in the oven, with vegetable salad, bread. Fruit dessert with honey.

Option 2. Fish with rice, bread, fruit.

Option 3. Buckwheat with milk, dried fruits, bread and butter.

Second dinner

Option 1. A glass of full-fat milk.

Option 2. A glass of fermented baked milk or kefir.

Option 3. Yogurt.

It is important to combine a weight gain diet with exercise.

High-calorie foods

In order to gain weight, you need to eat high-calorie foods. But this does not mean that you can eat everything.

A balanced diet should include:

• Dairy products with medium and high fat content, that is, from 3.2%. Not all people tolerate whole milk well, but cottage cheese, yogurt, and kefir must be present in the diet. You can eat mild cheeses, including soft ones with a higher fat content.
• Complex carbohydrates - whole grain porridge cooked in milk; Buckwheat, rice, semolina, etc. are suitable. This also includes muesli, including those containing nuts and raisins.
• Fatty meats: pork, beef, if there are no contraindications to their consumption.
• Durum wheat pasta.
• Starchy vegetables, primarily potatoes.
• High-calorie fruits: grapes, bananas, melons, peaches.
• Honey, preserves and jams, fruit jellies and mousses. You can also eat chocolate, but in reasonable quantities.

A protein-carbohydrate bar is suitable as a dessert - such sweets are sold in sports nutrition stores.

Sport

A nutritious, balanced diet will definitely help you gain weight quickly, unless the doctor has found that you have serious health problems that are slowing down your metabolism. However, without physical activity, you may not gain as much as you would like, namely, gain weight in the hips and abdomen.

To gain weight quickly, you can consume a homemade protein shake. Mix a glass of cottage cheese and cream, a couple of tablespoons of honey. You can add any jam or syrup.

Your task is to build not fat, but muscle mass, without getting skin problems, and to be in good shape. Regular sports, namely strength training, exercises for the chest, upper and lower extremities will help. Consult with an experienced trainer or choose a suitable course on the Internet.

Exercises to gain weight quickly

If you decide to go to the gym or have some equipment at home, pay attention to which exercises are the most effective for gaining muscle mass, this will allow you to correctly create a training program. And also use our tips in selecting exercises based on your body type, because the length of the limbs, size and muscle strength impose certain restrictions on training.

Power training

To gain weight quickly, it is not enough to simply increase your caloric intake. The fact is that the body must see the need to gain additional muscle mass. Because more weight means an increase in the load on the cardiovascular system and an increase in the load on the nervous system. Which, for safety reasons, our body will not do. He must see a clear need to gain muscle.

Strength training will help us with this, as it will give a signal that the existing muscles are not enough and we need to build new ones. And increased caloric intake will be a good opportunity for weight gain.

Yes, cardio training develops some of your muscles, but how can you gain weight quickly if your body does not receive sufficient strength training? No way. And here training with additional weights will come to the rescue. Here is a good set of workouts with dumbbells at home.

This doesn't mean you have to become an affiliation with the gym (although that certainly works!). Perform push-ups, crunches, lunges and squats in the comfort of your own home. But to speed up the process and get better results, you need to use additional weight.

Exercise will also increase your appetite. A protein bar or shake after your workout will give your muscles what they need.

Increase physical activity

As stated above, in order to gain weight, the body must receive a stimulus. Your muscles should receive more load and work harder. If your loads are small, change them and make them more challenging.

Buy strength training equipment for your home. This will work if you only have 15 minutes before going to work, then you can flex all your muscles by doing a quick muscle building program that will set you on the right path.

Use less energy outside of training

Besides storing, burn as few calories as you can. Grab the remote, your milkshake, and collapse on the couch.