12 Tips for Healthy Weight Gain

Whether your goal is to gain weight, build muscle, or improve your body mass index, here are some simple yet effective tips to help with healthy weight gain.

What is healthy weight gain?

Healthy weight gain involves gaining weight at a slow rate by prioritizing nutrient-dense foods to gain weight from muscle growth and subcutaneous fat, rather than visceral fat, to maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI).

Unlike weight loss, where a calorie deficit is required, for weight gain a calorie surplus is required. A calorie surplus occurs when calorie intake from food and beverages (calories in) exceeds the calorie expended from metabolic rate and activity (calories out).

To ensure that weight gain occurs healthily, calories must be increased slowly over time. A calorie surplus of 10-20% is adequate for gaining healthy weight and will help to prioritize muscle growth and minimize visceral body fat gain (1). This equates to an increase of roughly 200-500 calories per day, which will support a healthy weight gain of 0.25–0.5% of body weight per week.

For example, if a 150-pound adult female’s maintenance daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories per day, creating a 10% calorie surplus of 200 calories will increase her calorie intake to 2,200 per day. These additional 200 calories per day will, theoretically, accumulate to 1,400 calories per week, which is roughly 0.4 pounds gained per week and a weight gain rate of 0.27% of her body weight.

How to Gain Healthy Weight

Here are 12 of the best tips to help you gain healthy weight.

1. Prioritize calorie-dense whole foods.

The most important thing for healthy weight gain is to prioritize nutritious foods. Although consuming high-calorie processed foods is a simple way to gain weight quickly, it is not a healthy way to gain weight. To gain healthy weight you must prioritize healthy foods, such as meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables, to ensure you are consuming adequate nutrients as well as extra calories.

To gain weight healthily, you must consume more calories than you are expending while consuming a balance of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals from whole foods.

2. Eat enough protein.

In addition to consuming more calories, eating more protein is important for healthy weight gain. Consuming adequate protein helps to increase muscle mass which increases overall body weight. Protein helps to increase the proportion of weight gained from lean mass during overfeeding, which helps to minimize fat gain and promote healthy weight gain. The recommended protein intake for maximizing muscle growth is 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg (0.7 to 1.0 g/lb) of body weight per day (2).

You can increase protein intake by consuming animal protein sources, such as meat, poultry, eggs, fish, and dairy products; plant protein sources, such as tofu, beans, and lentils; and include protein supplements, such as protein powder, as needed.

3. Increase your portion sizes.

Another simple yet effective way to eat more calories to support healthy weight gain is to increase the portion size of the foods you are already eating. By simply eating a slightly larger portion of protein, complex carbohydrates, and/or healthy fats at one or two meals during the day, you can easily increase your calorie intake by several hundred calories without much effort.

That said, it’s important that you only increase the portion sizes of the whole foods you are eating, not the hyper-processed foods, to ensure you are increasing calories from nutrient-dense foods to gain weight healthily.

4. Eat more often.

Eating smaller meals more often can help to increase calorie intake without getting too full or uncomfortable at meals. While eating larger portions at mealtime is one way to add more calories to your diet, if you find yourself bloated or lethargic after eating a large meal, consuming smaller meals more frequently throughout the day can help you gain weight without feeling uncomfortable.

5. Eat high-fat snacks.

Eating snacks in general is a good way to eat more calories, but eating high-fat snacks specifically can increase calorie intake in small portions. Fat is the most calorie-dense macronutrient, as it contains 9 calories per gram while protein and carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram, therefore, foods high in fat are some of the most calorie-dense foods. Eating snacks high in fat, such as cheese, cream cheese, avocado, or nut butter, is an easy way to eat more calories without eating large portions of food.

6. Opt for fattier cuts of meat.

Opting for protein sources that are high in fat is a good way to eat more protein while eating calories at the same time. While lean meats, such as chicken breasts, white fish, and ground turkey are wonderful sources of protein, they contain little to no fat. Instead, opting for fattier cuts of meat, such as ribs, ribeye steak, chicken legs, chicken wings, and oily fish, can help to increase calorie intake while increasing protein intake and micronutrient intake at the same time. In fact, fatty bone-in cuts of meat are some of the most nutrient-dense cuts of meat and are wonderful food sources of collagen too.

