In a society where almost everyone else seems to be on a diet, you probably feel a little strange if you need to gain weight. But you shouldn't let that stop you, since being underweight carries its own health risks, including the risk of malnutrition. Fortunately, you can use a variety of different diets and nutritional strategies to help you gain weight and eliminate those health risks.
Basics
If you eat more calories than you expend, you should gain weight. But you shouldn't binge on sweets or fats, because doing so could lead to other health problems down the road. Instead, you should eat more healthy foods, including lots of fresh vegetables, fruit, lean protein and whole grains.
Foods You Like
You may find you have the most success gaining weight by focusing on the foods you enjoy. For example, if you enjoy salty foods, try eating more high-calorie salted nuts -- just don't overdo it, or you could get too much sodium in your diet. If you truly love a good steak, indulge more often than normal and eat larger portions than usual, and even choose a slightly fattier cut of beef to add calories.
Substitutions
Try substituting higher-calorie food and beverage items for lower-calorie items you normally consume. If you're mainly a water drinker, substitute juices or sports beverages. Add an extra slice of cheese or two to a sandwich, and snack on nutrient-dense foods such as dried fruits. You also can increase the calories in soup by adding some milk powder to it, and add calories to cereal by sprinkling on some ground flax seed.
Calorie Counting
You can try any number of balanced diets to gain weight -- just remember to count your calories to make sure you're staying above what you need. Most women require about 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day to keep their weight the same, according to the National Institutes of Health, so shoot for a daily calorie intake of up to 3,000 calories to start gaining. Men require more to stay even -- between 2,000 and 3,000 calories -- so will need to eat more than that to start gaining. If you're doing this and you find you're still not gaining weight, you may want to see your doctor, especially if you have other symptoms -- you could suffer from a disease or condition that causes you to be underweight.
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