In
health, fitness, and nutrition world, achieving optimal or desired body weight is dominated by a single theme: losing weight. The vast majority of products and services available on market proclaim to achieve weight loss goals, and even (often discordant) medical community is in general harmony when it comes to promoting weight loss options, including drugs and some surgeries. Overall, this is not a negative thing; especially with Center for Disease Control predicting that obesity (which is already considered an epidemic among US youth) will soon become number one preventable killer in US, overtaking cigarette smoking. Yet lost within this maze, and haze, of weight-loss drive are naturally thin people who face a different challenge: they want to gain weight; not lose it.
The Problem of Gaining Weight
The saying “a little information is a dangerous thing” applies quite dramatically to problem of gaining weight. The information available – anecdotes on web, ignorant health care “experts” who have not actually researched problem of losing weight – is generally of poor quality. In fact, strategy “just eat more to gain weight” is far too often well-meaning -- but woefully incompetent -- advice prescribed to naturally thing people who want to gain weight.
The impact of this ignorance is a cycle that involves two concepts: misinformation and misunderstanding. At first glance, these two words may seem synonymous. Yet, as briefly described below, they both have their separate roles to play in problem of gaining weight.
* Misinformation stems from poor quality information, including anecdotal data that has no scientific basis, which leads people to attempt implausible and sometimes dangerous weight gain programs.
* Misunderstanding stems from lack of results due to misinformation phase noted above, and leads to erroneous conclusion that a naturally thin individual “cannot gain weight”.
Despite this dramatic problem, correcting this knowledge gap is possible, and involves three strategies:
1. Appropriate Nutrition
2. A Complete Training Program
3. Intrinsic Motivation and Keeping Up Progress
Each of these key aspects are discussed below, but it is essential to note that they are integrated; no element is more important than another, and they work in a holistic, reinforcing system.
Graining Weight via Appropriate Nutrition
In weight loss world, word “calorie” is one of more dreaded terms; and it’s not uncommon to find self-proclaimed diet foods that promise to help eaters burn more calories than they consume. For naturally thin people who wish to gain weight, however, challenge is reversed: you need to ingest more calories than you burn.
Unfortunately, that simple phrase – “you need to ingest more calories than you burn” – represents totality of most anecdotal (and inept) advice provided to naturally thin people. True, while end of gaining weight is to ingest more calories than one burns, there is so much more information that must be conveyed. You could just eat ice cream all day. That has plenty of calories, right? But you would simply get fat. Why? Because all calories are not created equal.
Yes you must eat more food, but not more junk. Otherwise, end result of ingesting “junk foods” (those that contain high amount of saturate fat, trans-fat, sugar and processed carbohydrates) is that an individual may “feel” physically bigger, but that increase will be simply an increase in unwanted fat. Even worse, is that desired weight gain will not be concurrent to this increase in body fat, since fat tissue weighs so much less than muscle tissue.
The most stunning visual pointer of this biological reality is looking at Sumo wrestlers. Indeed, while these powerful men possess a great deal of muscle, unlike bodybuilders or heavyweight boxers, they are often best characterized by their enormous stores of fat; and all of that fat tissue comes from a steady diet of calories from fat (many Sumo wrestlers ingest startlingly unhealthy amounts of junk food).
On other hand, calories derived from high quality sources of protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats are unarguably more beneficial for adding lean muscular weight.
Foods that are high in protein include: whey protein, lean beef, poultry, eggs, fish and dairy products.
Calories from protein are efficiently converted into muscle when supported by an exercise plan (which will be discussed below), and general rule of thumb while strength training is to ingest 1 gram of protein for every pound of body weight. This is typically more than USFDA Recommended Dietary Intake, which suggests about 50 grams of protein per day for adult males. However, this recommended amount is intended for moderately active adult males who do not need (or want) to gain weight.
Complex carbs are found in potatoes, rice, whole grain breads and beans. Healthy fats are found in olive oil, flaxseed oil, avocadoes and raw nuts.
Another general rule is that you should consume protein as a part of every meal, and meals should be eaten in small portions throughout day as opposed to large meals 1 or 2 times a day. Calories from protein can help ward off a dramatic insulin spike that would otherwise greet fat calories (such as after one eats a candy bar or piece of cake).
