Gaining weight can be as much of a struggle as losing weight. Because how do you approach this responsibly and maintain your weight? Our dietician Carlijn Appel will explain it to you. “If you are overweight, you may not be able to imagine it, but I notice in my practice that gaining weight is often more difficult than losing weight.”
1IS ARRIVE REALLY SO DIFFICULT?
“If you are overweight, you may not be able to imagine it, but I notice in my practice that gaining weight is often more difficult than losing weight. Many underweight people I see suffer from disease-related malnutrition.
If you are not already in top shape, it can cost a lot of extra energy to also have to eat against your gut. By people
who are healthy and still want to gain weight, it is usually a bit easier, but it does take patience. Gaining a kilo a week – as overweight people can often lose weight – is really not realistic. You have to give yourself time to take it step by step.”
2 DO YOU RECOMMEND A TART AND FRIES DIET?
“If you want to gain weight, the most important thing is that you take in more calories than you burn. And if enough food is a challenge in itself, I recommend that you mainly choose things that you like. They go in easier. Unfortunately, a diet of cakes and fast food often makes you heavier, but not necessarily healthier. That is why I prefer to make people gain weight by eating high-calorie and nutritious food. Then a cake or chips from time to time is a nice bonus, but not the basis.”
3 HOW MANY MEALS PER DAY IS BEST FOR YOU?
“I once had someone in my practice who didn't start eating until around noon. That in itself is not a bad thing, but suppose you have 2500
If you have to consume 3000 calories – which I usually take as an average – then it is simply easier to divide that into eight eating moments than over three. Find out when it is easiest to eat a lot:one person has the most appetite in the morning, the other at the end of the day. Also take plenty of high-calorie snacks:a handful of nuts, a piece of cheese or a glass of whole milk or fruit juice. If you want to gain weight, you should actually be working on it all day long. But don't eat too hard either, that will only have the opposite effect in the end.”
4 WHICH HEALTHY FOODS ARE HIGH IN CALORIES?
“You may now be thinking of foods with a lot of carbohydrates, such as potatoes, brown rice and whole-wheat pasta. The downside is that it fills you up quickly. It is therefore better to choose products with a lot of proteins and healthy fats:full-fat cottage cheese and Greek yogurt, nuts and seeds, fatty fish, meat, eggs and olive oil. Don't be too afraid of fat. If you top a sandwich with lean chicken breast, you still have to eat quite a lot of it before it takes off. Then it is easier to add an extra spoon of oil to your meal. I usually recommend sticking to your normal diet as much as possible, but taking a little more of everything:an extra potato or spoonful of gravy or extra thick toppings on your sandwich. Peanut butter, salmon and avocado are very suitable as a fat and healthy sandwich spread.”
5 AND WHAT ABOUT EATING EXTRA VEGETABLES?
“Vegetables contain relatively few calories and satiate quickly. A good method to lose weight, but not if you want to gain weight. That doesn't mean you have to skip vegetables completely, but make sure you have room in your stomach for other things. Or add calories to your vegetables by gratinating them or adding a sauce over them.”
6 AND ARRIVE USING PROTEIN HAKES, IS THAT WISE?
“It's a method, but I personally think it's a bit redundant. You can also simply get those proteins from a bowl of full cottage cheese. And such a shake can lie on the stomach like a block of concrete, so that you are satiated for too long afterwards. There is medical nutrition with a lot of calories in small portions, but I only prescribe it if it really doesn't work out in another way. And with the right guidance, almost everyone succeeds.”
Text:Marion van Es, Santé November 2020, Image:Getty Images
