The first thing to be aware of is that a building muscle diet is not a “standard” diet. Its objective is to help you put on weight by using a lot of high protein foods. Many people believe the word “diet” to mean cutting down on food or certain types of food in order to slim down or lose fat, however this is the incorrect use of the word. The word diet refers to the food choices you make from day to day. So basically what you choose to eat is your diet.
What are the Goals of a Muscle Building Diet?
Basically the only goal of a muscle gain diet is to gain high quality muscle mass without gaining fat. The following 6 point plan will help you attain this goal of building muscle without gaining fat.
1. Stay With Your Diet
If you are determined about building muscle and losing fat you've got to stick to your diet all the time. This means that you must eat totally the same when you aren't training so much as when you are training fully. So do not suddenly switch from chicken breasts to hamburgers, or from eggs to bacon just because you haven't been working out as much recently. Many weight trainers have an “off season” where they don't train anywhere near as much as they normally would and give their bodies a rest. But they keep in good shape by keeping to their normal muscle building diet.
If you really want one of your favourite (unhealthy) foods, only include them in your treat days.
2. Plenty of Protein
For every meal you make you have to ask yourself “Where is the protein?”
To put on serious muscle you have to eat about 1.5 grammes of protein for every pound of lean body mass you have. To find out your lean body mass, you must find out what your body fat percentage is then use this percentage to find out how much of your weight is fat. Then simply subtract this from your total weight.
Don't use the same source of protein all the time. Mix it up and get a large variety of protein sources. A lot people will get their majority of protein from chicken breasts, but in addition that your body needs low-fat fish, lean steaks, eggs, nuts and seeds, fatty fish, beans and a mixture of dairy products.
When don't have time its okay to get you protein from a protein supplement (but stay away from protein meal bars!)
3. Cut Out Junk Food
Junk food contains a type of fat that you don't want to consume at all costs and keep away from your muscle gaining diet – trans-fatty acids. They severely hinder you muscle building.
Whereas “good” fats switch on your muscle gaining switch, junk foods do the opposite. Junk foods contain a lot of additives that the body deal with properly, such as preservative, stabilizers and tenderizers.
These substances are basically a poison to the body and cause an effect called oxidisation to occur, which adds to muscle breakdown at a cellular level. You get enough of this at the gym, so don't make it worse by eating junk food.
You have to be set up towards countering muscle damage, instead of recuperating from the poison of junk foods. Simply if you eat junk foods you will be small and sick. If you eat fresh, natural foods you will be healthy and strong.
4. Eat Often Throughout The Day
Most people eat a large meal 3 times a day and think that is what the body wants. But for anyone wanting to Build Muscle this isn't the correct way to go about it.
Very few bodies can cope with eating just 2-3 large meals a day without getting fat. It is important to eat smaller meals, more frequently throughout the day, which will keep your energy levels topped up and stop you feeling hungry.
I recommend that you eat every 3-4 hours, which should result in 5-6 meals per day. Since you have to pack a lot into the day, its best to start as early as you can. So your first meal should be consumed no later than 20 minutes after waking up.
It is also vital to get an equal amount of your daily protein from each meal. So if you are to eat 200 grammes of protein per day and have 6 meals, each meal should contain around 33 grammes.
The secret is to give the body what it needs. When you start to feel hungry, your body is telling you it wants food, so give it what it wants. You may not be able to cope with a meal every 3 hours. If so wait until you start to feel hungry before having a meal. You will soon find a routine that works for you.
5. Eat the Foods Your Body Uses best
If you struggle to break down dairy products, try to avoid these and get your protein and carbs from another source.
Everyone's body is different so listen to what yours tells you. It makes no sense to keep eating foods that your body can't tolerate or digest.
However if you find source of protein that works effectively for you, try to incorporate is into your diet more so you can get the most from your meals.
I can't tell you what will and what won't work for you as everyone is different. You need to listen to your body and develop your on Muscle Building Foods for your diet.
6. Know Your Carbohydrates
One of the biggest difficulties facing anyone that want to build muscle, is eating the correct types of carbs at the correct time. Your aim should be to get around 2 grammes of carbohydrates for every pound of lean body mass.
So if you are 200 pounds with a 10% body fat, you have 180 pounds of lean weight. Therefore you need at least 360 grammes of carbohydrate per day.
Carbs are what you should be changing if you aren't progressing in the way you want. So if you aren't putting on muscle and weight as fast as you want then increase your intake of carbs. Or if your gaining weight,but it appears to be fat, cut back on the carbs.
All carbs are not the same and you need to focus on the quality carbs that have a slow release factor, as these are less likely to be stored as fat.
These can be found in foods such as whole-grain bread, oatmeal and sweet potatoes. But if you are really skinny, then you can eat more fast releasing carbs such as potatoes, bananas, cereals, pasta and white rice.
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