I hope you guys are spending quality time with your family this quarantine. Talking of time, many are spending their whole time eating to come out of quarantine like a potato. Well, I’m not addressing you guys for the time being. The article is for the people who are losing weight suddenly because of a caloric deficit 

The concept behind calories. 

A calorie is a unit of energy that is consumed by a human being. Calories go inside the body in terms of food we consume, and also when we workout we burn some calories, so the total calorie intake is consumed calories – calories burnt. Everyone has a calorie intake amount to consume in a day to maintain their current weight, which is the total amount of energy your body requires to run that day.

 

This caloric point is approximate and is measured keeping your height and current weight into consideration (there are many calories calculators available online). So, when you consume more energy which is calories, our body stores the surplus energy as body fats and on the other end when we are on a caloric deficit our body uses the stored fats as glycogen and converts it to energy. So, when we take in more calories than the suggested amount we gain weight, and similarly when we go caloric deficit, we tend to lose weight (A tip to lose weight :P). 

 

The amount of weight we may gain or lose is subjective and depends on the difference in calories from the caloric point. 

Keeping the conceptual part apart, the objective is to gain or lose weight healthily rather than stocking too much fat into the body or losing out all the muscles in the body when we are planning to lose weight. Both of these will not make us fit and healthy; they will rather make us more off shape. If you’re underweight, you want to gain a good amount of muscle mass and little fat rather than a lot of unhealthy belly fat.

Are you losing weight suddenly?

How to gain weight when you are on a caloric deficit? 

So now we know that caloric deficit is the man behind losing weight suddenly or underweight issues. We need to increase the consumption of calories to get back to shape or increase our weight. 

Note: – Exercising daily will open the muscle tissues for our healthy foods to land inside. It is recommended that we strengthen ourselves by doing compound exercises to get better results. Decrease the cardio and HIIT sessions and work more on muscles.

To do so, I will mention a few practices and foods that will work effectively to gain weight in no time. 

Practices and Foods. 

1) Calculate the number of calories you take per day and make a note of it. 

Google is your best friend here, note down the number of calories you take from food and see that you are at least 500-600 calories above the maintenance level so that we see a visible improvement over a short period. Use a calorie calculator online to know your maintenance level.  

2) Drink lots of water and don’t drink before food. 

Make sure you drink at least 2 liters of water a day and at regular intervals so that it keeps your body hydrated and keeps you going. 

Avoid drinking water before your meals as it will fill up your stomach and decrease the appetite. 

 

3) Eat more often. Squeeze in snacks or an additional meal whenever you can. 

It’s all about how much more you eat and also at the same time eating healthy. A simple way to get in there is by Drinking whole milk to quench thirst. 

Milk is a very rich source of protein, for weight gaining please prefer high-fat milk as it contains healthy fats to hit your macros. 

 

4) Attack the issue psychologically. 

Sometimes it is our mind that is stopping us from getting there because of the habits it is used to. Use bigger plates if you’re trying to get in 

more calories, as smaller plates cause people to automatically consume less food. 

Eat multiple meals a day, snack healthy food every 2 hours and have 3 proper meals a day. This will make sure you reach your desired calories per day. 

 

The Go-To Foods to Gain Weight. 

1) Full Fat Milk 

Milk is a healthy source of protein, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, and calcium. 

Consider taking high-fat milk. Finish the dinner 2 hours before you sleep and drink a glass of milk before crashing as casein in milk will help in slow digestion. 300 glass of milk gives you around 130 calories and the best part is that the milk can be consumed instantly without any big preparations. 

 

2) Whole grain bread and wheat bread. 

These can be your go-to snacks. Both of these are very high in proteins and also can be used as post-workout to feed those proteins.Make a sandwich with these wheat bread stuffing some potatoes and greens. 4 plain wheat breads will give you 250-300 calories. Consider eating at least 4 a day. 

 

3) Healthy Cereals. 

Oatmeal with 2 bananas added inside is by far the best breakfast you can have. It can give you around 300+ calories to kick start your day. 

Make sure to check the label and avoid cereals with refined grains or added sugar. 

 

4) Whole Eggs 

Eggs are one of the healthiest muscle-building foods available. They provide a great combination of quality proteins and healthy fats. 

It’s also important to eat the whole egg. Most beneficial nutrients in eggs are found in the yolk. 

 

5) Other important calorie sources. 

Peanuts 

Bananas 

Cheese 

Potato 

Yogurt or curd 

Beas and legumes 

 

The Ideal Diet Plan to increase the weight and become fit.

Breakfast – Oats made in milk with 2 bananas

Snack 1 – 4 wheat breads 

Lunch – Rice meal with any 

Snack 2 – 40g peanuts with 2 wheat breads.

Dinner – minimum 4 chapatis with some sides. 

Before crashing – 200 ml milk with 4 almonds.

This is like a base plan, add these foods with the habitual home meals for best results. Eat at least 3-5 eggs per day for the best results.

Note: Homemade shakes will do magic in your weight gain process. 250 ml of milk + bananas and any other favorite fruit of yours can be added in as the best snack.

 

All the best for your weight gain process. Let us all move to a fitter lifestyle. Do comment on how you felt reading the article and update your progress. Resolving the losing weight suddenly issue is a slow process, let’s enjoy it and make it a habit for a fitter lifestyle. Let’s motivate ourselves by measuring our progress, posting our progress on social media. Take out the baggy t-shirt which your mom bought without knowing your size, it will be of use in a very short time.