If you feel that you're just too thin, it may be time to make some dietary changes that can help you gain weight. You will need to increase your calorie intake every day to put on some needed pounds. The easiest way to increase calories is by eating foods that are energy-dense, which means they are high in calories. Some foods are better for you than others. It is best to choose foods that are high in calories, but also nutritious. The proportion of “Carbs:Protein:Fat” is the key.
At the beginning in the Gaining Phase it should be around 50:30:20 ratio.
After achieving desired weight gain, it gradually changes to around 40:40:20 ratio in the Cutting Phase.
You could also increase your calorie intake by eating more junk foods like candy, cake, cookies, and sweetened soft drinks, but do not rely on them too much because they are just not nutritious. Other than calories, they don't tend to be high in vitamins, minerals, fiber, or antioxidants. They can increase your body fat weight which is extremely unhealthy.
First, use the Calorie calculator formula to “determine your daily calorie needs” according to your current weight and add about 300 to 500 calories per day. That will help you gain a pound or so per week. Gradual weight changes are best. After gaining some pounds your process of gaining weight could suddenly stop, it may be for the period of 1 to 4 months. This Phase called “Plateau Phase” How to break this phase will be explained later.
After you determine how many calories you need per day, it is time to plan your daily menu, including meals and snacks.
Meal planning may sound difficult, but it is not. Take a look at my sample meal plan for a 2,500 calorie day weight gaining diet. It has a good balance of healthy and high-calorie foods, so you get plenty of nutrients and fiber. If you feel like you need more calories, you can adjust this menu by adding extra snacks or eating larger portions.
Eat at least four meals every day with larger portions if you have the appetite for it. If you do not like eating much, then you might do better with five or six smaller meals spaced a few hours apart.
Carbohydrates are your body's preferred form of energy, and you need to give your body the energy it needs to perform your daily tasks, plus some extra calories. Increase your carbohydrate intake with whole grain bread and cereals, fruits, and vegetables to increase calories.
Don't resort to eating highly processed junk foods to get your extra calories. While they are energy-dense, they're low in nutritional value. Worse, they can be bad for your health if they're high in saturated fats, trans-fats, added sugar, or sodium.
Fat can be your friend. Fats are high in calories so eating more high-fat foods can help you to gain weight. Choose wisely. The best weight gaining foods contain healthful fats (poly-unsaturated) such as fish, avocado, olive oil, flax, nuts, and seeds.
Protein is an essential element of the diet. Protein provides you essential and conditionally essential “Amino Acid” which helps you in the process of “Muscle Growth”. Protein also helps you in recovery from muscle fatigue. In intense activity protein keeps you safe from muscle loss.
Adding extra calories to your day by eating more healthy foods is the best way to gain weight.. A healthy diet is always the best way to add nutrients, just change your calorie count to help you with your weight management goals.
Protein powder supplements, particularly whey-based supplements, do have a place in supplementation. Following are a few “Dietary Supplements” generally recommended in muscle mass gaining diets.
In this process your body weight on scale is definitely increased, but is it gaining in a proper way? It means by loading lots of simple carbohydrates and fats you can easily increase your body weight. For example, by eating junk foods, having sugary kinds of beverages you can easily increase your weight by a few pounds but 100% it is an unhealthy way to achieve your goal.
In the weight gaining phase you have to simply add 300 to 500 extra calories with your maintenance calorie needs. Before we proceed further you have to calculate your per day calorie needs (BMR) with the help of a calorie calculator.
For example you are around height of 164 cm and your weight is somewhere around 55kgs then it seems you are underweight. Your ideal weight should be in-between 64 to 68 Kgs. So your basic goal is to gain a minimum of 9 Kgs.
For achieving it you have to calculate your calorie intake with a calorie calculator. In this case if your lifestyle is active and you are exercising for 4 to 5 times/week then roughly you require the following calories for “To Maintain weight 2132 / To Mild weight gain (0.25Kg per week) 2387 / Ideal gain (0.5Kg per week) 2622”.
Although various diets have become popular, the general consensus among dietitians and nutritionists is that a healthy diet is somewhat different & less stringent in requirements and more balanced across the major nutrients. You can see the key recommendations for the general population. In summary, the recommendations are
Recommended dietary intakes or allowances (RDI or RDA) are set by authorities for all essential nutrients like “protein, fat, carbohydrate, and vitamins and minerals”. Guidelines and RDIs usually include slightly modified recommendations for men and women, including pregnant women, and adolescents and children. Older adults may also have special requirements and recommended intakes.
People who exercise have different requirements to sedentary people because the greater expenditure of energy (TEE) usually requires a greater intake of food. The more you exercise the more you have to eat to sustain that level of activity. Simple enough, and this also applies to casual exercisers. It may not apply to you, if fat loss is one of the reasons you took up weight training.
If you do weight training for sports, weight lifting competition, bodybuilding or even as a way to maintain fitness or appearance now that you have reached an ideal weight, you will probably be more interested in gaining muscle and maintaining low body fat. The dietary specifics will be different in each case. In this article, we are emphasizing bodybuilding diet and nutrition so let’s take a look at what is required.
To build extra muscle you need to eat in excess of what you currently eat and to work out with weights on a regular basis. How much muscle you can gain, how quickly and with what definition is largely determined by your genetics and age. But everyone at almost any age should be able to gain some muscle and strength with weight training. Proper nutrition is a crucial element in the muscle building process.
