Healthy Plans

• Every healthy weight gaining plan will focus on consumption of natural, wholesome foods--avoiding processed foods, fried foods and refined flours. Additionally, a healthy approach to gaining weight will focus on more of a slow and steady approach, allowing your body to manufacture lean mass at the fastest possible rate while minimizing unsightly fat gains.
  
  

Christian Thibaudeau's Approach

• Canadian strength coach Christian Thibaudeau takes a scientific approach to weight gain. Noting that your body is hormonally limited in the amount of lean mass it can build, you should aim for a gain of no more than 1.5 to 2 pounds per month, lest your weight gain be mostly water weight or fat. Stick to clean, natural foods--lean protein sources (fish, chicken and meat), clean carbs (fruit, veggies and whole grains), and healthy fats (olive and fish oil) for the bulk of your daily calories. Remember that as you gain weight you will need to continue eating more food to gain additional weight--whereas a 150 lb. individual would need roughly 3,000 calories to see weight gain, a 170 lb. individual would need around 3,400. Plan on adding about 200 calories to your daily intake for every 10 extra pounds of mass.
  
  

John Berardi's Approach

• Canadian nutritionist John Berardi has a different approach to mass gaining. With his "Massive Eating" approach you will strive to never consume large amounts of fat and carbs in the same meal (more than 10 grams of each). Food choices are the same as above--fish, chicken, meat, whole grains, fruit, veggies and healthy oils. Eat six times a day, consuming your first three meals as protein and carb meals and your last three meals as protein and fat meals. Eliminating carb intake throughout the evening will reduce the likelihood of fat gain, leading to optimal gains.
  
  

Dave Draper's System

• To gain weight in a healthy fashion, famous bodybuilder Dave Draper recommends the following approach: eat at least six meals per day, basing your diet around protein sources like red meat, fish, chicken, milk, cottage cheese and eggs. Supplement that with healthy carbs such as whole grain muffins, breads and cereals, along with plenty of fruits and vegetables. Consume no more than 35 grams of protein per sitting, but make sure that every meal comes close to that limit, as protein is the building block of muscle. Finally, keep protein shakes on hand for any surprise situations where you might not be able to consume a solid food meal.
  
  

Considerations

• To put these approaches into action you will need some way to monitor progress. The best way is a combination of scale weight, progress pictures and a food log. Keeping your daily caloric total written down can allow you to make quick adjustments if you are gaining too quickly or slowly. Additionally, progress pictures can more effectively show whether the weight gained is solid muscle or unwanted fat. Assess progress every other week and fine-tune your food intake so that you are gaining on schedule.