Thursday, October 22, 2009

Diet to Increase Weight

As diet and exercise are interrelated, lifting weights will ensure that our body weight is properly distributed. When we eat foods that are high in protein and low in fat we can gain muscular gain. The muscle requires energy for growth. The main reason it is easier to gain weight from lifting weights is that it increases the appetite. People who work out require more calories and protein.

In order to gain a pound, we have to consume 3,500 calories above your recommended daily requirements for weight maintenance. But these requirements may vary according to a person's size. Thinner people require fewer calories to maintain their weight than larger people. To gain two pounds in excess we have to consume 7,000 calories in addition to our required intake. This is a reasonable weekly target.

While eating three meals per day is a regular practice, it is good to eat five to six meals per day to increase calories. We should eat foods that are high in proteins and low in fat. The bulk of your calories should come from complex carbohydrates. It is best to eat one lean protein and a complex carbohydrate for each meal. You will need to eat about every 2-3 hours to consume your meals.

Some lean proteins are chicken, turkey, lean beef, tuna, fish, nuts and egg whites. Complex carbohydrates include bread, brown rice, oatmeal, potatoes, yams, pasta, corn, peas, barley, all grains, maize, rice cereal, buckwheat, cornmeal, amaranth and quinoa. They are essentially your starchy foods.

As consuming carbohydrates is a healthier way to increase weight, intake of complex carbohydrate such as pasta, rice, beans, bread and cereal are to be focused. Carbohydrates are important because they are the main source of energy for the body. It is also important to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables daily.

Protein is a key ingredient for muscle building and is crucial for gaining healthy weight. Good protein sources include lean meat, fish, eggs and dairy. Yogurt and cottage cheese are high-protein foods that are sensible between-meal snacks. Drinking a glass of low-fat milk, either with or between meals, is another simple way to bump up your daily protein consumption.

Gain Weight Through Healthy Breakfast

Your goal when trying to gain weight should be to eat many meals throughout the day. Sleeping overnight isn't very conducive to this since you'll be fasting for 6-8 hours which means no food. When you wake up, you need to ensure that you take in some good calories to break your fast.
Gaining weight means eating more than you burn. You should keep this in mind during each meal. Even though you need to eat a lot to gain the weight, this shouldn't be an excuse to eat whatever you want regardless of how unhealthy it is.

Traditional breakfast items are high in calories (which is good) but most of these calories are unhealthy. Bacon, sausage and biscuits will help you gain weight but they might also give you a heart attack. There are good alternatives if this is the type of breakfast you enjoy.

Most pork products on the market have a healthier turkey version. There is turkey bacon and sausage both of which have very little saturated fat. Since they also have less calories than pork you'll get to eat more.

Biscuits, while high in calories, are also loaded with fat. You can replace biscuits with english muffins or even toast. English muffins and bread that are made from 100% whole wheat are your best bet. They contain complex carbohydrates which will give you a steady supply of energy for hours.

Eggs are almost a perfect breakfast food. They contain a large amount of high quality protein which is good if you workout a lot. If your family has a history of high cholesterol consider using an egg substitute. There are also eggs that have less saturated fat than others. You should check the nutrition labels to find them.

Oatmeal and cereal also make up good breakfasts. Watch out for the sugar content of some cereal and flavored oatmeal however, sugar shouldn't be your biggest concern when you're trying to gain weight, especially if you workout a lot.Shakes aren't just for after a workout. When you wake up, your body is starved for protein.

Shakes are high in calories and easy to drink so they are a quick way to add calories to your breakfast. Don't forget about other drinks. Fruits juices and milk are easy to take down even if you're full. They can add about 100 calories per cup and sometimes contain vitamins, minerals and in milk, protein.

Remember that gaining weight isn't a blank check to eat unhealthy foods. Yes you need to consume a large amount of calories but you can do it in a healthy manner.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Snacks for Gaining Weight

Gaining weight (on the nutrition side) is mainly about eating more calories than you burn. Unfortunately it's sometimes hard to get all those calories into your daily meals. Eating the right kinds of snacks will make it easier for you to reach your daily calorie goal. All foods, including snacks, derive their calories from three types of nutrients: fats, carbohydrates and proteins. To gain weight, you need to eat the types of foods that will give you energy to lift heavy weights and provide the essential building blocks to repair the damage you've done to your muscles. The ideal snacks will give you you carbohydrates for energy, protein to repair and will taste good so you can eat them.

