A one-week menu for people who want to gain weight

Are you worried about your weight and looking for a nutritionally complete menu that can help you gain weight? Take a look at this suggested one-week weight-gain menu for slim people. Join STAVI Industrial Catering in choosing a menu for a diet that suits you, helping you reach your desired weight soon!

Effective one-week weight-gain menu

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Principles for building an effective weight-gain menu

What should you eat to gain weight quickly and effectively in the first week? To plan an effective weight-gain menu for slim people in a short time, you need to follow these principles:

Include all the essential nutrient groups

A weight-gain menu cannot be built on intuition; it must be based on the food pyramid to ensure enough nutrients for muscle and fat to develop. The dishes need to be healthy, supporting sustainable weight gain without affecting health. Accordingly, you need to include all 4 nutrient groups to avoid having too much of one and too little of another.

Higher calorie intake than usual

To have a safe and effective weight-gain menu, you need to learn about calories in and calories out for the body. The "golden" rule of weight gain is that you need to take in more calories than you burn. Each such meal will accumulate a calorie surplus in the body, and every 7000 calories equals 1 kg.

Here, Total Daily Energy Expenditure (abbreviated TDEE) is the total number of calories the body burns in 1 day. To gain weight, the daily calorie intake must exceed the TDEE. From this we derive the formula: TDEE (kcal) = BMR x R

Specifically, BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the basic number of calories the body needs to maintain all bodily functions such as breathing, body temperature, blood circulation… Depending on age, gender, weight and height, BMR will differ:

• Men: BMR = (4.799 x H) + (13.397 x W) – (5.677 x T) + 88.362
• Women: BMR = (3.098 x H) + (9.247 x W) – (4.330 x T) + 447.593

Where:

H: Height (in cm)

W: Weight (in kg)

T: Age (in calendar years).

R: The index measuring exercise intensity over 1 week.

Get enough protein

Adding protein to the body is an important way to help slim people gain weight effectively in the shortest time. Actively taking in protein helps build strong muscle mass and balances other nutrients, providing abundant energy for a long day of activity.

This principle is often applied by fitness trainers to their trainees who want to gain weight. Note that to gain weight effectively, you still need to combine protein with the other nutrient groups. If you focus solely on protein, the results will certainly not be as expected.

Split your meals throughout the day

To help gain weight quickly, you should split your meals throughout the day: instead of 3 main meals, divide them into 5, adding fruit, fresh milk, yogurt... Continuously supplying energy to the body keeps blood sugar stable while ensuring the calorie intake. As a result, metabolism proceeds quickly and converts food into weight faster.

Eat plenty of carbs and healthy fats

Carbohydrates (carbs) are one of the three elements in human food, providing the energy the body needs to function. The other two elements are fat and protein. Once in the body, carbs are broken down into sugar for the body to use.

Carbs are divided into 2 types: 

• Fast-absorbing starches such as: glutinous rice, regular rice, rice vermicelli, pho noodles, noodles…
• Slow-absorbing starches: brown rice, oats, sweet potato, corn…

In a weight-gain menu, starches take top priority. This is because starches are quickly converted into blood sugar to nourish the body, helping you gain weight effectively.

Many people think that to gain weight they need to add a lot of fat to their menu. Another group eliminates fat completely. However, experts warn that both approaches are incorrect; to gain weight, you must also take in good fats.

Therefore, to gain weight, you need to boost the fat group in your body. However, note that there are 2 types of fat: bad fats and good fats. Good fats provide energy for the body while still supporting effective weight gain, whereas bad fats cause weight gain but also produce cholesterol that clogs blood vessels and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Good fats are found in the following food groups:

• Good plant-based fats: including vegetable oils (such as olive, soybean, sunflower, canola), fruits (walnuts, avocado), seeds and nuts (pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, almonds…) and grains (oats, wheat…)
• Good animal-based fats: fat in fish (mackerel, salmon, herring and sardines). These fish are rich in vitamins, protein and omega-3 fatty acids, supporting healthy weight gain and supplementing the body's nutrition.

Drink enough water

The body is up to 70% water, so to gain weight you need to drink 1.5 – 2 liters of water a day to maintain bodily functions. Water also helps the body speed up metabolism and flush toxins out of the body. Drinking enough water also helps the weight-gain process proceed more steadily.

