The key to gaining weight is to eat more calories per day than your body burns per day.  Your body burns calories every day for bodily processes such as digestion, breathing, blood circulation, and everything else needed for you to survive.  Additionally, you burn calories with your daily activities.

Calories to Maintain Weight

First, determine how many calories your body requires per day to maintain your existing weight by calculating your basal metabolic rate (BMR).

Metabolism = BMR = The set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms to maintain life.

Calculate Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of energy your body needs to function. We use about 60% of the calories we consume each day for basic bodily functions such as breathing.

Use this online BMR calculator.

The equation used to calculate your BMR is called the Harris-Benedict Principle:

Men:
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

Women:
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

 Please note that these formulas apply only to adults.

Calculate Activity

Step two: In order to incorporate activity into your daily caloric needs, do the following calculation:

If you are sedentary : BMR x 1.2

If you are lightly active: BMR x 1.375

If you are moderately active (You exercise most days a week.): BMR x 1.55

If you are very active (You exercise intensely on a daily basis or for prolonged periods.): BMR x 1.725 percent

If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 1.9

Add this number to your BMR.

The result of this formula will be the number of calories you can eat every day and maintain your current weightt. In order to lose weight, you'll need to take in fewer calories than this result.

Sample BMR Calculation: Male, Age: 27, Weight: 155 pounds, Height: 67 inches,  Activity Level: Moderate (40%)

BMR = 66 + (6.3 x 155) + (12.7 x 67) – (6.8 x 27) = 66 + 976.5 + 850.9 – 183.6 = 1710 = Basal Metabolic Rate

Calories to Maintain Weight = BMR + (BMR x Activity Level) = 1710 + (1710 x 40%) = 1710 + 684 = 2,394 Calories Per Day to Maintain Weight

Calories to Gain Weight 

Calculate how many calories you need to consume per day to gain weight. Add at least 500 calories per day to your daily requirement. If you need 2300 calories a day to maintain your current weight, strive to consume 2800 calories daily. If you engage in any physical activity, add more calories to account for the calories burned through physical activity. For instance, a 130 lb. person who does 30 minutes of vigorous weight training burns approximately 180 calories. On that day, he or she should consume 500 + 180 calories in addition to the daily requirement calculated in the previous step.

3,500 Extra Calories = 1 Pound of Weight Gain

It takes 3,500 surplus calories to gain 1 pound. This is why a mass gainer should eat 500 extra calories each day, so that at the end of the week he will have 3,500 calories extra with which to gain 1 pound.  Expect 1-2 pound gains each week for a mass gain plan, typically.

You MUST track your calories to be sure of what you are eating daily.  FitDay.com is an outstanding way to track your calories and so much more.  It is so easy and I use it every day. Sign up at FitDay.com and get started tracking your calorie intake so there's no question!

Change your eating habits. Eat at least six small meals a day. Drink protein shakes, milk, or juice instead of water, coffee, tea, or diet soda. Click here to read all about drinking milk for weight gain and lactose intolerance.

Focus on these Weight Gain Foods…

	Milk is your true key to gaining weight rapidly and naturally.  GOMAD stands for Gallon of Milk A Day. Any hardgainer will gain weight drinking 1 gallon of milk a day. Read the article, Gallon of Milk A Day to Gain Weight.
	Breads – hearty and dense (whole wheat, oat bran, pumpernickel, rye) are more nutritious than white bread; cut thick slices and spread generously with peanut butter, jam, honey, hummus, or cream cheese.
	Vegetables – Eat starchy vegetables (potatoes, peas, corns, carrots, winter squash, beets) instead of  watery vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, green beans, cucumbers).
	Fruit - Choose dense fruit (bananas, pears, apples, pineapple, dried fruit) over watery fruit (oranges, peaches, plums, berries, watermelon).
	Cooking Oils – When cooking, add a generous amount of oil. The healthiest oils are unrefined (extra virgin) oils such as olive, coconut, canola, palm, and butter. The less healthy but still acceptable sources of oil are those high in omega-6 fatty acids (pro-inflammatory) such as safflower, sunflower, and peanut oils. The unhealthy oils are those containing trans fat such as shortening, and the antinutrient-rich soybean oil (aka vegetable oil).
	Spreads - Spreading delicious calorie-rich toppings on toast, crackers, pita, and any other carbohydrate source is an excellent way to increase caloric intake. Some good high-calorie spreads are guacamole, olive oil, cream cheese, hummus, butter, nut butters, sour cream, cheese slices, mayonnaise. Even better is to mix these with shredded meats like chicken or fish. One of my personal favorites is canned salmon mixed with olive oil and vinegar.

