How to Gain Weight for Health
Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:11:40 GMT
When talking about weight management, it's very easy to always think of weight loss and not weight gain. And in today's society there's a strong bias against people who eat whatever they like and don't gain a single pound. Furthermore, if those people are heard to complain that they can't put on weight, it's not viewed as a serious problem by anyone else.
Those people who are thin for their frame size, age and height are at risk from various health problems, and would probably be glad to put on extra weight in a healthy, controlled manner. Eating too few calories in a day, whether from an eating disorder such as anorexia, or through just not eating large enough portions, can result in heart problems, osteoporosis, lack of hair and nail growth, infrequent periods (in women) and infertility.
As well as eating a balanced diet, maintaining weight at a healthy level serves as an indicator of good physical and mental health; this is true of both underweight people gaining weight and overweight people losing weight.
A person's weight is controlled by the balance between how much energy they use up, compared with how much energy they take in. Increases in weight or an inability to lose weight can be brought about by certain medication, eating too much, or not exercising enough. It can also be due to an increase in muscle mass through resistance training (e.g. body building).
Loss of weight or an inability to gain weight is caused by the opposite - certain medications, not eating enough or exercising too much. The exercise is more likely to be aerobic exercise such as running, rather than resistance training but even resistance training can cause weight loss when over-done as muscles need nutrients in order to build.
To see if you are underweight, use the free BMI calculator to input your height and weight - this will give you a guide as to how you compare with other people. A body mass index of under 18.5 is classed as underweight and the lower it is under this number, the more cause for concern.
It may be a good idea to check with your G.P. before starting any new eating or exercise plan, just to rule out any other causes for your weight issues.
As with losing weight, the first thing to do is work out a target weight gain and work out an achievable rate for this (see my blog post on SMART weight loss and use the principles for weight gain instead).
The best way to put weight on is to gradually increase portion size, whilst maintaining a healthy balanced diet. Aim for three meals a day with a couple of snacks in between. Look at the recommended portion size on food packets e.g. wholemeal pasta, and try to eat that amount of food.
The worst way to try and gain weight is by eating lots of saturated fats and refined sugars, with the idea that this "will get more calories in you". This will help you put on fat, but not muscle, and doesn't give your body the range of essential nutrients it needs to function properly.
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