How to Gain Weight Healthfully: Bulking Tips and Health Risks

Gaining weight healthfully requires a focus on nutrient density to avoid the medical risks associated with being underweight. Targeted meal plans help teens and those with fast metabolisms bulk up safely.

Boy Standing With Hands On Hip Against White Background

Calorie Requirements for 11-Year-Olds to Gain Weight

Because your child is still growing, her weight-gain program will be different than a plan for an adult. Children need to eat enough calories and a balance of nutrients to support their normal growth and development, plus a bit extra to add weight to their frame.

Read more →
Football player in mid-air reaching for football

Plan for Teen Boy to Gain Weight for Football

Gaining weight to improve your football performance requires you to add muscle, not fat. A combination of strength training and consuming more calories encourages this lean mass development, but it's not easy. Filling up on extra fast food or junk food makes you gain fat, which will only slow you down out on the field.

Read more →
Male anorexic weighing himself

Ideal Monthly Weight Gain

If you have a high metabolism or are recovering from illness, or if you're an older adult with little appetite, gaining weight can be as challenging as losing weight. It's best to gain weight at a moderate rate to ensure that you're not adding too much body fat and are putting on a fair amount of healthy muscle.

Read more →
Female buying dairy products.

Healthy Grocery List to Gain Weight

Eating more to gain weight is difficult if your cupboards are bare. Go to the grocery store to stock up on healthy, nutritious and calorie-dense foods.

Read more →
Oatmeal for breakfast.

How to Increase BMI

Body mass index, or BMI, is one way to tell if you're at a healthy weight for your height. While most people are concerned about a BMI that's too high and how it might affect health, if your BMI is too low, you may also be at risk for health issues.

Read more →
Woman stretching before jogging

How to Gain Weight to Get Curves and Look Sexy

While everyone is born with a genetically determined body type -- for example, a pear, apple or banana shape -- lifestyle modifications like diet and exercise can slightly change the shape of your physique.

Read more →
Vegetarian sweet potato burrito

High-Carb Diet to Gain Weight

Eating more ice cream, milkshakes and cookies sure sounds like a good way to put on a few pounds, but it's not the healthiest way to go. These foods may be high in carbs, but they're not the healthy kind.

Read more →
Smoothie with drinking straw

How to Help Severely Underweight People Gain Weight

Weight gain can pose as much of a challenge as weight loss, especially if you're naturally very thin or recovering from an illness. And while weight loss and gain plans yield different results, they share some major similarities.

Read more →

The Best Foods for Healthy Weight Gain During the Third Trimester

Gaining weight is an important part of your pregnancy. According to W. Allan Walker and Courtney Humphries, authors of "The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating During Pregnancy," gaining the right amount of weight will help you have a healthy pregnancy and will help your baby grow and develop right on track.

Read more →
Young pensive fit woman

What Happens to Your Body When You're Underweight?

If you're on the thin side with a weight that's below normal for your height, your doctor may advise you to gain weight. Being underweight can endanger your health and may indicate that you're not getting all the nutrients you need to look and feel your best.

Read more →