How to gain weight in a week, 7 Little Tricks To Achieve The Best Results

Medically reviewed and approved by Nataniel Josue Alvarez M.D.

Do you want to gain weight in a week? You may think that losing weight is difficult, but you should know that gaining weight is just as tricky. Especially if you want you would like to gain weight healthily, so you don't get cellulite or love handles.

According to The New England Journal of Medicine, to gain weight in a week, the first thing to do is to enter a caloric surplus of about 500 calories a day with a healthy diet. That is the best way to ingest all the vitamins and minerals that the body needs to gain muscle mass.

Having a low weight also brings health and self-esteem problems. If you want to gain weight quickly, read the end of this article, and you will find a series of tips and foods that will allow you to achieve those pounds you need.

How do I know if I am at the right weight?

To know if you are underweight, you must first know your BMI. You will be underweight when your BMI is below 18.5; the average weight is between 18.6 and 24.9, and overweight starts from 24,9. The formula to calculate this figure is: BMI= Weight in kilograms/ height in centimeters squared.

You calculate the index with the percentage of body fat of the person and their muscle mass level to know if it is within the healthy parameters.

There are three levels of thinness:

• Mild thinness:17.00 -18.49.
• Moderate thinness:16,00-16,99.
• Finally, extreme thinness: less than 16.

To make it easier for you, here is a BMI calculator.

Why being underweight is bad?

We all think we should be thin but extreme thinness can also have negative consequences for our health.

Low defenses

Underweight people are more likely to have severe infections; the immune system is not in good condition.

Hair loss

When you are underweight, there could be a loss of vitamins and proteins needed for hair. Our body will divert the vitamins and proteins that we have in our body to other functions that are vital to the body. That leads to thinning and hair loss.

Osteoporosis

Underweight people have a lack of calcium; therefore, they do not keep their bones healthy and strong; they tend to suffer fractures.

Dementia

A person who has a body mass index below 20 has a 3% risk of developing dementia.

Anemia

Lack of food puts you at greater risk of anemia. You also have to be careful because a person's low weight may not only be due to poor nutrition or an eating disorder but may even start by illnesses such as:

• Diabetes.
• Hyperthyroidism.
• Infections.
• Cancer.
• Celiac disease.

How should the diet be to gain weight?

This diet must be through a hypocaloric diet or said, in other words, to have an intake of calories superior to the person's caloric expenditure.

People have a grave mistake when they want to gain weight on their own because they do it by eating incorrectly, where they choose very caloric foods, either fried or very sweetened. These may make you fat, but you will also be damaging your health.

It is about consuming foods that have a high caloric contribution but that is nutritionally favorable.

Depending on your basal metabolism, the level of physical activity, stress, and caloric expenditure may vary.

Sport and diet to gain weight.  

Sport is always essential for physical, psychological, and emotional health. Also, to strengthen the muscles, respiratory, and cardiovascular system. If you do aerobic physical work, you will be forcing your body to burn calories against what you want.

Then do sports that do not have a significant energy expenditure, such as moderate cardiovascular exercise and if you are going to do sports, make a diet rich in carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates allow you to produce glycemic index peaks, which activates the insulin hormone, preventing glycogen use in the blood during exercise. This glycogen is necessary to gain weight and will not allow you to burn fat. So try to regulate the amount and type of activity you do to increase your body weight.

Tips to gain weight quickly and healthily.

• Before you eat, don't drink water, because it will make you feel fuller and eat less.
• Increase your consumption of fruits, cereals, meats, dairy products, and healthy oils.
• Reduce the consumption of vegetables because they are low in calories and are satiating for the stomach.
• To gain weight healthily, consume 300 to 500 more of the calories you need daily to maintain your weight.
• Proteins help increase muscle mass and put on more weight, therefore increasing the consumption of these.
• According to studies, serving food on small plates will allow you to eat less, so use larger dishes.
• Sleeping long enough helps you gain weight.

Healthy foods to eat to gain weight fast?

Foods that will help you gain weight in a week.

