While most people struggle with excessive weight, some can have difficulty gaining or keeping weight on. This may seem like a blessing at first, until you realize that it can affect your health, energy levels and even self-esteem. For teenagers who are trying to gain weight, doing it properly is key, as you want to eat nutritious food that help development and help you gain weight without gaining fat.
Step 1
Add products high in unsaturated fats to the diet. This includes olive oil, avocados, nuts and flaxseed. This can be done by brushing oils into foods before cooking them, snacking on cashews or peanuts, or sprinkling some flaxseed powder on top of cereal, salads or soups.
Step 2
Switch to full-fat dairy products. Because calcium is essential to a growing teenager, dairy products are an important addition to the diet. To gain weight, choose dairy products that have high nutritional value. For example, ice cream has few to no nutrients, but milk, cheese and yogurt often come fortified with vitamins and provide good bacteria to keep the digestive system properly.
Step 3
Increase portion size. If there's a particular favorite food you like, eat it more frequently, make it richer (by adding extra fat or high-calorie ingredients) and eat larger portions. You can also try adding an extra item to each meal, such as a piece of toast to breakfast or a baked potato as a side dinner dish.
Step 4
Take up weight training. While aerobic exercise leads to fat burning and weight loss, resistance training leads to the creation of muscle, which leads to weight gain. Because as a teen you are still growing, have either a doctor or a qualified personal trainer design a weight training program for you, so you can be sure muscles and bones won't be damaged in the process.
Tips and Warnings
- Do not try to gain weight by increasing unhealthy foods such as pastries, sweets or saturated (animal) fats. While these items will most likely cause weight gain, they are also high in trans-fat and other unhealthy ingredients and chemicals.
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