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Weight Loss Exercise

How to Gain Weight


People who are underweight know that it is as much of a challenge for them to gain weight as it is for obese and overweight individuals to lose weight. Although this may come as a surprise to some, there are people who are hard gainers, or individuals who are naturally thin.

It’s not impossible to add bulk and muscle to your body as long as you follow these ideas of how to gain weight. Just keep in mind that your overall intake of calories should exceed the number of calories that you burn.

How to Gain Weight

Consume more calories – The average daily calorie requirement for a male who performs light activity is 2,200 calories; a female needs about 1,900 calories per day. Actual caloric requirement differs depending on age, activity level, and other factors. If your goal is to gain one pound per week, you need to consume about 500 calories more per day than your actual requirement.

Eat larger portions, but be sure to choose healthy foods.

How to Gain Weight

How to Gain Weight

Choose high-calorie foods – This tip can help you gain weight more quickly. With high-calorie foods, a little goes a long way. Healthy fats and oils are good for the body and provide plenty of calories. Dairy products, eggs, meat, potatoes, whole grain pasta and beans are packed with nutrients and calories.

Include high quality proteins in your diet – Your body needs proteins to build muscles and body tissue. Be sure to include rich sources of quality protein in your diet, such as meat, chicken, fish, eggs, milk and beans. Don’t forget that you also need carbohydrates and fats for energy. The ideal ratios for weight gain are 55% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 15% fat.

Snack frequently – Consuming a lot of calorie-dense, nutrition-packed snacks is a great way to take in more calories. If you follow this tip to gain weight, you’ll start building muscles and developing a bigger physique more quickly. Avoid snacking on junk food. Instead, consume nuts, bananas, dried fruits, milk shakes and smoothies for a healthy, high-calorie snack.

Drink plenty of liquids, including water – Just because it’s calorie-free does not mean you should stop drinking water while trying to gain weight. Keep in mind that the body needs water to function properly, so be sure to drink 8 to 12 glasses of water every day.

In addition to water, you should also drink beverages that supply nutrients and calories. Fruit juices and milk can help you gain weight.

Lift weights – There’s only one way to develop bigger muscles, and that’s by lifting weights. Dumbbell and free weight exercises that target large muscle groups allow you to build muscle mass more quickly. Proper eating is important for weight gain, but without strength training the weight you gain will turn to fat, not muscle.

Gradually increase the amount of weights you lift each time you workout. Your muscles will grow stronger and get bigger.

Get enough rest – Your body needs rest in order to function properly. It is also while you sleep and rest that the body repairs and builds muscles, allowing you to gain muscle mass.

Keep in mind that these tips of how to gain weight will work only if you are consistent and persevere to reach your goals. Although genetics determines your natural body type, an effective strength training program and proper diet can give you the physique you have always wanted.

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle
burn the fat feed the muscle is an exercise and diet program. My review of Burn the Fat shows that it is designed and written by an ex-pro natural bodybuilder but is a system that was written for regular guys and gals. Teaching you how to workout and eat to lose weight.

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General Weight Loss Tips

Hand Me a Tissue

I don’t want to start this blog out by saying “I’ve been sick”, because that’s just not fun. It’s April and like clockwork, I’ve got a stuffy nose, itchy ears, piles of tissues everywhere and a cough to come. I haven’t tasted or smelled food in days. Many, many days. It takes the fun out of eating. Lately I just eat because I’m hungry and I have to. That’s a concept!

Last week I started emailing my daily food and calories to my dear friend of a million years and it felt so refreshing to say to someone “guess what? I had two smoothies and a subway sandwich today” without a return comment about balance, or how I should be eating more of this or less of that. Sometimes that’s all I want, peace with imperfection and less justification.

I know that for me, as soon as I start creating rules and rituals about what I should and should not eat, I get into obsessive eating trouble. Not that I don’t aim to have better eating habits, it’s just that so often I find that I create them more out of the approval of other people rather than my own belief system which is balance and moderation.

And that’s that. Moving on.

Edit: And of course, after writing this I go and read this wonderful post by Andie from Can You Stay For Dinner? Her post is so good, and so well written that I want to go to Seattle and give her a parade. Read: The Weight Loss Dilemma. 

My favorite line:

“Please know that there is nothing wrong with eating as cleanly as one can. (If you do and if you strive to- I applaud you.) There is similarly nothing wrong with having Skinny Cow ice cream bars in your freezer beside organic frozen vegetables. (Tell me you have Cool Whip?) There’s nothing wrong with any of it and my bottom line remains: Judging others’ eating styles and deeming food choices as inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad’ only leaves us feeling and looking ignorant and unenlightened. 

The point of this post, as always, is to let you know that there’s middle ground. And also that I don’t want this blog to exclude anyone who’s hungry. My table serves Kit Kats and kale chips in varying amounts.”

Thank you Andie!

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Weight Loss Exercise

How To Find Raw Food Information

Getting some raw food information is almost a must if you want to follow a raw food diet. Most people start out with a lot of enthusiasm but the same old salads and smoothies grow boring pretty fast. When you lose interest in what you are eating, you can easily be tempted into unhealthy choices and even binges.

Raw food information can help you avoid these traps by giving you many more options for your meals and snacks. But where can you find the kind of information in raw food preparation that you need?

The answer is to look online. There are plenty of people providing workshops and courses in raw food preparation, so you just need to find one in a location that is convenient for you.

A raw food preparation workshop will usually show you how to prepare two or three dishes that you may not have thought of for yourself. That already can be interesting and motivating, but even more important is having the chance to ask questions. In a question and answer session you can find out how the presenter copes with cravings and temptations, for example. You can also learn a lot from the questions that other people ask.

Many of the ‘raw food gurus’ start out by offering raw food information. One way to track them down is to look for raw cookbooks on a site like Amazon and then search for the author’s website. In some cases you will find that they offer workshops. Other times, if they are not doing this themselves, they may recommend somebody who does.

Online raw food forums and message boards can be another good way to find raw food information in your area. If you can find a group or forum that is specific to your country or state, you will be chatting with people who probably know what is available for you. If not, start your own thread by heading it something like ‘Raw Food Training In Alabama?’ But always be sure to run a search on the forum before starting a new thread, because it is irritating for regular users if new people keep asking the same questions that have already been answered elsewhere on the forum.

You can also find information in books themselves. A raw cookbook will give you a lot of ideas. However, most people who are looking for raw food information want something more personal than this.

One of the best ways to get your raw food information in a fun way is to attend conferences and gatherings. These are held in many countries over a weekend, week or even longer. One example is the Raw Spirit Festival in the USA. Even if you live at a great distance, you could still attend by making this your annual vacation.

Festivals can be an amazing opportunity to network with other raw food enthusiasts. This can bring new energy to your raw food diet in ways that go far beyond other forms of raw food information.

How To Find Raw Food Information

This is my recommendation for a cheap and easy book to learn the essentials of the Raw Food Diet. Whether you want to start today doing Raw completely or if you just want to test out the Raw Food waters this book is a must. This specific easy to use Raw Food diet will help you lose weight, look younger, and have great energy. Learn more about Raw Food here now.

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