by Jacob Jornadal and Sele Pemasa

As easy as it sounds, gaining weight is a bit more complicated than you would think. We are here to inform high school students about the healthy and correct way to gain weight.

Many students today – especially with the ability to drive – have access to all sorts of fast food. Many advisors say to stay away from fast food or to at least limit to once a month.

Other items to avoid is soda. Soda is the highest sugar saturated drink on the market. Consuming these type of foods and beverages will lead to you gaining the unhealthy weight that will produce more body fat rather than muscle, which is what we are trying to avoid.

We asked football coach Steven Lo how others could gain healthy weight and how to maintain it, looking for advice. 

“If you’re in a store, you want to shop on the perimeter of the store. Meats, fruits, vegetables, good grains, not putting crap in your body. No fast food, typically if you’re gaining a pound a week, that’s a good marker for gaining healthy weight. Work out four to five days a week, strength training will build muscle mass and conditioning will help keep everything lean,” said Lo.

Not everything has to do with lifting weights and working out to achieve your ideal body weight. Gaining good, healthy weight truly begins in the kitchen. If you are looking to produce muscle mass, your diet must consist of lean meats like chicken and fish. Maintaining a diet like this takes a lot of consistency and patience, but if you stick to it, you will slowly get the results you are looking for.

If you are going to a gym or weight room, try to create a workout schedule and focus on different muscles for different days, so you are not overworking certain parts of your body.

Another key component is protein, protein should be consumed at the latest 30 minutes after your workout. If not, that workout is wasted. Whether it be shakes, bars, or eating a good meal that’s protein-rich, it will feed your muscles that are gassed out and need recovery. Think of it like this, while you work out, you are tearing microfibers in your muscles, and protein builds your muscles back together.

Gaining healthy weight is a challenge, but all worth the while when you know what you’re putting into your body and feel good, leading a healthy lifestyle.