Being underweight can be just as distressing for people as being overweight. That's why many sufferers set themselves the goal of putting on a few pounds. This is often not as easy as it may sound. Find out how you can still increase your weight in a healthy way.
Healthy breakfast from VERIVAL - discover it now!
Causes of being underweight and calculating with the BMI
When do we actually speak of being underweight? The body mass index (BMI) is often used as a guideline. This is a parameter that assesses body weight in relation to height. A table with the different weight categories then helps you to assess how far your weight deviates from the normal weight. With the help of our BMI calculator, you can find this out with just a few clicks.
There can be many reasons for being underweight. While some people have a genetic predisposition to struggle to gain weight, there may also be physical or psychological causes for being underweight. In any case, if you are underweight, you should consult a doctor to rule out any organic or psychological causes. Doctors are also needed to ensure that there is no malnutrition that could make being underweight dangerous. Even if your BMI is too low, you can't draw any conclusions about a person's health from this value alone, because many important components are disregarded. For example, BMI calculators do not take into account the ratio of muscle and fat.
How can you gain weight in a healthy way? Nutrition and exercise to build muscle
If you feel uncomfortable about your weight and would like to gain a few kilos, you can achieve this relatively quickly with high-calorie sweets, fast food or fatty dishes. However, this approach is by no means healthy. It is much healthier to build muscle in a targeted way with a nutrition plan and exercise, and in this way achieve healthy weight gain.
If you want to gain weight quickly and healthily, it is especially important to do it the right way. To build mainly muscle mass and only a little fat with a constant calorie surplus, a healthy diet and a training plan are essential. At every meal, you should put foods with a high calorie density on your plate. These include, for example, carbohydrate-rich foods such as grains, pasta or potatoes. You can further increase the calorie density of your meals with high-quality vegetable oils. Avocados, for example, should not be missing from your diet – there are also wonderful avocado oils. It is important to incorporate more valuable oils with unsaturated fatty acids into your diet. Oils taste good in salads or with pickled vegetables. Fruits and vegetables provide the necessary vitamins and minerals. Soups can be refined with a little cream to get extra calories, and a slice of whole grain bread can be enjoyed with it.
If you find it difficult to reach your calorie intake with just three meals, you can also eat six to eight smaller meals a day. This way, you don't have to consume large amounts at once.
When it comes to exercise, you should avoid the most common mistakes when building muscle and focus primarily on strength training. With heavy weights, you can make your muscles grow and thus gain weight in a healthy way.
Build muscle and gain weight with the help of the calorie calculator
The secret to building muscle and gaining weight in a healthy way when you're underweight can be summed up in a single word: calorie surplus. What you need is a controlled change in your diet.
To put on weight, you need to consume more calories than your body burns. So it's definitely worth counting calories – even though this is usually done when you're dieting.
You can easily find out how many calories you should eat daily to achieve a calorie surplus using our calorie calculator. With just a few clicks, it calculates how many calories you need to consume daily to maintain your weight. To help you build muscle with the help of the calorie calculator, you should add another 200 to 400 calories to your daily energy requirement. However, depending on how active you are in your daily life and how much sport you do, your daily energy requirement can vary.
5 healthy nutrition tips to prevent being underweight
To help you gain weight, we have put together the most important tips for a balanced diet to help you gain weight in a healthy way:
Tip 1: Fat as an energy source
Fat is literally an energy supplier, because compared to the other two macronutrients, protein and carbohydrates, one gram of fat contains more than twice as many calories. Make sure to always integrate healthy fats into your diet. These include, for example, vegetable oils, nuts (e.g. walnuts, peanuts, cashew nuts,...) and seeds.
Tip 2: Carbohydrates for more strength
Carbohydrates should not be missing from your diet either. They not only help you to exceed your daily calorie requirement, but also give you the power you need to achieve personal bests in strength training. It's best to opt for long-chain carbohydrates such as whole grain products, oats, rice or potatoes.
They prevent your blood sugar level from rising and falling rapidly. If your blood sugar level drops too quickly, your performance during training will also decrease rapidly. Porridge is therefore particularly suitable as a meal immediately before training. It provides you with the necessary energy, consists of long-chain carbohydrates and at the same time prevents you from feeling uncomfortably full.
Tip 3: Watch your protein intake
Those who want to gain weight by building muscle should definitely pay attention to their protein intake. Proteins are the building blocks of our cells and thus also of our muscles. That's why each of your meals should contain at least one source of protein. These can be meat and fish, but also legumes, soy products, grains and seeds, or dairy products. It's best to start the day with a protein breakfast for athletes in the morning.
Valuable ingredients for this are, for example, oat flakes, eggs or low-fat quark. They contain a lot of protein and facilitate muscle building. Our top tip: Sport Breakfast from VERIVAL. It not only serves as a source of strength in the morning, but also contains healthy vegetable protein sources.
Discover Sport Breakfast from VERIVAL now!
Tip 4: Regular meals to combat underweight
If you want to combat being underweight, you should definitely make sure you eat regularly. Stick to your main meals and maybe also build in snacks if you can't eat that much at once.
Tip 5: Healthy snacks for in between
In addition to regular meals, healthy but high-calorie snacks are a good way to ensure your daily calorie surplus. Some of the best healthy snacks include fruit, nuts, trail mix, dried fruit or muesli bars. You can easily make the latter yourself and add fruit, chocolate or nuts to suit your personal taste.
Frequently asked questions
How can I gain weight quickly and healthily?
The recommendation for healthy weight gain is 500 grams per week. This would mean that you can gain about 10 kilograms in a healthy way within half a year. If you want to gain weight quickly and healthily, it is especially important to do it the right way. To build mainly muscle mass and only a little fat with a constant calorie surplus, a healthy diet and a training plan are essential.
What are healthy calorie-dense foods?
healthy fats (high-quality vegetable oils, nuts,...) long-chain carbohydrates, such as whole grain products, oats, rice or potatoes legumes, soy products, eggs, grains, seeds and dairy products (yogurt, quark, cream,...) fruit, dried fruit, muesli bars,...
How can you gain weight if you are underweight?
To gain weight, you need to eat more calories than your body needs. A calorie surplus of about 500 kilocalories per day is recommended. However, simply eating more is often not enough. To gain weight in a healthy way, it is important to do it the right way. It is also often helpful to eat several portions throughout the day.
What food is good for gaining weight?
Nuts, muesli bars, protein bars, bananas, salmon, cheese, healthy oils, yoghurt, smoothies, rice, pasta, and cereals are foods that can help you gain weight.
Can you gain weight with oats?
To gain weight, you need to eat more calories than your body needs. Oats are a healthy component to help you gain weight. However, they should be combined with other nutritious foods.
Which fruits help you gain weight?
With 90 calories per 100 grams, bananas are among the fruit types with the highest calorie content. Lychees, grapes and cherries also have a relatively high energy content and can be helpful if you want to gain weight in a healthy way. The lowest-calorie fruit types include strawberries, raspberries and watermelon – so they are not particularly suitable for a diet aimed at gaining weight.
