Need to put on weight but healthily!

I am (female) borderline underweight and really want to put on weight to stop looking scrawny.  I thought I had it sussed when I increased my food intake, eating whatever I liked etc. - and I have put on weight but it has all gone to my belly-as fat!  Ok maybe I wasn't being very smart, but I'm worried if I just eat low fat and cut out cakes etc I'll just lose the weight again.

I know I need to focus on exercise too, but I find I lose weight quickly doing cardio.  I am guessing I need to do more weight training and eat good fats etc.  But anyone with any more ideas -advice please!   I find it hard to eat big meals and just eating 'healthy' foods to increase weight sounds almost impossible!

weight training is probably a good way to bulk up and maybe you could have a protein shake afterwards. They're are some good flavours, I like cookies and cream. You'll fill up, but not eat fatty foods

It's not impossible to increase your weight with healthy foods, if your body is naturally slim you may find it harder to maintain the extra pounds.

One thing that's worth doing is going for a doctors checkup, they may run a blood test for thyroid function to check if it's overactive. This can cause you to drop a lot of weight, amongst other symptoms.

I would avoid protein shakes for more natural forms of protein as it won't be beneficial unless you're doing heavy weight lifting, if your body doesn't need the extra protein it won't utilise it to build muscle and it will just put strain on your kidneys and digestion. High-protein diets and big muscle gain are a bit of a myth, the body can only utilise what it needs.

If you can't fit lots of food into your stomach there are other ways to eat, one is to snack more regularly and the other is to eat calorie-dense foods. Children need to eat like this as they need sufficient intake of calories for growth but can't usually eat large amounts of food. An example of calorie-dense eating is having full-fat milk instead of skimmed.

Oily fish (omega 3's), eggs, nuts, avocadoes, coconut, tinned and dried fruit, flaxseed oil (omega 3's, add to porridge), ripe bananas, full fat yogurts and smoothies (make with higher-calorie fruits) are reasonably healthy additions that would help bump your general calorie intake. There are loads of foods really, carbohydrates will also add extra calories (brown bread/pasta/rice/potatoes). There is always the obvious butter, cheese, full-fat dairy etc too.

Not really an expert in weight training, but you might find your general slimness makes it difficult to gain any particular bulk. People are shaped differently and have different body and muscle types, they general categoties are called 'Endomorph', 'Ectomorph' and 'Mesomorph' although you can get a little crossover between one and another. It sounds like you are an Ectomorph, slim built and light and probably suited to distance events like running/cycling... endurance training would probably suit you if you want to do weight training, 2 x 16 reps on the weight machines or free-weights (get to a gym for an assessment on what to do) will help build general muscle strength and improve stamina and endurance without bulking the muscles out. You may find with your body shape that you struggle to get 'BIG' muscles that you get with strength training anyway.

There are mass gain protocols - Mass Made Simple by Dan John is a good book (http://danjohn.net/2012/01/mass-made-simple-lite/), and there are well-known programs like DeLorme, Smolov (heavy squats - a killer) and the Russian Bear etc - but they all involve high set/low rep routines (as Pavel says - 'Get a pump with a heavy weight') and to withstand them you are going to need to develop strength first. Ideally you would carefully instigate an intelligent strength program and then add a couple of 8-12 week mass cycles in a year. However, if you are really keen, you would be best to find a knowledgeable trainer to guide you in this as it is not easy to do on your own. My personal recommendation would be an RKC trainer (http://www.dragondoor.com/instructors/) because they really understand this stuff, and will ensure your overall health, which is crucial - if you just end up getting injured, it's pointless.

I've considered this as a problem, on the face of it it seems like a good one to have - being able to eat whatever you like, but I can appreciate it'd be a right pain and take careful management to get right. I would just say try to eat healthy fats don't go for the saturated stuff in processed meats and chesse etc. Things like avocado, olive oil, olives, nuts are great and just combine these with a balanced diet which in general takes in a bit more than you were eating before. As suggested you could do some stregth workouts to increa your muscle mass but if you do make sure you plan for this in your diet. 

Thanks for all your replies.  Much appreciated.  I think the idea of eating calorie dense foods is definitely the way to go- along with strength/weight training.  I'm very slight so would have to build this up slowly.  After having had 2 kids fairly recently I probably need to do a lot of core work too to avoid injury.  Thanks for food ideas- hard to think of good high calorie foods sometimes- and not just reach for the nearest chocolate bar.

I've got to try though and in the meantime I'll get healthier and stronger with all the new training so even if I don't achieve the look I want at least I'll be doing my body good.

BTW- GoneFishin -you seem very knowledgable on nutrition (something I'm really interested in- thought of training to become a nutritional therapist) interesting about the excess protein from protein shakes- something I didn't realise so thanks for the heads up- don't want to put unnecessary pressure on my kidneys. (even though some of those shakes are really yummy!)

I do find food interesting :)

Just bear in mind there are 2 'main' types of weight training - Strength and Endurance

Strength = Heavier weights, lower reps = Strong muscles, bigger muscles and power. Ideal for a sprinter. This training works the fast twitch muscle fibres which provide short bursts of energy to allow for extra strength, force and speed. These fibres fire quickly but also tire quickly.

Endurance = Lighter weights, more reps = Improved endurance, stamina and muscle tone without extra bulk. Ideal for a runner. This training works the slow twitch muscle fibres which utilise oxygen effectively for sustained exercise. This training helps improve endurance and stamina. These fibres fire slowly but they work to keep you going for longer periods of time.

You can get a slight crossover between the 2, but generally you train 1 or the other, I do know people who do both types of training on a cycle. We all have fast/slow twitch fibres but your workouts will usually affect the usage of them one way or the other. If you're going to weight train you will naturally raise your base metabolism and ability to burn energy, bigger muscles need more feeding so you will need to adjust your eating programme according to your exercise.