3 Secrets to Gain Healthy Weight Without the Gym

I love the gym. I really do. The atmosphere of being surrounded by like minded people who all have a desire to reach a goal of bettering themselves is nice. But I will say sometimes it can be overwhelming. Especially for a beginner.

Being surrounded by a bunch of fit people that you think may judge you for doing something wrong is intimidating. Sometimes it’s enough to make you just want to stay home and not deal with it.

And then sometimes that’s not even the issue.

Sometimes you just don’t feel like going to the gym, or you don’t have time, or you just don’t like it. At some point I’ve felt all of these things. So what do you do?

Well I don’t recommend sitting around and doing nothing if you have a goal that you want to reach. If you really want to gain some healthy weight, and you want to do it without the gym, YOU CAN. You just need the right tools.

The 3 Secrets to Gaining Healthy Weight Without the Gym

1. You have to know what foods to eat and how much.

In order to gain weight you have to eat. But it’s more than just eating anything and everything in sight. There’s a science to this.

When it comes to changing the composition of your body, diet is 70% percent of the work and the actual exercising portion is only 30% (although it is a very important 30%). This means that what you eat and how much you eat plays a big role in your goals.

You should be eating healthy proteins, carbs, and fats. Some of the best foods to get this are fish, chicken, steak, potatoes, rice, pasta, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. But there are plenty of other options as well, especially if you’re vegetarian or vegan.

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To make sure you are getting enough protein carbs, and fats it’s good to have all three nutrients in every meal that you eat.

For example for breakfast you could eat an omelette with diced tomatoes, spinach, and cheese with peanut butter toast. Then have some nuts, fruit, and veggies as a snack.

For lunch you could have some type of pasta with grilled chicken and veggies. And after have a granola bar and a smoothie for another snack. Then maybe a post workout protein shake (of course this all depends on your schedule and the time that you actually work out).

And lastly, dinner could be baked salmon with rice and steamed vegetables.

If that sounds like a ridiculous amount of food, I understand. It was a lot for me when I first started. But the beauty of the situation is that as you begin to add in a workout routine and burn calories, your body is going to want more food. Food is fuel!

Now if you think you can eat all of that without tracking your meals, great! But if you have trouble knowing how much you are eating everyday, you can try tracking your meals and writing down the number of calories that you are consuming everyday.

That way you’ll know for sure if you are consuming more calories than you are burning each day, which is important for weight gain.

When I was starting out a couple of years ago I used an app called MyFitnessPal to track my meals.

Each day, instead of just entering meals into the app as I ate them, I would plan my meals ahead of time and enter all of the meals I would be eating that day in IN THE MORNING. That way I would already know what I would need to eat for the day to reach my calorie goal, along with my goal for protein, carbs, and fats.

(If you want to know more about how I personally chose to gain weight you can find out here.)

2. Gaining healthy weight won’t work unless you do.

So now that we’ve gone over the 70% it’s time to go over the 30%. And just because it’s only 30% that doesn’t mean it’s not important. If you only want to gain weight, then following the proper diet will be enough to suffice.

BUT. . . if you want the weight that you gain to look AUH – MAZING on your body your going to want to exercise and build some muscle.

All of that food that you’re eating has to go somewhere right? Well if you are eating a lot of food, and you aren’t using it to fuel the muscle building process then it’s just going to sit on your body and turn into fat.

I know some females like a little extra fat on their bodies. But the problem with fat is that it doesn’t always go where you want it to (unless you have a great surgeon or you’re genetically blessed). So it may go to your butt and thighs or it could go to your face, arms, and mid section. It all depends on genetics.

So if you want the weight that you gain to look even better, you’re going to want to do some type of exercise. What you choose to do is completely up to you. I chose lifting weights because it’s an easy way to build mass and muscles where I want. And it’s something that I will always recommend.

But if you’re interested in other sports or martial arts like basketball or MMA that’s great too. Or maybe you’ll enjoy yoga, which is great for balance and strength.

Whatever you decide, the important thing is that you find something that you enjoy and works for you, and that you’re doing it often. I recommend at least 3 times a week.

3. Sometimes less is more.

Once again this is going to depend on the type of workouts that you do. For example, if you want to lift weights but the gym is not an option, invest in some dumbbells or kettle bells and some resistance bands. Band are really useful for all parts of the body.

If you’re doing a workout that requires classes then you can go out and take classes and find a way to recreate it at home.

If you like martial arts, you can try putting thick mats on the ground in your garage like the ones you’d find in the class to practice martial arts techniques. If you like basketball, you could invest in a basketball goal or at least your own basketball to play at a public park.

It’s not always about heavy lifting and fancy equipment. It’s about making use of what you have and using mind to muscle connection to get the results that you what. It doesn’t have to be something complicated as long as it gets the job done.

While I’m on vacation and I don’t have access to a gym, I personally like to use resistance bands and a couple of dumbbells to get a good workout. It’s simple and effective.

So remember, there isn’t just one way to gain healthy weight. Get out there and find what works for you.

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