How to Put On Weight for Girls

Girls’ bodies are different than the bodies of grown men or women, so their weight gaining needs will be different, too. Some girls can end up dropping a lot of weight during a growth spurt, and will resume gaining weight once it’s over. Others are just congenitally skinny, which can cause problems with things like menstruation, recovering from illness, or other health issues. To prevent this, there are a couple different ways girls can use to put on weight.

Gaining muscle, or gaining fat?

The best trick for how to put on weight for girls depends on the weight they’re trying to gain. Muscle and fat are two different substances that serve different purposes in the body, so increasing one is a whole different process than increasing the other. Muscle grows when exercise causes tiny tears in muscle tissue. These are filled in by the body as part of the healing process. Fat grows when more calories are taken in than are necessary, so the body stores them for the future.

To things are important for gaining muscle weight- exercise and protein. Girls can exercise and gain muscle weight, without worrying about becoming bulky. This is because, unlike boys and men, they don’t have enough testosterone to cause them to develop large, bulky muscles. Weight training and an adequate protein intake can help them increase muscle mass, and thus gain muscle weight.

To gain fat, things are a little more complicated. Exercise burns calories, and burning calories causes weight loss. It’s not good to stop exercising entirely, however. Girls who need to gain fat should still exercise, but balance their exercise out by taking in extra calories. Every 3,500 calories a girl takes in above what she needs over a certain period of time equals about one pound, or .45 kilograms. If a girl eats an extra five hundred calories per day for a week, she’ll gain that weight in a week. If she eats a little over an extra hundred calories per day for a month, she’ll gain the same amount of weight  in a month.

Weight-gaining food for girls

Girls’ bodies are still growing, so filling up with junk food to gain weight isn’t a good idea. Instead, for girls who need muscle weight, high protein foods like tofu, nuts, beans, lean meat, eggs, and lean dairy are important to eat. Some of these can be blended up into shakes to have between meals.

For girls who need to gain fat, fatty foods are beneficial. Fat has more calories per gram than anything else. This means that less fat is needed to provide the same amount of calories as a larger amount of protein or carbohydrates. Therefore, these girls should try to eat full-fat dairy, nuts and seeds, coconut, avocado, and other oily or fatty foods. These will provide the necessary extra calories, as well as vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that growing young women need.

Having a healthy body weight is important, and sometimes that means having to gain weight. Whether they need to gain fat or muscle, there are measures girls can take to ensure that they put on weight in a healthy, easy way.