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Weight gain

3K views 52 replies 17 participants last post by  twistix 
#1 ·
Any advice on how to gain weight healthily?

I'm at a new low and it makes me worry.
I've seen advice suggesting consumption of more meat products but that really isn't the way I'd like to go.
 
#2 ·
Hmm, well, if it were a guy asking I would say to eat more and lift weights, but I am not sure the same applies to you, maybe it does though? (gaining some muscle is healthy for women too).

If you are simply too skinny though and need to get some fat, then it's just a matter of increasing calorie consumption. I guess the inverse for losing weight would apply here right? So, the first thing you do when you try to lose weight is to limit liquid calories (because they don't tend to affect satiety as much), perhaps the inverse would be useful for you?

I would try drinking more full fat milk. There are quite a few calories in that so, if you drink a pint of milk each day, that is going to be 300+ calories. If that wasn't enough to get weight moving up, then you could add a little cream to it (yay, super milk).

This would be a fairly healthy way to do it as milk has lots of good stuff in it :)
 
#3 ·
You don't eat meat? Anyways just eat more...gradually. Increase your daily intake by like 500 calories or something. Its easy....I know eating peanut butter helps me....so many calories.
 
#5 ·
try calorie-dense foods.

:yes peanut butter, peanuts and most types of nuts and nut products.

chocolate. lots of antioxidants, but high in calories.

unbleached enriched flour products (like bread or rolls). they have almost no fiber, so won't fill you up as much as whole wheat, but aren't as bad as the bleached types if that's a concern.

occasionally drink juice instead of water

add extra butter, jam, honey, cheese, etc, to items you would normally eat. Add raisins to cereal, for instance. That's what i used to do :b

Raisins, pineapple, and bananas are all low-fiber fruits and will help you gain weight if you eat them often. They are also high in vitamins.

Put dressing on your salad if you don't already. It's okay to eat high-fat products if the fat is unsaturated.
 
#8 ·
Personally I would strongly suggest NOT TO gain weight. I mean, I used to be skinny when I was younger, and right now I gained 20 to 30 pounds which totally shocked me. So don't worry, you will gain lots of weight when you will get older. The fact that you are underweight right now is a good thing because it means that maybe when you will gain your weight when you will get older you will be in the normal range rather than overweight such as myself. At the end of the day, all that matters is to live longer, and statistically the less you weight the longer you live.
 
#11 ·
Gaining is A LOT easier than losing. If you don't gain now you can always gain later. But if you do gain, and then regret, it will be very difficult to "undo" this mistake.
 
#15 ·
I've been on both sides of the weight struggle. Due to hormonal imbalance and treatment, I gained weight when I was younger. I was even overweight for a time. But in the past several years I have lost a lot. Without trying, I have lost a considerable amount just in the last few months. I'm about 42kg at the moment.
 
#18 ·
Yeah you're definitely underweight....just try to get some extra calories in everyday. You can do it.
 
#22 ·
@twistix the NHS has your BMI at 17.2 and underweight. 45-61kg is where you want to be :) - so yeh, you should probably try to gain some imo. Probably aim for 50 or a bit higher.

If you really struggle to gain you could log calories and do the inverse of what plump people like me do ;) - but I think you can get there by just snacking on some high calorie foods a bit during the day.

Obviously its going to be better if you eat more fruits and vegetables though, but there isn't anything inherently unhealthy about high calorie foods, they are unhealthy because they are high calorie (and make you fatter which is what you happen to want). So don't think you need to gain weight by only eating things like vegetables.

Good suggestions of high calorie foods in this thread though. Peanut butter / peanuts, Milk and cream (saturated fat being unhealthy is a myth), fruits are worth eating more of too for sure. Cheese is good also. Chocolate, obviously ;). All will put weight on and are delicious too.
 
#23 ·
@twistix the NHS has your BMI at 17.2 and underweight.
Back in 2010 they measured my BMI by asking me to hold a certain device in my hands, and it was 15.5 (I was 140 lbl, 5'9'') and then, in 2013, I found myself overweight (160 lbl, 5'9''). So if my 15.5 BMI didn't keep me from being overweight three years later, the 17.2 BMI wouldn't do it either. Thats why I say the lower BMI the better, even when you are in this range.
 
#24 ·
I second the chocolate suggestion. I stay away from that stuff because it's so easy to overeat. Also, anything that has flour in it (bread, rolls, pasta, muffins, etc).

Definitely eat more every day and get to a weight where you feel comfortable, not just the minimum BMI. I got down to a point where I was too skinny and it was harmful to my health. I felt much better after I gained fifteen pounds.
 
#46 ·
Ice cream and cheesecake should do the trick, plus it's incredibly fun.
Which is exactly why I think losing weight is a lot harder than gainging it, which is why its a good idea NOT to purposely gain, that way she can have fun with icecream and cheesekakes her whole life, as opposed to gaining too much weight and then not being able to have fun any more.
 
#48 ·
I don't like burgers either, but icecream and cheesecakes are my absolute favorite, which is why its so difficult to lose weight now that I gained too much.

Its so surprising to hear you don't like sweets! I thought sweets are universally liked, which is why this is one of the main ways people celebrate birthdays and other holidays.
 
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