Bodybuilders are in love with tuna. Some eat more than one can per day. A 6oz can contains 150 calories which is almost all from protein (30 grams of it). This is a great daytime or nighttime snack: light on calories, high in protein. If you want it to be very low in fat, eat tuna in water instead of in oil. Dairy products are great snacks for building muscle. Like tuna, dairy comes from an animal which means it is a complete protein. Cottage cheese and milk (regular or chocolate) are good choices. They come in whole, low fat or fat free varieties and contain about 8 grams of protein per serving. Since these are part liquid, they're a lot easier to eat than whole foods which can help you increase your daily calorie intake.

Nuts are also a good muscle building snack. A 1/4 cup of nuts contains 160 calories. They are high in fat but almost all of it is unsaturated (the healthy kind). Fruits and vegetables are often overlooked by people who want to gain weight. They contain little calories and almost no protein. So if you're trying to gain weight, what's the point of eating them? The point is that they have a lot of nutrients - vitamins, minerals and fiber. For you to be healthy and be able to gain weight in a healthy way, you need to get all these nutrients which means eating your fruits and veggies.

If you like the more traditional snack foods (chocolate, chips, pretzels) don't be afraid to eat them. Since you're gaining weight, too many calories shouldn't be a huge concern. Snacks can help you increase your daily calorie intake without too much effort. A snack takes a few seconds to prepare and a minute to eat. Don't leave them out of your diet as they can easily add up to 400 or more calories a day. If you're serious about gaining weight, snacks should be one of your priorities.

To some people, losing weight seems impossible and for some of us gaining weight is just as hard to do. Snacking helps us get from one meal to another without feeling hungry. The snacks we pick can either help or hurt our weight goals - whether those goals are gaining, maintaining or losing.

Types of Calories To Eat When Gaining Weight

When you're trying to gain the right kind of weight (muscle as opposed to fat) you want to eat healthy foods and a lot of them. You need all three types of calories: carbohydrates, protein and yes, even fat.

Carbohydrates are your main source of energy and you want around 50% of your daily intake to come from them. There are two types of carbs: simple and complex. Simple carbs are sugars which can be found in soda, candy, chocolate and fruit. Complex carbs are found in bread, rice, pasta and vegetables. Simple carbs are digested quickly and can be used in a post workout meal to get nutrients to your muscles quickly. The rest of the day you should be eating complex carbs which will give you a slower energy release throughout the day. They're digested slower and will help you keep your body fat percentage low.

There's a misconception that eating fat makes you fat. About 30% of your calories should come from fat. Saturated (bad, unhealthy) fats should account for no more than 10% and the remaining 20% should come from unsaturated (good, healthy) fats. Unsaturated fat is found in oils, vegetables and any other non-animal source (vegetable spreads). Saturated fat is found in any food that comes out of an animal: dairy, meat, eggs. Stay away from trans fatty acids. These are basically a man made fat found in any food that contains hydrogenated oils (check the ingredients).

The rest of your calories should come from protein. Protein is either complete or incomplete. If its complete, your body can use it to build muscles. If its incomplete your body will need to combine it with another protein to make a complete one or some of it won't be used. Complete sources of protein come from animal sources and incomplete ones come from vegetables. Try getting your protein from lean sources of meat (poultry, fish, lean cuts of beef) and low fat dairy. You don't want all that saturated fat clogging your arteries. Vegetarians can get complete proteins by eating a wide variety of foods and through supplementation. Legumes (nuts, peas, beans) are an excellent source for those who don't eat meat.

A lot of people who are bulking up tend to forget about their vitamins and minerals. Some take a multivitamin and others ignore them all together. Eating your fruits and vegetables is very important. Even though they are very low in calories, they are high in nutrients which will help your body better metabolize all the calories you're taking in. Remember that to gain weight you need to eat more calories than you burn. Eating everything in sight like a lot of people recommend will help you put on weight but it'll be the kind you don't want.

My Diet Isn't Working

So you cut your calories and started eating healthy foods but when you weigh yourself, you keep getting the same number. There are plenty of reasons why you are not losing weight, so it is important that you try and fix your mistakes rather than get frustrated and quit your diet all together.

Calories are what give our body energy to move, think, exercise and simply stay alive. Everyone needs a certain amount of calories to function properly. If we eat more calories than we burn, our body will store the excess energy as fat for later use and the result will be weight gain. If we burn more calories than we eat, our body will be forced to use existing fat stores for energy and the result will be weight loss. If we eat the right amount, our body weight will remain the same.

