How to Gain Belly Fat

The film "Raging Bull" halted production once its fight scenes had been filmed so that Robert De Niro could take a vacation and consume large quantities of pasta with rich sauces. Although few people seek to learn how to gain weight, De Niro's strategy of high caloric intake coupled with lack of exercise may be worth following if you need to gain weight.

Things You'll Need

• Calorie-dense foods

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Instructions

• 1

  Eat a fatty diet, avoiding healthy fats that are unsaturated. The most direct way to gain belly fat is to consume foods high in saturated and trans fat. Saturated fats are found in abundance in red meats, bacon, butter, cheeses and whole milk. Trans fats are manufactured fats found primarily in processed foods and processed fats. Although factors such as gender, age and genetics influence fat distribution within a person's body, high intake of fat tends to spur development of visceral fat, located in the body's abdominal region.

• 2

  Consume an unbalanced diet. Although certain starchy foods, such as rice or potatoes, can be part of a healthy diet, they have the power to trigger abdominal obesity if they are consumed in excess. Diets that are high in calories, with minimal vegetable content, are highly likely to cause belly fat, according to Philip A. Wood, author of "How Fat Works".

• 3

  Be physically inactive. Any exercise requires calories, offsetting weight gain efforts. Further, exercise builds a body's muscles, which allows a person to use more calories even at rest.

• 4

  Practice erratic eating habits. Frequent alterations of your eating habits prompt your body to take corrective action, using fats sparingly in case you may need them later.

• 5

  Give in to your emotions. A person whose emotions fluctuate daily responds poorly to stress. "Studies in mice have shown that excess glucocorticoids---stress-related hormones---can produce visceral obesity and diabetes", according to Mariana Gosnell, in her article "Killer Fat: Not all fats are equal", in Discover Magazine, February 2007. Similarly, stress in humans produces visceral fats that result in abdominal obesity.