Weight Lifting Diet

Eating everything you see in site is not the healthiest way to gain weight while you are weight training. It puts no restrictions upon food quality, balance, or calories. It's fattening and can cause a pot belly. Here are a few diet tips for weight lifters who want to gain muscle mass. See No Nonsense Muscle Building for detailed nutrition plans for both muscle gain and fat loss.

Eat Often
A weight lifting diet for muscle gain must contain more calories than abnormal 3 meal per day diets. Trying to cram these calories into only three meals isn't practical because it's simply too much food for the body to assimilate all at once. The solution is to eat small, healthy meals every 2-3 hours. These meals need balance and quality. They are not to be junk food snacks. This is fuel to grow your muscles. Plan ahead so you don't miss any meals to ensure that you keep building. You must average 6 to 8 meals per day to see the results.

Variety
Rotate your food selection so you can benefit from all food groups and varieties within each group. It's human nature to eat whatever is available in the house so shop for quality. Shop for balance and mix things up to keep your diet interesting.

Calories
Building muscle is an eating game because your muscles grow on calories. You should be gaining 1-2 pounds per week. If not, then add some extra carbohydrates and proteins to your breakfast, pre-workout meal or post-workout meals. You won't grow unless you give your body gets the proper amount of nutrients.

Protein
Your body cannibalizes itself for the amino acids it needs! This is exactly what skinny guys and gals don't want. Proteins should make up at least 35% of your overall caloric intake, which translates to 40-60 grams of protein per meal. This is enough to increase your muscle mass, accelerate recovery time, and keep your body fat levels low.

Some whole, complete, lean sources of protein are: lean meats such as ground beef, chicken, turkey, Salmon, tuna, Orange Roughy, Omega 3 eggs, and pasteurized egg whites. Aim for dairy from cottage cheese, yogurt and partly skimmed cheeses. And if you have to resort to supplement shakes, go for whey, or milk protein blends.

Carbohydrates
Carbs provide your muscle tissue with the energy it needs to speed up the muscle-building process. Good sources of high-complex, muscle building carbohydrates are: bran, barley, buckwheat, beans, brown rice, cornmeal, oatmeal, pasta, potatoes and whole grains. Poor sources are the simple carbs: sugars found in fast food, fried food, processed food and junk food.

Fat
To maximize your muscle growth, 30% of your intake should be from fat, which is critical for boosting testosterone levels. It is important to maintain a balance between these three fats: saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. Most of us get plenty of saturated fat. Great for the other two are: olive oil(monounsaturated) and fish oil(polyunsaturated). Avoid at all costs the trans fatty acids which can be found in vegetable oils which are hardened into margarine or shortening. They are also found in foods like french fries, fried chicken, doughnuts, cookies, pastries and crackers.

Vegetables
Vegetables play an important role in recovery. They have a high level of antioxidants which reduce the amount of free radicals from heavy training. They accelerate recovery by healing damaged muscle cells. While proteins and grains create high levels of acid loads to the blood, the alkaline rich vegetables and fruits keep these acid levels balanced.

Important Meals
Pay special attention to breakfast, pre-workout and post-workout nutrition. The bulk of your calories should revolve around the most catabolic and anabolic times of the day so you will have sufficient energy to train hard without the risk of muscle breakdown. The quantity of food you eat at each meal depends upon your needs a given point in time.

Plan Ahead
You must have a plan that will ensure you have the food prepared and cooked. Spend a few hours on Sunday evenings cooking and storing all your food in Tupperware containers or baggies. You may also need to wake up earlier to prepare all your meals for the day. Get used to carrying a lunch bag wherever you go. Travel with bottles of protein shake while on the road or extra busy.

Whole Foods and  Liquid Meals
Your food intake should come from whole, live enzyme, high quality food at least 60 % of the time, which means at least 4 of the 6 meals you are eating. This will ensure your assimilation of the necessary vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. Liquid meals such as power shakes are convenient and can be used 2 out of your 4 real meals a day.

Dedicate yourself to these muscle building nutrition tips. He makes it simple and exciting. Try new recipes and become a master chef. Taking these principles and applying them consistently over time and making them a part of your lifestyle is one the biggest secrets to weight lifting and gaining muscle mass. Vince Del Monte teaches how to build muscle and put together a nutrition plan in much greater detail: No Nonsense.
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Fat Loss Meal Plans By Vince Del Monte