Tips for Making the Best Homemade Weight Gain Shakes
“Tips for Making the Best Homemade Weight Gain Shakes” was written by Grace Guthrie, MS & edited by Amanda Crowe, MS, RDN, CD. Final review/edit completed by Aly Bouzek, MS, RDN. Grace is a dietetic intern at Kansas State University.
Who Needs Homemade Weight Gain Shakes?
Illness, injury, or lifestyle choices can cause unintentional weight loss.
Extra calories are necessary for building muscle or weight loss prevention.
Weight gain shakes are an easy and delicious way to add extra calories for weight gain.
Illness and Injury
Fluctuation in weight can occur with prolonged or chronic illness. Weight gain can happen because of increased appetite, medications, limited activity, or boredom. Weight loss can happen because of decreased appetite, medications, or difficulty getting food.
A few chronic conditions that can lead to unintentional weight loss are:
- Celiac disease
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Crohn’s Disease
People recovering from injuries may also experience unintended weight loss. This weight loss could be related to decreased mobility, pain when performing regular activities, depression, and/or loss of motivation related to the injury.
Lifestyle Habits
Besides illness and injury, daily lifestyle habits can also contribute to unintended weight loss. In our busy world of appointments, meetings, and meals on the go, some people struggle to prioritize eating.
Have you ever gotten sucked into a work project around 10:00 am only to notice your stomach growl around 2:00 pm? Oops, you forgot to eat lunch!
Regularly skipping meals, whether intentional or unintentional, can lead to weight loss. Excessive exercise and ignoring hunger cues can also lead to weight loss.
Building Muscle
Even if you haven’t experienced any weight loss, if you are trying to build up muscle mass, you will likely need to gain some weight.
Building muscle mass prevents injury and enhances your overall quality of life. Many athletes try to build more lean muscle mass, but older adults should also aim to build and retain muscle mass.
Retaining muscle mass as you age is a great way to keep up with daily activities as well as maintaining a healthy body weight and minimizing your disease risk. (1)
Guide to Healthy Weight Gain
Knowing you want or need to gain weight is the first step, but what’s the best way to do that? The best way to gain weight is to be intentional and consistent with food choices while increasing your calories.
A good rule of thumb is to increase your calorie intake by 3,500 calories every week. This will equal about one pound of weight gain per week.
3,500 calories probably sounds like a lot, but remember that we’re adding these calories over the course of a week.
3,500 divided by 7 days in a week equals 500 calories per day. That’s much more manageable! Adding one 500 calorie weight gain shake every day, or maybe a 700 calorie shake every other day, could get you to your calorie surplus goal in no time.
It might be tempting to add an extra-large banana split at the end of each meal, but a better and more consistent way to add calories is to do so in small amounts throughout the day.
This could involve adding calories to the meals and snacks you’re already eating, or adding another meal or snack during the day.
Homemade weight gain shakes are a perfect meal or snack to add to your daily routine to help you put on some pounds and build muscle.
What to Put in Homemade Weight Gain Shakes
Now let’s talk about what ingredients to put in a homemade weight gain shake. Shakes are a great way to increase your calorie intake because they’re easy to make, taste delicious, and can be personalized to your liking!
As mentioned earlier, if you’re relying on weight gain shakes to reach your calorie surplus goal, then you want it to contain between 500–1,000 calories each.
Additionally, we want to make sure the ingredients give you a good balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. These are what we call macronutrients, and they each play a crucial role in weight gain and muscle development.
The exact macronutrient distribution might vary some depending on the ingredients you use, but try to get at least 10–20 grams of protein in each shake.
Here are some examples of ingredients you could use to reach these goals:
Protein:
- High calorie protein powder
- Milk (dairy or plant-based)
- Greek yogurt
- Powdered milk
- Cottage cheese
- Tofu
- Chia seeds
Carbohydrates:
- Fruit (also a great source of fiber!)
- Veggies
- Honey, agave, or maple syrup
- Juice
- Oats
- Ice Cream
Fat:
- Nuts
- Avocado
- Peanut butter (or any nut/seed butter)
- Sunflower or pumpkin seeds
- Flax seeds
- Half-n-half
- Whipping cream
When making your shake, try to pick at least one ingredient from each category. This will ensure you’re getting all the building blocks of a balanced shake, as well as the calories, of course.
How to Make a Homemade Weight Gain Shake
*Note, this section includes an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Once you have chosen your ingredients, we recommend preparing them before you start assembling. This will help make the process smoother.
A few prep-steps to try are measuring out all of your ingredients, and chopping fruits and vegetables into smaller chunks.
With all of your ingredients prepped, you’re ready for the fun part: the blending! There are tons of blenders out there – we recommend the Vitamix* if you are looking to purchase a blender.
This high-powered professional grade blender gives you an ultra-creamy shake. Plus, it’s self-cleaning!
For an easily blendable shake, add ingredients to your blender in the order listed below:
- Liquids
- Powders (protein powder, powdered nut butter, powdered milk)
- Fruits and vegetables
- Creamy ingredients (avocado, ice cream, yogurt)
- Hard/frozen ingredients (ice, frozen fruits, nuts)
Once all of your ingredients are added to the blender, start her up! For a super smooth texture, blend the shake at a higher setting or keep the blender going longer. For a chunkier shake, pulse the ingredients until you reach the right texture.
Before you pour your shake into your favorite cup, taste it! You can always tweak the recipe if it comes out too runny, too thick, or too bland.
Adding liquid ingredients, such as milk, heavy cream, or juice, will help to thin out your shake. While adding firmer ingredients like fruits, vegetables, or avocado, will help to thicken it up.
Or add spices like cinnamon or cayenne pepper to punch up the flavor!
Recipes for Homemade Weight Gain Shakes
Are you looking for some shake inspiration? Well, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Here are two delicious shake recipes from our sister site, High Calorie Recipes.
Almond Butter Weight Gain Shake: 1,021 calories per shake
High Calorie Banana Shake: 620 calories per shake
Allow yourself to be creative with your shakes!
If you’re a big strawberry fan, then try vanilla protein powder + Greek yogurt + frozen strawberries + flaxseeds.
Have food allergies? Avoid your food allergies by blending up your own homemade weight gain shakes! If you have a peanut allergy, try swapping in sunflower seed butter for a healthy fat source. Dairy allergy? Try soy or hemp milk!
Conclusion
Homemade weight gain shakes are a great way to add calories to your diet – especially if you are following a soft foods diet. A gradual addition of calories will help you achieve healthy weight gain and can help you build muscle.
When making your shakes, aim for 500–700 calories each with at least 10 grams of protein. Feel free to customize the ingredients however you want, but try to include at least one good source each of protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
If you need inspiration, try one (or both) of our recipes above – they are provided by a Registered Dietitian and are delicious! Once you feel comfortable with those, try adding your own spin or even create your own recipe. You’ll be a shake-making machine in no time!