Am I a healthy weight for my height?
To find out if you're a healthy weight for your height, you can use our healthy weight calculator.
If you're concerned about being underweight, you should consult your GP. As well as advising you about your diet, your GP can check for any underlying conditions preventing you from gaining weight.
If you decide that you would like to gain weight, you need to eat more calories than you use - and you need to do this regularly. It's not enough just to have occasional extra snacks.
Take it slowly
Set yourself a realistic target weight and aim to increase your weight gradually, by about 1 kg (2 lbs) every month until you reach it. To do this, you'll need to take in about 350 extra calories each day. Your body will respond better if you do this by eating healthily, rather than just eating more chocolate or fatty foods.
Eat regularly
It's important to eat regularly throughout the day. Plan to eat three regular meals, plus two or three snacks in between. If you find this difficult at first, you could start with small meals and gradually make them larger. To add more calories to your meals, you could:
- have an extra slice of toast for breakfast,
- drink grape juice rather than orange or apple juice,
- make coffee and tea with milk,
- serve an extra spoon of mashed potato, wholemeal rice or wholemeal pasta,
- add lean minced meat, lentils, beans or noodles to meals like casseroles and soups,
- be more generous with healthier unsaturated oils, such as olive, sunflower and vegetable oils, salad dressing and spreads, and
- always have a dessert.
Using fortified milk in your hot drinks will also add more calories, but try and cut down the amount of tea and coffee you drink each day, replacing it with milky drinks instead.
To help you keep on track for your target weight, you might like to write a regular meal plan or keep a food diary.
Eat healthily
As well as eating regularly, it's important to eat healthily. Your diet will be balanced if you eat foods from the five main food groups in the right amounts.
- Carbohydrates like bread, pasta and potatoes should make up about one third of your diet.
- You should aim to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day.
- About one fifth of what you eat each day should be protein - choose from meat, fish and eggs, or beans and nuts.
- You should aim to get 700mg of calcium each day, roughly the same as a pint of milk or two small yoghurts. You can also get calcium from soya milk and yoghurts with added calcium, and from leafy green vegetables.
- Fatty or sugary foods like butter, chocolate, crisps and cakes should make up the smallest part of your diet.
Healthy snacks
Keep some healthy snacks handy, to make it easier to keep to your plan. You might like to choose from:
- fresh or dried fruit,
- cereal or cereal bars,
- milk, yoghurt drinks or smoothies,
- flapjacks, scones or fruit buns,
- nuts and seeds,
- pots of rice pudding, custard or yoghurt,
- wheatmeal biscuits,
- pasteurised cheese and crackers.
And, of course, a small chocolate bar once in a while doesn't do any harm!
Ideas for more filling snacks include omelettes with healthy fillings such as ham, cheese or mushroom, baked beans on wholemeal toast, and jacket potatoes with toppings like tuna and coleslaw or cold chicken and turkey.
Do I need to take supplements?
You shouldn't need to take food supplements if you eat healthily while increasing your intake of calories. If you do decide to take supplements, there's a variety to choose from, such as sweet and savoury liquid meals or supplements, and high-energy and protein powders.
Don't forget to exercise
As well as eating well, rest, relaxation and regular exercise can play a key part in gaining weight healthily.
Although exercise burns calories, it's important to include it in your plan, to help keep your bones strong and tone your muscles. Remember to keep up your increased food intake, with enough extra calories so you continue to gain weight gradually.
Regular physical activity such as walking is recommended, for 30 minutes, five days a week. You don't need to do the 30 minutes all in one go. You may also like to do some resistance training using gym equipment or home weights, but seek advice from a qualified fitness adviser first.
Make sure you have time to relax each day too.
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