For many people, losing weight is a top fitness journey goal. However, there are also people on the opposite end of the spectrum who want to gain weight for one reason or another. For people who want to gain weight, this could mean gaining weight to increase muscle mass (‘bulking’), or just gaining more overall weight to be healthier. For people who mainly want to increase their weight by boosting their muscle mass, eating protein from quality sources as part of a balanced diet is paramount.
At the most basic level, in order to increase a person’s weight they need to operate on a calorie surplus, meaning, they need to bring in more calories on a daily basis than their body uses. What constitutes a calorie surplus is individual-specific and varies from person to person. The first step in calculating a calorie surplus diet is to calculate how many calories you would need to consume to maintain your current weight at your current age and daily activity level.
If you Google how to calculate the number you are looking for, there are many calculator tools out there. I have tried several of them and the results are not consistent. A calculator that is recommended by a peer-reviewed article on WebMD can be found at this link here. I assume it is more credible and accurate than random calculators found on Google search results. Be honest about the activity level when punching your answers into the calculator – you only cheat yourself by cheating on the calculator.🙂
Once you know your daily maintenance calorie level, you have a solid baseline to work with. However, you also need to consider your metabolism rate, which is not as easy to calculate. The best way to get an idea of your metabolism rate is to ask your doctor and they can help point you to resources to get the most accurate information. A less-exact way is to start out by eating at least 500 more calories than your daily maintenance calorie level for a time and see if you gain weight. If not, increase your daily calorie surplus.
A study conducted in 2024 by researchers affiliated with Virginia Tech and the University of Alabama looked at “outcomes of a 10-wk diet and exercise regimen designed to promote healthy weight gain with excess energy from peanut-containing or high-carbohydrate foods.” The study’s results “suggest that the addition of 500 kcal·d -1 from whole foods/snacks” increased weight gain of “~0.22 kg·wk.”
Your body type is going to largely determine how hard it is for you to gain weight. Chances are, if you are struggling to gain weight, it is because you are an ectomorph body type. Ectomorphs are naturally very lean and struggle to bulk up. I have several friends who are ectomorph body types, and no matter how much they eat they never seem to gain weight, which is great from a keeping-fat-off standpoint but is not good from a building muscle standpoint.
Many people will point to eating nuts as ‘the best way to gain weight.’ I have heard fitness influencers, including elite bodybuilders, claim that eating nuts and nut-based products like peanut butter slows down people’s metabolism. However, scientific research seems to indicate that it is not necessarily nuts that help with weight gain as much as nuts and things like peanut butter are high in calories, and the boost in caloric intake is ultimately what helps boost weight gain over time.
Make sure to stick to a balanced diet and avoid processed and fast foods – you don’t want to simply gain weight at all costs. You want to do it in a healthy manner. Aim for getting 40% of your diet from protein, 40% from complex carbohydrates, and 20% from fat while consistently boosting your daily calorie intake above your daily maintenance calorie level.
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Disclaimer: The contents of this article and this website are not meant to substitute for the professional advice of a doctor, nutritionist, and/or certified personal trainer. This content is provided as an educational tool to help people on their fitness journeys. While we strive to research topics as much as possible and provide useful and accurate information to the best of our abilities, we also strongly recommend talking to your doctor, nutritionist, and/or certified personal trainer before starting any workout, therapeutic, or nutritional regimen, as each individual’s needs and situations vary depending on the person.