08/11/2025 Gaining weight is just a matter of eating more calories than your body uses. This sounds simple enough, but it can be very challenging to do if you've been a chronic under-eater your entire life. So, below are some tips/strategies to increase caloric intake. ### Sauces, Spreads, Toppings, Ect. Add these onto whatever you're eating, or dip what you're eating in them. These are usually very calorie dense (high in carbs, fat, or both), so it doesn't take a large portion of them to increase the amount of calories in your meal. Some examples of these include the following: - Ranch, Blue Cheese, Buffalo Sauce, Italian Dressing - Cream Cheese, Butter, Mayo, Cheese Spread - Croutons, Bacon Bits, Peperoni, Dried Fruit - Peanut Butter, Almond Butter, Nutella, Marshmallow Fluff ### Eat Snacks Snacks are usually very easy to eat (they're quick and small). They allow you to get another eating session in throughout the day, without having to sit down and prepare something. These include bars, chips, fruits, cheese sticks, etc. ### Find Foods You Like For those who find it hard to eat large portions of food, the best thing to do is to find foods you really enjoy eating. The more you like a food, the more you'll probably be able to eat of that food. ### Drink Calories This is by far the best method for consuming extra calories. My suggestion is for people to drink 3 - 8oz cups of milk a day, which will be between 300-450 calories. All other things staying constant, this will lead to weight gain. And if you are lactose intolerant, you can drink Lactade. Other drinks include smoothies, yogurt drinks, protein shakes, juices (although these make me feel terrible, because they're straight sugar), etc.