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Diet for weight gain: menu for a week
Last reviewed: 03.07.2025

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Everyone has heard about the problems of excess weight. Numerous talk shows, glossy magazines, diets, plastic surgery procedures, fat removal and stomach suturing surgeries are devoted to them - everyone strives to get closer to model standards, some need it for health reasons. But there are people who suffer no less from underweight. Extreme thinness is not aesthetically pleasing and can indicate diseases such as diabetes, hyperthyroidism, anemia, gastrointestinal pathologies, cancer, tuberculosis. If possible pathologies are excluded, it would seem that there is nothing easier than eating large portions of food without any restrictions (to the envy of overweight people), but a large load on the digestive organs, the pancreas will lead to health problems, provoke putrefactive processes in the intestines, fermentation.
Indications
Losing weight below the critical level is life-threatening, it can cause irreversible processes in cardiac activity, kidney function, and the vascular system. Indications for prescribing a diet are the desire to gain weight or a low body mass index that threatens the normal functioning of the body. The simplest formula for calculating it will help determine it: height divided by the square of the weight. An indicator from 18.5 to 25 is normal, but below 16 indicates anorexia. To combat this disease, you will need not only a diet, but also the intervention of psychologists and psychotherapists. We will not touch on such borderline states, but will focus on the diet.
General information weight gain diets
The essence of the diet is to split food into small portions, contain healthy foods, and gradually increase the calories consumed. Every day, the calorie content should increase by 200-300 units. To stimulate the appetite, half an hour before eating, you need to drink a glass of vegetable or fruit juice. This will lead to increased secretion of the mucous glands of the stomach. After eating, you should avoid physical activity, exercise, and rest so that the fat can "tie in."
Diet menu for weight gain
The diet menu for weight gain should mainly contain proteins and carbohydrates, meals should be taken at the same time, with intervals of no more than 3 hours. It is also necessary to drink a lot of water and walk in the fresh air. There are many diet options with different approaches to the problem, developed by nutritionists. Here are some of them:
- protein diet for weight gain: includes foods rich in protein - dietary meat (rabbit, chicken, turkey); meat broths; white fish meat, as well as tuna, salmon; whole milk and fermented milk products; egg whites; hard cheeses, cottage cheese; legumes, nuts. The diet is suitable for young people who lead an active lifestyle. Its duration is 2 weeks, you can resort to it once a year;
- high-calorie — food, the total daily caloric content of which is 2.5-3 thousand calories. It consists of a nutritious breakfast, such as: milk porridge with butter, raisins, dried apricots, a sandwich with butter and cheese, coffee; omelet with bacon, vegetables, a sandwich with sausage, tea with cookies or a bun. A few hours later - a second breakfast with vegetables, you can have mashed potatoes or potato pancakes, pancakes; lunch includes first courses on meat broth, meat or fish, a side dish; for an afternoon snack, you can give preference to protein shakes; for dinner, a side dish with meatballs, sausages and vegetable salad, a sandwich with butter for tea is suitable. Before going to bed, you can drink kefir with cookies or cottage cheese with sour cream, cocoa with a sweet bun;
- carbohydrate - consists of products rich in carbohydrates. Some of them burn slowly: rice, buckwheat, potatoes, legumes, nuts, others are quickly absorbed: honey, sugar, fruits. The optimal combination for the body is 65% and 35%, respectively.
Diet for fast weight gain
A diet for rapid weight gain does not mean unlimited intake of any high-calorie food. A good effect can only be achieved by balancing the diet. The optimal option is when the daily diet contains 50% carbohydrates, 35% proteins, and the rest fats. Another mandatory condition is splitting meals into 5-6 times. Such a diet should include porridge with milk and nuts, honey; vegetable salads seasoned with sour cream or mayonnaise; first courses on broths; fried or stewed meat, fish; sandwiches with butter; cheese and fatty cottage cheese.
"Energy Diet" for weight gain
"Energy Diet" (ED) is a man-made product that contains all the necessary macro- and microelements to replace several meals. Its homeland is France, it was developed for professional athletes, on the consumer market since 2003. In order for ED to "work" for weight gain, it must be added to regular meals. One serving contains 450 kcal. Following the ED consumption program, you can get an additional 900-1500 kcal to your daily diet. The variety of these products is quite extensive: cocktail, omelet, soup, bread, pasta, porridge, dessert, coffee, cappuccino. In total, the mixtures contain 15 flavors, there are sweet and salty ones, but they can be diversified by adding your own. The instructions for preparing ED products provide for the use of 1.5% milk. For one serving of the dish, a measuring spoon of the mixture and 200 ml of milk are enough. To get soup, milk can be replaced with broth, and the cocktail with kefir. It is very important to accompany this diet with plenty of fluids (at least 2 liters per day), as well as physical activity.
Milla Jovovich's Diet for Weight Gain
It is very important for Hollywood stars to be able to quickly lose or gain weight in order to get the role they want. The diet for Milla Jovovich was developed by the famous nutritionist Ozy Garcia, is based on daily consumption of prunes and allowed her to gain 3 kg of weight in a week:
Days one and five:
- breakfast - 2 boiled eggs, 2 prunes, grapefruit, coffee;
- lunch - vegetable soup, a piece of bran bread, 2 nuts, 8 prunes, tea (green everywhere) without sugar, orange;
- dinner - fried fish (100g), boiled egg, tea.
