Suppose you are trying to weight gain or struggling with any weight loss. No worries! This article is best for you. You will get to know all about weight gain recipes along with calorie intake per day.
Let us first discuss the physiology that what is weight and how we gain weight? Fat is stored within the human body in the form of subcutaneous fat or visceral fat around the organ. Fat is the kind of stored energy within the body. Body stores fat in adipose tissues. Adipocytes are connective tissue made up of 87 percent lipids, i-e triglycerides.
When the body needs energy, it breakdown lipids into free fatty acids and utilizes energy. The extra fat that is stored in adipocytes or muscles results in weight gain.
Basics of Healthy Weight
If you are lean or obese, your ultimate goal would be maintaining a healthy weight. The primary factors that contribute most to maintaining a healthy weight are calorie intake and workout.
Daily Calories intake
The food or drinks we consume daily contain a specific amount of energy. That energy is measured in the form of calories. There is recommended intake of calories for men and women. Women need 1500 to 2400 calories per day. In contrast, men need 2000 to 3000 calories per day.
This estimated calorie range is the amount of energy our body needs to perform daily activities. For the underweight, eating more calories than the body needs to lead to weight gain. If you are confused about calculating the required calorie intake, don’t worry. You can find calorie calculator on various websites.
It can help you determine your calorie need. A calorie calculator provides an estimated range, and for a more authentic outcome, it’s better to a consulting dietician. To gain weight, you have to take more 500 to 700 calories more than your maintained level.
Exercise/ Work-Outs
Exercise or workout is a physical activity that helps you maintain a healthy weight and remain fit. The calorie we take daily is the energy our body uses; exercise and work out burns off calories. Physical activity helps the body burn glycogen stored in fatty tissues, muscles and the liver. This ultimately results in weight loss.
People who are involved in physical activity or high level of cardio workout such as athletes. They burn a sufficient amount of calories are more likely to have low body weight.
To increase body weight, you have to take more calories than you burn. Do minimal physical activity if you are underweight and are aiming to increase weight.
What Is Meant By Underweight?
Before understanding the term underweight, first, understand the concept of BMI that is body mass index. It is a person’s weight to height ratio. BMI determines whether a person is obese or underweight. A person with having BMI of less than 18.5 is underweight, and a person is said to overweight if BMI is over 25 or 30.
The majority of people are obese, but still, some people are facing the opposite problem. They are either too lean or skinny. If you are underweight due to any medical reason, consult a physician, you cannot binge on eating junk to increase weight. It could lead to serious health problems.
If you are clinically fit and underweight or want to gain weight, you have to increase your calorie intake and food rich in carbs.
Consequences of Being Underweight
Being underweight is bad for your health as being obese. Underweight increases the risk of early death in both males and females. Being underweight is more common in females as compared to males. Underweight women are more prone to diseases like osteoporosis and fertility problems.
Underweight people have a higher rate of getting fractures and dementia. The ones suffering from underweight issues are more likely to get cachexia. Cachexia is a metabolic disease result in muscle atrophy and extreme weight loss.
A person being underweight is not getting a sufficient amount of nutrients for bones, skin, nails and other body viscera’s. Following are the diseases an underweight person may experience.
Prone To Common Illnesses
It is necessary to maintain a healthy body weight. If you are underweight, you are more likely to get bacterial and viral infections more frequently. The reason is your body is not getting enough amount of energy to cope with common illnesses such as colds, coughs.
Osteoporosis and Irregular Menstrual Cycle
Osteoporosis is a bone disorder associated with females after menopause. Low body weight leads to osteoporosis after menopause and irregular or delayed periods in females.
Anemia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Suppose you have a low BMI and are underweight. You are suffering from malnutrition due to an unbalanced diet. Malnutrition can cause anemia due to a deficiency of essential vitamins necessary for red blood cell maturation, like vitamin b-12. The person feels tired and fatigued all time due to a low level of energy.
How to Gain Weight?
If you are underweight, there are several healthy weight increase methods. One topmost method is incorporation full of nutrition calorie-dense food in your diets like food rich in protein and carbs. We are enlisting some of the delicious weight gain shakes and recipes that can help your weight gain.
1. Peanut Butter and Banana Weight Gainer Smoothie
This smoothie is also known as a weight gainer smoothie. You can easily prepare it at home, and you will be surprised by its incredible results. This smoothie is perfect for the ones who want to increase weight healthily.
Let’s look at the calorie chart first. Peanut butter and banana smoothie contain 684 calories.
- Calories 684kcal
- Carbohydrates 71.1g
- Fat 9.9g
- Sugar 36.9g
- Protein 39g
- Calcium 477mg
- Iron 10mg
- Sodium 534mg
- Potassium 1282mg
Ingredients
To make this delicious smoothie, you need
- 350 ml of full cream milk. You can make this smoothie vegan by using soya milk
- One tablespoon peanut butter
- 50g protein powder
- Two large bananas
Directions
Dice the bananas into a blender add weight gainer protein powder, milk and peanut butter. Add ice and blend it well for 60 sec. Pour the shake in glass and add cashew on top to give it a more appealing look.
2. Peanut Butter, Cherry and Vanilla Weight Gainer Shake
Calorie chart
- Calories 682 kcal
- Carbohydrates 76.7g
- Fat 30.8g
- Sugar 22.5g
- Protein 54.6g
Ingredients
- Half cup almond milk or full cream milk
- Half cup Greek yoghurt
- 2 tablespoon vanilla protein powder
- Two tablespoon peanut butter
- Two tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Half cup cherries
- Ice optional
Directions
Add milk, yoghurt, cherries. You can use frozen cherries too into a blender. Bend it for a second, then add vanilla powder, cocoa powder and blend all the ingredients well.
