15 Women Share Their Healthy Weight Gain Body Transformations, With Expert Advice
For a while now, the internet has been obsessed with thin. Scroll through social media, and you’ll find an entire subculture built around getting smaller. Tips, tricks, before-and-afters, all pointed in the same direction.
Lately though, a different kind of transformation post has been gaining traction. Women are documenting the opposite journey. They’re gaining weight, building muscle, and talking openly about feeling better because of it. Some are recovering from years of undereating. Others are simply tired of chasing a body type that never made them feel strong or well in the first place.
In an interview with Bored Panda, Amy Goodson, a registered dietitian and sports nutrition specialist based in Texas, offered expert perspective throughout this piece on what healthy weight gain actually looks like.
Here’s a look at some of their stories, along with her insight.
1. Lestia
Bored Panda talked to Amy Goodson, a registered dietitian and sports nutrition specialist based in Texas, about the shift.
She explained that real, lasting health still comes down to the basics, eating well, staying active, and preserving muscle through enough protein and regular resistance training.
Goodson also pointed out that fixating on someone else’s body or chasing a specific size misses the point entirely. The better approach is focusing on habits that actually support long-term health, energy, strength, and confidence over time.
Algerian fitness influencer Lestia shared her own transformation on X, posting on June 24 that she’d gone from 40 kg to 70 kg over a six month period. She included a before-and-after video highlighting changes to her upper body and thighs. The earlier footage showed a leaner frame, a flatter stomach, and a noticeable gap between her thighs, while the more recent clip showed a fuller, visibly healthier physique.
In a July 24 post, Lestia, based in France, mentioned that local beauty standards often label her body as “fat.”
She also joked in a separate post that men her own age might rate her a “3/10,” while their fathers would likely see her a full “10/10.”
2. Maggie Dempsey
Maggie Dempsey, who once struggled to even look at herself in the mirror, said healthy looks different on every person, and that embracing your own shape and size matters more than chasing a specific look.
In a 2018 essay for Harper’s Bazaar, Dempsey described trying to break into modeling and feeling pressure to stay extremely thin to succeed. That pursuit came with real consequences. She pulled back from spending time with friends, skipped meals regularly, and started every day by weighing herself.
Eventually her health suffered enough that family members grew concerned and reached out to her parents. Dempsey was later diagnosed with amenorrhea, a loss of her menstrual cycle linked to malnutrition and overexercising.
She stepped away from modeling to focus on recovering her health, gradually reintroducing regular meals to help her body recover.
In a 2019 Instagram post referencing Friends character Joey Tribbiani, she celebrated fully embracing her healthier body.
“I am curvy, and I like it,” she said.
3. Fit Saam
Sri Lankan physical trainer Fit Saam documented one client’s progress from 34 kg to 45 kg. Given how low that starting weight was, we asked Goodson what typically causes women to weigh so little in the first place.
She explained that low body weight can stem from a range of causes, not eating enough, high activity levels, digestive issues, hormonal imbalances, or other underlying health conditions. It’s unclear exactly what led to this particular client’s low weight, but Goodson noted that chronically undereating makes gaining weight difficult regardless of the cause.
“Creating a calorie surplus is a must,” she said, adding that workouts alone won’t produce results without enough food to actually fuel them.
4. Kayla Mcginn
Kayla McGinn shared with followers how gaining 20 pounds changed more than just her physique, it also changed the way her clothes fit.
In a June 27 post, she posted side-by-side before and after photos, which drew hundreds of supportive comments in response.
One follower said seeing the post meant a lot, sharing that they’d gone from 100 pounds to 120 pounds over the past year and had never felt better. Another said they felt exactly the same way.
Some commenters admitted they still found it hard to fully accept healthy weight gain, even while understanding it was good for them.
Goodson encouraged people in that position to stop focusing so heavily on the number on the scale. She said the real goal should be having enough energy not just to get through life, but to actually live it well, rather than chasing a specific body type.
5. Sky Reynolds
Sky Reynolds also lost her period after going through a period of extreme weight loss, and only got it back after gaining 30 pounds over a three year stretch between 2022 and 2025.
Looking back on that recovery in an August 2025 TikTok post, Reynolds said the whole experience reshaped how she saw her own body.
She described learning that there’s more to life and more to appreciate about her own growth than just her appearance or how small she could make herself.
Goodson pointed to a growing misconception that smaller automatically means healthier, something she said has been amplified by the rise of weight loss medications like GLP-1s.
While she acknowledged these drugs can genuinely help people managing obesity under a doctor’s supervision, she warned against using them purely for minor aesthetic weight loss.
She reiterated that real, lasting health comes down to solid nutrition and consistent physical activity, resistance training included.
6. Summer
Summer says her metabolism runs naturally fast, which she credits for making weight gain harder for her than it is for a lot of people.
Still, she managed to go from 57 kg in March 2025 up to 67 kg by March 2026. One follower asked how she pulled it off, but Summer never replied.
Goodson filled in the gap with some real guidance. Instead of forcing down oversized portions, she pointed to consistency as the key. Her recommendation: three balanced meals built around whole, nutrient rich foods, plus two or three snacks throughout the day, each one including some combination of protein, healthy fat, and good quality carbs.
7. Gabby Merchal
Fitness influencer Gabby Merchal keeps her advice for women trying to gain healthy weight and build muscle simple: eat more.
In a May 29 Instagram post, she put it bluntly, telling followers they just have to commit to it. In a separate post, she shared that she doubled her own calorie intake while making protein a priority to support muscle growth.
Goodson backed up that approach, noting that protein plays a key role in both muscle repair and growth. Merchal also pushed back against an overreliance on cardio, encouraging women to spend less time on the treadmill and more time lifting weights.
