How to Gain Weight if I'm Too Thin

Although the media focus on obesity and its health effects, being underweight can also seriously affect your health. Gaining weight sometimes isn't as cut and dry as eating more, or eating larger amounts of junk foods, which can also cause health problems. Despite this, there are several ways you can increase your body weight while maintaining a healthy body.

Instructions

• 1

  Replace low-calorie foods with their higher, more fuller counterparts. For dairy products, use 2 percent milk instead of skim milk and whole-fat yogurt instead of low-fat. Instead of using nonstick spray on your pans for cooking, use olive oil instead.

• 2

  Add extras to your meals such as more cheese on a baked potato. Nuts and dried fruits can be added to salads or eaten as a snack to increase the fat and calories in your diet.

• 3

  Consume a small serving of alcohol, such as 4 ounces of wine with dinner, to help promote appetite. Drinking large amounts of water before a meal can promote a feeling of fullness and cause you to eat less. Always check with a doctor for drug interactions with medication or conditions that would prevent you from consuming alcohol.

• 4

  Introduce new eating habits. Snacking on nuts, dried fruits or high-fat foods between meals can keep caloric intake high without including high-sugar junk food. Eating before bed will prevent human growth hormone --- a fat-burning, muscle building hormone --- from being released, causing the body to store fat more readily.

• 5

  Take up endurance running or sports. Exercising for long periods of time can stimulate the body to become hungrier. Working out may help increase your appetite and craving for high carbohydrate and fat-filled foods.

• 6

  Avoid high caffeine in sources such as coffee and energy drinks. Stimulants can cause a decrease in appetite and offer little to no nutritional value, making weight gain trickier. Eliminating these from your diet or consuming them in small amounts after a meal can lessen their effects.

• 7

  Seek professional help from trained physicians or dietitians. Medical problems, both physical and mental, can impede healthy weight gain. Diagnostic tests such as blood tests may be able to identify medical conditions that affect maintaining a healthy weight.