Aimed at women - how to gain weight healthily?

What, are we crazy? Women and getting fat?! Yes, we're serious. If a woman is skinny to the bone, it's not healthy or beautiful to look at. For all those who could use a healthy gain of some pounds (preferably muscle), we have written this article.

There are many reasons why some women fall into being too underweight - stress, childcare and self-neglect, exhausting jobs, tragic life events, health problems, eating disorders, poor diets with high physical stress, alternative and unsatisfactory ways of eating - raw, veganism and more. If you fall into the category of women with eating disorders or health issues, be sure to put yourself in the hands of an experienced professional.

8 tips for healthy weight gain

1) Get your head straight

As with trying to lose weight, it's important to want to do something about yourself when it comes to gaining weight. If you haven't addressed your underweight or even strived to be as thin as possible, it's time to get your head straight. From a certain age onwards, a woman is simply supposed to look like a woman and have shape, not be a flabby little girl, so accept it and don't try to go against nature. It's also good to realise that being significantly underweight is not just an aesthetic problem (yes, most men really don't like protruding ribs and a flat bottom), but has a negative impact on health. An optimal body fat percentage is needed in women for proper hormone functioning.

Too low a percentage of body fat causes the brain to stop producing the hormones that control the menstrual cycle, preventing ovarian stimulation and ovulation. This is a kind of "defense mechanism", as such a body would not be able to bear a healthy fetus. Being underweight also has a negative effect on the functioning of the immune system and can cause anemia, a drop in blood pressure, fatigue and reduced performance, coldness and other health problems.

2) Eat more and make smart food choices

Food is essential and you can't do without it. The rule is simple - you need to have your intake higher than your output. If you have no idea how many calories and individual macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat) you are taking in daily, we recommend writing everything down in calorie charts at the beginning. Since you want to gain weight in a healthy way and not all fat, your diet should be based on quality and healthy foods.

If you're worried about having to cram mountains of food into your diet, this is not the case. Just choose foods wisely - reach for those that are both healthy and high in calories - e.g. beef, sweet potatoes, nut butters, avocados. Leave the plates full of vegetables to the dieters. For more tips, read the article Top 10 healthy foods for ectomorphs.

3) Incorporate regular strength training

Forget long hours spent on the treadmill, endless reps and sets. To gain muscle mass, it is not necessary to train a large number of reps and sets, 4 sets and about 10 reps will be enough. The important thing is to train technically correct and with a heavy enough load. Prefer dumbbells to machines and never forget basic exercises like squat, bench press, deadlift and others. Volume training can be set up in different ways, here's an example of what it could look like to give you an idea:

• Monday: chest, shoulders, abs
• Tuesday: legs
• Wednesday: rest
• Thursday: biceps, triceps, abs
• Friday: rest
• Saturday: calves, back
• Sunday: off

4) Get enough rest

Muscles don't grow during exercise, but during rest. Simply put, when you train, muscle fibres break down, when you recover, fibres rebuild and muscles grow. You need to feed your muscles properly (see point 2) and give them plenty of rest - muscle recovery time varies, ranging from about 24 to 48 hours (depending on the part being exercised - small parts recover faster than large ones, age, genetics, etc.) Try to sleep around 8 hours a day and make sure you have proper spacing between the parts being exercised. Don't forget that in some exercises you engage more than one part at a time - for example, in bench press you engage not only the pectoral muscles but also the triceps.

5) Don't be afraid to ask more experienced people for advice

If you're a beginner or have never even been to the gym, we recommend investing in an experienced trainer who can show you the exercises, proper technique and even help you create a training plan. If you have someone among your friends who is dedicated to healthy eating and working out, don't hesitate to ask them for advice if you don't understand something. You may also find a variety of specialist books helpful.

6) Monitor your progress regularly

Weighing yourself every day is pointless, not to mention that women at a certain stage of their menstrual cycle can gain up to 2 kg just due to water retention (not valid if you are on contraceptives, you are not menstruating in the true sense of the word). It is a good idea to keep a record of your measurements and weight and to weigh and measure yourself every month (chest, waist, hips, thighs, arms). If you haven't gained a deco in a whole month, you need to add on food.

7) Don't look for a dietary supplement to save you

Desperate people do desperate things. Although some may tell you otherwise, there is no miracle dietary supplement that will make you gain pounds of muscle mass in a short period of time. As much as one would like to change everything at the snap of a finger, it doesn't work that way, you have to try, do everything right and persevere.

8) Stick to your goal and don't let anyone or anything get in your way

Except perhaps during the Baroque period, the fact that women have gained weight is synonymous with something bad and undesirable. If you are significantly underweight, you can't take it that way. Try to let it go, don't take comments about having gained weight in a bad way, on the contrary, many people want to praise you for it, to suggest that you finally look healthy, attractive and full of life. Don't let anyone or anything get you down and enjoy the path you have chosen for yourself - to be stronger, healthier and happier with yourself every day. After all, if you look at the photos of the women in our article, you have to admit that they look much more attractive, healthy and balanced after gaining weight.

[Image sources: Linn Strömberg, Sarah Ramadan, Hattie Boydle, Amber Callahan, fitnesshealths.com]