Ways to gain weight and eat healthy.

[makessense]

I feel i'm a little underweight. I want to gain around 10-15 more lbs., but I also want to be healthy while doing it. These salads, fruits, sandwiches won't do. Any suggestions? thanks in advance.

[Minsc]

What's your body fat percentage, and are you male or female? (you're probably fine and not underweight. IMO it's hard to actually have so little fat that it causes problems)

You don't want to gain 15 pounds of fat. If you do want to gain weight, you'd want to have it be mostly muscle. (that's assuming you aren't under 6%/12% bodyfat)

Anyway, some points about muscle:
-Lift weights. Don't do much cardio since it will reduce muscle.
-You'll need to eat lots of protein and fat without a lot of carbs.
-Drink lots of water, ect.
-You'll need to eat a lot, and do this throughout the day rather than all at once.

And for fat(although it normally isn't healthy to gain lots of fat):
-Eat high-GI carbs like white bread, ect.
-Eat a lot of them.
-Try to spike your blood-sugar level by eating everything all at once.
-(which isn't healthy)

[makessense]

Thanks Minsc,

I'm a 22/male and I'm not sure how to measure my body fat level. It's probably normal. My blood pressure is 110/70 and I'm healthy overall. Will eating these proteins/fats consistently everyday while working out increase my BP? How would my BP look after I gain all this fat/muscle? I've heard I have to gain fat before I gain any muscle, so I'm just not sure how it would affect my health. Will it decrease in the long run until my body gets used to being a different size? Thanks for any insight.

[Iamsuperman]

Don't gain fat before you gain muscle. The reason people believe you have to gain fat to gain muscle is because many of the things that build fat also build muscle. However, you can still gain the muscle without the fat (or atleast with minimal fat) it just takes a better approach to gaining weight and a little more effort.

Here's what I'd reccommend:
- avoid weight gainer shakes if you're looking to stay healthy.
- I would not recommend spiking your blood sugar, that's not healthy. The main reason people recommend high GI carbs is because they don't make you feel full so you can keep on eating them. You can gain weight on low GI carbs (healthier) but you'll have to continue eating even after you're full.
- eat, eat, then eat some more. You have to eat more calories then your body needs and hopefully, if you're doing everything correctly, those excess calories will go into muscle instead of fat.
- as long as your protein's above 15% of calories you'll be fine in that catergory

It's difficult to recommend anything for weight training when I don't know anything about you're past experience. Have you worked out before?

[Iamsuperman]

Oh yah and i forgot to mention, gaining weight takes a long time. Don't expect anything overnight, it takes hard work and perservervance to gain weight (the healthy way that is). I try to aim for a pound a week when i'm gaining.

[makessense]

Thanks superman,

I don't really workout anything above my waste consistently, I just play a lot of sports, so I'm mostly working out my cardio. I'm 5'9'' 137-140 lbs (fluctuates), and exercise at least 3x a week (running-type body). I don't have one of those benches to workout my upperbody, so I'm not quite sure what I can do without any form of support. Pushups, situps, dumbbells? Are there any websites with daily routines and healthy foods I should eat to gain weight? Any advice is welcome.

- John

[byyp]

As you are 22 male and play a lot of games and seem very active individual, you don't need to worry about gaining weight my dear. Males can take as long as upto 27 years to grow and keep gaining wait. Salads and other lighter foods won't be helping you in gaining wait. You should try including more carbohydrates (eat a lot of bananas, make banana shakes in milk) and some fatty food too in your diet. As you are an active participant in many activites, you loose continuous energy, which keeps on consuming your body fat under some situations. You just need to balance that energy loss and consumption. Good luck and take care!

[makessense]

thanks byyp,

I like your website! Looks great.

[Iamsuperman]

It's good that you're doing consistant exercise, having that behind you will help with your workout program. Idealy if you were looking to gain 10-15 of muscle you should be getting a gym membership. If you're going to work out at home you will be very limited in the exercises and won't be able to use the proper weights you need to get the right number of reps. Consequently you'll most likely end up with a higher fat/muscle ratio on the weight you gain if you work out at home.

If you do decide to get a gym membership I'd reccommend you buy a workout book, just so you know the proper techniques for each exercise. Most workout books will explain the exercises, the ones I have are Scrawny to Brawny, and Getting Stronger by Bill Pearl.

[Ali from The Office Diet]

Unless you're significantly underweight, you probably don't need to worry about gaining -- a lot of blokes are skinny in their early twenties and fill out later in life.

Sounds like you're living a healthy life style and are just naturally thin! Lucky you -- I wish I had your problem ;-) I'm a 5'2 female and put on weight as soon as I sniff a bar of chocolate...

Ali