Whether you want add muscle mass to your body or want to get out of your string bean kind of figure, gaining weight can be equally challenging as losing weight is. So, what exactly you can do to gain weight in a healthy way?
If you think losing weight is one of the toughest tasks in the world, then ask those who have been trying to gain weight healthfully way. Maintaining a healthy diet while beefing up the numbers on the weighing scale is not that easy as it may sound to many and requires a lot of hard work.
For people who are trying to gain weight, nothing is as easy as gorging on ice cream sundaes, chocolates, and loads of cheesy pizza. This certainly is not a healthy way of gaining weight as well. Junk food might look like a good option to pack on a lot of calories, but it may lead to cholesterol problems in the long run and will only lead to fat gain and not the lean muscle mass, which weight gainers are actually looking forward to.
Gaining healthy weight doesn’t only mean to pile up kilos, it means toning up your biceps and improving your strength so that you can look great in that outfit you have been dying to buy for a long time. To add healthy mass and still look good, you need to add a mix of proteins carbohydrates and healthy fats in your diet, which can easily be summed up in the below shared healthy ways to gain weight.
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Track your calories
Your first step towards how to gain weight the healthy way should begin with figuring out how many calories you need to consume in a day to maintain a healthy weight.
Ideal calorie requirement for healthy weight gain for men is around 2500 calories, whereas for women calorie count can be anywhere between 1800 to 2000 calories depending on how active their lifestyle is.
To figure out the exact number of calories you are consuming in a day, you can use a calorie tracking tool then add 200 to 500 calories in your daily intake to achieve a healthy weight of a quarter pound to a pound each week.
Focus on balanced diet
Once you start your journey towards healthy weight gain, you need to ensure that all the extra curves you are getting are made of muscle and not fat. In order to achieve that, you need to focus on having well-rounded meals and snacks that mostly includes healthy foods, which are low in empty calories.
50 to 60 percent of your daily calories should come from carbohydrates, whereas 15 to 20 should come from protein and 25 to 30 percent should come from healthy fats. While protein is often termed as excellent for getting toned, it is important to not overdo it while trying to gain weight. This is so because is very filling and requires a lot of energy to get digested properly, thus burning a lot of calories for the same.
So, for healthy weight gain, focus on healthy complex carbs found in rice, whole wheat, potatoes and whole grain cereals. Because carbs are digested easily, the calories consumed from them can be used for muscle building.
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Sneak in healthy fats
Heart-healthy olive oil, canola oil, and coconut oil, should make to your grocery list if you are trying to gain weight. Adding these oils to your salads, smoothies, and other food items will increase the number of calories in your dish without making you feel full.
Additionally, stock your kitchen with a variety of nuts to snack on throughout the day. A handful of walnuts as your mid-morning snack can add up to 200 calories, also these nuts are rich in heart-healthy fats, which are good for your overall health as well.
While these are some simple ways to gain weight in a healthy way, it comes with its own set of pitfalls that a person has to go through. Here are some ways to overcome challenges, which may derail your anti-diet for a successful healthy weight gain.
Pitfall 1: You’re sick of food.
You have your healthy weight gain diet chart prepared in which you have included all the items you love gorging on and it feels like a dream come true for you. But, that’s not the end of this story, because forcing yourself to eat more than what you would normally consume can sometimes be really burdensome.
That is why, a lot of dietitians suggest healthy weight gain shakes, as they are enhanced with healthy oils, protein and other ingredients that allow you to sip up to 500 extra calories in a day. You can opt for high-calorie drinks such as milk and chocolate to reach your weight gain goal, especially if you are aiming to put on muscle.
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Pitfall 2: You’re feeling stuffed
Eating when you are uncomfortably full can be extremely painful as it may lead to i-ate-too-much stomach ache. It is recommended to eat five small meals throughout the day rather than stuffing yourself with three oversized meals.
Structuring your meals around your workout time can also help you in avoiding the feeling of overly stuffed. However, make sure that your meal around workout time should be rich in carbohydrates as you will be needing a lot of fuel for your workout routine.
Pitfall 3: You’re eating too many calories at once
There comes a time when you realize that you haven’t eaten enough today to meet your daily calorie requirement and to compensate on that you end up splurging on a giant sundae or cheese-loaded pizza. But, loading up on bad for your health foods just to compensate your caloric deficit might not be worth it in the long run.
Eating unhealthy foods will make you gain fat rather than getting you toned and will make you end up at a place where you don’t want to be. Overeating of unhealthy foods to meet your caloric deficit will increase extra fat in the waist area for men, as for women the results will be visible around their stomach and thighs.
This, it will be good for you to resist the urge to splurge, instead plans your meals ahead so that you can avoid accidental eating. Similar to weight loss, weight gain also needs lifelong maintenance once you manage to reach your goal. Try to keep yourself full with nutritional foods, so that all the extra calories you eat will make healthy and not fat.
