Bodybuilding: Diet for Muscle Gain and Fat Loss

Bodybuilding can be described as the pursuit of lean muscle mass. The importance of a proper diet to achieve this goal can't be understated. In actuality, many experts assert that diet may account for as many as 90% of an individual's success at building their body. Fortunately, there's an easy-to-follow meal program that works like magic to burn fat and gain muscle.

In this time of fad diets and trendy diets and so forth, it's important to remember that bodybuilding involves a lifestyle. Regular, intense and goal-oriented training sessions together with a smart approach to eating will foster the growth of a muscular body that many trainees desire. What's required is discipline, patience, persistence and consistency. All these characteristics are favourable and may lead you to success in not just physique objectives, but also in personal and professional pursuits.

When a person adopts bodybuilding as a lifestyle, the body improvements can be preserved over the long run. A steady, consistent and everyday approach will stop the agony of short-term weight loss followed by a quick regain of weight and the corresponding depression and sense of hopelessness. Training and eating like a bodybuilder functions, becomes habit-forming and gives one a true sense of satisfaction and achievement.

We like to stick to the KISS (keep it simple, smart man ) principle when it comes to dinner plans. So let's not going to get overly technical. We are just going to put it out to you. To start with, you ought to eat smaller meals, 5-6 times each day, 2 1/2 -3 hours apart. This will keep your metabolism going and supply your muscles (stimulated by brief, intense workouts) fed with nutrients needed for growth. These foods will include protein, fats and carbohydrates.

Proper protein consumption will vary according to age, sex, goals and so forth. Broadly , each meal should contain between 25-50 grams of protein. A guideline is that a healthy man hoping to promote lean muscle mass should ingest 1.5 g of protein per pound of body fat. Consequently, if your body weight is 200 lbs, a daily intake of 300 g of protein (6 meals with 50 grams of protein per day ) would be required. The key is that if you're training hard, you need protein.

Resources for protein include lean meats, fish, egg whites, low fat cottage cheese and whey protein. Avoid fatty meats and attempt to grill your meats and don't fry them . Don't forget to include a protein choice at every meal.

When talking carbohydrates, it's very important to distinguish between different kinds of carbs. For this discussion we'll identify 3 distinct kinds of carbohydrates: complex carbohydrates include potatoes, yams, bread, cereals, grains, rice and pasta; simple carbs include most fruit and veggie carbohydrates including most vegetables and leafy greens.

Fats are also a requirement but should come from these sources: extra virgin olive oil, flax seed oil, nuts (almonds are best) and fish oil. The diet is extremely simple. For every meal, pick a portion in the protein group, the intricate carbohydrate group and the veggie carbohydrate group. A good guideline is that a serving size to your carbs and protein should be about the size of your fist. Have a serving of fats at 2-3 meals daily and just have simple carbohydrates first thing in the morning at breakfast and immediately after your workout. Actually, it's crucial to have a post workout shake with whey protein and a simple carb like a banana. Bring it to the gym with you and have it while the perspiration is still in your body.

Now to fine tune this diet you can do this: if you're trying to improve muscle mass and not worried too much about losing weight, eat as previously. However, if you would like to accelerate fat burning, don't eat complex carbohydrates in the last 2-3 meals daily. Lean protein (chicken breast or fish) and salads or chunky veggies (broccoli and asparagus are excellent options ) will do just fine.

Let us take this one step farther. Here's a magic formula for intense lean muscle mass and fat burning. For three days in a row, come hell or high water, only eat complex carbohydrates first thing in the morning (a serving of oatmeal will do it) and immediately after your workout. On the fourth day, eat a huge amount of carbs. Really cheat on this afternoon. Eat anything you want, but make certain you eat adequate protein and a great deal of complex carbs. This is the opportunity to eat pizza, cake, pasta and so forth.

This 3 day off, 1 day on carbohydrates has produced fantastic results in several bodybuilders. We enjoy it because any cravings we could put off until our"carbohydrate" day (which is not really that far off in the future) then indulge at that moment. The secret is to stay rigorous on the low carb days. This takes planning, discipline and preparation. You can do it. As soon as you begin to see the results you obtain from this carbohydrate manipulation, you'll find it a lot easier to stay with it.

This meal program should produce such dramatic results so quickly that your friends will be asking you what you're"on". The actual secret is daily subject. Take it one day at a time. Eat right based on the principles outlined above, control your taxi intake and train with intensity focusing on basic, heavy moves. This is the bodybuilding lifestyle. Engage in it and change your life, long-term and for the better.