The most important aspect of a diet is the number of calories you eat per day. If you are healthy and you eat less than you burn, the only possible outcome is weight loss. When on a diet that is not working, your first step should be to start counting your calories very carefully. A common mistake when keeping track of calories in your head is to underestimate how much you are eating. If you think you are eating 1,500 calories but are actually taking in 2,000, your diet will not work.

Instead of estimating your calorie intake, write down what you eat. It is very important to make sure you eat as many portions as you count. For example if you drink a glass of milk, make sure you only drinking eight ounces, which is one serving. A lot of people usually pour juices, milk and soda into a huge cup that is equal to three or four servings. Instead of counting four servings in your head, you would only be counting one. If you do this repeatedly, it will throw your calorie count off and put your diet in jeopardy.

If you are counting your calories correctly but still find it hard to lose weight, you may need to further decrease your calorie intake. Use the Daily Calorie Needs Calculator to help you estimate how many calories you are burning and how many you need to eat.

The types of food you eat can also have a bearing on how much weight you lose. Minimize the amount of sugar you eat since it is digested very quickly. If you do not use that energy right away, your body will store it as fat causing weight gain. If you eat foods that are high in complex carbohydrates and fiber, digestion will happen a lot slower and your body will be able to use that energy over a longer period of time without storing it as fat.

People sometimes forget that to ensure a diet is working, progress needs to be tracked on a regular basis. You can evaluate your diet's success through your weight, fit of clothes and how you see yourself. Weighing yourself on a scale is an excelling, objective way to measure how well your diet is working.

You should try to weigh yourself every other day to make sure that you are losing weight. If you do not weigh yourself often enough, it will be too late when you realize your diet is going in the wrong direction. When weighing yourself, look at overall trends from week to week. Your weight can fluctuate from day to day so making changes because you gained a pound overnight is unnecessary.

Diet is only half the equation. Cutting excessive calories from your intake will leave you feeling tired and unable to properly function through the day. Exercising on a regular basis combined with a calorie restricted diet will help you attain your ideal weight in a healthy way.

How to Gain Weight with a Fast Metabolism

How to gain weight with a high metabolism is a hard thing to do. Some people do have a high metabolism naturally. When your metabolic rate is high all the time or most of the time, It means that you are are always burning a lot of calories and gaining weight can almost be an impossible thing to achieve. You may tend to eat a lot but never gain weight. This is a common scenario with people who have high rates of calorie burning than they consume. You will need to consume more calories than what your body can burn if you want to gain pounds. When dealing with weight management, Many people are struggling to lose weight but on the other hand,

People with high metabolic rates are desperate to gain a few pounds.People who have a high rates of calorie burning fear to exercise because they know that exercising can lead to even fast weight loss. Here is the thing though, If you do the right exercises, You are more likely to gain muscle weight instead of losing it. Fitness experts suggest that individuals interested in gaining weight should put more focus on weight training when exercising. If you do too much cardio, You may end up losing weight.

Weight training involves the use of an equipment that enables variable resistance. You can use free weights like barbells and dumbells to do some weight training. Pulley machines or those machines that use cables are recommended for people trying to gain weight. To get even more effective results, stimulate your most muscle fibers as possible by using the free alternatives of weight trainings like dumbells and multi-jointed free weight exercise like the bench press, that requires many stabilizer and synergistic muscle assistance to complete the lift.

Weight training exercises will put a lot of stress on supporting muscle groups. You may get fatigued faster but you can gain more muscle. If you are a beginner, You should take it easy when you are starting out and also make sure that you do not over-train. You know very well that you have a tendency to burn more calories than you consume, So your equation for gaining weight should be Calories eaten must be greater than calories burned.

How to gain weight when your body has the tendency to burn a lot more calories than you consume has a lot to do with understanding yourself in terms of how many calories you burn a day. Use a calorie calculate to make estimates and after you figure out approximately how many calories you burn each and every single day, You will start to increase your calorie intake per day.

This is how you are going to gain weight. Increase your calorie intake by 500 calories. Lets say that your body burns 1800 calories a day, You can start to consume 2300 calories a day. As you keep eating this way and doing some weight trainings, Monitor your weight closely to make sure that you are gaining weight.

Like I said before you should avoid doing the wrong exercises that are intended for weight loss. Focus on weight training to help you gain pounds in terms of muscle. Eat enough carbohydrates, vitamins, the right proteins from animals like eggs and fish to help build muscle and gain weight.

