Gain Weight Fast Guide

For anyone trying to gain healthy weight, getting enough calories and protein is one of the biggest challenges and most muscle building diets out there don’t make it any easier. They usually take a narrow selection of 10 or so high-protein foods and rotated them throughout the week. No wonder you get bored!

If you want a complete, proven-effective diet plan, check out Sean’s 12-week muscle building meal plans, which come with his book. They range from 2000 to 6000 calories and use a good variety of foods.

In the meantime, though, here are some more high-cal, high-protein weight gain foods to add to your diet.

Calories and protein content are based on

100 grams (3.5 ounces or a little less than half a cup) of food.

Highest Protein Meats

Most of the meats listed here are great low-fat choices, with the exception of pork and beef.

Pork skins, plain: 545 calories, 61.3g protein
Deer, shoulder, cooked, braised: 191 calories, 36.3g (shoulder only)
Beaver, roasted: 212 calories, 34.9g protein (Yeah, beaver. I promised variety, didn’t I?)
Bison, cooked: 193 calories, 33.8g protein
Emu, broiled:168 calories, 33.7g protein
Lamb, braised: 223 calories, 33.7g protein
Chicken, fried: 170 calories, 33.4g protein
Beef jerky: 410 calories, 33.2g protein
Beef, pot roast, braised: 210 calories, 33g protein
Pork chops, fried: 232 calories, 32g protein
Beef brisket, braised: 191 calories, 31.5g protein
Turkey breast, no skin: 135 calories, 30g protein
Pheasant: 133 calories, 24g protein

High Protein Fish and Seafood

Tuna canned in oil:193 calories, 29g protein
Halibut: 140 calories, 27g protein
Trout, smoked: 190 calories, 27g protein
Chinook salmon, smoked 231 calories 26g protein
Clams, steamed: 148 calories, 25.6g protein
Northern pike, cooked: 113 calories, 25g protein
Caviar (black or red): 252 calories, 24.6g protein (Probably not as expensive as you think. Go price it.)
Shrimp, canned: 120 calories, 23g protein
Anchovies: 121 calories, 20.4g protein

High Protein Dairy and Eggs

Like meat, cheese also contains enough saturated fat to make it a concern. I’ve listed the fat contents here so you can take that into account when you choose which cheese you want to eat on a given day. From this you can see Swiss is one of the healthier choices, while cheddar is less than ideal.

Gruyere cheese: 413 calories, 29.8 protein, 32.3g fat
Parmesan cheese, grated: 456 calories, 41.6 protein (hard has less), 30g fat
Emmental (Swiss) cheese: 376 calories, 28.4 protein, 27g fat
Provolone cheese: 351 calories, 25.6g protein, 26g fat
Edam cheese: 354 calories, 25g protein, 28g fat
Gouda: 365 calories, cal 24.9 g protein, 27g fat
Cheddar: 403 calories, 24.9 protein, 33g fat
Whole egg, cooked: 166 calories, 11g protein

High Protein Beans and Legumes

Soy products are a great source of protein, but they’re also known to raise estrogen levels, which can interfere with your ability to build muscle (even if you’re a woman). If you eat soy, choose traditional fermented forms like tofu, miso, and tempeh over new products like soy milk and soy dogs. Fermented soy foods don’t interfere with hormone levels as much.

Another thing to remember is that sprouts from all these beans and legumes provide even more protein than the good beans.

Peanuts, oil-roasted: 581 calories, 26.4g protein
Peanut butter, smooth style: 593 calories, 25.2g protein
Winged beans: 147 calories, 10.6g protein
Red kidney beans: 121 calories, 9.4g protein
Lentils, pink, raw: 116, 9g protein
Chickpeas (garbanzo beans): 164 calories, 8.9g protein
Split peas cooked: 118 calories, 8.5g protein
Cowpeas: 117 calories, 8.1g protein
Tofu, firm 77 calories, 8g protein
Broadbeans (fava beans), cooked: 110 calories, 7.6g protein

High Protein Nuts and Seeds

I haven’t listed fat content here, because while nuts are high in fat, it’s healthy fat. Macadamias, Brazil nuts, and cashews have relatively high levels of saturated fats compared to other nuts, but the health benefits they offer outweigh that.

Watermelon seed: 557 calories, 28.3g protein
Pumpkin seed: 551 calories, 24.5g protein
Black walnuts: 618 calories, 24.1g protein
Pine nuts: 255 calories, 24g protein
Sunflower seeds: 570 calories, 22.8g protein
Pistachios: 568 calories, 21.4g protein
Cashews, dry roasted: 574 calories, 15.3g protein
Hazel nuts: 628 calories, 15g protein
Brazil, dry: 656 calories, 14.3g protein

High Protein Grains

Wheat germ: 360 calories, 23.2g protein
Oats: 389 calories,16.9g protein
Rye: 335 calories,14.8g protein
Amaranth: 374 calories,14.5g protein
Quinoa (keen-wa): 374 calories, 13.1g protein
Spelt: 140 calories, 6g protein
Millet: 119 calories, 3.5g protein

High Protein Vegetables and Fruits

Spriulina: 290 calories, 57.5g protein
Coconut, dry unsweetted: 660 calories, 6.9g protein (Raw has only half this.)
Raw garlic: 149 calories, 6.4 g protein
Grape leaves: 69 calories, 4.3g protein
Brussles sprouts, raw 43 calories, 3.4g protein (They taste better and have more protein raw).
Apricots, dry: 241 calories, 3.4g protein
Parsley: 36 calories, 3g protein (also very high in vitamin C)
Figs, dry: 255 calories, 3.1g protein
Mushrooms cooked/boiled: 25 calories, 2.2g protein
Dates, fresh or dry: 275 calories, 2g protein
Avocado: 161 calories, 2g protein
Cauliflower, raw: 25 calories, 2g protein
Kale, boiled: 28 calories, 1.9 protein
Okra, cooked: 32 calories, 1.9 protein
Cherimoya, raw: 74 calories, 1.7g protein
Yam, cooked: 116 calories, 1.5g protein
Abiyuch, raw: 69 calories, 1.5g protein
Apricots, fresh: 48 calories, 1.4g protein
Mulberries, raw: 43 calories, 1.4g protein
Spinach, cooked: 12 calories, 1.3g protein
Cherries, sweet, raw: 72 calories, 1.2g protein
Jujube, raw: 79 calories, 1.2g protein
Boysenberries, frozen: 50 calories, 1.1g protein
Sweet potato, canned: 57 calories, 1.1g

So you can see a high protein diet doesn’t have to been a boring menu with nothing but beef and peanut butter. Make a sandwich with chicken, a slice of Swiss cheese, sprouts and fresh parsley and plenty of mayo and you have yourself a healthy, high protein snack. Remember, you need a well balanced selection of vitamins and minerals from fresh foods, too. No multi-vitamin can give you the same quality of nutrients you can get from fresh foods. Balance and variety are key.

Know of any other good high-protein foods? Leave a comment below and help out your fellow hard gainers.