If you’re naturally thin, then a proper weight gain diet becomes absolutely crucial in your endeavor to gain healthy lean muscle mass, probably far more so than your weight training program. The purpose of this article is to outline the fundamentals of a good weight gain diet and then we’ll look at specifically what and when you could eat over a sample day.
First up, is something you’ve almost certainly heard before…
Consume More Calories
The only way to gain weight whether it’s fat or muscle, is to consume more energy than you expend. There is no escaping this basic law of human anatomy regardless of how many explanations you hear to the contrary. Admittedly some of us have faster metabolisms than others but that simply means that those who do need to eat even more again.
The basis of any weight gain diet should contain nutritious, high calorie foods. If you find to hard to put on weight then the greatest challenge you face is to consume enough energy without feeling full all the time. Don’t worry it can be done… quite easily!
So how many calories should you consume? Well, there’s probably a separate formula for everyone who asks the question. Some base it solely on your weight and age, others take lean mass into account and the most complicated have you recounting every bit of activity during a typical day…
There’s a short article at the bottom of this page that has some formulas for calculating your caloric needs. It also briefly explains basal metabolism and why it’s important.
To sum up, calorie counting isn’t much fun and this is not something you have to do long term. Once you establish a quantity of food and energy that maintains your ideal weight, you will know instinctively how much to eat each day.
Protein
The issue of how much protein we should consume incites fierce debate between Nutritionists, Bodybuilders and Sports Scientists alike. We’ll leave the debate for another article dedicated to the protein issue. For now…
Just know that Federal Drug Administration (FDA) recommends 50g of protein per day for the average male adult and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 56g. But this is for the average sedentary Westerner…
The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein intake is 0.8g per kg or 0.36g per lb of bodyweight. A 140lb person would need to consume about 51g to meet their RDA. Sports Scientists concede that athletes and bodybuilders need more than this and conservatively recommend up to 1.5g per kg or 0.7g per lb of bodyweight. However…
If you talk to the vast majority of bodybuilders they will advocate a much higher intake than this. And they have some convincing arguments. In fact although in the minority at the moment the anecdotal evidence from bodybuilders is being backed up by some credible research. According to many lifters, coaches and some sports nutritionists an ideal weight gain diet should contain up to 2g per kg or 0.9g per lb of protein. This might seem like a lot but don’t forget you are consuming more calories than the general population and those calories have to come from somewhere. Is it unhealthier that they come purely from carbohydrates or just from fat? It’s probably best it it comes form all three.
So why is protein important?
From a weight gain perspective protein is made up of amino acids. There are 20 in total and 8 essential amino acids must come from food. Weight training increases the demand for amino acids and will break existing muscle down if it does not get enough from a weight gain diet. Without adequate protein, and more specifically, amino acids muscle gain is unachievable.
Good sources of protein include fresh and canned fish, lean cuts of red meat, chicken, turkey, low fat milk and yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, egg whites, soy products and whey protein powder.
Carbohydrate
Any weight gain diet worth its salt will contain plenty of unrefined carbohydrates. Just because you’re increasing your protein intake does not mean you should omit or even limit your carbohydrate intake.
Carbohydrate, which is converted into glucose and glycogen in the body, is the only macronutrient that can supply your body with an immediate source of energy – essential for any type of training.
Good sources of carbohydrate for a weight gain diet include whole meal bread, potatoes, brown rice, pasta, couscous, fresh and tinned fruit and dried fruit.
Fat
Certain dietary fats are crucial to both your well being and your ability to gain weight. One gram of fat contains more than twice the number of calories than 1g or protein or 1g of carbohydrate. A tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil contains as many calories as a banana for example so it makes sense to incorporate good fats into your weight gain diet. What is good fat?
Without going into too much detail about how fat is subdivided, the fats you want to consume are monounsaturated fats found in olive oil and avocados, and polyunsaturated fats found in oily fish, flax, sunflower, safflower and cod liver oil and some raw nuts.
Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) are what the health care professionals love to talk about. And with good reason. EFA’s also known as Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids are found in polyunsaturated fats, particularly oily fish. As well as having a numerous health benefits they also play an important role in muscle building.
In short, a weight gain diet containing fish like mackerel, tuna and salmon (to name a few) or supplemented with a product like Flaxseed oil will not only help you build muscle but will keep you alive longer too.
Meal Frequency
Finally, forget about eating 3 large meals a day with a few snacks. The best approach to an effective weight gain diet is to eat 5 or 6 small meals a day. Separate them by 3 hours so your stomach has time to digest each meal fully. If your goal is to consume 3300Kcals a day I would eat 3 larger meals of about 700kcals and 3 smaller meals of about 400kcals. You will find an example in one of the articles below.
One last point before we wrap up. Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. They are the richest source of vitamins and minerals (particularly antioxidants) and have both health and weight gain implications.
The elements above have the most influence of your level and rate of weight and muscle gain. There are other important factors we haven’t touched on such as vitamins and minerals, fiber, water, alcohol and cholesterol… all very important to your health.
Now that you have a good grounding of what an effective weight gain diet should incorporate you can use this article as a starting point for reaching your weight goals.
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Related Posts
- The Importance of Protein in Building Muscle
- Weight Gain Diet Plan
- Weight Gain With The Mediterranean Diet
- Views on Fat Requirements
- Amino Acids 101 – The Building Blocks of Protein!
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Hi, i am a 23 yr old female who is 5′ 10″ and weigh 125lbs. I have recently stopped drink soda, which was all i drank and start drinking more water. I weighed 145lbs before i stopped drinking the soda and lost about 20lbs in about three weeks. I feel way to skinny. I went from a size 7 in juniors to a size 0. For some reason i normally have to force myself to eat cuz i am never really hungry. If anyone has any suggestions please help. I hate feeling this skinny.
Drink a soda here and there! :P jk I would probably eat foods that have higher calories and carbs when you are hungry, instead of a nutritional lacking salad for example. That’s my amateur guess.
Hi, i am 18yrs old,who is 5’6″ and weigh 45kg.I want to gain some weight and want to become healthy and want to increase my boobs,my boobs are very small and requires improvement.Please help me in this problem.
Hiya, im 15 and im still at school. im 5’10 and i weigh 65kg. i want to put on more weight because currently i am quite skinny. 5 times a week i do weights at home, i use the barbell, dumbells, pushup pro’s. i take protein mixes 2 hours before my workout and one more after it. my workouts usually last to around an hour and half. to bve honest i miss my breakfast quite often, i rarely have them. could you please advise me to what sort of things i should eat, like a diet plan maybe? thank you.
hi
I am 16 years old and i’m number 2 table tennis player under 18 in Scotland . i found it a bit hard to weight gain. my high is 186 cm but my weight is 56. i just want to ask for good nutrition during the week that help me to weight gain and something else is I’m working fitness as well.
thank you
Heya wassup??
I am 20 & still I m underweight…… I need to increase my weight by 15-20 kgs. I am working out regularly & taking a protein intake. More exactly, I am having Ultimate Nutrition’s Muscle Juice as my trainer suggested as it includes good amount of carbohydrates.
Please suggest a good diet to increase. I don’t have any problem having non-veg. food.
Thanx
Howdy im 5’9, im just fourteen and i weigh 70 kilos. My diets pretty healthy, lots of fruit and veg, usually 50-80 grams of protein a day but occasionely as low as 30-40. But i consume lots of white bread, and would like to know if thats bad. Also does how much more protein and carbs do i need if i run hard 3 times a week :):):) Thanx
Hi I’m Tyler and I’m 17 years old, and 6’0 and weight 110. I don’t like being picked on in my youth group than being the most scrawny and wimpy and not even just that i also wish to just improve myself, I’m not overweight like most of America but if i still live and eat in a way that they do , then that still makes me just as lazy no matter what i look like. If anyone can help me out i would really appreciate it :)
Tyler,
If you want to put some weight on without using bought weight gainers. Try having a good cereal meal in the morning and follow this up with a smoothie, add 2 eggs in (you cant taste them). Eggs have a great source of protein and also many minerals that you need. Before you go to sleep drink low fat milk and maybe some yoghurt which is also high in protein, this will break down slowly whilst you sleep and hopefully help you bulk up a little bit.
