I think we can all agree that gaining weight is way more fun than losing it but you don’t want to get fat and it’s pretty easy to give in so here are 7 Tips To GAIN WEIGHT Without Getting FAT that have helped me over the years.
How To Gain Weight Without Getting Fat
DON’T EAT EVERYTHING IN SIGHT! A common misconception when “bulking” is that you should eat everything and anything in order to gain weight.
Whether you have a slow or fast metabolism, over-consuming bad food and tons of calories is going to make you gain bad weight.
Find out out what your maintenance calories are and start by eating 500 calories over that to gain 1 pound a week. In my experience, that’s the safe bet for minimal fat gain when gaining weight.
Your maintenance can be figured out by using an online calculator. You would eat that maintenance amount for 1-2 weeks and see if you gain or lose weight. If it stays the same, that’s your maintenance! Easy enough, right?
More Protein
Have an extra protein shake! This how to gain weight without getting fat tip is for those of you who have trouble eating enough to actually gain weight.
If you can’t seem to eat enough food, introduce another protein shake into your diet. Want 600 calories in 60 seconds? Try 1-2 scoops of some protein powder, 1-2 tablespoons of some nut butter, 8 ounces of milk, a banana, and 1/2 cup of rolled oats.
LAY OFF THE CARDIO! If you can’t eat enough to compensate for the cardio you’re doing, like I mention in my Muscle Building Tips video, you’ll want to lay off it.
You don’t have to completely eliminate cardio since it’s great for overall health but switching to low intensity stuff will mean eating less to gain weight.
The best part about this one? Less time in the kitchen and on the treadmill means you’ll save both money AND time.
Water Intake
Drink less water! I bet that’s not something you expected to see in tips for how to gain weight without getting fat from someone who promotes a healthy lifestyle, eh?
Let me rephrase this one, drink less water…BEFORE MEALS. You won’t be as full which = more room for food.
STOP USING LOWER CALORIE ALTERNATIVES! Not only will they taste better but they pack a ton more calories in a lot less food. Use full fat cheeses, whole milk, real butter, and so on.
Say No To The Dirty Bulk
EAT LESS if you’re gaining weight TOO FAST! The last thing you want to do is put on a ton of fat. If you’re like me, it’s super easy to gain weight but it’s also REALLY easy to gain fat.
One of my first attempts to gain weight when starting out, I decided to “dirty bulk”. If you’re not familiar with the term it basically means to eat whatever you want and trust me, I did. I put on 40lbs in no time. Seriously, we’re talking a few months here!
A majority of that 40lbs? FAT! Not just any fat but fat that took FOREVER to get rid of. This would be how to gain weight and get fat!
Gaining weight the right way, in moderation, is like separating the colors of one bag of M&M’s at a time. Dirty bulking is like doing a whole box. Unless you have crazy good discipline, it’s seriously not worth it.
GIVE YOURSELF MORE OPTIONS! It’s not possible to gain 100% “good” weight, they’ll always be some fat gain even if you’re spending $500 a week on all natural, organic, cage-free, grass-fed, imported, hand picked & washed, alien-grown food.
Cheat In Moderation
Have a sub, pizza, some ice cream, a heavier dressing, whatever you want every now and then. The key is moderation and when you’re trying to gain weight that moderation can be a little bit more flexible. Make sure you’re not overdoing it by doing your best to track your calories!
If none of these help you gain weight? Grab a spoon and some peanut butter.
There you go, a few tips I’ve learned a long the way through trial & error on how to gain weight without getting fat. Hopefully at least one of these tips helped you out and if it did let me know which one in the comments below!
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I started going to the gym and of course needed to gain weight I started drinking two proteins shakes every day plus my three meals and yes I went from 109-126 in three months. But I now have a belly, I was going more for a flat belly /: I don’t know how to do it since I’m new to all this stuff. I only do 10 mins cardio in the stair climber.
Do you happen to know how many calories you were eating during this period?
I burn an average around 1000 calories a day. But mind you I am 15 years old and weighing only around 100 pounds. I try to eat more, but no matter how much I eat I still loose weight. It makes absolutely no sense. I wanna be fit like i am rn, but i dont wana be under weight, can someone please give me some advice that would help me gain weight, but also keep my six pack.
Hi Matt! Do you have a rough understanding of how many calories you’re eating a day?
The hilarious thing is that people think that if they’re eating nothing but chicken, eggs, veggies, and sweet potatoes; it’s impossible to gain fat…that all the weight they gain will be muscle. Conversely to that, they think that a Pop Tart or a couple cookies will WRECK their diet for a week.
Cliffs Notes: If your maintenance is 3000 Cals, you WILL get FAT from eating 5000 Cal/day of “Clean” foods. If you have 200 Cal left in your daily Cals to stay under your fat loss Cal target for the day, you can have a cookie or 2.
Derek, you might want to add an addendum: no way should a woman eat 500 Cal/day over her maintenance. Their capacity to partition those calories to muscle is far less than men, hence they run the risk of gaining fat a lot faster because they don’t have the androgens to help.