Overweight and obesity may get all the spotlight, but being underweight also has emotional and health risks. You are underweight if your body mass index is lower than 18.5, according to the BMI calculator at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute website. So if you're 110 lbs. and 5-foot-5, for example, you are underweight. Gaining weight healthily is important though, reports registered dietitian Katherine Zeratsky at MayoClinic.com, since gaining it too quickly by eating fat-laden food and huge portion sizes will have a negative impact on your health. Instead, find or create a program that adds healthy calories --- about 500 extra calories per day will let you gain 1 lb. per week --- to your day. Maintain exercise, but try to add some strength-training too, as it will build muscles and tone the extra body mass you are building.
Dietitian-Assisted Program
Visit a nutritionist or registered dietitian to come up with an eating and exercise plan that will allow you to gain weight and maintain your health. In general the professionals will put you on a plan that has healthy calorie-dense foods such as avocado and complex carbohydrates. To gain 1 lbs. per week you'll need to add 3,500 calories to your meals throughout the week, or roughly 500 extra calories per day. A nutritionist will look at what you have been eating and make some simple changes that will allow you to gain weight. She will also serve as a coach and supporter with regular weigh-ins.
SparkPeople.com
Many weight-loss tools are there to help people trim calories, but they can also help you gain weight and track the number of calories you are currently eating. Resources such as SparkPeople.com allow you to track your food and then adjust it according to how your goals change. So if you keep track for a week and see that you are eating 2,200 calories per day, you'll need to maintain your level of activity, but up your daily intake to 2,700 per day for a 1 lb. weight gain per week. The tracker will also keep note of the amount of protein, fats and carbohydrates you're consuming to make sure those numbers stay in proportion.
Follow the Pyramid
The food pyramid devised by the United States Department of Agriculture is a great guide to help you gain weight. Tools at the MyPyramid.gov website can help you determine how many calories you need per day to gain weight, and from which food groups those calories should come. Additionally, Zeratsky suggests eating several meals throughout the day and to eat healthy sweet treats like bran muffins and granola.
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