Being underweight can cause physical and emotional stress. Adding pounds can help you look and feel your best, but it takes effort and the right types of foods. To gain weight, you must increase your calorie intake. If you have a small appetite, consuming 3,000 to 6,000 calories per day can be an effort. Choose healthy, calorie-dense foods at meals and have snacks to get to looking and feeling your best.
Whole Grains
Whole grains offer more nutrition than refined white varieties. Dense whole-grain bread may contain 100 calories or more per slice, as compared to a fluffy white bread with 70 calories per slice. Whole-grain granola, with 600 calories per cup, provides a calorie-dense alternative to flaked or shredded cereal. Other grains to focus on are oatmeal, brown rice and whole-wheat pasta, which are easy to prepare and complement most meals. Have extra servings of these foods at meals and incorporate them into snacks.
Fruits and Vegetables
Most fruits and vegetables are diet-friendly because they are low in calories. When you are trying to gain weight, you want the opposite. However, fruits and vegetables provide essential vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants for a healthy body. Choose the most calorie-dense produce possible. Starchy vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, corn and peas, provide more calories per cup than leafy greens. Avocados are high in heart-healthy fat and contain about 300 calories in each fruit. Choose dried fruit, such as raisins and dates, at snack times and as an addition to cereal, salads or smoothies.
Proteins
Even if you are underweight, you are still vulnerable to the health consequences of eating too much saturated fat. Stick to lean cuts of meat, such as tenderloin or flank steak, at meals. Consider alternative protein sources that offer additional calories. Beans, such as black, chickpeas and navy, provide more than 200 calories per cup along with fiber and other nutrients. Use beans pureed with sesame paste and olive oil to make a calorie-dense, heart-healthy sandwich spread or dip for baked tortilla chips. Nuts and nut butters are other sources of protein with a high calorie density. A 2 tbsp. serving of peanut butter on a whole-grain bagel contains almost 500 calories, alone and more than 8 g of protein.
Fats
Choose unsaturated fats to promote good health and weight gain. Plant oils, specifically olive, safflower and canola, offer 120 calories in 1 tbsp. You can toss pasta in olive oil before adding sauce, scramble eggs in canola oil, add flaxseed oil to smoothies, coat stir fries in sesame oil or toss salads with safflower oil and balsamic vinegar.
Dairy
Dairy provides calcium for strong bones, protein for healthy muscles and potassium for mineral and fluid balance. While most diets recommend low-fat or nonfat milk, when you are trying to gain weight your health care provider may recommend full-fat versions. Whole milk mixed with nonfat dry milk powder provides more than 250 calories per 8-oz. glass and is easy to fit in between meals. Yogurt mixed with granola and nuts can be a healthy, high-calorie snack. Cheese added to eggs, pasta, casseroles and salads also helps boost calories with some nutrition.
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