How to Gain Weight for Females

Women who are underweight often want to gain weight as much as those who are overweight would like to lose it. It seems pretty simple and straightforward; all you have to do is eat more. The fact is that people who are underweight are that way either as a result of not being big eaters or they have inherited ectomorphic genetic traits that include a small, light bone structure, long stringy muscles, and a high metabolism. Because your body naturally tends to stay lean, it will take the same discipline to gain weight as it does for most women to lose it, and the changes you make must be ones that you can live with long term.

Things You'll Need

• Blender
• Weights

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Instructions

• 1

  Forget about the usual advice that you need to count calories and add 500 more per day to gain a pound a week. This puts the strain of having to meet a certain criteria on you and will only lead to frustration; you will feel like you have to eat in order to meet your daily goal.

• 2

  Blend your own shakes and drink them between regular meals. Liquid digests quickly and you won't be full for regular meals. Prepare shakes with healthy ingredients. Start with a scoop of whey protein powder, one banana, a tablespoon of peanut butter, and water. Increase the calories of your shakes when your weight gain stops by adding one or more of the following: milk, more peanut butter, or yogurt.

• 3

  Schedule a day off from your diet. This same sound advice that is often prescribed for weight loss is equally valuable to those trying to gain. This is your reward for sticking to your plan for the week.

• 4

  Add a strength-training workout so that you will gain lean muscle as opposed to fat. Limit your gym time to four days per week. Use heavy weights and low repetitions (six to eight) to gain the most muscle mass. If you feel like you are gaining too much muscle, reduce the amount of weight so that you can complete 12 to 15 reps.

• 5

  Eliminate or drastically reduce any type of aerobic exercise you do. Cardio eats up calories and you need calories to make gains.