Gaining weight requires you to eat a greater number of calories than you burn. This often means larger portions, which can significantly increase your grocery bill. Weight gain supplements marketed to help you bulk up are also expensive, making it seem like the only way to change your body is to drain your bank account. With the right strategies and foods, you can gain weight on a moderate budget.
Calorie Considerations
To gain weight, you need a high-calorie plan consisting of between 3,000 and 5,000 -- or more -- calories per day. You need a large quantity of food to fill these calorie needs. Although fast food is notoriously high in calories, visiting the $1 menu at the drive-through is not your only option to save money while trying to gain weight. Choosing junk food will not help you gain healthy weight and achieve your goals of looking and feeling better. The calories you do choose should come from healthy foods that are calorie-dense.
Food Choices
Inexpensive weight gain foods are easy to find at most supermarkets. Peanut butter contains about 200 calories per 2-tbsp. serving and may be added to whole wheat bread, oatmeal, homemade whole-wheat pancakes and smoothies. Purchase whole milk on sale and enhance each 8-oz. glass with 1/4 cup of non-fat dry milk powder to create a 270-calorie, between-meal drink. Trail mix is another high-calorie snack that provides almost 700 calories per cup -- skip the kind with chocolate chips to keep it healthy, however. Make your meals consist of canned or dried beans, a source of fiber, calories, protein, vitamins and minerals, which are usually very affordable. Complement them with brown rice from the bulk bin, so you save money on packaging. Eggs are an inexpensive source of high-quality protein, with 71 calories each -- scramble three at breakfast in 1 tbsp. of olive oil and top them with 1 oz. of low-fat cottage cheese for 443 calories.
Strategies
Gaining weight requires work. You must make an effort to fit in multiple snacks between meals. In addition to the trail mix and enhanced milk, other high-calorie snack ideas are raisins -- with over 400 calories per cup -- and nuts, with about 200 calories per 1/4 cup. Adding olive or canola oil to cooked pasta or salad dressing are other ways to add cheap calories. Although nuts and plant oils seem expensive, you do not need large servings to make a caloric impact.
Sample Plan
This plan provides almost 4,500 calories from healthy food sources, without costing you a ton of cash. Because prices vary across the nation, the exact cost of a sample meal plan is difficult to estimate. Begin with a breakfast of three scrambled eggs in 1 tbsp. of olive oil, two slices of whole wheat toast with 2 tbsp. of peanut butter, 12 oz. of whole milk with 1/4 cup of nonfat dry milk powder and a banana. In the mid-morning, have 1/2 cup of raisins with 1/2 cup of roasted, unsalted peanuts. At lunch, make a burrito with a 12-inch flour tortilla, 1 cup of black beans and 2 cups of brown rice mixed with 1 tbsp. of olive oil. Have another 12 oz. of milk with dry milk powder, as well. Mid-afternoon, you could make a smoothie with a banana, 2 tbsp. of peanut butter, 1 tbsp. of chocolate syrup and 12 oz. of milk. For dinner, have 2 cups of whole wheat pasta with 2 oz. of shredded part-skim mozarella cheese, 1 cup of marinara sauce and 1 cup of frozen peas.
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