Gaining weight takes effort and time. So be patient and stay consistent with eating more calories than you burn and doing the right exercises intended for weight gain like lifting weights.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Gain Weight in a Healthy Manner

Bodybuilders are always wondering how building muscle mass is possible but in a good way. So many have tried protein shakes and saw slow improvement and many have even resorted to the illegal ways but there is a healthy way to do it. You need to make sure you know how many calories you should take in one day and how you can turn what fatty tissue you have into muscle because that will also give you a gain in muscle weight which is healthy weight.

There are too many people who are resorting to using protein shakes to gain a large amount of weight very quickly then going on pills that will make you loose all the weight and keep the muscle tone. That is a very dangerous way to increase your weight.

You should meet with someone who specializes in this type of process and make sure you know all of your options before you begin any process of weight gain. Nutritionists are great adversaries in this field and will tell you how increasing your calorie intake and exercising will help in your weight gain.

This of course is a slower process than some of the more rapid, illegal ways but it is in the end the best way to go. Most people have done extremely well when they have worked with their nutritionist to find a way to eat certain foods that will make you gain more weight without making you sick or give you adverse affects.

That is a great thing because you do want to get heavier but not to the point to where you are just overweight. You want to be defined and be a good healthy weight for your size of body. Now most people who are looking to gain weight are body builders and I know they go to the very extremes to gain weight rapidly for competitions.

This is not a good thing to do because you over work your heart having to train more to get that fatty tissue to turn into muscle for the big day. Then of course after that day you need to maintain that shape if not you will begin to sag and loose all the wonderful muscle tone that you have achieved. So you see this is the reason you need to know how to gain weight properly, with a good diet, exercise and help from a nutritionist. Anyone can learn how to gain weight in a bad way and that is not the problem, the problem is maintaining that weight to be healthy and not obese.

For those who are still unsure and wondering what would be a good way to go about it please see a nutritionist and ask them for their professional opinion. They will be more than willing to walk you through step by step on how to gain weight properly with no bad effects on you.

How to Gain Weight Fast

Most of the people who have an ectmorph body due to genetics, frustrated at being stuck on the lighter side of the weighing scale. While for those who are well endowed there are tips and diets galore on how to lose weight, for those searching for tips on how to gain weight, it can be a lonesome struggle indeed. For anyone out there desperately seeking effective weight gain solution, here are a few tips that will help you to gain weight fast.


Eat More to Gain Weight Fast
In order to gain weight you will need to consume more calories than you expend. However, in order to be effective, it has to be done in a controlled manner. First begin by counting how many calories you consume daily. Do not make any changes in daily diet, just eat as you usually do and check how many calories you consume daily. Try to be as exact as possible, since this is a very important step. Check out your weight by starting from the next day of counting calories, increase your calorie intake by from 300 to 500 calories daily. For example, if you normally consume 1500 calories daily, you should start eating 2000 calories daily for the rest of the week. And also eating food all day long, instead of three large meals daily. It is advisable to spread the calories over five smaller meals.

Eat Right to Gain Weight Fast
Besides increasing the calorie intake will influence how much you weigh directly, it will be the kind of food you consume that will influence the kind of weight you put on. If you want an aesthetically pleasing and healthy weight gain, comprising of the weight of lean muscle instead of just more body fat, it is important to focus on eating wholesome food and avoiding junk food. A healthy weight gain diet should comprise of 30-50% protein, 20-50% carbohydrates and about 20-40% fat, most of which should come from essential fatty acids. Various ratios in these ranges can be worked out according to individual requirements.

Lift Weights to Gain Weight Fast
Besides increasing calorie intake and eating healthy food are important for weight gain, a weight-training program tailored toward the body adding muscle is an integral factor. Your weight-training routine should be concentrated on exercises that involve compound weight lifting, which means exercises that require the use of multiple groups of muscles such as bench press or squat. The weights that you lift should allow doing 6-12 reps for each set. While ranges that involve higher reps will tone up your muscles, they will not be enough to signal muscle growth in the body. With each workout you do, try increasing the reps or the amount of weight to be lifted.

However, care must be taken, do not go overboard about workouts. For those who have difficulty in gaining weight, turn into gym addicts which can actually be counterproductive. Firstly, because of it burns off too many calories, which could otherwise help in building muscle, and secondly, because the muscles get over-trained by being worked out too hard, resulting in making them unresponsive.

Choose Supplements Wisely to Gain Weight Fast
There are plenty of supplements available in the market, most of them are inferior compared to natural food, especially to build muscle in order to gain weight. Natural food is superior by having many naturally occurring vitamins and minerals that are beneficial for muscle growth. In fact, it is advisable to avoid weight gain powders, because most of them are just empty calories, not very different from the junk foods in the market. However, before taking any kind of supplement, you need to consult with a medical professional about its safety.

