Gaining weight is as difficult as losing weight. Here are some tips that can help you gain weight safely.
Weight gain: Regular exercise plays a crucial role in gaining weight
HIGHLIGHTS
- A healthy can help you gain weight in a healthy way
- Have frequent meals to add extra calories to your diet
- Exercise also plays a huge role in gaining weight safely
Everyone in today's age is in a rush to lose weight and some in exchange are struggling to gain weight. The first thing that reminds us of gaining weight is to eat more food! But even eating more food for some people doesn't help them gain that weight, this is because their metabolism is high or they could be fighting an unknown underlying problem that's keeping them away from gaining weight. In this article, here are some tips that can help those who are underweight to put on some kilos.
Follow these tips to gain weight safely
1. Exercise
Don't be surprised to see exercise on a list of ways to gain weight. People often misconstrue working out as something meant for people with excess body fat and eating more with weight gain, when in reality it is the other way round. Exercise involves breakdown of muscles and generation of lean muscle mass, which causes healthy weight gain. One must focus more on weight training than cardio to gain muscle weight.
Weight gain: Strength training can help you gain muscle mass
Photo Credit: iStock
2. Consumption of protein rich foods
Exercise can provide its benefits only if post training, one consumes protein rich foods. Why? It's because exercise involves breakdown of muscle mass, hence to fix that and build lean muscle, nutritional support from protein is highly imperative. Include pulses, chicken, milk products, eggs, etc. to your daily routine post workout to help you gain weight the healthy way. This will help in increasing muscle mass.
Also read: Juice Diet For Detox And Weight Loss: Expert Reveals The Truth About This Popular Concept
3. Add a dash of fat to every meal
Healthy fats such as butter and ghee should be added to every meal. Ghee is a rich source of butyric acid that helps to boost weight. Not to forget the number of other benefits it provides ranging from improving heart health to reducing cholesterol and even improving memory.
4. Consume simple carbohydrates
Simple carbohydrates like potatoes are digested rapidly in the body and hence aid in weight gain. Not to forget that potatoes are a great source of potassium too. Consume whole grains as they are starchy and calorie-dense.
5. Don't let more than four hours go by without eating
The human body goes into a state of starvation when food is not consumed frequently where it starts to utilize its own stores to generate energy, and hence causes weight loss. It is recommended to eat food when feeling a little hungry also.
Eat healthy snacks to beat hunger pangs between meals
Photo Credit: iStock
6. Avoid junk foods
The common notion about weight gain is eat everything in sight and you will gain weight. While this is not true, it will lead to unhealthy weight gain especially around the belly, which is the leading cause of a number of diseases these days. The key is to eat energy dense but healthy food. Hence monitor where every calorie comes from.
7. Eat Frequently
When you are underweight you tend to feel hungry faster. Hence, opt for small and frequent meals rather than 3 full meals. Aim to have three meals and three snacks so that the body keeps full and intakes extra calories without feeling sick.
Also read: Weight Gain, Diabetes, Thyroid And Other Diseases The Can be Caused By Chronic Stress
8. Sleep
Circling back to where we started- exercising, involves the breakdown of muscle to generate lean muscle mass. This process gets fuelled when the body gets enough rest, as the body heals during sleep. Hence, a nice sleep of 6-8 hours is mandatory and will keep your body on track.
(Mac is a Dietician and Co-Founder of Fitelo)
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