Most people are looking for a bodyweight that allows them to look good but, above all, is healthy. For this reason, many brands, doctors, and organizations have decided to take on the fight against being overweight, but what happens when the problem is being under the ideal weight? Although the logical thing is to consume more calories than usual, you have to be very careful about starting to beat wildly and without any nutritional advice since you could gain weight very quickly but considerably compromising the health of your body.
The first thing you should consider to gain weight fast and healthy is that there is no ideal weight, so forget about the scale and focus better on your measurements, your body mass index, and the amount of muscle mass you want to achieve. If you are not satisfied with your appearance and want to gain a bit of volume to look better and feel healthier, keep reading this FastlyHealarticle where we inform you how the diet should be to gain weight fast and healthy.
Table of Contents
When should you gain weight?
Many people consider underweight because the scale does not indicate their ideal weight. However, what is essential and that we must take into account when labeling our body structure is the BMI: body mass index, which is the value that estimates if you have more or less body mass according to weight and height.
The BMI that indicates that you should gain weight is the one below 18.5, which is more common in women and adolescents. The ideal is to maintain a BMI between 20 and 23 since if it is 25, it indicates overweight, and if it exceeds 30, it indicates obesity. However, BMI is not a completely accurate result, as it does not take muscle mass into account, so there can be very healthy people with a BMI of 18.
Given that low weight is as problematic for health as obesity, it is essential to take action in this regard to prevent the main health risks of being much lower than the BMI suggests, such as:
- 100% higher risk of premature death in men.
- Increases the risk of getting infections.
- Low weight depresses the functions of the immune system.
- It causes osteoporosis in women and increases the likelihood of fractures.
- Causes fertility problems.
Causes of underweight
Some diseases can stimulate involuntary weight loss, and it is important to recognize them in case the thinness is unjustified and sudden:
- Eating disorders like anorexia nervosa can trigger underweight.
- An overactive thyroid that releases more thyroid hormone than normal (hyperthyroidism).
- Gluten intolerance or celiac disease.
- Wild type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes.
- Malignant tumors.
- Parasitic, tuberculosis, and HIV infections.
Get progressively fatter
To gain weight healthily, the key is to gain weight gradually. If we start to drink a lot of soda and increase the consumption of fats and junk food, weight gain will be safe. Still, it will worsen our health, and all that time and money invested in eating will leave nothing but a huge belly and altered values of blood glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides.
Therefore, the idea is to visit the nutritionist to develop a nutritional plan based on your body’s needs that allows you to gain weight and volume little by incorporating foods that stimulate weight gain in a way healthy for you and your physical appearance.
Although to gain weight, we must offer our body a more significant number of calories through food, there is the possibility of doing so by consuming caloric and healthy foods simultaneously. Where is the key? In increasing the amount of food you eat and the number of times, you eat a day. So the ideal will be:
- Increase the size of the portions that you usually serve yourself.
- Add more food to your dishes, that is, eat whole: first course, second course, and dessert.
- Eat a snack every three hours.
Diet to gain weight fast and healthy
eat proteins
Proteins are the most important food group to help you healthily gain weight, and it is that proteins make muscles, therefore, they are the best option for the size of your muscles to increase, and you gain more weight and volume. Ideally, eat 2.2 grams of protein per body kilogram and not abuse its consumption either, since they tend to suppress the appetite and can be an obstacle to meeting all the daily caloric intake that you should consume. Find protein in fish, meat, chicken, eggs, legumes, dairy, nuts, and peanuts. Expand this information by consulting the article Foods rich in protein.
Don’t exclude fats and carbohydrates.
To lose and gain weight, it is important not to exclude any food group. Good fats such as avocado or olive oil contain nutrients and vitamins necessary for the body. Likewise, carbohydrates are the body’s primary energy source, and you can acquire them through pasta, rice, potatoes, corn, cassava, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and others.
Foods that provide energy
They tend to be caloric because they are rich in sauces, condiments, and spices that are more appealing to the palate and will help you eat entire portions.
Healthy foods to gain weight
Next, we detail which foods are the ones that can help you gain weight fast and healthy:
- Nuts: walnuts, almonds, peanuts.
- Dried fruits: dates, raisins, plums.
- Dairy: whole milk, natural yogurt, cheeses.
- Fats and oils: olive oil, avocado, coconut oil.
- Cereals: brown rice and oats.
- Meat: chicken, beef, pork, lamb, fish.
- Tubers: sweet potato and potatoes.
Most of these foods cause satiety, so likely, by the time of your next meal, you will not be hungry at all. However, the less you skip meals and follow your nutritionist’s instructions to the letter, the more effective your diet will be in healthily gaining weight.
Ideas to gain weight
- Add peanut butter toast to your regular breakfast.
- Instead of drinking your yogurt on its own, add nuts, cereal, or banana chunks to it.
- Add avocado oil, fruit, or pieces of cheese to your salads.
- When making an omelet, add cheese and potatoes.
- Snack on a handful of dried fruit between meals.
- Thicken the vegetable creams with powdered milk.
Exercise is muscle mass.
One of the best ways to increase the mass of your muscles and gain body volume that defines and increases the attractiveness of your figure is through exercise. Still, it is not a cardiovascular or aerobic discipline. It is heavy training with machines, garters, or dumbbells that allow your muscles to grow through a few repetitions, during which you lift a lot of weight.
To start practicing these types of routines, the ideal is that you ask for the help of a personal trainer who will advise you on how to perform the exercises and design a personalized way to achieve your goals. It is not about filling your body with muscles but about increasing your body composition through the weight of your muscles.
In addition, in the following article, we will show you the best foods to increase muscle mass.
Example of diet to gain weight
Finally, we offer you an example of a diet to gain weight fast and healthy so that you can guide yourself and better understand all the advice that we provided you previously. However, you must be aware that any diet to lose weight and gain weight must be personalized and prepared by a nutritionist; therefore, the menu we present below should not be followed without supervision and medical permission.
- Breakfast: whole milk meringue with strawberries. Scrambled eggs or tortillas with cheese. Two servings of bread and butter.
- Mid-morning snack: a whole yogurt with fruit or nuts and honey pieces.
- Lunch: pasta with meat sauce, vegetables, and cheese. A serving of fish with salad. For dessert, a cup of fruit with cream.
- Snack: a toast with peanut butter and fruit jelly.
- Dinner: a portion of potato pie with tuna and cheese gratin. A serving of salad. A cup of ice cream.
This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.
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I am a Surgeon with a diploma in comprehensive ultrasound and surgical care residency, an area I am specializing in. During the exercise of my profession, I have realized the need for patients to know the diseases they suffer, and I can tell you that a large part of their complications is due to a lack of information. Being a health web writer allows me to transmit my experience, without borders, to all those readers eager for knowledge, educate them in the prevention of diseases and promote a healthy lifestyle.