I work in the topsy turvy world that is eating disorders. Most of the media focus, food manufacturers, shops and nutrition business is on how to lose weight…. whilst I work with people on how to gain or maintain their weight. Gaining weight may sound like it is easy to do… but it often isn’t. You need to increase your dietary intake by 350-500kcals per day to start gaining weight. Now if you don’t have an eating disorder that may seem like no hard thing. A latte and slice of cake will easily hit the mark. However often the clients I work with are keen to increase the energy density of their diet in healthy ways. Now I’m all for eating plenty of veggies but you will have to eat a whopping amount if you are going to gain weight on extra veggies alone As I had to explain to one client recently – 350kcals extra in salad alone would mean you would be eating salad all day long. However there are options, if you can keep an open mind.
Foods like nuts, seeds, avocado, dried fruit, nut butters, hummus, yoghurt, cheese, eggs, olive or rapeseed oils and fruit juices, will provide a nutrient dense way to increase the calories of your diet.
Some of these foods may be on the scary side but they all provide nutrients that the body needs.
This is a really helpful article. I am currently trying to gain weight to a bmi of 18 and have really struggled so far. It is difficult to increase the variety in my diet or know what is and isn’t ok to eat because there is so much conflicting advice out there. It is nice to read something that doesn’t make me feel guilty for eating dairy and doesn’t suggest cutting out major food groups. Thank you for your sensible advice, hopefully it will help me to gain the weight I need to, without feeling quite so guilty!