Second and sixth day:
- breakfast - 40g cheese, 3 prunes, coffee;
- lunch - borscht, bread, boiled beef, 2 almonds, green tea;
- Dinner - vegetable salad, 4 prunes, tea.
Third and seventh days:
- breakfast - sandwich with cheese and ham, coffee;
- lunch - chicken broth with croutons, two boiled potatoes in their skins, one tomato, 3 prunes, tea;
- Dinner: a glass of milk with a bran bun, 5 prunes.
Day four:
- breakfast - oatmeal or cornflakes with milk (200g), 4 prunes, coffee;
- lunch - Ukrainian borscht, one cucumber and tomato, tea;
- afternoon snack - freshly squeezed grape juice, 5 prunes;
- Dinner: sandwich with ham and cheese, 50g raisins, 6 prunes, tea.
Winter Diet for Weight Gain
In winter, people often complain about the appearance of excess fat reserves, which means it's time for thin people to take advantage of this feature of the cold season. Indeed, physical activity is reduced in winter, and there is a need for more caloric food to protect against the cold. In addition, nutrition should include vitamins and microelements to create an immune barrier to colds and infections. A winter diet for weight gain consists of meat, fish, poultry, and fruit.
Fresh vegetables, due to their seasonal high cost, are replaced by winter preparations - sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers and tomatoes, frozen vegetables. Portions should be small, but the frequency of their intake increases to 5 times a day. For main meals, soups with meat and mushroom broth, side dishes of cereals and baked potatoes, rice and semolina milk porridges, tea and coffee with added milk are recommended. Fatty kefir or yogurt with cookies are suitable for snacks.
Sumo Wrestler Diet for Weight Gain
Watching this type of struggle, you wonder how it could have originated among a nation not prone to obesity. Statistics claim that the slimness of the Japanese people is due to centuries-old traditions: the energy value of the daily diet of the average Japanese is 1,200 calories, which is half that of Europeans.
To gain weight, a sumo wrestler requires not only a diet, but also a special daily routine with intensive training to preserve fat reserves. It would seem that there are contradictions in this, since physical activity leads to weight loss. The fact is that a sumo wrestler's day begins with a multi-hour workout on an empty stomach. This leads to mandatory overeating during lunch and a slowdown in metabolic processes. In addition, sumo wrestlers drink alcoholic beverages during meals: beer, sake, thereby adding calories and causing intensive production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. Then follows a 3-4 hour sleep, during which calories are converted into fat deposits. After the next workout, athletes have dinner and go to bed.
Thus, food intake is carried out only twice a day. The diet is composed in such a way that the wrestler receives up to 20 thousand calories per day. Such caloric content is provided by fatty meat, fish, shrimp, large portions of rice, vegetables with various sauces. In 2-3 years of such a diet, the sumo wrestler gains up to 200 kg of weight. This cannot but affect their life expectancy. With an average of 82 years in the country, they have 60-65 years. Therefore, their method of gaining weight is not recommended to be adopted, but some elements can be tried to use.
Banana Diet for Weight Gain
The banana diet for weight gain is the use of banana as an auxiliary food product, i.e. banana dessert is added to the main menu, or as an additive to porridge, pancakes, pies, cakes, etc. For snacking between main meals, a banana cocktail with milk is suitable - a very tasty and satisfying drink: a glass of milk with one banana is whipped in a blender; kefir or yogurt with its addition; dried fruit. Athletes build muscle mass with the help of the banana diet: the main diet remains in force, but the fruit is added to various desserts, cocktails.
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Weight Gain Diet for Kids
There are different reasons for children's thinness. It can be hereditary thinness, excessive mobility of the child, or possibly a manifestation of a disease (diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic disorders, psychological problems). Therefore, before using a diet to gain weight in children, it is necessary to consult a pediatrician. If pathologies are detected, the doctor will direct treatment to the source of poor appetite. If there are no health problems, it is the parents' turn to make an effort. The number of meals should be increased, the child has a small stomach and cannot accommodate a large volume. Children should be taught to eat small portions, but not less than 5-7 times a day, also encouraging snacks.
By cultivating healthy, wholesome, but at the same time tasty food, we set a good example for the child, instill traditions that may take root in his family. The diet should include foods rich in nutrients. A growing organism needs proteins (eggs, meat, fish, legumes), starchy carbohydrates (bread, potatoes, cereals, pasta), lots of vegetables and fruits, dairy products. You can’t do without vegetable fats. Olive, unrefined flaxseed oils are good for dressing salads. Fats are also found in nuts and avocados. So, children’s favorite desserts can be made from flour with added bran or from oatmeal; ready-made products like these are available for sale.
The child should drink enough liquid, but only after meals, otherwise he will not have an appetite. Sweet carbonated water or other similar drinks should be taboo on your table, and chips and cakes for frequent consumption are also excluded.
