Social media usually puts a lot of emphasis on weight loss transformations, they are difficult and flashy once accomplished. On the other hand, those who struggle with weight gain aren’t applauded in the same way because being naturally skinny is seen as a blessing. If you are someone who can’t put on pounds no matter how much they eat, read on to learn how to gain weight with a fast metabolism.
To gain weight with a fast metabolism, focus on the following things; eating in a calorie surplus, focusing on calorie dense foods, eating more frequently, and tracking progress. Using these techniques can help make sure you are eating enough to provide your body with enough energy to put on weight.
To improve your odds of success, keep reading to better understand why these techniques work and how to do them.
Tips to gain weight with a fast metabolism
1.Eating in a calorie surplus
The number one rule if you are trying to gain weight, regardless of your metabolism level, is to be eating in a calorie surplus.
What this means is that you need to consume more than you burn each day. The goal is to actually give your body a reason and the nutrients to start storing energy.
As simple as that sounds, for people having trouble gaining weight, there will probably be some eating habits you need to get rid of.
Some of those might include; not eating breakfast, not eating enough meals, avoiding calorie rich foods etc.
If you don’t know where to start, check out an online diet calculator, this will give you an estimation of your calorie needs based on your goals.
From there you are going to want to track your progress, this way you can make adjustments when need be.
The goal is ideally to eat in a small calorie surplus so you don’t pack on too much body fat, of course this idea is best when paired with a workout plan.
If you don’t know where to start, check out my free beginners workout plan!
2.Focus on calorie dense foods
Next, things like salads are great and have awesome nutritional benefits. But by focusing on those types of meals for your calories, you might not reach the level you need to put on weight.
If you have trouble eating enough to gain weight, this tip will help you even more.
What I suggest is to choose foods that are more calorie dense and easier to digest. I don’t mean fill your plates with junk food, instead do things like having protein shakes, omelets, and other calorie rich but also HEALTHY foods.
Protein shakes for one can be really tasty and easy to drink, which makes them a perfect tool for this tip.
I recommend getting Gold Standard protein, they have a high protein ratio and they are sweet enough to feel like you’re drinking a milkshake (affiliate link)
If you have trouble eating enough, filling up on empty foods will be counterproductive to what you are trying to do.
To help choose foods to stock up on, here is a small list of healthy high calorie foods to get you started.
- Protein supplements and snacks
- Peanut butter
- Hummus
- Avocado
- Yogurt
- Cheese
- Eggs
- Smoothies
- “Junk food” in moderation
3.Eat more frequently
Next, the next way to learn how to gain weight with a “fast metabolism” is to simply try and identify if you aren’t eating enough meals.
This can restrict the amount you eat to a smaller window, subsequently causing you to eat less.
For example, if you skip breakfast every day and don’t have lunch until 12 pm, a third of your day is gone. If you wanted to make up for the lost meal’s calories, you would have to have an oversized lunch and dinner.
Eating more often especially helps if you are the type of person who is more of a snacker then a meal eater.
Simply set a reminder on your phone or some kind of fitness watch to eat every few hours. You are less likely to be overwhelmed by food while still getting your adequate amount of calories at the end of your busy day.
Suddenly eating more meals each day should be something you implement slowly. Make an effort to eat more, but be sure you take your comfort into account.
You want to make this lifestyle change permanent, so taking a slow and steady approach helps make it more enjoyable.
4.How to gain weight with a fast metabolism tip #4: Track progress
The last piece of advice I have for you to learn how to gain weight with a fast metabolism is to track how you’re doing along the journey.
Tracking helps to keep you on track when times are tough or maybe you have made a mistake in your diet choices without realizing it.
The process of tracking is simple, get a fitness app and log your stats each day.
The most important things for this specific scenario is to log your food intake and your weight.
By doing this on a consistent basis you will see how your calorie level matches up with the way your weight is moving up and down.
Don’t rush into making changes, but also don’t be too slow either. Aim for making adjustments after two weeks or so.
If your weight isn’t budging, or worse, it’s going down when you don’t want it to, it’s safe to say you can raise how much you eat by a couple hundred calories each day.
Try this for another two weeks and re-evaluate.
What is a fast metabolism?
Metabolism’s differ for a variety of factors like age, sex and body composition. The idea of fast and slow metabolisms are romanticized in the public eye to a great extent.
Images of people eating an absurd amount of food without gaining anything, or those who eat just salads and can’t seem to lose weight are common examples.
The truth is, the difference in metabolism in normal situations doesn’t really look like that. The real culprits tend to be eating habits and activity level.
People with fast metabolisms tend to eat a lot less than they really do and/or have very active lifestyles.
This is why when you are trying to figure out how to gain weight with a fast metabolism, what you really should be doing is tackling the underlying root causes.
The tips I outlined above do that.
Adjusting eating habits, reminding yourself to eat enough etc.
Everyone is different, the reasons we are in the shape we are in vary from person to person.
You might have a “fast metabolism” because you are a 2 sport athlete who forgets to eat sometimes.
You then go out to eat with some friends and consume two whole burgers. You, as well as your friends, get the idea that you can eat whatever you want and stay skinny.
If you know someone who could really use these pieces of advice, make sure to share with them.
You might not be the only one who deals with the same problems.