She also addressed the number on the scale directly, explaining that muscle is denser than fat and takes up less space. That means a higher body weight doesn’t automatically mean someone looks bigger, since muscle and fat simply take up different amounts of room on the body.
8. Emma
Emma gained 23 kg between 2020 and 2026 through consistent CrossFit training. In a June 6 post, she shared six photos tracking that transformation across six years. The earliest photo showed a visibly underweight frame with noticeably prominent bones, while the most recent one showed significantly more muscle built across her shoulders, arms, and midsection.
She noted that her progress wasn’t a straight line, since much of that period involved working through a nine year struggle with an unhealthy relationship with food. Emma also pushed back on the idea that a leaner body is automatically the healthiest or most desirable one. She pointed out that heavier, more muscular bodies are often capable of far more, citing things like lifting heavier weights and competing at a high level in sport as proof of that. In her words, that’s ultimately what determines a body’s worth.
In a separate post, she added that nothing would ever get her to align with the SkinnyTok movement.
The return of an ultra-thin aesthetic has largely been linked to celebrities like Emma Stone, Ariana Grande, and Sharon Osbourne, all of whom have shown up visibly slimmer at public events and on red carpets recently. Goodson warned against chasing that specific celebrity look, calling those body standards unrealistic for most people.
9. Grace
Grace, a fitness influencer, flips the usual script on weight gain entirely. Rather than treating it as something to avoid, she frames it as proof of dedication, a marker of real progress toward building strength and muscle over time.
Her main point isn’t really about the number on the scale at all. She’s said the bigger picture includes things like having more energy, performing better physically, and just generally feeling good day to day.
Grace pushes her followers to mark every win along the way, whether that’s a shift on the scale or a change in how they’re living day to day. That message clearly landed with her audience too, one commenter mentioned celebrating a recent 2 kg gain of their own.
10. Emily Berger
Emily Berger has shared her own 20 kg transformation, pointing to consistent strength training and solid nutrition as the real drivers behind the change.
In later videos, she walked through lower-body workouts similar to Benie’s routine, focusing on movements built specifically for strength and muscle growth. Her advice was blunt, skipping those kinds of exercises just isn’t an option if the goal is actually bulking up.
She also offered a simple motivation hack for anyone struggling to stay consistent, bring along a best friend or a boyfriend to make it easier to show up.
11. Mia Grifitths
Mia Griffiths lives with emetophobia, an intense fear of vomiting, and she’s talked openly about how much it’s shaped her relationship with food.
Certain textures, smells, or the anxiety of possibly getting sick have all led her to eat less over time, which in turn made it hard to keep her weight at a healthy level.
According to Goodson, this is far from an isolated case. Mental health struggles of all kinds, stress, anxiety, depression, grief, can quietly chip away at someone’s appetite and throw their entire eating routine off track.
That’s why she stresses that healthy weight gain isn’t purely a numbers problem. Eating more only works if the underlying emotional piece gets addressed too. Her advice for anyone in this situation is to bring in both a therapist and a registered dietitian, working together to build a plan that’s actually sustainable long term.
12. Benie Th
At 22, Benie started going to the gym after realizing how physically weak she felt.
Within a year, she’d gone from 50 kg to 62 kg, tracking both her training and her meals along the way on social media.
Her eating habits line up closely with what Goodson recommends, plenty of protein through foods like eggs and avocados, along with other nutrient dense staples.
On the training side, Benie mostly focuses on lower body work, targeting her glutes, quads, adductors, and hamstrings.
13. Bethann
Bethan tracked her own 12 kg transformation, attributing it to a mix of progressive strength training and a major jump in her daily calorie intake.
She gradually worked her way up from 1,400 to 3,600 calories a day to support her training and recovery, with glute development as a specific focus throughout.
Goodson was careful to point out that healthy weight gain isn’t simply a matter of eating more overall, it’s about choosing foods that actually support the body’s needs.
She pointed to options like lean meats, full-fat dairy, oats, and granola as better choices than sugary drinks or heavily processed snacks.
14. Meg Kimura
Personal trainer Meg Kimura, based in Gold Coast, Queensland, sees weightlifting as one of the best paths to healthy weight gain for women. She’s said none of her clients have ever regretted starting, a point she made alongside a before-and-after photo of her own.
Every client’s goals differ, she noted, but lifting heavy has consistently built both confidence and better health across the board. She’s encouraged beginners to avoid comparing their progress to more experienced lifters, sharing that she herself started small, adding just over a kilogram at a time, sometimes taking months for even modest gains.
Nutrition matters just as much, she added, warning against copying someone else’s calorie intake off the internet. She also pushed back on the idea that carbs should be avoided, since they fuel workout performance. And she addressed a common fear directly, reassuring women that lifting won’t turn them into bodybuilders overnight, since muscle growth is something they can control and shape intentionally.
15. Shalini Matt
Shalini Matt, a digital creator based in Toronto, has traced her fitness journey back to the pandemic, a period she describes as starting from insecurity, body shaming, and a genuine need to feel more comfortable in her own skin.
A goal that began simply as building strength ended up becoming something much bigger, evolving into a full lifestyle shift, according to what she’s written on her own website.
Now she uses her platform to shift how people, especially beginners, think about the gym in the first place. Rather than framing it as intimidating, she pushes the idea that it’s a place to build discipline, confidence, and genuine self-respect. She’s also been consistent about reminding her audience that real change doesn’t come fast, it comes from sticking with something long enough to see it through.
Goodson backed that idea up too, pointing to consistency as one of the single biggest factors behind healthy, lasting weight gain.