If you have a Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 18.5, then you’ll need to do something urgently to get your weight up. This is because being underweight is just as bad as being overweight or obese.
Being underweight means that your body is starved of the necessary nutrients and this could increase your risk of many health conditions.
Luckily, it is very easy to gain muscle weight and you can do that by following the steps below.
How To Gain Weight Fast
1. Consume More Calories
For you to gain weight, you will have to eat more calories than your body burns. This means you will have to eat more foods or switch to a high-calorie diet.
Whatever you do avoid eating junk food. Although these foods have more calories in them and they could make you gain weight extremely fast, they will cause you to gain too much fast in a short time period. This is very unsafe and it could lead to obesity and several health problems.
To gain weight slowly and healthily, start by consuming 500 more calories every day. For the first few days, try to count how many calories you’re consuming. This will help you track your weight gain and make adjustments as you go further.
2. Build Muscle
When trying to gain weight, you should focus more on building muscle than fat. You can do this by eating the right nutrients. This is why, once again, it is a bad idea to focus on fast food meals or junk foods as your main source of calories. Although they contain lots of calories, your body will end up storing those extra calories as fat. Instead, fill your diet with protein.
Research has shown that eating a high-protein diet causes many of the extra calories to be turned into muscle. The only problem with consuming a high-protein diet is the fact that high-protein foods fill you up faster and you’re less likely to get hungry throughout the day.
In the end, you might end up consuming fewer calories than you would need for weight gain. To solve this you should try using a calorie calculator to determine how many calories you need to consume from your high-protein diet,
3. Eat More of Carb and Fat
If you’re trying to lose weight, the main idea is to do away with foods with a high content of carbs and fat, but since you’re trying to gain more weight, adding them to your diet won’t be a bad idea.
Fill your meals with plenty of protein, fat, and carbs to help you gain weight fast. You could also try consuming more carbs for a certain period.
Many high-carb foods contain a lot of calories and unlike protein, you won’t get full faster or stay full longer when you consume a lot of carbs. This will help you consume more calories and gain weight fast.
4. Don’t Drink Water Before Meals
“Drink water before meals and drink more water in-between meals´.
This is one of the popular advice given to people trying to lose weight. This is because water fills the stomach making you eat less. In your case, you need to avoid consuming water right before your meal. This will help you take in more food and gain weight faster.
5. Eat More Often
3 square meals per day should get you all the calories you need for the day, but if you want to go from skinny to fit, then you need to eat some more. Always focus on healthy foods and snacks and try to eat as much as 5 times a day. This should help you consume more calories and gain the needed weight.
6. Remain Consistent
While eating more food sounds more like a blessing, it could be extremely difficult for some people. For some people, their bodies would resist the changes by regulating their hunger levels and metabolic rate. This means, their appetites would be reduced making them less interested in consuming more food.
For others, their daily lives could make it difficult to consume more foods or even have time to check the calorie count of their foods.
If you encounter any difficulty along the way, you should know that gaining weight is just the same as losing weight, it won’t happen overnight or in just a few days, you will have to give it time and look out for long-term results. So whenever you experience a setback, don’t withdraw, instead, preserve and remain consistent. This way you will have a higher chance of succeeding in the long run.
