Foods for Weight Gainers

To lose weight you have to burn calories, so to gain weight you have to eat more calories than you burn. According to the Student Nutrition Action Committee (SNAC), developed by UCLA professors, one pound of body fat contains 3,500 calories. So to gain a pound a week, you'll need to eat at least 500 extra calories a day. Proteins and carbohydrates have four calories per gram; fats nine per gram. Eating more fats will boost your weight the most, but you want to keep a balanced diet. Changing how often you eat and how much you eat will help you, but so will changing what you eat. Whenever you consider gaining weight, do so in the healthiest manner possible.

Eat More Healthy, Unsaturated Fats

• To gain weight healthfully, eat more foods that have unsaturated fats. Fats are essentially long chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms; unsaturated fats have some extra bonds between the carbon and hydrogen links. Unsaturated fats don't break down as easily as saturated fats, which tend to make cells rigid. Thus, unsaturated fats contribute to cell fluidity, a quality essential to healthy circulation of nutrients and liquids in the body. All foods have both types of fats, but manufacturers are only required to list the one that predominates in the food. Foods high in healthy unsaturated foods include nuts, seeds, avocados, olive and canola oil, and peanut butter.

Eat More Healthy Carbs and Protein

• Carbohydrates are large chains of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms that the body stores or breaks down when it needs energy. The carbohydrates you eat are already broken down to different levels of simplicity, meaning that the more broken down they are when you eat them, the quicker they will be turned into energy and leave the body. Since you want to gain weight, you'll need to eat many more complex carbohydrates than simple ones. The simple ones make up the trove of junk foods: candy, cakes and cookies. Avoid these foods. Instead, eat carbohydrates and protein that your body digests over a long period of time: wheat germ, dried fruit, protein powders, honey, whole grains and beans.

Meal Ideas to Gain Weight

• For breakfast, try slathering a thick slice of wheat toast with peanut butter and jam, and maybe a sunny-side egg on top. Another healthy, filling and energy-rich breakfast is a thick smoothie with yogurt, wheat germ, whole milk and fruit juices. Or have cereal with raisins, which are high in calories, and wheat germ.

  For lunch and snack times, try thick bean soups, which have more calories than a vegetable or chicken broth soup. Dunk in a large slice of bread with margarine. Sandwiches loaded with meat and low-fat cheese and vegetables are another tasty option. For dinner, you can make whole-wheat pasta with thick root vegetables. Watery vegetables like lettuce should be avoided since they are very low in calories.