BMI represents Body Mass Index, it is an index for weight in relationship to body height. You can get to know if you weigh too much, weigh enough or weigh too little. With the BMI you get an approximation of the health risks associated with your body weight.
Many people are suffering from overweight, but it can also be the case that you weigh too little. Then we are talking about underweight. It can be quite difficult to gain weight in a healthy way. Losing weight is difficult, but gaining weight can be quite a challenge too. With gaining weight it is not only about eating foods with a lot of calories, it is about eating the correct and healthy foods.
To gain weight in a healthy way, you need to find out where the underweight is coming from. To start, you can best determine your BMI. You can say you are underweight when your BMI is lower than 18.5. There are a few causes why someone can be too thin or be struggling with underweight. It could be in your genes. It could be that it is in your family and that you for instance have a very thin father and/or mother. Now this doesn't have to mean that you for sure are underweight when your parents are. It can also come from a certain condition, if you are recovering from a disease or struggling with emotional problems. These are all factors that can have influence on your weight. A depression can also have an influence. The one starts to eat a lot, whilst others can not eat because of it and will lose a lot of weight.
Anorexia, boulimia or other eating disorders can be the cause of underweight. Besides you can also have an overactive thyroid gland. But there could also be a certain intolerance against certain types of foods. If you know what the causes is, you can tackle it in a more direct way.
If you want to gain weight in a healthy manner it is important to start eating foods which contain a lot of calories. Your body needs calories for its basic functions and will burn these as well. If you move a lot or play sports, then your body needs extra calories. How many calories are you taking in daily? You can find out by making a list with all the products that you eat in a day and calculate the amount of calories you are taking in. When you know this you can gradually start to increase the number of calories that you take in. A few calorie rich products are: spelt products, unsalted nuts, bananas, vegetables, quinoa, oats and organic peanut butter. But you can also think of legumes, brown rice, (sweet) potato's, dairy products, eggs, fish and olive oil.
Do you have a fast metabolism or is gaining weight simply not easy for you? Then you can eat snacks regularly. But pay attention that you keep snacking healthily. In any case do not eat junk food! Make sure that you have enough variation of foods at home, so that you can vary your food intake. If you have enough in the household then you can also create varied meals. Make sure that you create time to prepare food, so that you can gain weight in a healthy way and that you know what you are consuming. It is good to really taste your food and take time to eat, chew a little extra and stay seated at the table a bit longer, so that you can really enjoy your meal! In this way your food comes down into your stomach better prepared for digestion, it's chewed up a bit more into smaller pieces and contains more of the digestives enzymes found in your saliva.
If you want to gain weight it is important to eat a varied diet. Do not eat the same every time, but during the afternoon you can for instance eat a salad, because it is something different it creates more of an appetite. It is important to have an appetite when you want to gain weight. You can improve your own appetite, so that you can also eat more. Make sure that you do not start to eat too much fat, if you eat too much fat then that will reduce your appetite. If you want to gain weight healthily, then you are better off eating a lot of times instead of stuffing yourself at one meal.
Moving is healthy for everybody. But it is important that you know that you need to eat enough if you want to move a lot. It should not be the case that you start to exhaust yourself everyday and then cannot eat anything, because you are too tired. Sports and healthy eating belong together and it can only go right if you balance everything. Try to find out why till now you could not gain any weight. Maybe you can find out what went wrong in the past and make the changes for the future.
If you want to gain weight you need to increase your muscle mass. This is a good tip for men and women alike. You can choose to go to the gym a couple of times a week and work on your strength. You can do this at home or in the gym. You can slowly build up the intensity.
It is important that you have a routine if you want to gain weight healthily. Not eat a lot the one time, and then skip a meal. Routine, eating regularly at the same time of day is important and it could be that you sometimes skip a meal, but don't make it into a habit. It can be very difficult, especially in the beginning, but try to keep going and look at the results after two weeks.
