Being underweight might not be as common as being overweight but we know, some people are still suffering from being underweight. There are many possible reasons behind an underweight physique. In most cases, it is genetics and lack of nutrition. But there are also some underlying reasons such as fast metabolism, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, cancer and other health issues. Anyway, staying underweight can harm your health in many ways so you need to gain weight in a safe way to be strong and maintain a healthy weight. Let’s know how to gain weight by following these 5 golden tips.
What is Considered Underweight?
Before diving deep into the tips of how to gain weight, let’s know what is considered as underweight so that you can make sure whether you’re truly underweight or you’re just getting worried for no reason. A healthy weight range is a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 18.5 to 24.9. If your BMI is under 18.5 then you would be considered underweight. With the help of an online BMI calculator, you can measure whether you have a healthy weight. This is calculated using only your height and weight.
What are The Disadvantages of Having An Underweight Physique?
The disadvantages of having an underweight physique are not as plenty as an overweight one but there are definitely a few. An underweight person might possess a weak immune system which leads to catch fever and illness easily. An underweight person can face bone diseases like osteoarthritis because of having weak bones and joints without the support of strong and healthy muscles. An underweight person can be less energetic and can get easily tired than a person with healthy weight and muscle mass. So, these are some of the disadvantages an underweight person may face. Without further ado, let’s know all the tips of how to gain weight in a healthy way.
How to Gain Weight – Follow These 5 Tips!
You should not try to gain weight blindly just by eating whatever you want to eat like any junk foods available in the market because that will make you even unhealthier with full of fats as well as harm your internal organs. You need to gain weight healthily which means, gain weight that consists of optimum amount of muscle and fat so that you can be a healthy person with a proper bodyweight. Which is why, the first advice we want to share is:
Maintain a Caloric Surplus Diet
Basically, a caloric surplus diet means you have to consume a higher amount of calories than your body needs for daily requirements. For example, your body needs 1500 calories on daily basis but you need to eat 2000 calories daily so that the extra 500 calories can be stored in your body as muscles and fat. So in that way, you can easily gain weight and get rid of an underweight physique. Now, as you have gone through this first tip, you have to continue reading all the tips as all of them are correlated.
Follow a High Protein Diet!
When we said to maintain caloric surplus diet, we explained that you have to consume more calories than you burn. But more calories doesn’t mean you have to eat junk food with high carbs, unhealthy fats, and low protein otherwise, your weight gain would be unhealthy and your internal organs would soon be in danger.
Also Read: 5 Best Protein Sources You Need Most for Muscle-building!
Anyway, the most important thing you can add to your caloric surplus diet is protein. Optimum amount of high quality protein is needed to make sure you are gaining muscles as well as weight, not just the fat. You can consider adding poultry, eggs, milk, whey protein, casein protein, red meat, sea fishes like tuna and salmon in your diet to get the protein you need. 1.5 grams per pound of body weight is enough for you to help you gain weight as well as muscle in a healthy way.
Add Complex Carbs Too!
High and simple carbohydrate foods can be harmful for your body as they can be stored as unnecessary fats and make you unhealthy. That’s why, you should add complex carbs with less sugar and sodium in your diet to gain weight in a healthy way. Carbs such as brown rice, brown bread, sweet potato are some of the excellent sources of healthy complex carbs which can be absorbed by your body to give you energy, not fat. Moreover, these type of carbs can restrict your body from storing unnecessary fats and also make sure your internal organs like the stomach and liver stay healthy and fully charged.
Don’t Forget The Healthy Fats!
Just like carbohydrates, fats are also divided into healthy and unhealthy fats. Those pizzas, burgers we eat are the source of unhealthy fats such as trans fats and saturated fats which are very dangerous for our body. Not only they will force your body to store unnecessary fats but also they can bring health issues like cholesterol, diabetes, fatty liver, indigestion, bloating etc. – to name a few.
So, all you have to do is to include healthy fats such as Omega-3 fatty acids, unsaturated fats etc. in your diet to not only gain weight healthily but also to make sure that the protein which you’re consuming can be absorbed properly because healthy fatty acids helps to make sure the enzymes work properly and helps to absorb all the necessary nutrients into your body. Healthy fats also helps in the proper cell function of the body. Moreover, they help to minimize the risk of heart disease and other common bodily issues like diabetes and cholesterol.
Some of the great healthy fat sources are: salmon, fatty fish, peanut butter, avocado, cheese, nuts, olive oil etc. Include some of them in your daily diet to gain weight as fast as a bullet train.
Consider Using Weight Gainer Supplements
This is the optional tip which means, if you still can’t see the results of gaining weight in 4 or 5 months after following all the 4 abovementioned tips consistently then you can consider using weight gainer supplements which is basically the same like the diet as it contains, 30% of high-quality protein, 40% of complex carbs and more or less 30% of fats. So, consuming this along with your daily diet can improve your journey to gain weight.
Moreover, if you’re a busy person and you have to skip meals sometimes, you can also consider this. Just make the shake and drink. That’s all so it’s very less time-consuming. But keep in mind, don’t skip meals often and make it a shortcut way to gain weight because nothing can skip meals. There’s a reason why these things are called supplements. They are supplements, not main foods.
In The Concluding Lines
In the bottom line of this article, we would like to say that how to gain weight – this is not a rocket science and believe us, this is far more easier than losing weight. What you have to do is to follow these tips, maintain a caloric surplus diet with high protein, moderate complex carbs and healthy fats and most importantly, you have to stick with this diet with consistency for at least 3 or 4 months to start seeing visible results. If you’re too skinny and underweight like your BMI is below 10 then better add the weight gainer supplements with your diet. Stick to it with dedication and consistency and then, you will eventually start seeing results. Wish you all the very best in your journey to gain weight. Hopefully, you have found this article about how to gain weight helpful. If it really so then don’t forget to express your valuable thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks for visiting and appreciating our work.