How to Quickly Gain Weight as a Girl: Effective Tips

Why and when is it worth gaining weight?

Gaining weight can be beneficial if you have a body mass deficit, indicated by a Body Mass Index (BMI) below 18.5. To calculate BMI, simply divide your weight (in kilograms) by your height squared (in meters)

For girls and women, a BMI within the range of 18.5 to 24.9 is generally considered healthy. Here’s a quick breakdown of BMI categories:

• Underweight: Less than 18.5

• Healthy weight: 18.5 to 24.9

• Overweight: 25 to 29.9

• Obese: 30 and above

However, it’s essential to remember that BMI doesn’t account for body composition differences, such as muscle mass and fat distribution, so it might not be a perfect measure for everyone.

Should a girl weighing 55 kg and 1.70 m tall worry about weight gain?

Let's calculate: 55kg * (1.7m X 1.7m) = 19.0 BMI

Conclusion: the condition is not critical, the weight is within normal limits. 

And what if the weight is 45 kg?

45kg * (1.7m X 1.7m) = 15.5 BMI

The only recommendation here is clear: This person needs to gain weight urgently. Their body is not receiving the necessary nutrients it needs, which can lead to serious health consequences. If this continues, extreme weight loss could become life-threatening—and that’s not an exaggeration.

What causes underweight and why is it dangerous?

Being underweight poses serious health risks:

• Weakened Immunity: The body lacks the resources needed to combat infections and viruses, leading to more severe illnesses and a higher risk of complications.

• Poor Skin, Nail, and Hair Health: Skin may appear dull, nails become brittle, hair weakens, and dental health deteriorates.

• Reduced Sexual Health and Fertility: Low body weight can disrupt the menstrual cycle, decrease sexual desire (libido), and may even lead to infertility.

• Bone and Joint Issues: Bones lose strength, and joints become less flexible.

• Mental Health Risks: In severe cases, being underweight can contribute to depression and other mental health challenges.

The most typical reasons for being underweight

Eating disorders

When the expenditure of calories consistently exceeds their intake, there is a deficit and weight is lost. This is especially harmful in girls who aim to lose weight by following strict diets and abuse appetite suppressants and laxatives. Often, these pounds aren’t truly “extra,” but due to a distorted body image, they may perceive themselves as larger than they are. This misunderstanding can drive them toward anorexia.

Digestive disorders

Diabetes, gluten intolerance, enzyme deficiency, and gastrointestinal disorders are all conditions that prevent the body from absorbing nutrients.

Other reasons

Even if the body receives and absorbs all necessary nutrients, they may not reach the tissues if something else is using up these resources—like parasites (such as worms). Other, less harmful factors, like overly intense training, can also cause this issue. In such cases, simply reducing physical activity can help.

More serious factors to be aware of:

• worms - parasites deplete the body by absorbing nutrients

• hyperthyroidism - the body requires more energy, so the metabolism accelerates

• tumors - their growth requires energy, which they take from the body

• infections - the body throws all its strength into fighting them, so body weight decreases

If your diet remains the same, your lifestyle does not change, and the scales show minus 3-5 kg (6-11 lbs) in a couple of weeks, you should urgently consult a doctor. Even if nothing is bothering you. 

In this article, we will not touch on serious diseases and clinical cases. This is the prerogative of narrow specialists. Nutritionists' advice is addressed to those girls who do not have pathologies that prevent them from gaining weight, who are healthy and want to gain weight.

Nutritional correction

The first thing you need to do is review your diet. But even if your goal is to gain weight, you shouldn't pounce on sweet soda, eat kilograms of baked goods, or poison your body with fast food. Yes, the scales will show an increase in weight, but this will be due to the growth of fat cells. And the goal of getting better does not mean getting fat.

Proper nutrition

Nutritionists recommend the optimal proportion of proteins, fats, carbohydrates - 25/30/45. If the goal is to gain muscle mass, the balance should be adjusted in favor of proteins, and the amount of carbohydrates should be reduced - 30/30/40.

• The diet should include: eggs, meat, fish, tofu, cheese, cottage cheese, legumes - these are all sources of protein.

• Add healthy fats - fatty fish with Omega 3, avocado, olive oil, ghee, nuts.

• Among carbohydrates, preference is definitely for complex carbohydrates whole grain bread, oatmeal, pasta from durum wheat, vegetables.

Calorie counting is the key to gaining weight 

To gain weight, your daily calorie consumption should exceed your calorie expenditure. Everyone’s daily requirements differ based on their biological configuration and hormones. To calculate your individual daily caloric needs, you can use an online calculator. If you want to gain weight quickly, aim to consume 700–1,000 calories more than your daily requirement. If you’re not in a hurry, a gradual increase of 200–300 calories per day is sufficient.

Diet

If you are underweight, you probably ate little and rarely. To gain weight, you will have to change your approach to nutrition and change your idea of portion size.

