How To Gain Weight After 40

Gaining weight after 40 should prove relatively easy for most people because metabolic rates decline with age. If you seek to gain lean muscle mass rather than body fat, you must carefully choose the foods you eat and perform resistance training. However, if you have trouble gaining weight, you may need to use some strategic tactics to slow down your metabolism and increase caloric intake. With a few simple tips, anyone can gain weight after 40.

Step 1

Increase your caloric intake by 500 to 750 calories every two to three weeks until you gain weight. Find out your daily maintenance caloric intake, or the number of calories you need for your body to stay as is. A personal trainer can calculate this number quite accurately, but you can also use the calculator listed in Resources.

Step 2

Do resistance training workouts three to five days per week if you want to gain lean muscle and increase your bone density. Full body workouts three days per week work great for beginners who want to add shape and form to their musculature. While resistance training does burn fat, it triggers anabolic (muscle building) hormones that serve to increase body weight, with proper nutrition, according to the book "Optimum Anabolics."

Step 3

Increase carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates readily store in the body as either muscle glycogen (stored carbohydrates) or body fat. Examples of carbohydrates include rice, pasta, breads, fruit and potatoes. If you seek to increase lean body weight, stick to the low-glycemic carbohydrates, which do not promote fat gain, according to "The Fat Burning Bible." These include brown rice, whole-wheat bread and pasta, and sweet potatoes.

Step 4

Increase your intake of healthy fats. Fats work well for gaining weight because they have caloric density. Where carbs and proteins only have four calories per gram, fats actually have more than double that number, with nine calories per gram. Healthy fats include poly- and monounsaturated fats, which help to lower cholesterol and improve heart health, according to "The Fat Burning Bible." Examples of these fats are olive oil, peanut butter, egg yolks, flaxseed oil, omega-3 fish oil, nuts, seeds and avocados. Add a serving to each meal to increase your caloric intake.

Step 5

Consider adding weight-gainer shakes to your nutrition plan. Most retail health stores carry these products, which make weight gain far more convenient. Rather than eating extra meals, you can simply drink one to three weight-gainer shakes per day. They contain extra protein, carbohydrates and fats to provide the calories needed to overcome a fast metabolism or a lack of nutrition.