7. Use full-fat dairy products.

Dairy products are very nutrient-dense foods, containing 13 essential vitamins and minerals, protein, and healthy fats, and whole milk dairy products are the most calorie-dense options (3). Whole milk products are made from whole milk, which is 3.25% milk, and opting for whole milk, whole milk yogurt, and full-fat cheese instead of low-fat or 0% dairy products is a simple way to add a few more calories to your daily intake. You can also use full-fat dairy products to make dishes like oatmeal, mashed potatoes, or creamy pasta sauces extra rich.

8. Garnish meals with nuts and seeds.

While nuts and seeds do contain protein and fiber, they are primarily sources of fat and concentrated calories. A small 1-ounce serving of nuts or seeds, such as pecans, almonds, or sunflower seeds, can provide as much as 200 calories, making them a great way to add calories to a meal or snack. A sprinkle of pumpkin seeds on a salad, a drizzle of almond butter on overnight oats, or a handful of peanuts as a snack can help you gain weight while prioritizing nutritious foods.

9. Use sauces and condiments.

Condiments are an often-overlooked source of calories and can easily contribute to healthy weight gain if opting for nutritious choices. While sugary sauces and seed oil dressings are less than ideal choices, condiments made from whole foods, such as hummus, pesto, tahini, sauerkraut, kimchi, homemade mayonnaise, and healthy oils such as olive oil and avocado oil, are a simple way to add more calories to your diet. However, be mindful of the serving size you choose to consume as many condiments are very rich in fat, which can increase the calorie content of your meal much faster than you’d expect.

10. Add liquid calories.

Liquids are a quick way to add more calories to your diet and adding healthy liquid calories can help to promote healthy weight gain. Instead of reaching for empty-calorie beverages such as soda, sugary drinks, and alcohol, opt for beverages such as milk, fresh juices, and smoothies. Cow’s milk is a great source of protein that be consumed on its own or added to oatmeal, chia pudding, and smoothies. Protein shakes made with a source of complex carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats, such as berries, Greek yogurt, protein powder, and peanut butter, are not only a great post-workout snack but a simple way to add more calories and extra protein to a meal.

11. Enjoy a bedtime snack.

A high-protein snack before bed can help you increase your calorie intake, meet your daily protein target, and support muscle recovery while you sleep. Although many people believe it’s best to limit food before you go to sleep, studies show that protein consumed before sleep is effectively digested and absorbed, which helps to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. A high-protein bedtime snack such as Greek yogurt with granola, cottage cheese with fruit, or edamame contains the beneficial nutrients to help you gain weight with a healthy diet.

12. Incorporate resistance training.

In addition to a healthy diet and calorie surplus, resistance training is particularly important to ensure healthy weight gain, especially if your goal is to build muscle. Resistance training, also called strength training and weight training, is a form of exercise that increases muscular strength and endurance by exercising a muscle or muscle group against external resistance (4). Resistance training can be performed through bodyweight exercises, such as pull-ups and push-ups, or with exercises using dumbbells, barbells, or kettlebells.

Resistance training performed with progressive overload is the most effective way to build muscle, which can help you gain weight or lose weight, depending on your goal. When performed in a calorie deficit, resistance training can help to maintain lean muscle mass while losing weight, and when performed in a calorie surplus, resistance training can help to build muscle while gaining weight.

If you are a beginner to resistance training or have stopped for a long period, you may be able to gain muscle with minimal fat gain or even some fat loss, as body fat stores can be used as energy to stimulate muscle growth (5, 6). However, for individuals who have been resistance training for several years, adding pounds of muscle with zero body fat gain is highly unlikely.

It’s also important to note that resistance training has many health benefits beyond muscle building, weight gain, and weight loss. Resistance training has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, hormone health, metabolism, bone density, tendon and ligament strength, coordination, cognitive abilities, and self-esteem in healthy adults (4, 7).