To quickly gain weight for a girl, nutritionists advise switching to 6 meals a day: 4 main meals (first breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 2 snacks, or 3 main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 3 snacks. Put food on large plates - this way even a lot of food will seem like a smaller portion and it will be psychologically easier to eat everything. Do not forget to drink water, but refrain from doing this before eating. Otherwise, the water will fill part of the stomach, and you will eat less than planned. If you suffer from the fact that food portions are large, add calories wherever possible: drink coffee with cream, not with milk, add a handful of nuts to a salad, drink fatty milk instead of water.

What exercises to choose

Push-ups

From a prone position, bend your arms at the elbows, lower yourself down as low as possible, ideally touching your chest to the floor. Squeeze your shoulders but still focus on your abs. As you lower yourself, your elbows should be slightly closer to your stomach and perpendicular to the floor. 

Press your hands into the floor to lift yourself up. Repeat the action. Smoothly return to the starting position. Breathe correctly - lower yourself while inhaling, push up while exhaling. Make sure that your body and legs form a straight line - this is important to prevent injuries.

It is usually difficult for girls to do classic push-ups, so start with push-ups from the wall, then from the table, from the bench, on your knees, and so gradually move on to classic horizontal push-ups.

Pull-ups

Hang on the horizontal bar with a straight grip (palms facing away from you), hands shoulder-width apart. Pull yourself up until your chin touches the bar, slowly lower yourself to the starting position. If this is difficult, change the grip to a reverse one - turn your palms towards you. It is easier for girls to do pull-ups this way, since the biceps, which do the main work with a reverse grip, are usually stronger than the back muscles. 

If it doesn’t work, try Australian pull-ups - when the bar is at waist level. Lie under the bar with your feet on the ground or raised. Take the bar with a straight grip, with your hands shoulder-width apart. Engage your abs, glutes, and thighs, and keep your body aligned. Inhale and bring your shoulder blades together to activate your back muscles. Exhale and bend your elbows to pull yourself up until your chest and shoulders touch the bar.

Squats

From a standing position, feet hip-width apart, lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Hold the position for 1-2 seconds, return to the starting position.

How many times a week should you exercise? 

It all depends on the nature of the load. If you do each exercise 10-12 times, you can do it every day. If the workout includes several sets, for example, each exercise includes 3 sets of 12-15 reps, then two or three workouts a week are enough. Muscles need to rest and recover. This is the only way they can grow.

How to do the workout correctly

A minimum warm-up is required - about 10 minutes. Then work at a leisurely pace with your own body weight - push-ups, pull-ups, lunges, squats. It is good to mix body weight training with weights. A great choice is training with dumbbells. Finish the workout with static stretching exercises.

Adding proteins and carbohydrates

Protein is the building blocks of the body, and carbohydrates are its fuel. Both are vital to the body.

Choosing Foods to Add Protein to

When there is a protein deficiency, the body compensates for its absence by starting to absorb muscles. And when gaining weight, it is important that the muscles that should grow, not fat deposits. An adult needs about 0.8 g of protein per kilogram of weight and a little more if you are actively involved in sports. 

Animal products contain the most protein, while plant products contain less, which vegetarians should take into account. The advantage of animal proteins is that they provide the body with all the necessary amino acids, including essential ones. These are the amino acids that the body needs, but it cannot produce them on its own, so there is only one option - to get them from food.

Table of foods with the highest protein content

It is worth remembering that an excess of protein is not good for the body; on the contrary, it will increase the load on the kidneys, provoke headaches, dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.

Choosing Foods to Add Carbs to

The daily carbohydrate intake should not exceed 4-5 g per kilogram of weight. It is important to include mainly complex carbohydrates in the diet. Their advantage is that they are slowly digested over a longer period. During this time, the body continues to receive and expend that energy, rather than store it as fat.

Complex carbohydrates include cellulose, dietary fiber, glycogen, starch in its pure form.

Complex Carbohydrates Table

Nutritional supplements

If it is difficult to get the required amount of protein from food, its deficiency can be compensated by nutritional supplements. The sports nutrition market offers various protein-containing supplements: protein, amino acid complexes, monoamino acids and branched-chain amino acid (BCAA.)

Which supplements to choose

When choosing, pay attention to the composition of the product. Ideally, it should be sugar-free and free of other harmful additives. 

Protein shakes are typically a good choice. This is the same protein you get from food, but in a liquid, easily digestible form. Specially prepared protein without excess fats and carbohydrates will help build muscle and gain weight. If you do not do fitness, sports and your diet includes the required amount of protein, you do not need to take additional protein. (maybe include which protein options to use, plant, whey, etc…)

About motivation

Motivation is important for gaining weight, as well as for losing weight; relying solely on willpower can be challenging. The brain often resists weight gain because it requires habit changes. Setting сlear goals and visualizing how life will improve with those extra kilograms can help. Imagine what new opportunities will open up for you at your desired weight.

It is great when your family and friends support you. Support boosts your confidence and helps you achieve your goals. Even the strongest people benefit from the encouragement of loved ones. 

And if your family does not support you? Well, that happens and there’s a hidden advantage here. Can you find it? 

Psychologists say that internal motivation is always stronger than external encouragement. So, focus on your own vision and determination, rather than relying on others’ opinions. By building confidence from within, you’re setting yourself up for even greater resilience and success.

Good luck to you!

And don't forget about physical exercise. It will make your body beautiful and fit.