You can use your favourite cocoa powder. Some of the worth considering vanilla protein powder are enlisted below.
- Muscle pharma combat powder
- BSN syntha-6 isolate vanilla ice cream
- Muscle tech vanilla phase 8
- Dymatize elite fusion seven creamy vanilla shake
- Dymatize ISO-100 gourmet vanilla
- Arnold series iron whey vanilla
- Hydro builder vanilla bean.
3. Avocado and Banana Weight Gain Smoothie
Avocado and banana both are a rich source of minerals like potassium and magnesium. These two fruits are considered powerhouses because of the many health benefits they provide. Eating banana and avocado daily help, you not only increasing weight but also preventing many cardiovascular diseases. This smoothie will help in weight gain and keep you energetic all day.
Calorie chart
- Calories 851kcal
- Protein 68.1g
- Fat 48.5g
- Carbohydrate 104g
- Sugar 125.5g
- Fibre 3.6g
- Sodium 99.3g
Ingredients
To make this awesome, you need some basic ingredients
- One large banana
- One avocado
- Two tablespoon honey
- Two cups full cream milk
- chocolate protein powder two-scoop
- Ice cubes optional
Directions
Slice the banana, peel and remove seed from avocado. Slice avocado all the remaining ingredients in a blender. Blend it for one minute.
Protein powders are available in many flavours. Similarly, chocolate protein powder is made by many brands. Some are mentioned below.
- Optimum nutrition gold standard whey protein powder.
- Whey protein isolate, rich chocolate
- Xtend proprotein powder, chocolate lava cake
- Grass-fed whey protein powder, chocolate cacao
- Pure protein 100% whey, rich choc late.
4. Caramel weight gainer milkshake
Another mouthwatering weight gainer shake is caramel milkshake. A single glass of caramel milkshake will provide you 800kcal.
Calorie chart
- Calories 850kcal
- Fats 54g
- Carbs 44.1g
- Protein 57.7g
Ingredients
- 500ml vanilla ice-cream
- Caramel syrup three-tablespoon
- Caramel extract
- Cream
- 250ml milk
- Caramel protein powder two scoops
- Ice cubes optional
Direction
Add the ingredients into a blender and gently blend it for few seconds. Add ice cubes at the end to avoid lumps. Top it with cream and caramel syrup.
Some of the well-known caramel protein powder is following
- Light digest whey protein, salted caramel flavour
- Whey protein isolate, salted caramel
- Xtend pro whey protein isolate, salted caramel shake
5. Oreo Cookies and Cream Weight Gainer Shake
It is another yummy and delightful shake. Before jumping to ingredients, let’s get to know about the calories this weight gainer shake contains.
Calorie chart
- Calories 810kcal
- Fat 41g
- Carbohydrates 48g
- Protein 63g
Ingredients
- Whole milk to cups
- Oreo cookies eight
- Heavy cream, 2 ounces
- Ice cubes optional
Directions
Separate the biscuits and put them on butter paper or plastic sheet. Crush the side without cream. Keep it aside. Add whole milk, heavy cream and crushed biscuits into the blender. Blend it well, and this delicious drink is ready. You can top it with ice cream to add extra flavour.
6. Creamy Oatmeal Weight Gainer Shake
You can have this shake at the time of breakfast. Oatmeals are gluten free grains and are the healthiest grains. This shake provides you 800 plus calories.
Calorie chart
- Calories 850kcal
- Fat 34.4g
- Carbs 59.3g
- Proteins 66.7g
Ingredients
- Cream milk one cup
- Regular oats, 2 ounces
- Heavy cream, 2 ounces
- Vanilla protein powder, one scoop
- Honey two tablespoon
- Ice cubes optional
Direction
Add regular oats and milk in a blender and blend. Then add vanilla protein powder, honey and heavy cream to blend the ingredients well.
7. Chocolate and coffee milkshake
Who doesn’t like mocha and cappuccino? This flavorful shake is a perfect blend of expresso. It tastes heavenly good and gives you 900plus calories.
Calorie Chart
- Calories 950kcal
- Fats 45.5g
- Protein 64.5g
- Carbs 38.1g
Ingredients
- Brewed coffee, two tablespoons
- Whole milk, one cup
- Heavy cream
- Dark chocolate
- Chocolate protein powder
Direction
Melt dark chocolate and pour it into a blender. Add the remaining ingredients to the blender. Pour the shake into the glass. You can add chocolate chunks or chocolate syrup on top. This will make it more appealing.
8. Bonus Dessert
Another recipe that can help you gain weight and muscle fat is a type of dessert. This recipe will help you achieve your goal faster. The best thing about this recipe is it doesn’t require any cooking or fancy equipment.
All you need is only five ingredients that are very easily available. If you are a student or working person, this recipe is best for you. You can prepare it in a very simple way. It doesn’t take any time.
Ingredients
- Rolled oats 40g
- Curd 200g
- Medium size banana
- A hand full of unsalted peanut butter
- Five dates
Direction
Take a bowl and add 40 grams of rolled oats to it. Then add curd mix it well in a way that oats are properly soaked in curd. After that, add freshly cut banana on top and add dates on top. Finally, sprinkle a hand full of peanuts. This tasty dessert is ready for it.
Calorie chart
- Calories 703kcal
- Carbohydrates 89g
- Fats 23g
- Proteins 21g
- Dietary fibre 12g
This one small meal will give you 703 calories. If you look at its ingredients, they are extremely nutritional rolled oats are an excellent source of carbs, the curd is a primary source of protein, banana is a high-calorie fruit that is ideal for muscle building and weight gain, dates increase bone weight and bone strength and the last ingredient peanuts are the source of healthy fats.
It is the simplest recipe, and if you have a sweet tooth is will be an excellent treat for you. You can have this at any time of the day. If you want fast results, have it twice a day.