Gain Weight Fast Guide

You have to admit, choosing healthy weight gain foods is a lot more fun than going on weight loss diet where you have to cut out half the foods you like. Sure, sometimes you feel like you practically have to force feed yourself to get in enough calories, put if you choose high-calorie, protein-rich foods that you like, eating enough won’t be a problem most of the time.

Healthy Carbohydrates

The majority of your healthy weight gain foods are going to be carbs. Here you’re looking for complex carbohydrates that will break down slowly instead of simple carbs that will shock your system by quickly turning to sugar. Whole, minimally processed grains are one of the best sources. That might be whole grain bread, whole wheat or spinach pasta, or a bowl of oatmeal or buckwheat kasha. Fresh fruit and vegetables are not only a good source of healthy carbs, but of fiber, too.

Healthy Fats

Fat is not only a healthy weight gain food, it’s critical for overall health. It’s one of our main sources of vitamins A, E, and K. Unfortunately, the wrong kinds of fats have side effects like clogged arteries. What you want are monounsaturated fats (plant fats) and minimal saturated fats (animal fats). Healthy fats are found in plant oils like olive, peanut, and flax seed oil. Fruits like avocados and olives along with nuts and oily seeds (sunflower, pumpkin) are also great sources. Oily fish like salmon, trout, and herring are another good source, but you need to be careful where you buy to avoid fish contaminated with heavy metals.

Healthy Protein Choices

When most people think protein, they think meat. While it’s true meats contain a healthy does of protein—especially turkey, duck, chicken and tuna—there are also plenty of plant sources, too.
Beans and legumes are the biggest sources. Some of highest in protein are garbanzo beans (chickpeas), black beans, kidney beans, lima beans and lentils. Nuts like cashews, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, and hazelnuts (filberts) are second only to legumes in their protein content. Grains also provide some protein, especially buckwheat, millet, wheat germ, brown rice, barley, oats and rye. That’s another reason choosing whole grain bread is important.

The Challenge of Getting Enough Calories

While it generally is a good idea to choose healthy foods over junk food, understand that for most bodybuilders or even those just trying to get in shape, getting enough calories purely out or “healthy” or “clean burning” foods is next to impossible. High-cal foods aren’t always the healthiest, since they may also be relatively high in saturated fats or sugars, but sometimes they’re necessary for you to meet your calorie requirements. Otherwise you’re going to be stuffing yourself with fillet of salmon and buckwheat kasha all day and wondering why you’re not getting any bigger.

Diet plays a huge role in building muscle. Large amounts of healthy weight gain foods are what you need to gain weight fast. No matter how perfect your workout routine, it will only leave you weak and exhausted if you’re not eating right. Before you really start trying to put on weight, plan a weekly or bi-weekly menu that will help you stay on track with healthy eating.