Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Best Way to Gain Weight





Looking for the best way to gain weight? You are not alone. While millions of people are working hard to try and lose weight, it may come as a surprise to many that some people need to gain weight.  For underweight individuals, adding extra pounds can be a challenge but not a real problem unless you are grossly underweight.

There are different ways to bulk up your physique but the best way to gain weight is always the healthy and natural way.

Many people are skinny because of hereditary factors.  Others are underweight and need to add extra pounds due to lack of appetite, illness, or eating disorders.  The only way to gain weight is by consuming more calories than you burn every day.  You can increase caloric intake by eating larger quantities of food or choosing calorie-dense foods.  It’s always best, however, to eat nutrition-rich foods rather than junk foods.

Count Calories and Nutrients, Too

Best Way to Gain Weight

Best Way to Gain Weight

Healthy foods offer the best way to gain weight.  Choose foods not only for their caloric contribution but, more importantly, for the nutrients they provide.  Eat foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.  Each serving must be loaded with good nutrition as well as calories.  Foods that are high in calories and nutrients include nuts, avocados, dairy products, meats, eggs, and poultry.  Don’t forget to include healthy fats in your diet.

Eat a Balanced Diet to Gain Weight

Your body needs large quantities of carbohydrates, protein and fats, with carbohydrates being the primary energy source.  According to the Food and Nutrition Board, 45 to 65 percent of your total caloric intake should come from carbohydrates, 20 to 35 percent from fats, and 10 to 35 percent from proteins.  The best sources of carbohydrates are potatoes, corn, brown rice and pasta.  Good protein sources include meat, fish, beans, tofu, and poultry.  Healthy fats from olive oil, nuts and seeds provide the extra calories you need to gain weight.  Butter, whole milk and cheese also add more calories.  Don’t forget to include colorful fruits and vegetables and leafy greens in your daily diet.  They provide the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants you need for proper metabolism, higher energy levels, and a stronger immune system

Exercise to Gain Weight

You need to do strength-training exercises in order to convert protein and extra calories into muscle mass.  When trying to gain weight, the best way to do this is to eat protein-rich snacks after weight training.  Proteins provide the amino acids needed to repair and build body tissues and make the muscles grow.

Supplements to Gain Weight

People who are trying to gain weight can benefit from muscle-building supplements.  Creatine supplements contain a mixture of amino acids essential for muscle-building.  A number of studies, however, indicate that creatine may be linked with liver and kidney damage.  It may not be the best supplement for weight gain.  Whey protein, on the other hand, is loaded with amino acids that the body can easily absorb and utilize to build bigger and stronger muscles.  Whey protein is a safe and natural supplement that can be added into shakes and taken before or after your workout.

Rest and Recovery to Gain Weight

The best foods and exercise regimen will not do you any good if you do not give your body time to recover.  The body repairs itself and builds muscles while you are resting and sleeping.  Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night.  A combination of nutritious foods, exercise and rest is still the best way to gain weight and build muscle mass.

Related Blogs

  • Related Blogs on Balanced Diet
Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Extra Eating Tips anyone?




As part of my 30 day fitness challenge I am looking at every part of my exercise and diet. Of course there are tons of things to look at and so far I have been making sure I get lots of exercise (are you?).

Anyway the other half, or actually most people say the biggest influence to a huge transformation is how and when you were eating, what you are eating, and how much you are eating.

So today I want to just end you to a couple of articles that will hopefully help with portion control and eating control:

Portion Control Tips – Here are a list of portion control tips. I find that even if we eat good food the trouble can be that we are eating too much. Did you know that your body just can’t use all the protein in a 8 ounce steak? you really should just have 4 ounces of meat in a meal. But there are a lot of other great portion control tips in the article.

10 Appetite Control Tips – Here are more tips for eating but this time these tips are for all of your eating. Some great tips  and strategies that you can implement right away and will make a big difference for you.


Related Blogs

  • Related Blogs on Appetite Control
  • Related Blogs on control
Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

How hard to push when starting exercise



I always worry about how people get started or restarted doing exercise. The trouble is that we are all excited to get started and run or workout and feel tired but the next day for a week wake up in excrutiating pain and do not want to ever go through that again.

I know this because I have done that too.

I find that for the first week or two that you start or restart serious exercise it is best to ramp yourself up. We all want to be instantly fit but you have to  work up to it or you will never get there without giving up because of muscle soreness (Biggest Loser never shows this). I was thinking about this yesterday in the gym and how it is nice to push as hard as I can to make gains knowing that I will be in fantastic shape in a month but also knowing that day to day for the first week I will be making gains mostly in building mental toughness and improving my agility, balance, and joint strength.

Don’t get me wrong, I am working hard but my weight workouts are to failure with fewer sets so I am still a bit sore but not enough to slow me down at all. Excitement is great but overexertion will really hurt and if you pull something or get joint or back pain it can really set you back.

So if you are starting out, or are sore today remember that the pain goes away and you should not be sore day to day after the initial bit of pain. Get through it or just work your way up.

If you do get sore there are a few things you can do to get rid of that muscle soreness.

A warm bath is always nice. You can use a  heating pad alternating with ice on your muscles. Also I have taken aspirin in the past to just dull the pain, and finally stretching, stretch those muscles lots whether sore or not to get rid of the lactic acid buildup and to help your flexability.

Constistency is key. make sure you are getting some kind of exercise everyday even light walking or biking and if you are doing weight workouts make sure you are giving a day in between. I try to get at least two to three hard cardio workouts a week and two to four weight workouts a week as well.

Here is an article I wrote on starting Weightlifting http://www.fitnesstipsforlife.com/getting-started-weight-training.html

And here is another on starting exercise itself http://www.fitnesstipsforlife.com/building-up-in-cardio.html

I want to dive into more detail but sometimes that more you know the more confusing these things can be. Just get out and get some exercise, ok?

Related Blogs

  • Related Blogs on Agility