Averaging

Keep a written record of everything you are eating and take an average at the end of the week. Add up all of your daily calories and divide it by 7 (days in a week).

Once you find out how much calories you consume on a daily basis, determine how many more additional calories you need to achieve your goals. You may have to add more calories depending how active you are.

Remember that in order to gain one pound of body weight per week, you need an additional 3,500 calories per week. That means you need to add 500 extra calories per day to your nutritional plan.

I suggest putting on ½ to 1 pound of body weight per 100 pounds of body weight each week for two to three weeks. After 5 weeks, gain an average of ½ to 1 pound of body weight per 100 pounds of body weight each week.

You will need to monitor your progress and make any adjustments as needed. If you have trouble gaining, add an additional 300 to 500 calories a day to your diet. If you have a super high metabolism, you may need an additional 500 to 1,000 calories per day.

A word of caution. You don't want to gain weight too fast because you will be gaining fat as opposed to muscle. Muscle takes time to build and with fat, it takes not time at all. Remember to monitor your diet on a regular basis and keep your body composition in check at all times.

Ideally, healthy ranges of body fat are 18 to 25 percent for women and 15 to 20 percent for men.

There are numerous methods to determine your body fat levels but by far the easiest and one of the most accurate ways is to use the Accu-Measure Body Fat Caliper. You simply take three easy measurements on your abdomen in the comfort of your own room and presto, you have your body fat percentage. It doesn't take any more than 2 minutes.

With the Accu-Measure body fat calipers, you don't need the assistance of other people and you don't have to take 10 different measurements on 10 different parts of your body. The measurement is very accurate

If on the other hand you don't want to use body fat calipers, you can use a quick and easy manual measurement. Although the numbers will not be as accurate as using the Accu-Measure body fat calipers. You will need a weight scale and measuring tape for this one.

For men: 1. Lean body weight = 94.42 + 1.082 (body weight) - 4.15 (waist in inches)

2. Body fat percentage = body weight - lean body weight x 100/body weight

For women: 1. Lean body weight = 8.987 + .732 (weight in kilograms) + 3.786 (wrist diameter in centimetres) + .434 (forearm circumference in centimetres)

2. Body fat percentage = body weight - lean body weight x 100/body weight

Remember to record your body weight, body fat and lean body mass figures. Always remember to monitor these three indicators on a weekly or bi weekly basis.

As an example, let's say you want to add another 10 pounds of body weight. You currently weight 145 pounds and consume 2,500 calories per day.

You will need to add an additional 500 calories per day to gain an additional pound of body weight per week. Your new daily caloric intake will be 3,000 calories per day.

You've identified that you will be eating 6 times a day. Therefore, you will need 3,000 / 6 = 500 calories per meal.