Some effective weight-gain menus for slim people

You can refer to the following one-week weight-gain menu for slim people for more suggestions on the diet that suits you best:

Monday

• Breakfast: 1 meat sandwich  or 1 bowl of beef pho + 1 glass of soy milk + 1 banana;
• Lunch: 2 - 3 bowls of rice + 1 bowl of bone broth with root vegetables + 100g beef stir-fried with onion + 1 piece of braised grass carp + 1 glass of milk;
• Dinner: 2 - 3 bowls of rice + 200g caramelized braised pork with eggs + 1 bowl of sour soup + fruit of your choice;
• Snacks (3 snacks between main meals): fruit, yogurt, milk,...

Tuesday

• Breakfast: 1 bowl of pork rib porridge + 1 glass of milk + 1 banana;
• Lunch : 2- 3 bowls of rice + 1 bowl of bone broth with pumpkin + 200g beef stir-fried with pepper + fruit of your choice;
• Dinner: Bread with beef stew in red wine + 1 bowl of bone broth with squash + 1 glass of milk + 1 piece of fried fish + fruit of your choice;
• Snacks (3 snacks between main meals): fruit, yogurt, sweet potato,...

Wednesday

• Breakfast: 1 bowl of pho + 1 glass of milk + 1 banana;
• Lunch: 2 - 3 bowls of rice + 1 bowl of vegetable and minced pork soup + 2 boiled eggs + 300g braised fish + 100g beef stir-fried with pineapple + fruit of your choice;
• Dinner: 2 - 3 bowls of rice + 1 bowl of sour soup + 2 slices of fried salmon + 1 plate of water spinach stir-fried with garlic + 100g stir-fried beef + fruit of your choice;
• Snacks ( 3 snacks between main meals): yogurt, milk, fruit

Thursday

• Breakfast : 1 plate of beef fried rice + 1 glass of milk + 2 bananas;
• Lunch: 2 - 3 bowls of rice + 1 bowl of squash and bone soup + 1 plate of stir-fried squid + 5 breaded fried shrimp + fruit of your choice;
• Dinner : 2 - 33 bowls of rice + 1 plate of fried eggs + 1 plate of roast pork  + 1 slice of fried fish + 1 bowl of crab soup;
• Snacks ( 3 snacks between main meals): yogurt, milk, fruit

Friday

• Breakfast: 1 egg sandwich + 1 glass of milk + 1 banana;
• Lunch: 2 - 3 bowls of rice + 1 bowl of meatball and root vegetable soup + 300 fried fish + fruit of your choice;
• Dinner: 1 bowl of beef noodle soup (bun bo) + fresh herbs + 1 glass of fruit smoothie;
• Snacks ( 3 snacks between main meals): yogurt, fruit, sweet potato,..

Saturday

• Breakfast: 1 plate of steamed rice rolls + 1 glass of milk + 2 bananas;
• Lunch:  2 - 3 bowls of rice  + 1 bowl of bone broth with potato + 200g beef stir-fried with pepper + 1 slice of fried mackerel + fruit of your choice;
• Dinner: 2- 3 bowls of rice + 1 bowl of winter melon and bone soup + 1 slice of braised tuna + fruit of your choice;
• Snacks ( 3 snacks between main meals): yogurt, milk, fruit,...

Sunday

• Breakfast: 1 bowl of beef noodle soup (hu tieu) + 1 glass of milk + 1 banana;
• Lunch: 2-3 bowls of rice + 200g sautéed shrimp + 2 omelets + 1 bowl of water spinach soup with shrimp + fruit of your choice;
• Dinner: 2 - 3 bowls of rice + 1 bowl of snakehead fish soup + 1 slice of grilled mackerel + 100g fried pork + fruit of your choice;
• Snacks ( 3 snacks between main meals): yogurt, baked sweet potato, milk,...

Above are a few suggestions for a quick one-week weight-gain menu for slim people that many young people are applying with results beyond expectations. We hope the information provided by STAVI Industrial Catering in this article will help you choose a menu that suits your health and your living and working conditions.

In addition, to gain weight effectively, you need to combine this with a scientific exercise routine so that energy is converted quickly and excess fat does not accumulate in the body. We wish you success in reaching your dream weight soon!