Milk

By consuming milk, you provide the body with fat, protein, and carbohydrates and be a source of vitamins, minerals, and calcium. After a day of resistance training, drinking skimmed milk helps build muscle. To gain weight, add milk to your diet throughout the day.

Rice

A good source of protein to increase your weight is rice. One cup of rice contains approximately 200 calories. This food is easy to incorporate into meals that contain protein and vegetables.

Protein shakes

These protein shakes help people to gain weight quickly and effectively; to make the benefits of this shake more effective, do it a little after exercising with these muscle-building aids. It is essential to know that these shakes almost always contain added sugar and additives that we should avoid.

Red meat

Red meat is a food that provides you with muscle development and weight gain. It contains leucine and creatine, which are essential nutrients for increasing muscle mass. These include protein as well as fat that promotes weight gain. The recommended cuts are the lean ones.

Whole wheat bread

These bread promote weight gain due to their complex carbohydrate content. Some of these contain seeds, which are benefits added to whole grain bread.

Starches

It helps foods improve muscle growth and weight gain, as well as adding mass to meals. That achieves an increase in the number of calories that you consume.

Some starchy foods are:

• Potatoes.
• Buckwheat.
• Corn.
• Quinoa.
• Flour.
• Beans.
• Pumpkin.
• Sweet potato.
• Winter tubers.
• Pasta.
• Wholemeal bread.
• Whole grain cereals.
• Cereal bars.
• Nuts and nut butter

When you eat these foods regularly, they help you gain weight safely. If the nuts are raw or roasted, they provide more health benefits. If you eat the nuts in butter, it should only contain the nuts themselves; it should not contain sugar.

Protein Supplements

These supplements are used by athletes to gain weight with increased muscle mass, combined with resistance training. They can help you build fat-free lean meat.

Avocado

It is rich in fats and proteins and vitamins and minerals, essential nutrients for rapid weight gain.

You may be interested in the "Benefits and properties of avocado."

The salmon

It contains healthy fats. Six ounces of salmon consumed provide approximately 240 calories, which will help you gain weight. It is also rich in protein and Omega 3.

Dark chocolate

This food is high in fat and calories and rich in antioxidants. If your goal is to gain weight healthily with dark chocolate, choose one that contains at least 70% cocoa.

Dehydrated fruits

Containing high levels of calories and nutrients, a quarter cup of dried cranberries contains approximately 130 calories. The dried fruits preferred by many people are pineapple, cherry, or apple.

Egg

It is an excellent source of protein and healthy fats; most of them are in the yolk.

Whole grain cereals

Most of them have minerals and vitamins. However, some of them have a lot of sugar and a few complex carbohydrates, which you should avoid. Instead, choose cereals that have whole grains and nuts, which are the ones that contain high levels of carbohydrates and healthy calories.

Cheese

Cheese contains fat, protein, minerals. To gain weight, choose whole cheeses.

Fats and oils

The oils that come from avocado and olives provide you with calories and unsaturated fats that are healthy for the heart. One spoonful of olive oil has approximately 120 calories.

Pasta

To gain weight healthily, consume pasta. Pasta contains healthy calories and carbohydrates, which are remarkable for your weight gain purposes. But you must keep in mind, avoid refined pasta, and eat better the whole grain.

Banana

The banana contains many calories and carbohydrates, vital to provide you with energy quickly and gain weight. Consume a banana daily in the morning, along with a glass of milk at room temperature, to which you should add a teaspoon of sugar.

Peanut butter

It is a nutrient-rich food, containing many calories, ideal for spreading whole wheat toast at breakfast.

Dry fruits

To gain the pounds you need, eat pears, nuts, peanuts, raisins, and figs, as these are appetizers rich in fat, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. These will allow you to gain the kilos you require.

To gain weight, take one glass of milk with one dried fig and three almonds. If you want, you can also consume 30 grams of raisins in water and six dried figs at night.

