How to Gain Weight

The geneticists have discovered a skinny gene in many species, including the fruit flies. The cheetahs and I could have said so if only we'd been consulted. The thin fruit flies, curiously, are fine until malaria arrives and then they don't survive, but the fat fruit flies do. This is a cautionary tale, perhaps, though I just find it odd that malaria kills flies. Anyway, the geneticists are thinking that skinny genes can battle obesity, which is always the focus. Always we talk about how to lose weight, yet how to gain weight is also a difficult task. I'm not referring to the illnesses of the mind that cause a person see herself as fat when she is thin, such as anorexia and bulimia, but the skinny person's dilemma of gaining and keeping ten pounds or so to be healthier.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Groceries
• Sleep

1. Sleep. If you get enough sleep you will be able to retain the heft of what you eat. If you do not get enough sleep, you will not gain any weight from the food you have eaten, my doctor told me once. Recently, I read that not getting enough sleep made you gain weight, so I believe that stressors work against the body in its own way, whether that is to withhold weight from one individual or pile it onto another. Hops, passionflower, and other herbs are good for relaxing a person.

2. Stop drinking caffeine after the morning, or don't drink it at all. Gosh, that's hard, but caffeine is an appetite suppressant.

3. Eat three meals a day plus two snacks. Meals are balanced and plentiful. A bagel or yogurt is not meal. Look at calorie counts in an opposite way from those who must lose weight, but be healthy. An avocado is a great snack or meal portion because it is fattening and nutritious. I prefer the black bumpy skinned avocados to the California green smooth skinned avocados. Deep sea fish dense with oils are better then flounder. Oatmeal with half and half and brown sugar is nice.

4. Try to avoid your own pitfalls. As a creative mind, I can sometimes not stop for hunger or not notice it if I am involved in what I'm writing, or in what I'm knitting. I snack, I graze, I do not consume. Similarly, stress can shut down my stomach, and sudden fear can make me drop 5 pounds on the spot. Those with opposite weight problems gain with stress, eat more when gunning the creative engines, seek all their comfort foods when frightened. Set an alarm for lunch, snack, dinner, snack. Form good habits.

5. Drink 8 8-ounce glasses of water a day because the body needs to be hydrated. Everything works well when we have enough water. Muscles don't cramp, skin softens and clears. Get a glass that is 16 ounces and fill it four times a day, then drink it, leisurely.

6. Exercise. It builds appetite. But not aerobics. Choose strength building tasks.