hey im a 15 year old male my weight is 65kg i have very skinny wrists they are around 6 . 5 inchs around im to scared to where t shirts or anything like that ive just started going to the gym and thinking about buying protein drinks etc please help
I’m nearly 40 and have been skinny my whole life. When i was a teenager i hated it and tried hard to put on weight, and asked my doctor what i could do. He advised i was just an active teenager who had a fast metabolism and would eventually put on weight as this slowed down, particularly as my calorie intake was quite high.
20 years on and i still weigh around 60kg, at approx 168cm. During that time i have taken plenty of stick about my weight but i feel good, still do plenty of exercise and have met lots of girls who like my shape and energy (although there are also plenty who are not so keen!) and am married to a beautiful curvy woman. My advice is to not worry too much about being skinny and just enjoy the lightness you feel when you exercise and your more natural fitness.
Hi im 13 im worried about my weight because im really skinny and some of my bones are starting to show through my skin. I weigh about 37kg. Im kind of a fussy eater too i dont like much food. The only meat i eat is chicken and i used to be a vegetarian. What can i do to gain more weight? Please help!
165 comments of a load of people asking the same question, with no response. read the information and apply it to you. dont you get it…. no one cares about your weight apart from you. do something about it not give up cause no one replies. bakadaio
Hey im 21 probably around 172cm and weigh only 64kg im a mechanic who is constantly busy i eat pretty much anything…i eat at least three decent sized meals a day but cant manage to put on any weight and feel ncomfortable wearing shorts because of how skinny my legs are please any advise on how to gain some weight would be appreciated
Thnks
hey im about 5.7 20yrs old i go to gym about 3 times a week train pretty hard when i get there im about 67kg and i want to put on weight i do my protein shakes but my eating lets me down can u advise me what i need to eat i also have a pretty fast matablism and its very hard for me to gain weight
Hi,
I am daryl, I looking for some proper weight gain plan to put on weight I am 20 years, 49 kg, 5.9 ht, I want a proper diet plan and proper exercise plan to put on some muscle on my biceps and a good pack abs, it would be great if you could show me some plan so I could workout daily it would be great from your side.
Thanks and Regards,
Daryl.
One tip on which i know sounds obvious but works from day 1 is…
Eat before you get hungry. Dont wait until the next meal time eat when you have space to filll…
I guarantee you’ll feel changes by day 3.
I am a 36 yr old male, who is 6’4″ and I weigh a mere 133lbs. I have been this weight most of my life. I am currently drinking protein shakes and trying to increase my calorie intake, is there a diet plan that is online that I can follow so I have an easier idea of where I should be each day with Calories?
Thanks
I’m a 16 year old male. I’m 5’10 without shoes, and only 128 pounds. I recently stopped working out, fearing I was burning all the calories I was intaking. Eating a lot over the course of the day. Big meals, with small meals in between. I’ve also sped up my eating, hoping to intake more before I feel full. Any suggestions on gaining weight?