Let’s say, you are around height of 164 cm and your weight is somewhere around 55kgs then it seems you are underweight. Your ideal weight should be in-between 64 to 68Kgs. So your basic goal is to gain a minimum of 9Kgs, which means you want to bulk up with extra muscle and eventually stabilize at a low percentage of body fat.
Remember what we studied about catabolism and anabolism previously in relation to energy expenditure and body types. You are now going to attempt to do just that: shed fat and hold onto the lovely muscle you gained. Your energy intake should now be cut back by the 15 percent you added with the objective of losing fat and maintaining that muscle. Because you are now not the lean guy you once were, you may have to eventually eat slightly more to maintain that extra muscle, but not right now.
This is a slightly different scenario to someone who is obese, unfit and trying to lose weight and hold muscle. Our young and fit male weight trainer has a more normal hormonal metabolism but he still has to do this correctly. In fact, bodybuilders do this sort of thing regularly to prepare themselves for competition: they put on muscle and some fat by eating up, then they strip off the fat leaving the muscle to show through. It’s called “cutting phase”
In this cutting phase, the diet should be low in fat, around 20 percent, and protein intake should be maintained, which can help protect muscle. For example, if your protein intake was 1 gram/pound of your body weight per day (2.2 grams/kilogram) when you were bulking up and overeating, you would now keep that protein intake constant while cutting excess fat and carbohydrates, particularly added sugar and sweets and white flour products, all the while keeping up the supply of those antioxidants in fruit, veggies, and whole grains.
Such a nutrition plan could look like this for the macronutrients (Protein, Fat, Carbohydrate)
Now that you have muscled up and got ripped to low body fat levels you will want to know the best way to eat and train to stay that way. Eating for elite athletes is taken very seriously by sports nutritionists and coaches. It should be because a few fractions of a second in a sprint or a few seconds in longer races can mean the difference between a gold medal and only being a participant. Even in the amateur ranks, it’s just nice to know that you are maximizing your workout by eating in a way that makes the most of your hard work. Meal timing and constitution before and after exercise is an important part of this.
Weight trainers don’t usually expand the amount of energy that an endurance athlete does in training. Even so, here are some principles for meals prior to exercise as generally supported by sports nutritionists and modified for the strength athlete. Remember, this is for eating before you train or compete.
Here are some foods and combinations that provide at least 10 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbohydrate.
Unless you do extreme sessions for considerably longer than an hour, include intense cardio or strength-endurance weights programs, or ate poorly in the hours leading up to the session, you probably don't need anything other than water to get you through in good shape. And good shape means not letting your blood and muscle glucose get too low at which point cortisol and other hormones will be looking to break down your muscle. It's a fine point but one that is worth considering. You don't need expensive and probably useless supplements to protect you from catabolic cortisol surges, all you need is some carbohydrate from a sports drink (BCAAs), gel or bar.
How you eat to recover from exercise is one of the most important principles in exercise nutrition. If you don’t refuel sufficiently after each session, your glucose (glycogen) stores in muscle can get depleted leading to tiredness, poor performance, and even immune system suppression and infection. Glucose is the athlete’s and exerciser’s main fuel. You get it from carbohydrate foods and drinks. What is more, inadequate refueling after your session won't take advantage of that hard muscle work by giving those muscles an anabolic boost that repairs and builds.
Weight trainers do not use as much glucose fuel as the higher intensity or higher duration aerobic sports like track and endurance running and cycling, but even so, it pays to keep those glycogen stores topped up if you want to be at your best in training. You will notice glucose depletion more after muscle endurance and hypertrophy programs where higher repetitions, perhaps to failure, are slated rather than the low-rep strength sets where direct ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is likely the main fuel. Low numbers of repetitions with heavy weights are used to develop strength, whereas lighter weights and more repetitions are used to build muscle size and muscle endurance. The latter is likely to expend more energy.
Move the carbohydrate quantity up or down as you assess your weight and energy levels as you train or compete. Modify carbohydrate intake according to how often or intensely you work out. A one-hour session of combined weights and cardio at moderate to high intensity may require at least 5 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram body weight per day (2.5 grams/pound). Here are estimates of carbohydrate requirements with weight training the focus. Intensity of exercise over time increases quantities required. If light exercise, choose the lower numbers; only applies to days of exercise; choose higher rates if you mix solid cardio sessions with weights. Estimates only.
If you do more than one session each day, the post-exercise snack should be continued for each hour until regular meals resume. This is important to get you up for the later session. Few weight trainers choose to do two weights sessions a day, but some do an early session of cardio and a later session of weights or vice versa.
You definitely don’t need to consume excessive quantities of protein in any form to build muscle and support your weight training or bodybuilding activity. Try not to exceed 1 gram per pound of body weight of protein daily. That may be a little more than what you will need but you don't need more than that. Getting the Balance Right You do need to eat sufficient food and carbohydrate to sustain your activities. Too little carbohydrate and your body will break down your muscle for glucose and reverse all those hard gotten gains. Don’t believe advice that says carbohydrates are fattening. Don’t eat everything. Still, you can modify your carbohydrate intake for the better by avoiding refined flours, sugars, sweets and other quickly absorbed or processed carbohydrates when you are not exercising intensely.
The Least You Need to Know - Don't worry too much about the finer detail of calculating quantities if you don't wish to. The detail is there for those who can use this precision, but most people don't. Experience and getting to know how your body works is probably more important, as well as trial and error within the information provided here. Check out these main points.