This is a great article I found by a guy called Adi Crnalic, about the foods to eat when trying to gain muscle. Give it a go and let me know how you get on. I will get more articles from this guy.Building muscle mass means that you'll have to consume more calories than your body burns on a daily basis. In this article, I'll outline an effective sample muscle building diet and proven guidelines that you can use to pack on muscle mass and gain weight fast.
Too many guys make the mistake of training too frequently in the gym and not feeding their body's properly to in order to support muscle growth and recovery. Eating to build muscle and gain weight is not rocket-science, but there are certain guidelines that you'll need to follow in your diet to ensure optimal muscle growth and recovery.
When you eat the correct muscle building foods, your mass gains will increase almost overnight because certain foods produce an anabolic environment in the body, which means that your body will be very efficient at building new muscle tissue.
Here are some proven guidelines that you'll want to follow when you're looking to design your own muscle mass building diet.
Guideline #1: To gain weight and build muscle fast, eat at least 2 grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight each day. So for example, if you weight 160 pounds, you should be consuming at least 320 grams of carbohydrates every day to support energy production and muscle growth.
Guideline #2: To support an anabolic or muscle building environment in your body, strive to eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day. Taking the example from above, you should be eating at least 160 grams of protein every day in order to pack on muscle size.
Protein helps to re-build damaged muscle tissue from intense weight training and speeds up to recovery as well as the muscle growth process.
Guideline #3: In order to support muscle growth and reduce muscle inflammation that's caused by intense weight training, eat plenty of healthy omega-3 fats in your diet. If you weigh 160 pounds, you should consume at least 70 to 80 grams of fat every day which comes out to roughly 0.5 grams per pound of bodyweight.
Now that you know how much protein, carbohydrates and fats you should be eating every day to gain weight and build muscle, let's design a sample muscle building diet based on the guidelines above.
Breakfast:
2 Whole Eggs (Boiled)
21 grams Protein powder
1 cup Low-Fat Milk
1 cup Oatmeal
2 tsp Olive, Flax or Salmon Oils
Pre-Workout Snack:
28 grams Protein powder
1 cup Low-Fat Milk
2/3 cup Oatmeal
1 ounce of mixed nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts)
Post Workout Snack
30 Grams of protein powder mixed with 3 cups of fruit juice
Post Workout Meal (Lunch):
6 oz Tuna Steak with Rice and Vegetables
1 cup of rice. Season the rice and vegetables
2 Bell Peppers
2 tsp Olive, Flax or Salmon Oils
Dinner:
6 oz Chicken breast, skinless. Chicken with Salad and Applesauce
1/4 cup Cucumber. Baking the chicken is an easy way to cook it.
1 Pepper. Can make a tasty salad dressing from balsamic
1/8 head Lettuce, iceberg, vinegar, olive oil, garlic and any spices of your choice
1 cup Cherry tomatoes and a side of rice.
Dessert
1/2 cup Applesauce
1 Ounce of almonds or walnuts
Before Bed Protein Shake:
28 grams Protein powder. Late Night Protein Shake with Oatmeal
1/3 cup Oatmeal. Put all ingredients in a blender over ice and blend.
2/3 tsp Olive, Flax or Salmon Oils. Adding water to create desired consistency.
1 cup Low-Fat Milk
Total Daily Calories = 2500 to 2700
Total Carbohydrates = 340 to 360 grams
Total Protein = 160 to 180 grams
Total Fats = 65 to 80 grams
The diet above is an a good example of what your day to day diet should look like if your goal is to build muscle and gain weight through healthy foods and high-protein snacks.
Notice that the diet above includes pre and post workout protein shakes. Although protein shakes are not essential to build muscle, they're very convenient and allow you to easily meet your daily protein requirements.
You can substitute some foods that you don't like or don't have access to with foods that are similar. The muscle building diet that I've outlined above is a great example for someone who weighs 150 to 170 pounds and wants to pack on muscle mass quickly with very little fat gain.
If you weigh more than 170 pounds, you'll have to increase the portion size of each meal in the sample above in order to meet your daily carbohydrate, protein, fat and calorie requirements.
To sum up, building muscle and gaining weight means that you'll have to eat plenty of muscle building foods on a daily basis. Foods that are high in protein, healthy carbohydrates as well as healthy fats will all support weight gain and muscle growth if they're eaten in the proper amounts every day.
Next...
Discover The 4 Killer Muscle Building Mistakes That 95% Of All Skinny Guys Make When Trying To Build Muscle And Gain Weight Fast Click Here
About the author
Once a skinny, pencil-necked weakling, Adi Crnalic is now an all natural bodybuilder, certified personal trainer and creator of the explosive new muscle building course that shows you how to pack on 20-40 pounds of muscle in just weeks! - Massive Muscle Building
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adi_Crnalic
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6674186
Thanks for reading, and check back soon for more great blogs about health and fitness.
