Get a complete insight on the Ketogenic Diet for Weight Gain. Know-How you can gain weight on this Low carb and high-fat diet in a healthier way.
Everyone wants a perfect weight balance in their bodies and also an impressive body. Some want to lose weight and others want to gain weight. You must have come forward to a lot of articles, blogs, and videos on weight loss but no one seems to talk about diets for gaining weight.
Don’t worry, being underweight for almost the past 5 years of my life, I can understand the pain. And I have got you covered, in this Blog, I will be sharing everything you need to know if you are desiring to gain weight.
Ketogenic Diet for weight gain- Is this true?
Oh yes! It is true, Ketogenic diet can help in Gaining Weight and that too in a healthier way.
But aren’t diets meant to be for losing weight?
No, they are not because diets are just a way of controlling your calorie intake. Diets in real can’t decide the goal. Losing weight or Gaining weight are just goals and diets are the ways to reach these goals.
So, depending on the choice of goal, one can choose the way accordingly to reach the goal. Yeah, it can be a little difficult but it’s worth it.
Let’s take this discussion forward step by step to assist you in your weight gain journey:
What’s the right way to check if you are underweight?
The most effective way to check if you are underweight or not is by calculating your BMI, that is., Body Mass Index.
This should be the very first step on your weight gain journey. Firstly, you must calculate your BMI using BMI healthy weight calculator. Then compare your BMI in the standard BMI table.
Here’s the standard BMI table:
Less than 18.5 – Underweight
18.5 – 24.9 – Normal Weight
25 – 29.9 – Overweight
Over 30 – Obese
Here you go, if your BMI is anywhere less than 18.5 than you are officially an Underweight. And you need to get your BMI somewhere between 18.5 to 24.9 to get back on the track of being healthy.
Is being an Underweight harmful and unhealthy?
Yeah that’s right, just like being overweight or obese is harmful, being underweight is harmful as well. Generally, underweight or an overweight person is more prone to diseases than a person with normal weight.
I always believed in this one thing that “Too much or too less of anything is bad for us in leading a normal life”. Let’s take an example of money but money is good right, everyone wants more money. Lack of money is bad obviously because we need money to fulfill our needs. But too much money is also not very good because the money comes with great responsibilities and due to that sometimes we forget to enjoy our life. Isn’t it bad to miss out on life and happiness just to get more money?
Similarly, too much weight or too little weight, both are equally harmful and unhealthy. Moreover, it’s not just about the looks but the underweight condition also leads to various health problems.
- Underweight people are more prone to diseases
- Malnutrition
- Underweight women have a high risk of infertility
- Anaemia
- Affects immunity
- It leads to weakening of Bones
- Underweight people are more prone to heart attack
So, now you must have got a reason to try and gain weight if you fall into the underweight category.
Why do you need a Diet for gaining weight?
Weight Gain happens when you start consuming more calories than you burn. That means if you start consuming more calories than usual and burn lesser calories then you start gaining weight.
Now you must be wondering that you can have oily food, fast food, and snacks with no physical exercise to raise the calorie intake. Then why do you need a diet for that?
Exactly, that’s right this can be done but only if you want to just gain weight and health is not the matter. Because anyways there is no doubt that fast food, snacks, and packed food are bad for health because they may give your body fat and carbs. But they won’t provide the essential nutrients for our body and that’s why this is an unhealthy way of gaining weight.
So, if you want to gain weight and become healthier and stronger, then you need to gain the muscle mass of your body and not just fat. Gaining muscle mass by dieting and workout may be a little difficult than the other way but it well worth the efforts.
Ketogenic Diet for Weight Gain
Ketogenic Diet is a low carb, high-fat diet. In this diet, the body starts using fat for energy instead of carbs. Due to this, we start losing weight.
Again, if you want to gain weight then you need to increase the calorie intake. In the Keto diet, that calories should be increased in the form of proteins. Whereas, fat and carbs are the same and the body is still working the same. But the proteins will help you gain weight as protein converts into amino acids inside the body which helps in gaining muscle weight.
Gaining weight with the Keto diet is not very difficult if the calorie intake is regulated properly and in the form of protein. Ketogenic Diet generally contains
60 – 70% of Fat
20 – 30% of Protein
Around 10% of Carbs
If you want to gain muscle weight then you need to consume more protein in your diet. Try to keep the carbs and fat amount similar.
How to manage calorie intake on the Ketogenic Diet for weight gain?
There is a way by which you can control the calorie intake just as much as you need for weight gain. This way you can identify the number of calories you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle and a healthy weight gain.
Firstly, you need to calculate the number of calories you should consume every day. Then start increasing around 100-200 calories and gradually increase according to the level of your physical activities.
Also, you should not just hop on the protein, that should also be arranged according to your physical activities’ routine. Otherwise, you will start gaining fat then there will be no advantage of all the hard work you have done.
Food items that you should include in your Ketogenic Diet for weight gain
Choosing what to eat is very difficult when we go on a diet. Right?
Not to worry, it’s not even that difficult. Just a little care while deciding on your meal is more than enough for a good diet.
Protein Intake
Eggs, Protein supplements, Protein-rich fruits like Banana, green vegetables like spinach, fish, chicken, meat, and almonds.
Fat Intake
Good oils and healthy fats, nuts like cashew, full-fat dairy products like milk and paneer.
Carbs Intake
Carbs Intake in Keto Diet is very less and should be consumed from low starch vegetables. Also, whole grains and starchy foods and vegetables like potatoes should be avoided completely.
All the necessary nutrients and calories in your keto Diet should be taken in the form of foods mentioned above.
Conclusion
You can gain weight by eating more calories than you are burning. But the important catch is that weight gain should not happen in the form of fat. But Healthy Weight Gain needs a good and healthy high protein diet with healthy fats and very fewer carbs.
Food items should also be chosen very carefully to gain muscle weight.
Good Calorie management and Combining your Keto diet along with some strength/ weight training can help you reach your goal more effectively.
Here’s wishing you a healthy Weight Gain Journey!
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