Weight Gain Diet - From Skinny to Stout

People looking to build muscles are often confronted with the problem of gaining weight. As much as reducing weight seems like a difficult task, believe me, gaining weight can be equally or even more difficult, especially if you are naturally thin. Given below are a few easy tips and diet programs that can help you gain weight quickly and easily. So, let us begin with the basics.

Consume Maximum Calories

The basic rule of gaining weight or putting on lean muscle mass is to consume more calories than you burn in a day. Different people burn different amount of calories each day, depending on how active their metabolism is. But that does not change the universal fact, it simply means that they will have to consume even more.

The consumption of calories depends on the weight, age and lean mass of a person. However, the one thing to remember is that you will have to consume more than you burn.

Although calorie counting can be a pretty tedious and difficult job, the ideal way is to note how much food is enough to maintain your present weight and simply start increasing your diet gradually from there on.

Some of the must have ingredients in your diet have been listed below.

Protein

We all know how important protein is for the body. But the issue here is how much protein you need to consume. Dieticians and scientists put forth different explanations for the varying amounts of protein that they suggest a person should consume. This comes out to be an average of 50-55 grams for a healthy male adult.

It is also widely accepted that a person into heavy weightlifting should consume 1 gram of protein for per pound of his body weight.

Protein helps in weight gain as it is made up of amino acid. Amino acids are extremely essential for the body and if it does not get it, it will break down the existing muscle to get it. To gain muscle and therefore more weight, consumption of amino acids is extremely important.

Protein can be had from fish, red meat, chicken, milk and yogurt. Eggs are also an excellent source of protein. There are various protein powders available in the market these days.

Carbohydrate

Carbohydrates give us calories and therefore are very important in any weight gain diet. Some of the best sources of carbohydrates include bread, potatoes, rice, dry fruits, fresh fruit and pasta.

Fat

You do not have to be a scientist to figure out the importance of fats in your weight gain diet. Fats are loaded with calories. For example, 1 gram of fats contains more than double the amount of calories than 1 gm of protein of 1 gm of carbohydrates.

You should consume monounsaturated fats that are found in cooking oil, sunflower oil, cod liver oil and nuts.

How Often Should I Eat?

We have always seen people eating three major meals in a day i.e. breakfast, lunch and dinner with a couple of snack breaks in between. But, for those looking to gain weight, will have to get rid of this traditional practice. The best way to plan a weight gain diet is to eat five or six small meals in a day with 2 hours break in between each.

Also eat a large variety of fruits and vegetables as these contain vitamins and minerals as well as roughage and will help in the proper functioning of the system.

Weight Gain Diet for Indians

First thing that you should understand is that consuming more calories does not mean that you start eating junk food. There are plenty of foods that are rich in calories and nutrition and that is what your target should be.

A Few Examples of Weight Gain Diet for Indians

Start your day with a healthy breakfast that includes two bananas along with milk or a thick banana shake. Butter toast made of wheat bread, fresh fruits, dry fruits. Dalia (porridge) is also a good breakfast option.

For lunch, you can have roti, rice, cheese (paneer) , green vegetables, dal and salad.

Dinner will be the same as lunch while you can have sandwiches, milkshakes, cheese and eggs in between meals.

Deep fried snacks such as samosa, pakoda and potato fingers should be avoided.