There are a number of reasons why someone might be underweight. Perhaps they’ve recently had a serious illness that caused them to lose pounds, or maybe they struggled to get back to their normal weight after pregnancy. Or maybe they just weren’t getting enough nutrients and eating the right foods. Or maybe they were following too many bad habits, such as skipping meals. Although being overweight gets a lot of negative press attention, being underweight gets hardly any. It’s something very few of us even think about until a friend casually tells us that we look like “skin and bones.”
If you’re looking to gain some weight – without eating burgers,pizzas and other junk food – here are 10 simple diet tips on how to gain weight while making you healthy :
1. Set Goals
Whenever we do something pretty important in life, it’s important that we set goals to keep us on track. What are your weight goals? How much exactly do you want to weigh, or what weight would you be happy with? Realistically, when do you expect to achieve your goals by?Once you understand your goals, you can then start to manage the way you eat from now on.
2. Eat Something Every Four Hours (At Least)
It’s not important that you get really strict about this and eat something every four hours. What’s more important is that you don’t let more than four hours pass without eating (except during sleep, of course).
Going for hours without eating is a bad habit that we can easily fall into, especially if we’re busy at work.
“I’ll eat when I get home!” we say. “I’ve got work to do. Work comes first.”
But when you miss a meal, your body is consequently deprived of the necessary fuel it needs to keep running. When you lose fuel, you lose muscle mass.
So a good tip on how to gain weight the healthy way and to ensure that you don’t lose any more key tissue is eat often. Don’t miss a meal. Snack healthily (blueberries, nuts etc) between meals. Don’t go more than four hours without eating.
3. Consume Enough Protein
Protein is a key macronutrient as you seek to gain weight the healthy way. So a great tip on how to gain weight the healthy way is to consume 1 gm of protein of each pound of your body weight.
Building muscles should be your aim right now, and to do that you need lots of protein.
...But You Also Need Carbs & Fat
Protein can’t do this alone. To gain weight, you also need to make sure you’re getting enough carbs and fat.
Your diet should look something like this each day:
- Protein – 30%
- Fat – 40%
- Carbs – 30%
4. Eat A Few Healthy Foods In One Go
Ever seen those delicious pictures on Instagram of bowls of oatmeal crowded with bananas, nuts, seeds and quinoa? They look scrumptious, right? But how come you don’t try stuff like that?
Eating a few foods in one go is a great tip on how to gain weight the healthy way. Instead of eating a boring bowl of oatmeal, top it off with the your favourite fruits and nuts. Wash it down with orange juice and eat a slice of almond buttered toast on the side. Be creative with your meals and include a few different food groups at each sitting. It will never be boring!
5. Liquify Your Food
Another good tip on how to gain weight the healthy way is to use your blender more often. Ever drank your food? Now might be the best time to try it! When you drink smoothies, you still get the same nutrition as you would from solid food. But in a way you get more because you’re encouraged to consume more. After all, a drink doesn’t look quite as overwhelming as a plate full of food. Yet it tastes just as great, doesn’t bloat, and helps you put weight back on. Yay!
6. Be Smart About The Way You Snack
The great thing about trying to gain weight is that it means you can snack. But if you want to gain weight the healthy way, you need to get smart about the way you snack.
There are good snacks, and there are bad snacks. Sugar-laden candy bars are examples of bad snacks, while dried fruits, cheese and nuts are examples of good snacks. Both are calorie-dense, but the second examples are healthier for you!
7. Have A Midnight Snack
Who had midnight snacks when they were a kid? Probably everyone! When you were a kid, you could get away with feasting on midnight snacks. While your mom had to stop eating at 7 pm because she was watching her figure, you got to raid the snacks cupboard late at night.
You’ve probably been more like your mom in recent times, avoiding anything after a certain time. But now that you’re trying to put on weight the healthy way, you now have our permission to eat late at night again! Why? Because it’s during sleep when your body absorbs nutrients best. So one of good tips on how to gain weight the healthy way is to eat a healthy snack right before bed, and let the nutrients do their work.
8. Be Patient
Lastly, be patient. The results you desire won’t happen overnight. Don’t get tempted to speed things along by gorging on junk food. Set attainable goals that are realistic.
Don’t get upset when, after a few weeks, you’re still a way of your desire weight. The rate at which we gain weight depends on a few factors, and not everyone will gain weight at the same rate.
Stay happy and healthy!
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