How to gain weight quickly and safely?

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.

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.

Slow carbohydrates when gaining weight

Slow carbohydrates act on the body much longer, and their processing takes a long time, but they play a key role in proper weight gain.

Some athletes believe that they should be saturated with complex (or slow) carbohydrates a couple of hours before the start of training. During this time, they will be processed and begin to provide the energy necessary for effective exercises to gain weight.

But studies have shown that slow carbohydrates should be eaten throughout the day, and not at specific times. Glucose obtained from slow carbohydrates is absorbed into the blood gradually and evenly. This process provides our body with a stable level of energy.

As a rule, slow carbohydrates are fully consumed, and therefore they do not accumulate in fatty tissues.

According to research by scientists, strength training, the goal of which is to gain muscle mass, requires the consumption of glycogen rather than glucose in its pure form.

What are the benefits of glycogen?

• Glycogen is a kind of carbohydrate conserver that collects them in the liver. Nature provides that the body begins to spend this reserve during periods of extremely high physical activity. This is what exercises with heavy weights are.
• But the thing is that the glycogen reserve is formed gradually, and this process takes several days. Moreover, the “bins” begin to be filled only after they are completely emptied.
• Therefore, in order for slow carbohydrates to be processed into glycogen and collected in the liver, the athlete not only needs to eat carbohydrate-containing foods, but also regularly waste reserves during strength training.

In order for an athlete to effectively gain muscle mass, it is important for him to formulate a correct diet.

An approximate menu for athletes, if broken down into the intake of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, looks like this:

• fats - 10%;
• proteins - 30%;
• carbohydrates - 60%.

It should be taken into account that of these 60 percent of carbohydrates, the lion's share should be complex ones. But to calculate your individual consumption rate in grams, you need to use a simple formula:

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.

Basic Muscle Building Principles

To achieve visible results as quickly as possible, you must adhere to several principles at the same time: eat right, exercise and rest regularly. Before we tell you what foods to eat to gain muscle mass, we'll lay out the basics of creating a healthy workout diet.

Balanced diet

Weight gain largely depends on the harmonious balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. These may be cheap foods, but they must include vitamins and nutrients to meet the body's needs from food. Below is what you can eat to gain muscle mass; the list includes only the best sources of nutritional supplements, divided into groups. Food for muscle growth should be varied so that you receive from food all the micro and macro elements that increase the body's regenerative abilities.

It is important to know! When gaining muscle, you need to increase not the amount of food consumed, but its calorie content.

This means that you don't need to constantly expand your TOP foods or eat more and more chicken breasts; it may well be that adding a couple of spoons of healthy fats is enough.

To determine the amount of energy required for muscle growth, you should:

1. Calculate the daily requirement of kilocalories for basic metabolism (function of internal organs, heat exchange, digestion). For men: 88.362 + (13.397 x weight, kg) + (4.799 x height, cm) - (5.677 x age, years). For women: 593 + (9.247 x weight, kg) + (3.098 x height, cm) - (4.330 x age, years).
2. Assess your level of physical activity. The number of kilocalories of basal metabolism is multiplied by the human activity coefficient. For people with a sedentary lifestyle, the indicator is 1.2; doing 2-3 workouts per week increases it to 1.375. For those who play sports every other day, the coefficient is 1.55, for daily exercise – 1.725, and for heavy physical work throughout the day – 1.9.
3. Increase the result by 10-20%. Such a calorie surplus will ensure gradual weight gain without harm to the body.
4. Repeat the calculations in accordance with the increase in muscle mass.

Systematic training

Thanks to physical activity, metabolism accelerates, excess calories are directed not into fat, but into muscle tissue. It is recommended to conduct classes under the supervision of a trainer - he will set the correct technique for performing the exercises and give individual recommendations on nutrition.

To gain weight, three sessions per week lasting 1 hour are enough. Muscle growth is ensured by a gradual increase in working weights on exercise machines. In order for the body to become sculpted and proportional, you need to work out all muscle groups.

During training, the body needs a lot of energy. A few hours before the start of class, you need to eat food made from complex carbohydrates: cereals, vegetables, cereals, legumes. Such foods maintain muscle tone and maintain normal glucose levels. Immediately before the workout, you can drink a protein-carbohydrate cocktail or BCAA amino acids.

Note! Immediately after training, the “carbohydrate window” period begins. At this time, energy from consumed food is spent on restoration and increase in muscle mass. Products with fast carbohydrates are most suitable - fruits, honey.

Recuperation

Muscle tissue grows while resting for 48 hours after training. In order not to harm the body, complete rest must be ensured for each muscle group. Sleep should last at least 8 hours a day.

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.

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.

The benefits of simple carbohydrates in nutrition

Broadly speaking, carbohydrates are divided into complex and simple. They differ only in the speed of absorption by the body.

• Complex carbohydrates take a long time to process and therefore are also called slow carbohydrates.
• Simple ones are processed more quickly and are called fast carbohydrates.

It is not recommended to abuse simple carbohydrates, as they stimulate the growth of fat and are quickly deposited on the sides. But for professional athletes who have set themselves the goal of gaining muscle mass, it is important to consume both types of substances in sufficient quantities.

Fast carbohydrates are found in abundance in foods such as:

• raisins, dried apricots and other dried fruits;
• baked goods made from wheat flour;
• honey;
• sweet fruits;
• sugar.

The pancreas, which produces insulin, vigilantly monitors sugar levels. When fast carbohydrates and glucose enter our body, they are absorbed into the blood, brain and muscles. In muscle mass, they act to raise muscle energy and slightly increase muscle size by stretching the cells.

If the muscles are already filled with glucose, then its remains are processed into fat cells, which is the main threat from simple carbohydrates for people who do not know what physical activity is.

With athletes the situation is different:

1. It is recommended to consume fast carbohydrates one hour before the upcoming workout if you did not have time to eat normally and you urgently need to “recharge”. They will fill the body with energy, which is enough for a vigorous start.
2. In addition, they prevent a critical decrease in glycogen levels in muscle tissue, which will help improve training results. Glycogen is actively consumed during strength training aimed at gaining muscle mass.

They also recommend restoring energy after productive workouts in the gym. The first half hour to an hour after the end of an active workout is called the “carbohydrate window” among athletes. During this period, the body is able to very quickly absorb glucose into the blood, obtained from foods rich in fast carbohydrates.