A diet for gaining weight for a teenager should be combined with regular physical exercise, because it increases appetite, with its help muscle mass is built up, and this is much more useful than the accumulation of fat deposits. This approach should work, because it can transfer a teenager from the category of "weakling" to the category of "athletic" young man or woman.
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Weight Gain Diet for Ectomorph
Ectamorphs are people who have a thin or skinny body, narrow bones, but with energetic and quick habits, those who are called "lively". No matter how much they eat, they cannot gain weight. However, there is a diet for weight gain for ectomorphs. It is composed so that 30% of daily calories fall on proteins, 50% on carbohydrates and 20% on fats. The number of meals should be increased from 5 to 12 times, and the volume of water drunk should be at least 3 liters.
It is also important to calculate how many calories to consume daily. The formula for determining is as follows: body weight is multiplied by 30 plus 500, in accordance with this figure, the energy value of products is selected and in the proportions mentioned above. By adding progressive physical exercise to this approach to nutrition, you can achieve an increase in muscle mass.
Weight Gain Diet for Endomorph
Endomorphs are people with a spherical figure, wide bones, with large fat deposits in places where they are not needed: on the shoulders, waist. They do not need to gain excess weight, but it is important to correct their figure, build up dry muscle mass. The diet of such people should include protein daily (30% of all calories), since it is used to build muscles. From fats, it is necessary for the body to receive up to 40% of calories, and in equal parts contained in mono-, polyunsaturated and saturated fats. You should be careful with carbohydrates, consume them only after training. The diet for endomorphs involves eating every 3-4 hours, a large amount of vegetables in the diet, mandatory fish oil (1 g per percent of fat). As the weight decreases, its dose is reduced.
Weight Gain Diet for a Week
There are formulas for calculating the caloric content of food taking into account the height, weight, age, gender and physical activity coefficient of a person. But the general rule for both women and men is 5-6 meals a day, the prevalence of carbohydrates (mainly complex), a large amount of liquid (2-3 liters), physical exercise. The average weight gain should be half a kilo per week. If this figure is less, then add the caloric content of food, if it is exceeded, then reduce it, i.e. make a correction by reviewing the menu.
Diet for weight gain for men for a week
A diet for weight gain for a man for a week provides more fats and proteins than for a woman. It can be like this:
- breakfast - hearty, with a meat dish (meatballs, cutlets, fried chicken) with a side dish, you can have oatmeal or millet porridge with milk, coffee with milk, a sandwich with white bread, butter and cheese;
- second breakfast - cocoa with milk, sandwich with a loaf of bread, butter, sausage or ham;
- lunch - vegetable salad dressed with sour cream, rich soup or borscht, main course (meat or fish with a side dish), dried fruit compote;
- afternoon snack - vegetable salad with pieces of hard cheese, drizzled with olive oil;
- Dinner: omelette with a piece of ham, salad or boiled pasta with grated cheese.
Diet for weight gain for girls for a week
An approximate diet for weight gain for a girl for a week might look like this:
- for breakfast: oatmeal with raisins, nuts and honey, croissant with coffee;
- for second breakfast: fresh fruits, juice;
- for lunch: vegetable salad with sour cream, soup, spaghetti with cheese or fish;
- for an afternoon snack: a sandwich with fish or yogurt with fresh vegetables;
- for dinner: meat with a side dish, vegetables;
- Before bed: kefir or a cup of milk.
For rapid weight gain, women are offered an hourly diet. The essence of this diet is to have snacks every two hours in addition to the main meals. In this case, the portions should be small so that the food is well absorbed. Fruits, cottage cheese, yogurts and necessarily bread, sandwiches are suitable for snacking.
Home Diet for Weight Gain
All the listed products and diets for weight gain are easy to use at home. When working, it is difficult to maintain the frequency and periodicity of meals. An afternoon rest will also contribute to weight gain. What you can eat follows from the listed recommendations. What is absolutely forbidden to eat? You should not eat food with "empty" calories: sweet drinks, candies, cakes.
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Contraindications
Some diets have their own contraindications. Thus, the protein diet is not recommended for elderly people, for those who have problems with the kidneys, digestive organs (pancreatitis, colitis, dysbacteriosis). The carbohydrate diet is not suitable for patients with diabetes. Some flavors of Energy Diet products contain caffeine, so they are contraindicated for pregnant women and during lactation, elderly people, children under 18 years old. The banana diet is not recommended for patients with thrombosis and varicose veins.
Complications
The use of a protein diet is fraught with the removal of microelements from the body, including calcium, and this has an adverse effect on the skeletal system, nails break and exfoliate, the risk of fractures increases, hair becomes dull and splits. For the kidneys, this is also a big burden, since fluid is intensively removed, dehydration may occur.
"Energy Diet" can cause allergies in case of hypersensitivity to its components, as well as insomnia, increased blood pressure when consuming mixtures with caffeine.
Reviews
Analyzing reviews of weight gain diets, we can conclude: if a person approaches this systematically, and not episodically, he will succeed. Many emphasize the need to combine a diet with intensive training in the gym, since this accelerates metabolic processes, increases appetite.