Weight Gain Diet for Teen

While many adults seem to have little to no problem adding weight to the scale, teens' hormonal levels and rapid metabolism can make gaining even a handful of pounds quite a challenge. Although difficult, it is entirely possible for a teenager to gain plenty of healthy weight by making only a few simple changes to their existing dietary plans. The first step is to know exactly how much you are eating, and the second step is to increase that total by consuming more healthy, calorically dense foods.

Food Journal

• Keep a regular food journal to track your meal intake throughout your weight gain efforts. Although time-consuming, without an accurate assessment of how much you have eaten during the day, you will have no way of knowing how much food is enough to get the scale moving in the right directly. Simply keep a notebook (or word processor file) listing the foods that you consume throughout the day alongside the number of calories eaten. Once you have a baseline estimate for how much you eat in a typical week, begin to by attempting to eat the same amount next week, with the addition of an extra 200 to 300 calories per day.

Food Choices

• Consume mostly healthy foods to ensure that the weight you add is lean body mass instead of fat. Generally speaking, aim for a diet consisting of mainly lean protein sources (chicken, turkey, fish, and low-fat meat), whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and healthy oil like olive, fish, peanut, coconut, sesame, and macadamia nut. In fact, adding a few extra tbls. of oil to your daily diet can help you to hit your new caloric intake level with a minimum of fuss. One tbls. of most oils contains 120 calories, so add 1 tbls. of oil to vegetables or cook your meat in the aforementioned oils to add some fast calories without any real effort.

Meal Composition and Timing

• Remember the phrase--"if you aren't eating, you aren't growing." Aim to consume at least six or seven small meals throughout the course of each day. Do not let more than three or four hours lapse without a meal, even if that means you have to bring a couple extra sandwiches to school to eat between classes. Generally speaking, each meal you eat should contain a protein source, a fruit or vegetable, a whole grain and a source of healthy fat like those mentioned above.

Adjustments

• Adjust your daily caloric level upwards if more than two weeks goes by without any additional weight gained. Make small but steady incremental adjustments--only 200 to 300 extra calories per day. This will allow for the best chance of gaining muscle while minimizing fat gain. Remember that consistency in your eating patterns will determine whether you accomplish your goals, so treat eating like a part-time job to ensure success in adding weight.