The need to gain weight is not a reason to pounce on vegan buns, cookies, sweets, various supposedly healthy fast food. All of these foods contain either a large amount of sugar, or salt, or fat, which will negatively affect the health of your body. Being vegan in and of itself involves leading a healthy lifestyle, and an excess of harmful substances does not exactly fit into the framework of health. Among other things, this will inevitably lead to problems with the skin, hair, teeth and nails. So, if the path to gluttony is closed, how can you gain a healthy weight without hurting yourself?
Don’t skip meals
Often people who are underweight tend to skip breakfast, lunch or dinner, let alone snacks. But if you want to gain weight, you must speed up your metabolism, just like in the case of losing weight. Your daily meals should consist of breakfast, lunch, dinner and two or three healthy snacks, only they should be slightly more caloric than usual. But remember that these calories should also be useful. In order to avoid the reluctance to eat breakfast, do not eat before bed or eat a small snack, which we will discuss below.
Stock up on nuts
Cashews, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, walnuts – a source of protein and healthy fat for the body. Add nuts to cereals, take them with you as a snack, make smoothies using cashews soaked overnight. If it gets boring, season the nuts with sea salt and wasabi and mix with your favorite dried fruits and dark chocolate. In any case, such a snack will be much healthier than chips and rolls. Also purchase different nut butters and add them to salads. And remember about peanut, almond and other spreads that go great with banana and whole grain bread. Just make sure there is no sugar in the paste.
Have healthy evening snacks
Nutritionists, healthy lifestyle adherents and other supporters of proper nutrition say that you should not eat anything but water 2-3 hours before bedtime. Yes, and water should also be drunk with caution so that swelling does not appear in the morning. Those who want to gain weight can use this rule in reverse. When we sleep, our bodies burn the least number of calories, because the body simply falls asleep with us. An hour and a half before bed, you can have a healthy snack, such as whole-grain toast with homemade hummus, an apple with peanut butter, or healthy chips with guacamole. But don’t overdo it, you don’t need swelling, right?
Diversify your diet
On a vegan diet, you have more sources of protein and healthy fats than you might think. Get to know new foods for yourself, new seeds, nuts, legumes, oils, avocados (if you are not familiar with it), various high-calorie but healthy fruits (such as mango, banana and so on). Buy hemp, alfalfa, sesame, flax, chia seeds and sprinkle them on salads, soups and cereals. Explore new recipes featuring tofu, tempeh, beans and other healthy ingredients. And there are a lot of such recipes on our site!
Drink, drink and drink again
Even though you are gaining weight rather than losing it, you still need to drink plenty of water. But in addition to the standard for all 8-10 glasses a day, you can also get good calories from liquid. For such purposes, use soft tofu, soaked nuts, seeds and unrefined oils. Just add them to your smoothie!
Eat legumes right
Beans, chickpeas, lentils go well with brown rice, giving not only a boost of energy, but also supplying the body with protein and carbohydrates. But to avoid flatulence, cook legumes correctly. Soak them at least overnight and cook until fully cooked. You can also add asafoetida at the end of cooking, which helps the body to better digest such food.
Ekaterina Romanova