Diet for Weight Gain

To gain weight, you need to take in more calories from healthy foods like meats, eggs, dairy products, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Junk foods, sugary sodas and candy can help you to easily put on weight but remember that the weight you will gain by this is truly unhealthy.

To gain muscle mass and increase your metabolism, in addition to eating more calories you also need to do weight training exercises. The average increase in calories per day should be 500 calories for optimum weight gain.

A Healthy Way to Gain Weight:
When you want to gain weight, you have to do it in a healthy manner and this requires eating calorie dense yet nutritious food. Some of the high caloric yet nutritious foods that you could eat include granola, chopped nuts, banana, milk, juice, avocado, and tuna. Concentrate on a sensible blend of complex carbohydrates, lean protein, and healthy fats. Eat many small meals per day rather than a few large meals. People usually tend to gain one pound per week on a properly balanced high-caloric diet. You should also combine some form of exercise with your diet. Exercise will burn calories but it will also increase your appetite and build some muscle mass.

While creating the right diet plan for weight gain, you need to include the following for a high-caloric nutritious diet:

• Carbohydrates: You need carbohydrates for energy. There are two kinds of carbohydrates:

• Simple: These carbohydrates should be consumed in small quantities as they result in insulin spike and fat gain. Some examples of simple carbohydrates include dextrose, fruits, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sports drinks, and candies.

• Complex: These carbohydrates are great for bulking. They are slowly released into the body and are perfect for your diet. Some examples include brown rice, whole wheat bread, oats, pasta, spaghetti, beans, and root vegetables.

• Protein: Protein builds lean muscle tissue and helps you put on weight. Protein is found in high quantity in meats and poultry. Some examples of food high in protein include tuna, salmon, chicken, beef, pork, turkey, egg whites, beans and legumes

• Fats: Fats are essential for your body though too much of it is not good. There are different kinds of fat - saturated and unsaturated. You should avoid saturated fats since they clog arteries and have no beneficial effect on your body. Unsaturated fats are helpful and have been proven to raise natural testosterone levels. They belong to the essential fatty acids category which is needed for your body.

Following are some useful tips for increasing the calories in your food in a healthy way:

• Use canola or olive oil or wine sauces to sauté meats and vegetables

• Use skimmed milk instead of water for making soups and top with croutons and Parmesan cheese.

• Include cheese in your food daily in the form of toppings on your salads or with bread.

• For snacks - eat yogurt with crunchy cereal or fruit, graham crackers with cheese, mini sandwiches and burritos, milkshakes made from frozen yogurt, low-fat ice cream, dried fruits, trail mix, vegetables with dips, and nuts.

• Add dried or fresh fruits, nuts, and seeds to cereals.

• Drink grape, cranberry, pineapple, or apple juice.

• Eat 2-3 servings of beans and legumes, such as kidney, navy, pinto, and garbanzo beans, peas, lentils, and peanuts. These are a great source of protein and fiber.

• Eat dessert after dinner. Look for desserts made with healthy oils or low-fat milk.