Yo, have a huge breakfast, eat those weetbix, try to go for 10.. I know people back at my old school who used to eat 20 every morning and this one guy was skinny as a rake. Drink a lot of milk to go with it.. Heaps of milk in the morning… drink some water and eat a fruit afterward
Then the trick is to start eating again an hour later,, so you want to have a couple of eggs or a few sandwhiches.. like an early lunch..eat a piece of fruit too, and try to get a veggie into your sandwhiches. If your fucking really stupid, go and have another glass of milk..
drink a heap of water now maybe 1 litre..
the time is roughly 12 pm..
then roughly at 3 PM eat more… If you didnt have sandwhiches for lunch now is the time to have them.. Tuna in olive oil sandwhiches are great,, or leg ham is good.. eat a different piece of fruit as you did the first two.. so already had to pears have a mandarin. even chicken sandwhiches r good… Or a can of kidney beans goes great.. Drink a glass of water..
then at 5 you want to start excersising or else your going to die young from all this crap your feeding yourself, so drink some water and do cardio.. weights arnt necessary as you will auto build muscle from all the extra food.. just keep up the cardio so you keep up your matabolism.. do some free weights because they are fun and you will reap the rewards, no need to pull yourself apart though..
invest in those protein shakes i heard they are good value for money and have on pre / post work out.. whey isolate i think.
then at 8 you want to have a dinner, so cook up a stir fry with heaps of different veggies.. I’ll tell you how, if your lazy, go buy a quarter roasted chicken (more expensive than cooking it yourself but if your a lazy cunt this is what you do) also get red capsicum, a different capsicum, carrot, kidney beans (420 gram tin and drain the juice from it before adding them) anyway, what ever veggies you want, add half a sliced onion.. Then get one of those stir fry packets from the shelf they should cost 2 bucks. Get the healthy ones, no added msg or preservatives all those bad things avoid them.. Then get some brown rice and cook that shit, you might need some practice with perfecting the rice, but if you fuck it up tough luck your eating mushy rice just like i did.
The stir fry is easy, just follow the directions on your healthy packet of your flavour choice, i got this nice healthy herb thai one, stayed away from satay because i didnt need the extra fat, maybe.
and then eat that stuff the stir fry will come out great and you will probably have two serves so whack half in the fridge and eat it for lunch the next day and it has beans and chicken for protein and heaps of veggies in it, maybe eat it with some bread this time, or if you have left over rice from the last night and you made it well etc, take that..
make sure you keep up that huge breakfast and heap of milk.. that is your grounding work..
also the big protein and carb dinner is a must.
dont eat eggs everyday because thats not healthy.
but be careful you want to put on healthy weight, so dont listen to people when they say eat cheese and eggs and flavourd milk and sugar, because you will just kill yourself faster..
Also a multi b vitamin + antioxidant, vitamin d from the sun, fish oil, and drink prune juice so as to clean your digestive system, i hear it has to be clean and clear, that way you will live twice as long ( no joke ) and your body also processes all this foods minerals better which is the most important part, so drink prune juice (or eat prunes ) and HEAPS of water, try drink a litre at lunch time..
and maintain a good cardio regime, so hop on the bike to burn some calories, 300 maybe and dont eat mars bars or soft drinks unless your an idiot. or macdonalds. just get it into your head where ive been coming from, if you want..
and go from a run twice a week, and do something else 3 times a week, so stationary bike twice and go for a swim..
find other healthy options for meal subsititues, i like smoked oysters..
Hello,
I am 26 year old female, 5’2 and weigh about 105. I eat all day long, constantly. Granted i dont eat the healthiest, but i stilll am constantly eating. I have tried whey protein and it helped a lil but the moment i stopped I dropped weight super fast. I have a very fast metabolism but i am not active. I dont work out unless it is chancing my daughter. what can i do to help me gain? I would like to be atleast 115-120. I feel i look too skinny and i would like more meat on me.
Hi,
I am a 18 year old female, 167cm tall and weighs 50 kg. i eat alot of food but nothing seems to help put weight on i have been this weight since primary school. i dont eat healthy i eat alot of fast food. but sometimes i do have to force myself to eat, i used to be fairly active but not anymore. i feel way too skinny and just want to look alot more healthy. what do you suggest please help!?
Im a 20 y/o male, 168cm tall 55kg, i eat as much food as one regular fat man, Mcdonalds doesn’t even help. I keep losing the weight i gain , i am quite active so can you tell me the diet of a body builder so i can keep at a healthy weight?
