While the nation is currently fighting a rising obesity problem, not everyone can gain weight easily. A quick metabolism, genetics and your natural food preferences can leave you quite thin.

If you are having a hard time gaining weight and feel forever stuck skinny, you may benefit from taking supplements in order to do so. However, there is a right and a wrong way to gain weight using this method.

Understanding the process is essential to gaining weight in a healthy way and maintaining your gain over time.

Are You Ready for Supplements?

Before you rush off to the local GNC or health foods store, you need to be sure you are ready to take weight-gain supplements. You should first track your calories carefully and make sure you are eating enough calories to create a surplus.

If you are a chronic under-eater, all the supplements in the world cannot make up a deficit with any degree of success. If you are under calories but feel uncomfortable trying to eat more, you can always make some substitutions in your diet to sneak in extra calories.

Adding cheese to salads and sandwiches, using heavy cream in your coffee and even indulging in some snacking can help add calories to your everyday diet.

You also need to take a long, hard look at your workout program guys. While intense cardio is great for your health, it burns calories at an insane rate and will keep you thin.

There’s a reason long-distance runners are spare, lean men. If you are over-doing cardio, you need to replace some of it with other activities such as weightlifting or other non-aerobic moves.

You also need to have a good commitment to working out, especially if your thin stature is genetic. You should be working out for anywhere between 45 and 60 minutes, three to five times a week.

You will also need to take a good, hard look at your expectations. If you are a naturally slim guy, looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger is just not in the cards.