Whether you are super skinny because of genetics, illness or an eating disorder, gaining weight can help improve your health. Being too thin diminishes your ability to fight off sicknesses and to heal from surgery. The super skinny have trouble excelling in athletics and may suffer teasing. Women who are too skinny may experience irregular periods or infertility and be at a greater risk of developing anemia or osteoporosis. In a culture that lauds the ability to lose weight, the challenges of gaining weight are rarely addressed. It may take some weeks or months to achieve, but you can put on pounds with focused dietary and lifestyle strategies.
Step 1
Create a daily calorie surplus by eating more calories than you burn. Add 500 calories per day to your daily maintenance needs to gain approximately 1 lb. per week. Add another 500 calories per day if you still are not gaining weight after a couple of weeks.
Step 2
Keep track of your food intake. Write down what you eat, when you eat and the approximate calorie content to ensure you are really eating enough. A food log can also help remind you to eat if you tend to lose track of time and inadvertently skip meals.
Step 3
Eat larger servings at every meal. Add 2 oz. more of protein and ½ cup of starch to take in 200 more calories at each sitting.
Step 4
Enhance the calorie content of your servings with the addition of unsaturated fats which do not adversely affect your heart health. Add flax seed oil to your smoothies, stir walnuts into your pancake batter, include avocado in all your salads and dress vegetables in an olive-oil based dressing. Each serving of fat can add between 100 and 200 calories without a lot of bulk.
Step 5
Eat healthy foods rather than relying on calorie-dense, but nutritionally poor junk food. Make lean proteins and healthy carbohydrates, like whole grains and starchy vegetables, the center of your meals. Avoid fried, greasy foods which add saturated or trans fats to your diet and put your health at risk, warns the American Heart Association.
Step 6
Indulge in hearty snacks often. Choose foods like peanut butter sandwiches, fruit and yogurt smoothies, mixed nuts and pasta to help increase your calorie intake. Have a bedtime snack every night such as graham crackers with almond butter and milk.
Step 7
Carry calorie-dense, non-perishable snacks with you all the time. Stash trail mix in your glove compartment. Put single servings of granola in your backpack. Store a jar of peanuts in your desk drawer. Chow down a scant handful of these foods to add 150 to 200 calories between meals. Eat more if you are likely to miss a meal.
Step 8
Consume low-fat milk and 100 percent juices instead of water. Limit your intake of sugary sodas and energy drinks that do not provide balanced nutrition.
Step 9
Exercise moderately on most days of the week. A light walk or leisurely bike ride can help rev your appetite.
Step 10
Weight train to build lean muscle mass to fill out a super skinny frame. Lift heavy weights at least twice a week to encourage the development of lean muscle mass which will make you look healthy and defined, not just fat. Acquiring muscle mass can also help make your appetite more hearty, notes the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Tips and Warnings
- If you simply cannot tolerate eating more food, add dry milk powder, whey protein or instant mashed potatoes to soups, oatmeal and casseroles to increase their calorie content.
- If, despite your efforts, you cannot gain weight, check with your doctor to make sure your weight is not the result of a medical condition.
Member Comments
cruzer51 November 30
Thanks for all the tips. I'm a 15 year old boy with a small frame, 5'4", and 97 lbs. Yeah I know, I'm SUPER SKINNY!!! But I'll try some of these tips. I'm one of those naturally skinny guys with a fast metabolism, so I'm gonna have to buckle down on my eating to bulk up. I used to workout and worked out for a few months and gained some weight, muscle, healthier, and ultimately a better looking body. But then the gym I was going to closed and I got soft again, I mean I wasn't buff but I was better off than I am now. Anyway, I started drinking ensure plus, which is an 8 oz. nutritional shake (I highly reccomend), and started doing some pull ups, push ups, crunches, that sort of things, and have put on some weight. But when I really noticed I started gaining weight was when I finally accepted myself, and once I did that all I wanted to do was workout to stay healthier, not for looks, not for what other people wanted me to do, and it feels a hella' better when you are doing something for yourself than for others. Stay healthy and keep at it, you won't regret it!