Hi, am Serawit!
I am 30 yrs old now. From the earlier stages, I was slim, skinny! I want to get normal body built. I mean I want to be at least 70 kgs and above. But I couldn’t. I have tried to eat as much nutritious foods as possible. Some people say I had a high metabolism. I don’ understand and I want to get fat, not fatter! Would you please help me?
Thank you!
Im 14 years old… 5’9 and I weigh 110 pounds and I wanna gain 50 pounds in 2 months is that possible and what can I do to get that weight for bigger muscle.?
To gain weight eat this every day… Big bowl of weetabix/ porridge for breakfast, 2 tuna sandwiches with lots of mayo for lunch, and a big dinner of either chicken and rice or pasta and sauasage/ a dish containing lots of fish. In between meals consume snacks with high carbs. Also try supplemental bars for in between meals. :)
hi, am 23 years old, am 171 tall and 52 kg! please advise how i can gain weight.. am so sorry about it.. and i look so skinny. what is the best way ? what kind of food i should eat. (name them)
Thank you;
Nasrin
@Nasrin Have you read the post on weight gaining foods yet?
Hi,
I m Jutika, I m of 28yrs & 5’3”, few months back my weight was 43kgs now its reduced to 35kgs (Underweight) did all possible checks but doctor didnt find anything n advised me to eat more n gave vitamin capsules to gain weight but i need a proper advice to actually gain weight faster (cant wear jeans as my thighs have grown thin and my breast too)
I was wearing bra size 36-B, now wear 32-B..!!!
My jeans size was 28” now its 26..
I m very worried thinking about my weight..!!
PLS GIVE ME SOME TIPS TO OVERCOME MY WEIGHT PROBLEM.
Hello. My name is Jacque and I am about to be 28. I am a little under 5’1 and I only weigh about 92lbs. My ideal weight and goal would be to weigh between 105 and 107. I need a meal plan that is semi affordable and will help me gain between 13 & 15lbs. Please any suggestions would be awesome! Thanks!
I am sixteen years old. My height is 5’11 and my weight is around 53 – 54 kg. I find it really hard to gain weight. I have to force myself to eat food because I am never hungry or maybe I just can’t eat Home Food. Can somebody help me out? I desperately want to gain some flesh over myself. PLEASEEE??
PLEASE GUIDE ME FOR MY FATHER WHO ARE A ESOPHAGUS CANCER PATIENT AND WEIGHT LOSS ABOUT 20 KG. IN 10 MONTHS NOW HE IS AT ONLY 42 KG.
please help me with a diet and excersise plan. I am 14 years old and suffered from a slight eating dissorder. I am now only 70 pounds and am 5ft 2. I would like to gain weight but i want muscle weight. I DO NOT want to have to over excersise.
I’ve just turned 27 and I’m 5’8, ever since I was 15 I’ve always struggled gaining weight. Staying in between 50-57 kgs, I have slipped into depression a number of times. Most recently getting a new pair of jeans for my bday which fit then, only to lose 4 inches off my waist 2 months later. Shopping for clothes is horrible since the smallest clothes are 2 sizes too big for me. Please help me out
Hi,
I am 20 years of age and I’m about 125 and 5 3. I just had a baby and now my breast hangs low. In my high school days i had the pefect chest and weight, but now im disappointed with the way i look. I want to get back to the way i use to look and maybe even better. Does anybody have any type of advice for me to gain 50 pounds in the next two months? i want that old look back.
I’m Natalie. I’m 17 years old, 5’5″ and weigh 100 lbs. Most of my jeans are 00. I want to gain at least 10 pounds but no matter how much I eat, I don’t gain anything, help !
Scandishakes, peanut butter, fruit juice, fruits, whole milk, eggs, meats, chocolate. Once u start putting on the weight exercise. Lots of weight training, don’t do a lot of cardio cause that burns calories quickly. But most importantly scandishakes- 600 calories when ssed to milk plus I add ice cream which is added calories and yummier.
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