Guide : Best Foods to Gain Weight

The days when ultra-skinny was the “in thing”, especially for the female folks, are gradually fading away as thickness becomes the new fave for both men and women alike. Everyone is beginning to realize how attractive and flattering it can be to have some good chunk of flesh on your bones; not to mention healthy. Well, not just flesh all the way, some muscles will be nice you’d agree. Lifting some weight to build your arms, shoulder, butts, legs, and abs will help you add some healthy weight and sculpt your body just the way you like it.

Except if you’re one of those people who find it hard to add weight no matter how much they eat and how heavy they lift.

Why you find it hard to lose weight?

Just before we get into what you can eat to gain weight, let’s tackle why it’s hard for some people to gain weight because there are many people who find it hard to gain even the slightest weight, no matter how hard they try. This is somewhat contrary to the popular belief that anyone who eats a lot can gain weight.

If you find it hard to put on some pounds, it’s probably because of one or more of the following:

• Your genes make it a little hard for you to gain weight
• You are not eating the right kind of food for your body
• A high rate of movement every so often
• You have not “really” tried to gain weight
• You’re sick

Whatever be the case, you can gain some weight if you can make necessary adjustments to your lifestyle; including your diet.

10 foods that can help you gain weight

Here are some nutrient-rich foods that can help you gain weight effectively without posing any risk to your health:

1. Rice

This is the most (or one of the most) common foods there is on earth today. It’s mostly a major source of carbohydrate, containing from 166 to 242 calories per cup. Since calories are a primary factor in whether a person gains weight or not, eating a lot of rice can help you add some pounds.

2. Other starchy foods

There is a bit of starch in almost everything we eat. That is why we eat them; so that the starch can boost our energy levels, and help to maintain a healthy weight. However, some foods contain more starch than the others, and taking more of these high starchy foods over time can help you increase your body weight.

Some starchy foods you can eat are

• Squash
• Corn
• Buckmeat
• Oats
• Legumes
• Potatoes
• Cereal
• Pasta
• Bread, etc.

The more you stick to these kinds of food, the more likely you are to gain weight after some time.

3. Milk

Milk is very rich in protein and is good for people trying to build some muscles. Protein is the single most important nutrient for gaining healthy weight. If you take a lot of protein, they’ll end up as body fats if you don’t burn them. Which means you’ll gain some pounds.

Asides from protein, milk is an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, calcium, and carbohydrates.

4. Protein shake

Protein shake, like it’s called, is a proteinous drink made by mixing protein powder, water, and any other ingredients according to your preference. If you want to go natural and skip the protein powder, you can come up with your own protein shake using any of the methods listed here.

You can take your protein shake right after your workout session to help you fight those post-workout hunger pangs, build muscles, and gain some extra calories.

5. Salmon

This is another calorie-rich food that can help you gain quite a lot of weight and build nice muscles. 6 ounces of salmon contains more than 200 calories, and you can eat that much every day if you like.

Salmon is classified as an oily fish because of its high oil content. It also contains omega-3 fatty acid, vitamins, and protein.

6. Dark chocolates

Dark chocolate is one of the highest scoring foods for high antioxidants. Some of these antioxidants help to lower blood pressure in the body and they have potent biological activities that can lower blood pressure and cholesterol level in the blood.

A piece/square of chocolate adds about 50 calories to your diet. Taking 4 pieces of it at a time is 200 calories or so. That’s a good way to up your calories, especially on those days you could not meet up with your daily calorie intake for weight gain. Be mindful of how much chocolate you take at a time or it will make your stomach hurt and trigger some digestive complications.

7. Fruits

If you’re among the many people who love to eat fruits, here is a piece of good news for you – fruits can help you gain weight! So, you don’t have to eat your usual food all the time (seeing as many people do not like eating that much). Fruits like banana, apple, avocado, figs, grapes, mangoes, etc as well as dried fruits are good for you.

These fruits are packed with nutrients, some calories, and fibers. The nutrients help nourish your body, the calories provide your body with energy (some of which will be stored as excess calories and converted into fat), and the fibers will maintain your digestive system, keeping a healthy balance between what goes in and out of your body.

8. Fatty fish

Fatty fishes are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and a host of other nutrients. This is by far one of the healthiest sources of fats that can help you gain weight without exposing your heart to any health risks. As you may know, the health of your heart is linked to your body weight and your diet. So, keep it clean and healthy people.

9. Eggs

Eggs are a good source of protein and healthy fats. They are high in cholesterol, but not in a bad way according to recent discoveries by renowned scientists. This discovery reveals that cholesterol in eggs does not affect cholesterol levels in the blood in most people. This nutrient dense food contains a bit of a lot of different nutrients. Taking it on a regular basis will not only help you add some weight and build muscles but also help you stay healthy.

10. Fats and Oil

Get into your pantry and put your vegetable oils to good use. They can make you add weight if you eat them consistently. There are a whole lot of ways you can use oil to cook delicious meals; frying, baking, or sauteing.

Eating a lot of fats can help you gain some pounds too. Foods like nuts, coconuts, full-fat yogurt, chia seeds, cheese, etc. are some good sources of fats.

These are few out of many foods you can eat to gain weight.  If you want to see good results, you have to give it some time and be consistent as well. Talking about results, a lot of people who took drugs to gain weight usually faced some side effects, even though some of them see results after a period of time. Eating healthy meals are far better than taking medicine or supplements, but if you ever insist on taking drugs, make sure you have the backing of a doctor.

Eating the aforementioned food items and being inactive will result in a high amount of fat in the body. So, unless you are a skinny person who wants to put some fat on, you should work out and keep the amount of fat in control.