How to increase your weight?

Read on to find out how you can manage your weight successfully

Maintaining a healthy weight and BMI is the first parameter by which you are judged. Even when you go for certain examinations your BMI is one parameter they assess you on.

Have you been working yourself up for being called skinny all the time? Get to know what people facing the same issue go through.

Myths and common things we hear almost daily around this topic

• Eating a lot is the only way you will gain any weight.
• Why are you starving yourself, being skinny doesn’t make you look good. (Author: As if it were a choice, and you chose to be skinny)
• You do not need to diet, you are already so thin.
• Why are you fixated on maintaining a size zero?
• You should get yourself checked by a doctor.
• Try doing “1000 different advices” for a month, you will surely put on some weight.

Factors that affect your weight

How much you weigh depends on several factors. Such as;

• Genetic makeup; chances are if both or even one of your parents are skinny, you are likely to be skinny too.
• Diet; what you eat is also so much more important not only when it comes to your weight but also to your overall health and that should be your focus.
• Lifestyle; smoking increases the metabolism and can result in weight loss.
• Physical activity; read this to know more.
• Your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate; research to give better content. Your age directly impacts your BMR and hence your weight.

There are things you can control and things you can’t, research for quotes. Worrying about things that are out of your control will not do you any good. It is difficult but you should try and focus on the things you can do something about.

What can you do?

• Take a balanced diet; it all starts with what you eat. That is the most important component in regulating your weight. I am afraid the annoying ones who always keep commenting on what and how you should eat are somewhat right. Don’t get me wrong here, but the food you is one of the things that are there in your control. Consult a dietician to make a diet chart for yourself.
• Consider lifestyle changes, smoking and drinking can lead to a decline in your overall health.
• Increase your physical activity; this is again for your overall health along with your weight.
• While you are at it, I guess there is no harm in trying some home remedies as well. They may work for some you never know. Try home remedies ayurvedic recipes for weight gain link some recipes

What does a GYMBOI eat?

You may have heard many people who go to the gym talking about them being on a “gaining” period.

“Those trying to gain weight should have 150 gms brown rice, 1 banana/apple/ pineapple (good for digestion as they have digestive enzymes, especially pineapple) with 200 gms of chicken or fish.”  An article from the Times of India read.

Here’s a link for you to know what all foods are there which a person is supposed to eat when they want to gain weight.

Listen to me

The best thing you can do to increase your weight is to eat good food and work out. Consult dieticians/professionals at the gym. For those of you who don’t have enough resources to invest in a diet chart, go to Google/YouTube and search for advice. Try and see if you can find something that works for you, this may take up more time but it may save you some money. But as soon as you feel it working against you, go see a doctor.

Focus on being healthy and consider different measures of health than just measuring your weight and BMI. Also, muscle weight is more than the weight of fat when you compare them in equal volumes. Follow this link to know more.

And you have more to offer to this world than just your physical appearance. And if your being skinny is something that bothers other people it is their problem and not yours.

Dealing with Society

People on average judge a person by the crazy beauty standards that we have set. It gets difficult when people around you are discouraging you based on something that is out of your control.

Sooner or later you will realize that people are not going to stop with their bickering and by paying attention to their comments you are limiting yourself from living up to your full potential.

Eating disorders

They are real and one cannot be sure if they have them until they consult a doctor. It is better to rule out the possibility of you having an eating disorder.

Visit your doctor for the best advice follow this link to get a basic idea.

Watch this Ted talk by Alexa Kalach|TEDxYouth@ASF

What if you have an eating disorder?

 Here is something for you to relate

These are the answers I got from interviewing some of my friends. I have compiled them for your convenience. Do mention in the comment what would your answer be to these and also if I missed anything.

Question: What is the most bizarre thing you got to hear from people?

Answer: 

• Hold onto something you may fly away with strong winds.
• Don’t you get enough food? Didn’t your parents feed you enough? You can come to our place we will feed you.
• Why are you dieting, why won’t you eat?
• Eat as much as you can, you have to gain weight anyhow. (They weren’t concerned much about my health they gave me the advice to eat junk food even)
• You should take “this supplement” only then your weight will increase.

