Gain Weight Healthily

[ilovetoday]

I am naturally thin. I am 171cm tall and 48kgs. I feel I look my best with another 8 kgs on. I can gain wieght easy however I have trouble doing so healthily. Recently I decided I dont want to put bad foods into my body. If there are no nutrients what is the point?

I cut out all softdrinks, lollies- anythingthat is almost straight sugar or oil was scrapped from my diet. My skin improved vastly and my energy levels were alround higher- not to mention my moods balanced drastically and in general were more positive.

The only problem was I lost a lot of weight. I look better with more on. I cannot think of foods that are fresh healthy yet fattening...? I still use butter and extra virgin oil to cook, I still put salt and pepper on for taste.

Now I resorted to eating 3 serves of bakery food daily, one serve of hamburger/prawnroll daily and then also snacking n fruit and yoghurt. I cook dinners, with veges and meats, My face has gotten worse again and I dont feel as energetic. I know once I gain enough and I go back to healthier food the wieght will drop straight back off again.

Does anyone have any ideas on non greasy, sugary foods that have nutrients and will help put the wieght on? Is pasta and rice that bad? I love them...

[sidsavara]

Well, that depends wher you're coming from. Personally, I am a believer in a balanced diet. Pasta, rice, etc, along with proteins and fats to round out the meal I believe are fine. When I'm trying to lose weight, I tend to cut complex carbs such as those since they are less filling and contain extra calories.

When gaining, I try to eat a mix of fattier meats (that taste better anyway!) but not too fatty, and of course pasta and rice like you mentioned

Good call staying away from sweets etc - in the long run, they're not good for you to have too much of!

[watterman]

You should eat 5-6 times a day. Between each wait for about 2hours.
For example mine plan of eating:

Breakfast:
oat flakes + milk + banana

At snack:
2 wholemeal rolls + chicken ham or chicken meal + some vegetable

Lunch:
chicken meal + rice or pasta + some vegetable

Snack:
2 eggs + wholemeal baguette

Snack:
pound cake + milk

Dinner:
Fish + potato + some vegetable

2nd dinner:
Some fruit (for example banana, apple) or legume (soya is the best)

Before sleep:
curd

I started at 54Kg with height 170cm (+/-). And for about 4 days of this plan I gain 2 good kg . And now I am still at 56. Now looking forward to 60!

And do you do any sport? If yes, then thats may be the problem why you cant get kgs on...

[igmistro]

Whenever I train for an event or if I am being unusually active (like a lot of hiking in the summer) I snack on dried fruits or nuts to get extra calories.

I don't know if this will help you, but here's what works for me.
I'm 180cm about 80kg. I train with heavy weights about once a week, practice martial arts 5 times a week and cover about 20 miles weekly running to/from work. Here is what I ate today.

7 large bananas. 3 of which as part of a green smoothie
2 apples.
1lb apricots.
1 large salad (greens, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, peppers, large avocado, herbs)
3 nori rolls with sprouts, cucumber, tahini, snap peas, basil, seasoning.
1/2 small watermelon.

This is about average for me and keeps me looking muscular.

[bdp]

Instead of 'weight,' let's talk about fat and muscle. Do you want more fat or more muscle? I assume you want more fat.

To gain fat, raise your insulin and/or eat more calories.

To raise insulin, eat lots of white starch: potato, rice, pasta, bread, etc. Combine with sugar for maximum results (and don't combine with fat or fiber, which will slow the insulin response). I do not recommend this method.

The calorie method is the healthier way to go: eat more avocado and raw nuts and seeds. A medium avocado and 1/4 cup of nuts or seeds will be a good 500 calories.

[Fullcrum]

Avocados are one of my favorites because they're high in Vitamin E and the fat required to absorb it. They're also a rarity in the plant world because they are not only high in calories but high in fiber, too! One avocado, last I checked, had around 13 grams of fiber. Not bad for a delicious and creamy fruit!

You can try doing green smoothies. It packs the food into a liquid form and hence leaves it denser than eating the whole fruit. You can consume more calories worth of green smoothies in a given time than you can of whole fruit or leaves alone.

I say green smoothies because not only are they packed with nutrients but they do not take up much additional space in the smoothie. You can add 150 grams by weight (1 really squashed down and chopped up cup of raw greens) of greens and it will add scarcely a quarter of a cup of volume. So you won't have to worry about eating filling foods that are not calorically dense. Avocados, nuts, bananas, dates, and plenty other fruits are high in calories by volume and make great tasting smoothies.

BTW, raw nori rolls sound awesome. I'm thinking sushi tasting raw food. That's awesome.