Ai says…

Gaining weight in a healthy and sustainable way typically involves focusing on nutritious food choices, consistent eating habits, and an appropriate balance of exercise. Here are a few tips:

Nutrition

Lifestyle

I’m vegetarian

Stop that.

First of all, how old are you. You may not have to do anything at all when you agree in your 30s just from natural changes.

I had this same struggle, and I started construction work when I was 25. I had a fightclub physique for a time, and then when I transitioned to office work I gained 20-30lbs.

I’m doing ok now.

If you’re just under your calorie target, you can add high calorie snacks or toppings to gain weight. Do you like nuts and seeds? Avacados? Olive oil? Cheese?

You can buy or make lots of nice high fat nut snacks, roast them with your favourite spices if you like flavour or just a little salt if you prefer blander stuff. Snack on them throughout the day, and schedule times to have a portion of you’re not naturally a snacker. Sprinkle them over salads or rice bowls or whatever.

Dip nice bread in olive oil and vinegar (with some zatar or other spice mixes if your like). Shallow fry things in olive oil - take slices of nutrious but calorie light vegetables, dip in a simple tempura batter of cornflour and water, then fry in olive oil. Crispy, fresh, delicious and lots of calories.

So you eat desert? Start having nice fruit with heavy cream poured over the top. Use cream in sauces or add to mashed potatoes, vegetable gratins, etc.

You could try a nutritional supplement like carbohydrates or protein;

• The 6 Best Weight Gain Supplements, According to Dietitians
• 12 Best Supplements to Gain Weight

Pastas, oils, lentils, nuts, legumes, and beans ig.

But do conaider that muscle will be a more sustainable form of weight maintenance for your metabolism. Also, protein poweders are very high in calories.

My sympathies. I will be watching the responses, I’m 170cm and I’ve never broken past 55kg, no matter how hard I’ve tried… I’m vegan, but I had the same problem long before I went vegan.

My body seems intent on pinning my weight to this value. Even in periods of high sedentary lifestyle or high exercise, I’ve always been between 53 and 55 kilograms. My fitness watch does report other metrics improving (VO2 max) but my weight stays the same 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have a naturally lean body type. I put on quite a lot of good weight by doing strength training over several months. I supplemented my diet with a protein shake of which I drank half before training and the remaining after it.

Try it! It’ll take time but you’ll gain weight in a healthy manner and feel good about it.

My problem was probably similar to yours. I just don’t get hungry. In university, I would have some oatmeal for breakfast and cruise through until about 10pm and get some fast food, too often.

My solution was to start working out. I saw my colleagues were all carrying fat bellies and I didn’t want to end up that way. But I also knew that if I wanted to work out, I needed to fuel my body. So every day I just plan my diet like building with Lego, filling out the macros and calories and eat it whether I want to or not. For some people, that’s not a good approach from a mental health perspective, but it works for me.

Start a workout plan (strong lifts 5x5 is a simple starting point without much fluff) and get an app (I strongly suggest MacroFactor - it’s excellent) that tells you how much to eat, and follow it. I went from 58kg to 77kg in a year, and after dieting the somewhat excessive fluffy parts back off I landed at 70kg and looking pretty shredded.

As a vegetarian, you probably don’t need to worry nearly as much about getting fibre and vegetables, but it can be harder just because animal products are nutritionally dense. Picture 600 calories of broccoli. Now picture a hamburger. It’s an unfair comparison, but the point is the calorie density is way higher.

Add more oil or even lard to your healthy meals and slowly increase consumption.

Workout bro’s use mass gain powder. I’m fat so I’ve never tried it, but I assume it’s protein powder and probably sugar and maybe some fats.