Question: What problems do/did you face on a day-to-day basis?

Answer:

• I just cannot carry heavy stuff, just can’t.
• The clothes don’t fit well; I have to get all of them altered and it’s very annoying. That was one big problem growing up and on top of it, my parents would get me baggy/bigger sized clothes to “cover up” the fact that I am skinny.
• I get headaches if I don’t eat on time or stay hungry for a long period.
• Nothing would fit, even after altering it. The tailor also shows his concern every time I go there he will be like, “Why won’t your size increase, I have only seen it decreasing.”
• There are not enough options to choose from, I have to go to the kids' section as well.
• Whenever I go to buy jewelry I have to get it custom made mostly, they don’t make it in my size. Can’t find rings/bangles etc that won’t drop off my hand right away.
• Never faced a problem although people have been warning me about potential problems I may face during pregnancy, my doctor said that I didn’t need to worry about anything as my immunity is sound.

Question: How does it affect your social life?

Answer: 

• I would hear people commenting that I am not attractive due to my weight and that took a toll on my confidence for a while.
• On several occasions, people have avoided clicking pictures with me because I may not look good in the picture.
• Honestly, didn’t care as much up until the point of my marriage. My in-laws would come up to me and say didn’t your mother feed you enough, why are you so skinny.
• It didn’t affect my social life as such; the only thing bothering me was the fact that almost no clothes would fit me well.
• Initially, it bothered me. I even stopped wearing any clothes without sleeves because I was told my arms look too skinny in them. Thankfully I realized soon enough that people are going to say whatever anyway, why to waste my energy on them.

Question: What did you do to increase your weight?

Answer:

• On recommendation I started drinking banana shake; didn’t help really
• I also tried those weight-gaining powders/supplements. Obviously didn’t work. I didn’t put in much effort, accepted it the way it is.
• Once I went to a doctor as well, ate according to the diet chart and advice he gave me. There was not much difference, to be honest, and the diet was so difficult for me to manage at the time, soon enough I had to give up.
• I tried to increase my calorie intake. It is very difficult to put on weight; I have to eat a lot to gain even some weight.
• I couldn’t digest milk properly, hence banana shake didn’t help.
• I feel for me to gain weight, I need a proper routine including a healthy diet and appropriate exercise.
• I tried to put on weight regardless of how it would affect my health; I started eating a lot of junk around a point in time. Thankfully I got knocked into my senses back again and stopped.
• I went on to consult a doctor; he told me I was a healthy person with just a different body type as I didn’t have any issues as such. I started going to a gym, and I saw results when I did it regularly.

Hope this helped.

Courtesy of Anjali, Ankita, and Harshit;

Anjali is in her 40s and weighs about 40 Kg.

Ankita is a 25-year-old female, who weighs about 39 Kg.

Harshit is a 23-year-old male, who weighs about 50 Kg.

They need to gain more weight to have a healthy BMI as per the standards set by NIH (National Institutes of Health) but that doesn’t mean they are not healthy, in fact, they have got great immunity and I see them fall sick rarely.

Conclusion

You need to understand how your body works. Learn to distinguish between what is suitable for you and what isn’t. And no matter what do not go on to eating less healthier food like junk food and processed food when you have more healthy options available.

Remember it’s important to be healthy and then to be fat. Just putting on weight mindlessly may end up attracting health problems for you and surely you don’t want that.

Here are some links for you to explore more on this topic.

How to Gain Weight Fast and Safely – Healthline

19 foods to gain weight quickly and safely - Medical News Today

Weight and muscle gain - Better Health Channel

20 Safe Ways to Gain Weight Quickly In a Week – Decathlon Blog

Muscle density vs Fat: how it affects your weight - Tanita

India's Top Nutritionists - Free Meal Plans & Diet Charts

BODY TYPES: HOW TO TRAIN & DIET FOR YOUR BODY TYPE