I'm underweight - what can I do to gain weight?

To gain weight, you basically need to get more calories from food and drink - by eating more, or by eating foods that have more calories in. 

Making sure you are eating 3 meals a day, plus 2 to 3 snacks, is enough for many people to gain weight. Other people may need to change the foods they are eating and add extra fats - all foods contain calories, but fatty foods contain the most, so adding fats to your food helps you to gain weight (in the same way that cutting down on fat helps to lose weight).   

Saturated fats - those found in meat, butter, dairy foods, and biscuits can raise blood cholesterol levels.  Olive oil, rapeseed oil, and oils found in nuts and seeds are not harmful to cholesterol levels and heart health.  For short term weight loss - eg if you are recovering from a serious illness, this is not a problem, but for the rest of you, the healthier options are marked with a star*.  For good health it is a good idea to keep up other aspects of healthy eating and healthy living - regular physical exercise and eating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day.    

Tips for eating more to gain weight

• Try to eat often even if you can only manage small amounts
  
  
• Try to eat three meals a day, snacks between meals, and puddings twice a day
  
  
• Drink at least 6-8 cups of nourishing drinks each day.  Take drinks after meals to prevent filling yourself up.
  
  
• Eat starchy foods at each meal, e.g. bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, breakfast cereal, cassava, yam, plantain or chappatis. 
  
  
• Eat meat, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese, yoghurts, nuts, beans or lentils at least twice a day.  These are protein-rich foods.
  
  
• Try to eat fruit and vegetables daily, or take a multivitamin supplement.
  
  
• Avoid Diet, Low-fat or Light products - instead use full fat milk, full fat margarine or butter and full fat yogurt for the extra calories. 
  
  
• Try our tips for enriching your food so that every bite has lots of calories in it

Ideas to enrich your meals:

• Soups or stews - add grated cheese, cream, dried milk powder*, evaporated milk, dumplings, baked beans* or pasta*.
  
  
• Potatoes and vegetables – add grated cheese, cream, butter or margarine*, salad cream, mayonnaise, milky sauces, fried onions, or fry in oil*
  
  
• Puddings – add cream, custard, butter or margarine, evaporated or condensed milk, yogurt, syrup, honey, sugar, dried fruit*, creamed coconut, nuts*
  
  
• Bread and sandwiches – use lots of butter, margarine*, mayonnaise, peanut butter, tahini or other nut butter*, chocolate spread.
  
  
• Meat, fish and pasta dishes – use creamy sauce or cream or cheese, yoghurt or butter or margarine* or ghee or oil* 
  
  
• Soup, stews, curries – add grated cheese or cream cheese, dried milk powder or enriched milk or evaporated milk, cream or créme fraîche, beans* or lentils* or minced meat or peanuts or flaked fish*, butter, oil*, margarine* or ghee, dumplings
  
  
• Breakfast cereals or porridge – add enriched or evaporated milk, full fat yoghurt or cream, syrup or honey or sugar, nuts* or dried fruit*
  
  
• Full cream milk - add dried milk powder* – add 2-4 tablespoons to a pint, and use on cereal, in sauces, in drinks etc.  Dried milk powder adds plenty of protein as well as some calories.

If you are watching your cholesterol levels, choose olive oil,  rapeseed oil, and vegetable oil spreads, avocado, and nuts and seeds to enrich your foods,

Nourishing drink ideas:

Try to drink nourishing drinks throughout the day instead of your normal drinks.  You could make up a flask and keep it beside you to drink all day.

• Use full fat or enriched or evaporated milk to make tea, coffee, Ovaltine, Horlicks, Bournvita or drinking chocolate
  
  
• Make a nutritious milkshake with full fat milk, puréed fruit and ice cream
  
  
• Mix a creamy yoghurt with enriched milk or try yoghurt blended with fruit juice
  
  
• Try freezing milkshakes into ice lollies.
  
  
• Aim to drink a pint of full fat milk each day.
  
  
• Whole milk makes a nourishing cold drink – try adding blackcurrant squash or mashed banana or ice cream to make a delicious milk shake.

Quick and nourishing snack and light meal ideas

• Sandwiches with cold meat, tinned fish in oil*, egg*, cheese or peanut butter.  Spread filling thickly and add mayonnaise or salad cream.
  
  
• Toast with pilchards*, baked beans*, melted cheese or egg*, peanut butter, chocolate spread.
  
  
• Breakfast cereals with enriched milk and sugar or syrup.
  
  
• Puddings e.g. sponge and custard, milky pudding, fresh or tinned fruit in syrup with cream, ice cream or yoghurt.
  
  
• Crisps, Bombay mix, nuts* and dried fruit*
  
  
• Nourishing drink or soup with added cream.
  
  
• Biscuits, cake, muffin or flapjack.
  
  
• Toasted crumpet, hot cross bun or scone or bagel with butter and jam or honey.

Help to put on weight (PDF file, 42KB)