Are you a teenager who is trying to gain weight? With so much emphasis on losing weight, people who need to put on a few pounds seem to be forgotten. Being too thin or underweight can be a concern for teenagers. As a teenager, you are growing rapidly, so height increases might cause you to look thin or underweight. According to the Center for Young Women's Health, some teenagers might be underweight due to growth, increased exercise while participating in sports or because of a high metabolism. Don't worry--there are ways to put on some pounds.
Find Out Your Body Mass Index
First you need to figure out your Body Mass Index (BMI). This is your weight to height ratio, which will assess if you are underweight or not. You may think you are underweight or too thin, but might actually be a healthy weight. You can find your BMI using the teenage BMI calculator at the Centers for Disease Control website. The teenage BMI calculation is different from adult BMI calculations, as the teenage BMI is calculated based on the growth chart.
Assessing BMI
A BMI of less than the fifth percentile may indicate underweight. If you suspect you are underweight, it is best to get evaluated by your pediatrician. If your pediatrician confirms that you are underweight, he will explain why and guide you about ways to gain weight.
Healthy Foods
You might think that eating high-fat, high-calorie foods like fast food, desserts, and candy will help you gain weight fast. It will help put on the pounds, but it won't help you form long-term healthy eating habits.
Instead, choose healthy calories. Examples of healthy calories are foods that have high nutrition content, healthy fats, are less processed foods, and provide comparable calories. These include whole grain cereals, pasta, breads, fruits and vegetables, lean meats and healthy fats made with polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats.
Foods with polyunsaturated fats include some types of vegetable oils such as corn oil, cottonseed oil and soybean oil, margarine, mayonnaise, salad dressings and walnuts. Monounsaturated fats are in foods like avocados, peanut butter, olives, peanuts, cashews, almonds, and canola or olive oils.
Increasing Healthy Calories
Increase your portions of healthy foods at each meal and snack. For example, if you usually eat one serving of chicken, eat two, and do this for at least one or two foods with each meal. You can eat two whole grain rolls with margarine or butter instead of only one roll, for instance. Add more salad dressing to salads and more mayonnaise to sandwiches.
In order to gain one pound per week, you need to eat 500 additional calories per day, which can be done quite easily. The extra 500 calories can be an extra cup of low fat milk, piece of cheese, banana, cup of juice and about seven to eight potato chips. Another option is to add a nutrition supplement such as Boost or Ensure, which are about 250 calories for 8 ounces, if the weight does not increase despite increasing daily calories.
Although the emphasis is healthy calories, this does not mean that you need to avoid some of your favorite foods like dessert items, snack foods and fried foods. But eat them in moderation to help cultivate healthy eating habits.
Keep Up Exercise or Physical Activity
Try to refrain from becoming lazy and inactive in order to gain weight. This can lead to a habit of having a sedentary lifestyle. Instead, increase healthy calories by 500 calories a day, and continue with regular exercise to keep healthy and active. Be sure to get specific guidelines for your eating habits and exercise from your doctor if you are underweight. He can refer you to a registered dietitian for a personalized meal plan for weight gain.
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