Many young men – and some women – find themselves unhappy with their body weight, not because they’re too heavy, but because they’re too light. Feeling too skinny can have an equally detrimental effect on self image as being obese can, and for that reason the problem should be dealt with swiftly and effectively. You do not have to be skinny. The right weight gaining program, which consists of just three steps, will work. Here’s what you do:
Increase Your Daily Calorie Intake
Increasing the amount of calories you consume will be the one thing that makes the biggest difference in terms of your bodyweight, and the reason for that is simple: You are most likely skinny not because of your high metabolism (eve though you may believe that to be the case), but because of the simple fact that you haven’t been eating enough. Research shows that skinny people almost always overestimate how many calories they’re consuming, and that many of them actually consume so little food that their metabolism is actually starting to slow down. To gain weight, you will most likely have to radically increase the calories you consume on a daily basis. This is how you do just that:
-
Eat more meals, but keep every meal as big as the meals you’re eating now. If you’re presently eating four meals per day, then increasing that to five meals per day – where the fifth meal is the average size of each of the four meals – will lead to a 25% increase in calories. This takes training – yes, you actually have to train yourself to eat more, just like bodybuilders do – but within a short period of time you will be able to do it.
-
Identify high calorie, clean foods and eat more of them. Don’t become a junk food addict just to gain weight (it is, after all, better to be skinny than to be sick or dead), but rather find the high calorie foods that you can eat lots of and start implementing them in most of your meals. However, do not forget that low calorie foods like fresh fruit and vegetables should also be eaten even though you’re trying to put on weight.
-
Eat some snacks between meals. Twice a day or more you should be snacking on nuts, protein bars, bananas and other high calorie foods. A snack before bedtime is also a good idea for anyone wanting to gain weight.
- Consume more liquid calories. Liquid calories like milkshakes, fruit juices, weight gain drink mixes like the PVL Mutant Mass Gainerand so on are easy to digest, and most people will have no problem consuming several hundred more calories per day just by drinking some of them.
- Use natural appetite stimulants. Natural appetite stimulants like peppermint tea, cranberry juice and holy thistle can help jump start your appetite so that you feel more naturally inclined to eat more. Avoiding appetite depressors like coffee and chewing gum can have the same effect.
Start Weight Lifting
When gaining weight, you obviously want to be gaining muscle mass and not fat. While gaining some fat is unavoidable, a weight lifting program performed two to three times a week will help you stay as lean as possible as you pack on the pounds. To avoid injury and poor results do earn the basics of bodybuilding before setting foot in a gym, however, and consider spending some money having a professional help you out your first few weeks.
Decrease Stress
Decreasing stress in your life – and fidgeting – will enable you to keep more of the calories you’re eating instead of burning them off. Learn to slow down and take it easy by practicing meditation, The Sedona Method, self hypnosis or other techniques that calm the mind and help put the body in a relaxed state.
That’s it! Follow these three relatively simple steps week in and week out, and you’ll find it easier to gain weight than ever.
As always, before making large lifestyle, dietary and exercise changes, consult your physician.