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If you are underweight or simply looking to gain weight, the following high-calorie meal plans can help you reach your goals. They are designed for anyone who is looking to gain weight in a healthy way. They can also be used by people who would like to build muscle if used in combination with an appropriate resistance-training (weight-lifting) program.While our culture places immense value on thinness, the prevalence of those who are underweight is a significant public health issue. There are a number of reasons people can be underweight, including genetics and fast metabolism, and underlying medical conditions such as thyroid problems or cancer. Women are at increased risk of being underweight, as are adults over the age of 60.
The good news is there are ways to add nutritious foods that can help you gain weight to your daily diet. Adding meals and snacks, and increasing portion size are all ways to incorporate more calories daily. Consuming beneficial fats, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and plenty of water are all ways to help you achieve the right weight for you.
Note that being underweight (or overweight) is not always solely measured by BMI, and there are other factors to consider.Some people naturally have less fat than others and could be perceived as underweight due to their low BMI but are otherwise perfectly healthy. The same goes for those who may be considered overweight or obese based on their BMI. That's why it's best to speak with your doctor who can provide an accurate diagnosis.
If you're underweight, you'll typically want to consume an additional 500 calories per day. To do this, you might eat extra meals or increase the size of the meals you usually eat. You can also increase calories and fats by adding beneficial monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as avocado, nuts, seeds, plant-based oils.
It’s important to include enough carbohydrates, protein and fat in your meals to maintain weight during treatments because too much weight loss can actually slow down/delay treatment. But, side effects of treatment, including loss of appetite, can make it challenging to eat enough food to get the calories your body needs.
There are actually lots of vegan high calorie foods which can make vegan weight gain easy and delicious. High fat vegan foods tend to have the highest calorie density. Because of this, foods like dried fruit, nuts, nut butters, seeds, coconut cream, and avocados are extremely calorie dense.
If you are concerned about not eating enough calories make sure to keep these high calorie foods on hand. You can add nuts, seeds and dried fruit into salads, smoothies, homemade trail mix for a snack on the go, protein bars and more. Add them into some of these vegan recipes for weight gain to take it up even a notch further on calories and nutrients.
You can also buy premade nut butters or make your own to spread onto crackers, toast, fruit or vegetables to boost the calorie count. I love this cashew based aioli which is amazing to spread onto everything and quite calorie dense as well.
Especially if you are on a special diet, needing high protein vegan meals or worried about gaining weight on a vegan diet, it’s important to be prepared. If you need help figuring out meal planning, be sure to check out this article for tips, strategies and tons of meal prep friendly recipes. Or just scroll through these recipes and put together a vegan weight gain meal plan for yourself!
