Are you one of those people who have a hard time gaining weight? I googled the keywords ‘weight gain’ and guess what I found? The first entry was “How can I Gain Weight” and then came a series of links to ‘build muscle and gain weight’ and ‘the reasons for weight gain’. It would seem that the internet is not interested in those that need to gain weight.
Actually, that is not true. Unfortunately, most people have a problem with being over weight. There are tons of sites out there (including this one) which address that subject. This blog’s aim is to cover subjects around ‘Be the Weight you Want’. That means weight loss for some, weight maintenance for others, and weight gain for others.
What I find interesting is that the answers for ‘how to gain weight’ are so similar to the answers of ‘how to lose weight’. I suspect that the reasons, barring medical reasons, are similar also. I posted an article and post on my other blog Weight Workouts are for Teens, Women, and Men entitled Guide To Gaining Weight and The Skinny Gal’s/Guy’s Guide To Gaining Weight. They have some good pointers about gaining weight besides the ones for the weight training which i would like to explore here.
Eat every 2-3 hours. I would say every 3-4 hours. Eat your first meal within 15-30 minutes of waking up – absolutely no later. This first meal of the day should always consist of REAL food to flood your body with quality nutrients.
Sound familiar? it should. This is what you need to do to lose weight and to maintain weight. The difference? You eat more when you are trying to gain weight and less when you are trying to lose weight. In fact, the rule of thumb for gaining is to double what you are eating. And no, it isn’t as simple as this.
Eat Nutritional High Calorie Foods. In other words, eat foods that have more calories per volume and not so many with less calories per volume. Eat a chef’s salad with ham, dressing, cheese if you do eat lettuce salad. Choose corn and potatoes more for your vegetables, or flavor you green beans, butter beans, etc, with bacon grease (but not too much, we don’t need clogged arteries). Focus on caloric-rich foods that are loaded with nutrients.
Here are some of the best choices: Oatmeal, rice, breads, yams beans, potatoes, fruits and veggies. Steak, chicken, lean beef, cottage cheese, whole milk, eggs and salmon. Olive oil, flax oil, avocados, nuts and peanut butter. Ice cream, raisins, dried fruit and trail mix.
Use Big eating utensils: Get a BIG cup, get a BIG bowel, and get a BIG plate so your smaller portions will get lost on the plate. This will encourage you to double your portions. The opposite of losing weight by using smaller eating utensils.
Never Stop Eating sounds a bit harsh. You do need to eat regularly. As you set up your habits of eating more and eating more frequently, it will be easier to eat during those ‘emotional’ or ’stressful’ times. Caution, do not make eating your comfort, your stress re-leaver, or your pleasure. This will set you up for the opposite problem – wanting to lose weight because of emotional eating.
I promise you this will not be the only post for people who want to gain weight.
What are some of the ways you use to gain that hard to gain weight?
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