With motivation, effective weight training program, and a healthy weight gain diet will be the answer to your ‘How to Gain Weight Fast’ query.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Top Ten Ways to lose Unwanted Pregnancy Weight

If you step on the scale several days after you give birth, you will likely have one of two reactions. Disappointment or complete horror. The weight loss is either not as much as you had hoped, or in some cases, your weight might not have changed much.

Why didn't I lose more weight?

If you were one of the unlucky ones who did not lose much weight after birth, check your face, hands and ankles. Are they swollen? It might be that the pregnancy weight of the baby, placenta, amniotic fluid, etc.. was replaced by several pounds of fluid retention. This is common especially if you had a lot of IV fluids during your labor. The good news is that you should lose that fluid weight in about 2-3 weeks by urinating and perspiring more frequently.

What about all of the other unwanted weight after baby?

Here are some techniques to help you lose post-pregnancy weight.
1.Drink at least 10-12 glasses of water every day. Replace your high sugar beverages such as sodas and juices with some water and a squeeze of fresh lemon. You could also try flavored seltzer water which has no calories. You can cut out hundreds of calories a day this way.

2.Keep healthy snacks handy such as raisins, popcorn, wheat crackers, and nuts. Refuse to buy store-bought baked goods or junk food.

3.Eat lean meats such as boneless chicken and the leanest cuts of beef.

4.Eat whole grains (breads, cereals, pastas) instead of the "white" versions

5.Don't be fooled by foods that are labeled as nonfat. Some are loaded with calories and can have hydrogenated vegetable oils and/or high fructose corn syrup, neither of which are healthy. Read your labels!

6.Resist the urge to indulge in a fast food meal. Or if you do, order the salad and not the fat-filled burgers and fries.

7.As soon as you feel ready, start light exercise. Weather-permitting, take a 10 minute walk with the baby every day and slowly increase your time to 20 minutes per day. Babies can be worn in a snugli or sling or you can use a baby jogger or stroller when
they get too heavy. Even better, walk at a regular time with a friend.

8.Find easy ways to increase your exercise like parking farther away or using stairs instead of elevators.

9.Breastfeeding uses up your fat stores! Breastfeeding burns about 500 calories per day so the longer you breastfeed, the more calories you burn.

10.Consider joining a gym and trade babysitting hours with a friend so when you each go to do your workout, the other can watch the babies. Some gyms may offer babysitting services as well.

Just remember it took 9 months to gain the weight; give yourself at least that long to take it off. I am not a fan of completely avoiding or drastically reducing food groups such as the popular diets of limiting carbs or sugars. I believe the more you deprive yourself of an occasional treat, the more you will crave it.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Diet, Exercise May Slow Kidney Disease Progression


Shedding pounds may be good for most people, but especially for those with kidney disease, a new study has found.
A review of previously published studies on weight loss through diet, exercise or surgical intervention found that the weight loss had a positive effect on kidney function in obese kidney disease patients.

Traditional weight loss from dieting and exercising cut down on proteinuria -- the increased output of protein in the urine -- while also preventing kidney function from worsening, the researchers noted in a news release from the American Society of Nephrology. In addition, surgical procedures to induce weight loss helped bring down high filtration rates, a condition that increases disease risk in kidney patients, the studies showed.
The authors of the new report, led by Dr. Sankar Navaneethan of the Cleveland Clinic, pointed out that their findings were based on their review of only 13 studies, and that a larger, more long-term look at weight loss and kidney function in obese kidney disease patients should be completed before definitive conclusions are drawn.

With Fancy Coffees, Calories Can Add Up

A blended coffee beverage might hit the spot but pack on the pounds, a new study suggests.
A survey of about 3,000 purchases from 115 restaurant chains in New York City found that servings of brewed coffee or tea average about 63 calories, even when some include milk and sugar. But get a blended beverage and you're looking at 239 calories on average -- 89 more than you're likely to find in a can of soda.

A large ice-blended beverage, meanwhile, can reach 750 calories or more. At one coffee chain, 8 percent of the customers interviewed bought the largest size of a blended drink, which can boast 860 calories.

Research suggests that 17 percent of U.S. adults buy one of these blended drinks each day.
What to do? Beverages such as coffee and tea can have fewer than 10 calories, although you might need to studiously ignore those sugar packets, the health department suggests. Low-fat or skim milk can help, too, as can getting a "small" size if the drink is sugar-sweetened and flavoring it yourself.