diet,exercise,healthy diet,gain weight,how to gain weight,nutritionWhen it seems most people are trying to lose weight there are actually a significant number of people who want to gain weight. Whether it’s to bulk up for sports or just to look better in your clothes, for some people it can be surprisingly difficult to put on extra pounds.

One reason given for difficulty gaining weight is an overactive thyroid. This condition is known as hyperthyroidism and can be a serious medical condition. Fortunately, it’s quite rare and is almost always accompanied by a variety of other tell-tale symptoms such as a rapid heart rate and feelings of nervousness or anxiety. Check with your doctor if you feel that you may have this because it’s easily detected with a blood test.

If you stayed in bed all day and didn’t do anything else you would still burn 85% of your normal intake of calories just through heart beat, respiration and all the other bodily functions. This is known as your metabolism, or your basal metabolic rate. Oftentimes, the metabolism gets the blame for the inability to lose or gain weight but in reality metabolism doesn’t differ very much from one person to the next. A metabolism that was different enough to cause difficulty with weight control would be quite unusual.

The two reliable ways to gain weight are to increase your fat cells and add to your muscle cells. Diet and activity are the two most reliable measures of who will gain or lose weight and working on both is the best way to make an impact. Weight training or resistance training three times a week can give you an increase of up to ten pounds of muscle in a year. Couple this with a boost in calories and you can pile on weight in a short time.

If you decide that you want to put on one pound every week you can do some simple math to figure out how to get there. To gain one pound you have to take in 3500 extra calories. Divide that by seven days in a week and that means 500 extra calories per day that you need to take in.

You can make a couple of painless changes to your daily routine to add 500 calories. If you add extra condiments like oil, butter or mayonnaise you can actually double the calories you take in in a meal. If you eat three meals a day, try making it four. And if you feel full, eat just a little bit more.

If you naturally prefer low calorie foods like salads you can add in high fat dressing and add calories quickly. Eating dried fruit is another great way to get calories fast because your getting the calories without the bulk. Toss in some bread and potatoes and you’re practically there.

Gaining weight has some surprising similarities to losing weight in that it takes some time and perseverance. Stay with it and don’t forget the weight training and you’ll gain the weight and stay healthy, too.

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