Avoid unhealthy foods with trans fat. Most important is to avoid trans fats, which increase your risk for disease. Foods that are high in trans fats are: pastry products, cakes, cookies, processed meats, margarine, shortening, and packaged snack foods.

 

	Weight training is a MUST for muscle building. Weight training will not only help convert the additional calories that you are eating into muscle rather than fat, but it will also stimulate your appetite!  Appetite is a hardgainer's best friend. The added muscle from weight training will increase your metabolism, so you will need to consume more calories per day to maintain that weight.
During the first month of weight training, you may experience tremendous gains if you are faithful to your schedule. However, also expect this to level off after this initiatory period (This is known in the bodybuilding world as a plateau). You overcome plateaus by re-evaluating your weight and muscle mass, while altering your diet to include more food and heavier weights.

 

Learn the Truth About Building Muscle for Skinny Hardgainers

 

Eat more protein. Protein is essential for body function to build and repair muscle tissue. If you don't consume enough protein from raw foods or protein supplements then gaining weight and building muscle will be unachievable. Those looking to gain weight should consume at least 1 gram of quality protein per pound of body weight. If you don't reach your protein goals on a consistent basis, YOU WILL NOT BUILD MUSCLE! It is absolutely vital that you verify that you reach your protein goal each and every day from now on if you are determined to build and maintain a muscular physique.  Use FitDay.com to track your protein intake; I'd be lost without FitDay!

You will need at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day to build and maintain muscle.  Whey protein powder is superior to other protein powders because it the fastest-digesting and it has the best blend of amino acids that your body uses to build muscle. No Protein = No Muscle Building. Without getting 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day, don't even bother weight training at all. You will not be giving your body what it needs to repair the muscles you have broken down if you don't meet your protein requirement every day.

Drink 1 Gallon of Water Per Day! The best thing to drink is water, and a lot of it. Your body needs it desperately to perform well amidst the incredible strain you are placing on it with your workouts. Water is crucial even for those who don't workout because your bodily functions (blood circulation, breathing, perspiration, digestion, etc) demand it greatly.

Drink at least .66 oz of water per pound of bodyweight every day.  A gallon of water a day is a good mark for most people, bigger people will need more. Water will excel your body in all performances. Hydration is king! Read the importance of water. Split your water intake up over the course of the day. Buy a Brita water pitcher – you definitely don't want to be drinking tainted tap water or expensive bottle water.

Gaining quality weight and muscle takes hard work and dedication, in the gym and especially in the kitchen.  Set a daily calorie goal and achieve it, day after day, until you achieve your goal weight.  Then you may want to lose bodyfat by switching to the cutting phase. Track your calorie intake using FitDay.com and enter your food intake on a daily basis if necessary. Aim for 30% protein, 40% carbs, and 30% fat. Jason Ferrugia goes into detail about exactly what you need to do regarding diet and fitness in order to achieve your goal of packing on muscle in Muscle Gaining Secrets.

Adam Harper Lost 24 Pounds of Fat and Gained 19 Pounds of Muscle!
	Thanks to Muscle Gaining Secrets, Adam Harper was able to completely transform his physique with life's natural gold – muscle! Isn't it time for you to do the same? Read All About Muscle Gaining Secrets