Step 2 - Make Dietary Adjustments

It's time to structure some form of eating plan, and add calories. Use this as a starting point:

• Calories. Add 500 daily calories to the average you calculated above.
• Protein. Make sure you are eating at least 180 grams of protein per day.
• Fats. Make sure at least 20% of your daily calorie intake comes from healthy fats.
• Carbs. With your protein and fats in place, fill in the rest of your daily calorie intake with quality carbs - fruits, veggies, grains, etc.

It is certainly ok to eat more than 180 grams of protein per day. While studies indicate you may only need 150 grams per day for muscle growth, you have to consider the reality that you are currently underweight, and your body may gain muscle at a relatively rapid pace. Because of this, it's better to eat a little more daily protein, rather than a little less.

High protein intake is perfectly safe to those of you without pre-existing kidney issues. Eating more protein can also help to balance out your eating plan, so that you don't have to be so carb reliant. It can be hard to force feed yourself heavy carb meals when you aren't feeling overly hungry.

The recommended 20% fat intake should also be considered a minimum. Fat is calorie dense, holding 9 calories per gram, compared to proteins and carbs which only have 4 calories per gram. What does this mean? It's easier to get in your daily calories if you increase your fat intake. You won't feel as full, because fats are more calorie dense.

If you are having a hard time enough enough food, you may want to increase your fat intake as high as 40% daily. This will make reaching your daily calorie goals much easier.

How to gain Weight

We have determined that skinny guys need to:

Stop doing so much cardio.

Eat more food. 

Get a lot stronger then they are now.

Cardio is the easy part. We can control how much cardio we do each week. Let's move on to the next step of our journey, and learn "how" to gain weight properly, and in a healthy manner.

How to Gain Weight

This section will provide you with a step by step process on how to gain weight in a healthy manner. If you have any questions regarding diet and nutrition, please don't hesitate to leave them in the comments section below.

 Click here :  Step1- Analysis of your Existing diet

step1-Analysis of your existing diet

This is an essential step of the process, so do not skip it, and guess at your average calorie intake.

The truth is this...most skinny guys think they are eating enough food, but when you ask them to tell you how many calories they are eating on a daily basis, they aren't certain. This uncertainty is a major part of the problem.

If you can't gain weight, something must be done. You are left with 2 choices:

**Keep doing what you're doing, in this case guessing how many calories you are eating on a daily basis, and hope you gain weight. 

**Take control over the situation, learn what you are eating, make necessary changes, and set a minimum daily calorie goal.

Obviously, the second option is our only option. So, with that said, let's get started.

Grab a notebook, computer, an iPad, iPod or phone. You will need to write down everything you eat and drink this week - no exceptions. If you are not sure of the exact quantities, notate things in a manner that makes sense to you. For example:

**A fist-side portion of potatoes. 

**1/2 box of macaroni and cheese. 

**Nearly a full, large-size glass of milk.

Next, head over to Calorie King and calculate how many calories you've eaten this week. Some of this will be guess work, but that's part of the learning process. Don't fret if you feel like this may not yield 100% accuracy. That's not the point. The point is to start learning about foods, their calorie content, etc.

Now, calculate a daily average. How many calories are you eating per day? 2,200? 2,500? Is this number lower or higher than you expected?

Click for : step2-make dietary adjustments

Eating is not enough..

Skinny Guy Confessions: 

Looking back upon those years, it's easy to see what I was doing wrong and why I wasn't gaining weight (and muscle). Here are the major reasons why I wasn't making progress:

Cardio Overkill - I was exercising way too much. WAY too much. During the Summer months I was outside from sun up to sun down, running, playing baseball or basketball, or swimming.

When I wasn't outside, I was indoors doing some form of cardio - step ups, jumping rope, or even aerobics (yes, it was the early 80s). It wasn't unusual for me to run 3 miles a day, do 45 minutes of step ups, and play baseball for 4 hours. This was just another typical day for me.

So here's the problem: while I was certainly fit and healthy from all that exercise, I was expending a crazy amount of calories. Am I telling you that I should have stopped exercising completely? Of course not. Cardio work is a great way to improve overall health. The problem with doing "too much" cardio (and general exercise) is that it conflicts with another one of your primary goals - gaining weight.

Research backs up common sense on this subject. (1) A recent meta-analysis on the impact of cardiovascular exercise on resistance training determined:

Our results indicate that interference effects of endurance training are a factor of the modality, frequency, and duration of the endurance training selected.

The bottom line is that when you run a lot of cardio concurrently with your resistance training, it impacts results. The more cardiovascular work you do, the greater the tendency for it to impact your results.

If your primary goal is to gain weight and build muscle, then it would make sense to not push cardio too much. This is a competing goal; one that is in direct conflict with your weight gain goal. Because of this it makes sense to minimize the amount of cardio you do.

If you are a skinny guy, keep cardio sessions to "about" 3-4 per week, for 20 to 30 minutes each. If you play sports, or have an active lifestyle and can't really reduce cardio, then it's time to improve your diet.

healthy ways to gain weight

For the majority of peoples, "envious" is the word that comes to mind for anyone who needs to gain weight. Most people are on the other end of the scale, desperately trying to lose weight. 

But for people who struggle to maintain a healthy weight or are trying to gain weight, it can be a real challenge.  Reasons for needing to gain weight include health issues, lack of appetite, fueling sports, building muscle, or just trying to overcome skinny genes.

Being a little underweight is not necessarily a problem, says American Dietetic Association president-elect Sylvia Escott-Stump, RD.

"If you are comfortable, able to function and exercise, weighing a little less than your ideal body weight is not a problem and studies show it is associated with good health outcomes," Escott-Stump says.

However, if you want or need to gain weight, do it the healthy way -- which is not about bellying up to an all-you-can-eat buffet. 

Calories Count, But So Do Nutrients

Focus on healthy foods to gain weight, because even though you have more leeway with calories, good nutrition still rules. 

"Weight gain requires eating calorie-rich but also nutrient-rich foods -- not just high-calorie foods with lots of fat, sugar, or empty calories," says Alice Bender, RD, nutrition communications manager for the American Institute for Cancer Research.

The goal is to choose foods that are packed with vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and calories so each bite is loaded with good nutrition.

"Start with nutritious foods and then wherever you can, enrich the foods with additional ingredients like yogurt, fruit, nuts, and healthy fats," Escott-Stump says.

Eat Often to Gain Weight

Regardless of why you want to gain weight, eating meals or substantial snacks (think mini-meals) more often is the way to pack more calories into the day. 

"Try to eat six times a day, with each meal (or at least three of them) containing protein, starch, vegetable[s], and fat," says sports nutritionist and Georgia State University professor emeritus Christine Rosenbloom, PhD, RD.

A sample meal would include a turkey sandwich on whole-grain bread with mayonnaise and tomatoes and a fruit smoothie.

Eat often and choose wisely, and you can expect to gain an average of half a pound to 1 pound per week.

Gaining Muscle Mass

"Athletes who want to bulk up need to add sufficient calories and protein along with proper strength training to make sure they gain weight in the right places," Rosenbloom says. 

She advises athletes to eat protein-rich snacks such as a high-protein energy bar, low-fat chocolate milk, or a protein shake immediately after weight training to give muscles the necessary post-workout fuel.

Rosenbloom instructs athletes to snack on high-calorie, high-protein foods and beverages, such as a protein shake with two scoops of whey protein before bedtime.

Avid exercisers who are not trying to build muscle mass also need frequent healthy snacks to fuel their physical activity and to maintain or gain weight.