While most people have weight to lose, there are some who need to gain weight. Being underweight can be just as unhealthy as being overweight. Hence this diet revolves around consuming 500 additional calories a day, which experts agree is optimum for controlled weight gain. If eating an extra 500 calories a day doesn't seem to be doing the trick after a couple of weeks, you can experiment with 700 additional calories.

A healthy way to gain weight

Most doctors agree that to gain weight in a healthy fashion requires eating calorie dense yet nutritious food. An example of a breakfast while on the weight gain diet includes granola, chopped nuts, a banana, milk and juice. A lunch would involve 1/2 an avocado, a can of tuna in oil, two sliced tomatoes, a handful of olives, mixed salad leaves, 2 teaspoons of olive oil and a tbsp of sesame seeds, and whole grain crackers. You are also allowed snacks spaced mid-way between meals, and must eat a sensible dinner. The key to formulating any meal for weight gain is to concentrate on a sensible blend of complex carbohydrates , lean protein , and healthy fats . When attempting to gain weight, it is often beneficial to eat multiple small meals per day, rather than a few large meals. Especially when coupled with exercise, eating multiple small meals encourages your body to use the calories to build lean tissue (muscle).

Other avenues to gaining weight

In order to gain weight some might indulge in fattening fast foods, but this is definitely the wrong route to take if you want to remain healthy. The focus should be on eating nutritious foods from a variety of sources. Some programs recommend expensive weight gain powders or vitamins, but these supplements are not necessary so long as you are eating a well-balanced diet that includes more calories per day than you burn. People usually gain about 1 pound per week when they appropriately follow the weight gain diet.

	If you are trying to gain weight, combine some exercise with your diet. Exercise will burn calories but it will also stoke your appetite and build some muscle mass. I think the Denise Austin Program is great for developing an ideal healthy body. More on these diets below...