Gain Weight: How To Add Calories And Protein

Gain Weight: How To Add Calories And Protein

If you want to gain weight there are many ways to add calories and protein to your diet without adding fat.  Adding too much fat to your diet will only result in weight gain in the form of fat.  Adding healthy weight means adding muscle to your body.  Even though you are going to be eating a diet that is high in calories you still need to eat foods that are healthy such as whole grains, fruits, unrefined carbohydrates, and vegetables.  The protein you eat should be lean protein foods such as fish, skinless chicken breasts, egg whites, skim milk products, and beans.

Try to avoid eating saturated fats.  Even though all types of fat have the same amount of calories, saturated fats will raise your cholesterol level.  Saturated fats that you should avoid eating include processed snack foods, sausage, cuts of meat that are high-fat, bacon, whole milk dairy products, butter, and sour cream.  Foods high in fat have more calories than any of the other food groups, coming in at about 45 calories for 1 teaspoon.  By adding fats to your diet that are healthy you can eat more calories each day without consuming saturated fats.  Healthy fats that you should be eating include olive oil, canola oil, margarines with trans fats, avocado, and peanut butter that has no other added ingredients such as sugar and oil.

There are some dietary supplements that you can add to your diet that are healthy and safe.  Ensure and Boost are both good choices when you want to grab a quick snack in between meals.  Dietary liquid supplements are often taken by people who have lost a lot of weight after an illness or when they are recovering from surgery and have a loss of appetite.

A big part of your eating plan when you are trying to gain weight is snacking.  Choose snacks that are high in calories but low in fats.  Good snack choices are low-fat ice cream, dried fruits, yogurt with granola added, crackers with low fat cheese, and trail mix.  Your drink choices during the day should be pure fruit juices such as apple, orange, pineapple, and cranberry.  Avoid drinks, such as soft drinks, that are high in sugar but are lacking in any nutritional benefits.

By focusing on your eating habits and consuming more calories every day you should soon start to see an increase in your body weight.  Be sure to combine exercise and weight training with your new eating plan so that you gain muscle weight and not fat weight.