This is because protein-rich foods also provide a variety of other beneficial nutrients that your body needs beyond protein. Although many plant foods are high in protein, vegan diets tend to be lower in protein than other eating patterns. Eliminating many protein-rich animal products (such as meat or eggs) from your diet might also make it more challenging to meet your needs when following a vegan or vegetarian diet. With nearly 12 grams of protein per half-cup serving, cottage cheese can be an excellent, high protein addition to your diet. Plus, it provides calcium, vitamin B12 and potassium and can be easily incorporated into a variety of dishes, says Evink. “Add it to eggs, smoothies or cream sauces in place of cream,” she recommends. Not only does one large egg supply over 6 grams of protein, eggs also contain vitamins and minerals like choline, vitamin D and phosphorus.

During the cutting phase, bodybuilders eat fewer calories than their bodies require, which puts them at a disadvantage for building muscle. The goal of this phase is generally to maintain — not gain — muscle mass (2, 3, 4). Cutting, or the fat loss phase, refers to a gradual decrease in calorie intake and increase in aerobic training to reduce excess body fat from the bulking phase, allowing for improved muscle definition (2). Fortunately, if we leverage appetite and satiety research, there are ways that we can make bulking much easier. One of the main complaints that ectomorphs have is that bulking diets make them tired, bloated, and gassy. Another issue is that a meal might keep us full for hours, making it difficult to eat often enough, and thus causing us to fall behind on our calories. When bulking, though, we can switch between different nutritious foods.

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Sweet potatoes are a calorie-dense source of energy, and they provide some useful nutrients too. Cheddar cheese is also very energy-dense and provides 403 calories per 100 grams. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that people use their body mass index (BMI) to determine if they are underweight, at an expected weight, or overweight. A staple in Syatt’s house, this shakshuka goes well with low-fat cottage cheese for extra protein and Israeli salad for extra vegetables, as well as tortillas, he said.

What Is Bulking? Steps, Diet, and More

Processed food, especially if it’s high in saturated fat and fructose, can reduce muscle growth and increase fat storage (study). Making dietary changes may help you gain weight healthily, such as increasing your intake of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. “While it might sound ideal to increase your protein intake even more than the recommended amount, it is not without some potential health risks,” says Evink.

To gain weight easier, consume high-calorie drinks, such as smoothies, shakes, and fruit juices. High-calorie junk foods, such as burgers, fried chickens, and fries consumed at fast food places are full of unhealthy fats and sodium, which means you should avoid them. In a world where the bulk of females want to lose weight, there are also many who want to gain weight, cases where high-calorie foods come in extremely handy. Yet, you can avoid being satiated and still gain weight by eating low-volume high-calorie foods, which don’t make you feel full.

Pillar 2: Make Your Diet Less Filling

Of flax seed oil adds 500 calories and important omega-3 fatty acids. You may be able to eliminate several hundred calories from your diet simply by reducing or eliminating your intake of sugary beverages like soda, fruit juices, and specialty coffee drinks.

Eating 6 to 8 smaller meals per day may reduce heartburn and other symptoms. When trying to gain weight with GERD, choose foods that are high in nutrient quality, high in calories and also easy to digest. Drinking fluids between meals, such as water, will also leave room to consume more calories at mealtime. To gain weight, a person may increase his overall daily intake of calories by eating foods higher in fat and calories. When you’re eating for weight gain, you need to be sure you consume enough proteins, carbs, and fat.

She has written about several other food products including granola bars and high-protein snacks. Our nutrition pros appreciate that each bar is packed with protein, fiber, heart-healthy fats and essential nutrients. Mini bar options are available too, and everything comes in a variety of fun tasty flavors. Making your own protein bars at home allows you to know exactly what is going into them and control the sugar counts and more.

However, a large portion of this weight gain may be comprised of fat (42). These can include drinking milk, using weight gainer shakes, adding cream to your coffee, and eating more often. Eat plenty of high carb and high fat foods if weight gain is a priority for you. A healthy approach to gaining weight involves gaining a balanced amount of muscle mass and subcutaneous fat rather than a lot of unhealthy belly fat (4). Out of the many diets around, an eating plan based on foods with a low calorie density is probably one of the most sensible and effective.

High-calorie foods sorted by nutrients

And in case you want to come up with your own smoothie recipes for weight gain, learn how to make a high-calorie smoothie. Per FDA, high-calorie foods have at least 400 calories per common serving. To increase the calorie content of a meal, try serving salmon with a creamy Cheddar cheese sauce.