What Foods Will Make You Gain Weight?
Gaining weight can feel like a daunting task if you do not know where to start. While many people try to gain weight for sports, it is important to note that any attempt to gain weight should benefit your overall health and be overseen by health care professionals to ensure your safety. With some planning and safety measures in place, it could be possible for you to gain the weight you need to maintain optimal health.
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Planning
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Planning is an important part of the process toward gaining healthy weight. Begin by making a trip to your doctor to determine how much weight you should safely gain. If you are severely underweight, you should also have a thorough physical to ensure that there are no health conditions causing you to have a difficult time gaining weight. Ask for a referral to a nutritionist and work with the nutritionist to keep a food diary for two weeks so that you can see any patterns in your eating habits. These medical professionals will help you to plan your course of action.
Increasing Nutrients and Calories
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Your nutritionist, dietitian, or doctor will go over your food diary with you to determine how many calories you are consuming each day and what your calories consist of. You might be encouraged to increase your daily calorie consumption by 300 to 500 calories for a few weeks to see if weight gain occurs. While that might seem like a lot of extra calories, it's as simple as a few pats of butter, salad dressing on a salad, or a handful or two of nuts. Choosing nutrient-dense foods will help you increase your caloric consumption without feeling overly full.
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Exercise
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Your physician might ask you about your lifestyle and exercise habits. If you are not currently exercising, it might be recommended that you participate in some basic strength training. Muscle weighs more than fat, and combining strength training with a higher calorie diet can result in weight gain for some people. Conversely, if you are exercising excessively, your physician might suggest you scale back your efforts ever so slightly to help you create a calorie surplus that will help you gain weight.
Evaluation
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After you have made lifestyle and eating changes for a few weeks, your medical professionals might ask you to return for a weight check and a conversation about how the changes you've made are impacting your health. If you have not gained weight, you may be asked to increase your caloric consumption by another 300 to 500 calories until you reach the caloric level where your body begins gaining weight. If you find that you are always full, it might be suggested that you try to graze throughout the day or consume several smaller meals in order to get more calories into your day.
Maintenance
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Once you have gained the weight necessary for your overall health, your health professionals will likely recommend that you move to a maintenance phase of your eating plan. You will gradually reduce your calories until you reach a caloric intake that does not result in either weight gain or weight loss. You should be able to eat at that level and remain healthy unless changes to your health dictate you to shift your eating patterns once again.
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