Healthy ways for underweight women to add some weight

If you’re slimmer than most people, you may often get comments that you need to eat more to gain weight. While gaining weight (or losing weight) to please others isn’t the ideal thing to do, it might be beneficial to your health if you are medically considered underweight.

One thing though, many ladies who actually set out do something in order to gain some kilos somehow end up gaining more body fat instead of lean muscle weight which is wrong. This is because the additional body fat would eventually settle in all the wrong places like the tummy, thighs, butt and love handles.

Genetically, some people are meant be smaller but this doesn’t mean that when you are small, you are unhealthy. If your slim physique is not genetically triggered, one of the best ways to gain weight is through exercise and diet. Here are a few pointers:

Focus on your heart: Since your main focus now is to gain, try not to engage in any strenuous cardio activity like running, aerobics, rowing and cycling. This is because such activities will make you lose more weight than you want to gain. Let your cardio sessions work to improve your heart health and not to trigger weight loss. Do light cardio activities like walking and swimming often.

Think weights: Do some weight-training exercises while also including a few compound movements like body weight push ups, squats, lunges and pull-ups. When you are lifting weights, aim to lift weights that are heavy enough to make you feel fatigue within the chosen sets and repetitions. Most ladies fear this part because they fear getting muscular.

Really, can lifting weights make you muscular? NO. Naturally, women don’t possess enough male hormone (testosterone) that will make them muscular. Therefore, weight training will not make you bulk up but help in toning and shaping your body effectively.

Snack often: Always eat frequently and avoid drinking water a few minutes before a meal. Water is filling and can take up space for your meals. Make sure you eat all the three main meals; breakfast, lunch and dinner, spacing them at least five hours apart. Eat food rich in high fibre, higher nutrition, higher protein and moderate fat. If it’s fat, make sure you eat the right kind of fats. Add healthy fats such as nuts, olive oil, seed, and peanut butter.

Eat complex carbs like whole grain breads, brown rice and pasta while also adding starchy veggies like sweet potatoes, potatoes, arrow roots and pumpkins. Some high protein sources that you need are things like meat, milk, eggs and fish. This is because your body needs a certain amount of protein intake to build new strong lean muscles especially after a vigorous activity.

Always consider healthy high caloric dense snacks like, nuts, almonds, yoghurt, milkshakes, dried fruits like dates and ripe bananas in-between meals instead of eating junk, loading up on tea and coffee or diet sodas.