The potatoes

They are full of healthy carbohydrates. There are many ways to prepare the potatoes, such as passing them through butter and frying them with extra virgin olive oil. This way, you gain weight faster, but we always recommend taking them boiled or roasted. Another delicious way to eat them is to prepare them for a salad.

Vegetables 

There are several types of beans, such as white beans, chickpeas, soybeans, black beans, red beans, black beans, white beans, red beans, lentils.

You can prepare legume salads or soups with any of them to obtain good results and consume them every day.

Beans are a source of fiber, carbohydrates, and proteins; it is the most complete in calories. You can include them in breakfast, lunch, or dinner; you can also eat them as appetizers.

Mango

Mangoes are full of vitamins and minerals, so take them in smoothies by mixing them with milk twice a day.

Supplements and vitamins that will help you gain weight in a week.

There are two types of vitamins: water-soluble and fat-soluble:

• The hydrosoluble vitamins are the ones that dissolve in water. We must consume them daily since the body needs more quantity. We can lose these when we wash and cook the food.
• The liposoluble vitamins are subdivided into fats and oil. When they enter the body, it store them in the fatty tissues; we have to take care of our intake consumption since the liver's excesses are accumulated.

Insulin

We must promote in our body to generate insulin because it helps you gain weight. It is anabolic; it helps increase both fat tissues and muscle mass. To increase insulin, you need to consume more complex carbohydrates and avoid simple carbohydrates.

Creatinine

If you want to gain weight, creatinine and insulin are complementary. Creatinine is useful for optimal physical performance because it gives you energy, increases muscle mass, and allows you to recover physically.

It also helps you grow your muscles effectively. We can get creatinine in red meat and fish. It is also possible to find it in powder supplements.

Thiamine 

Its function is to whet the appetite, and it is beneficial for physical recovery. Some sources of thiamine are meats, whole grains, and brown rice. Be careful with the rate of daily consumption. The ideal is to consume 1.2 mg per day if you are a woman and if you are a man, 1.1 milligrams.

Zinc

Zinc is a mineral that helps us open our appetite. We must also be careful with the daily rate we consume. Women can consume up to 8 milligrams and men up to 11 milligrams.

We can find this vitamin in meats, dairy products, nuts, and seafood.

Vitamin E

Besides being a powerful antioxidant to rejuvenate you, Vitamin E also helps gain weight, recover muscle fibers, and keep tissues in order. Be careful with the doses you take, as excess can raise blood pressure levels if you are hypertensive. Some sources of vitamin E are nuts, almonds, olive oil, broccoli, and wheat germ.

Vitamin B complex

Vitamin B complexes contain riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, and folic acid, increasing muscle mass, and rebuild tissue. The B complex stimulates the appetite, and with this, you will gain weight quickly.

Multivitamin

Multivitamins are an aid to gaining weight and regaining your healthy appearance. The multivitamin you choose should contain vitamins folic acid, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin B6.

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Conclusion

When a person has a body mass index below 18.5, they are underweight and should increase their weight by following their advice. However, she has to consume foods and vitamins that help her promote weight gain—avoiding exercises that waste many calories.

To gain weight in a week, you must eat healthily since it is the best way to take all the vitamins and minerals that the body needs to gain muscle mass. You should also eat foods that offer more calories than your body spends.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']https://buildyourbody.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Nataniel-Josue-Alvarez.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]The article was reviewed and approved by Nataniel Josué Alvarez. Medical Doctor graduated from Medical School Universidad Nacional Experimental Francisco de Miranda. Área Ciencias de la Salud. •Awarded winner IV Science Fair of Research Methodology - April 2012 •Recipient of Asesor Estudiantil Institucional Scholarship •Thesis: Relationship Between Parasitosis, Anemia and Hygiene Habits in patients aged 20 yo 70 years old in Amuay, municipality of Los Taques, Falcón State, Venezuela •Thesis: Intervention Plan in Rural Healthcare in Monte Verde and La Puntica sectors, of the Amuay Community, Los Taques parish, Los Taques municipality, of the Falcón State, Venezuela. During the period March 2018 - July 2018[/author_info] [/author]