Tips for gaining weight
Too thin?
The best way to find out if you are too thin is to calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI = your weight in kilos divided by your height in meters squared): if the result is less than 18 (for example, the BMI of a person 1.65 m tall and weighing 45 kg is 16.5) means that a few extra pounds would be welcome. Similarly, chronic fatigue or the absence of menstruation are symptoms that can reveal excessive thinness.
Despite what is seen in the fashion world, in fact, being too thin harms health (weakens the body) and physical appearance (jeans that make bags and protruding bones are certainly not sexy!). Nevertheless, either because they are returning from some disease, or because they have lost their appetite following a period of difficulty, or simply because they have a fast metabolism, some people are unable to reach a weight that is within the norm.
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Stimulate appetite
It's not easy to gain weight if you don't feel like eating! First of all, we therefore recommend that you stimulate your appetite, with some simple tricks:
- Give priority to the foods you like, without forgetting to vary your meals.
- Prepare the table well and take care of the presentation of the dish: it is forbidden to eat directly from the pot!
- Choose the ingredients well, combine colors and smells to create dishes that make your mouth water!
- Don't forget the salt. Unless you are following a particular diet, a right dose of salt allows you to make the dish tastier. If you really can't, replace the salt with spices.
- Don't eat alone. You get more appetite when you eat with someone than alone in front of the TV.
- Eat calmly: haste pushes you to reduce quantities. Sit tight, relax, chew and savor every single bite.
Increase the energy intake
To gain weight, you need to reverse the energy balance and take in more calories than the body can consume, without neglecting food variety and limiting foods that are harmful to the body.
- Choose especially foods with a high energy density: starchy foods, cereals, legumes, whole milk, sweets, chocolate, dried and oily fruit (almonds, walnuts, peanuts…), fatty fish. Instead, limit butter, fatty meats, cooking cream, and industrial products that contain artificial fats.
- Consume low energy density foods moderately: fruit and vegetables, skim milk, fish and lean meat, especially at the beginning of the meal. 400 or 500 grams of fruit and vegetables a day are amply enough.
- Multiply your meals. In order not to overload your stomach during the main meal, snack two or three times a day: dried fruit, whole yogurt, bread with butter and jam ...
- Increase the calories of your meals: cook the vegetables with oil instead of steam, abound with parmesan, add walnuts and peanuts to the salad, sweeten the yogurt with a spoonful of honey, accompany the coffee with squares of chocolate.
Practicing a sport that "builds muscle"
Avoid endurance sports (jogging, cycling, swimming, canoeing ...), which consume fat reserves and slim the figure, instead prefer sports that increase muscle volume, such as tennis, step, judo, tools ... Practice these activities intensively for short periods.
Adopt a correct hygiene of life
To gain a few pounds you have to quit smoking, cigarettes take away the appetite and increase the basic metabolism (energy consumption at rest). Stress and insomnia can also cause a decrease in appetite, so it is necessary to take care of your inner well-being by practicing, for example, yoga or relaxation exercises.
