It’s no secret that bodybuilding successfully is a huge challenge. Hitting the gym regularly to lift weights is demanding as is. But on top of it, you also need to enforce a targeted meal regimen so that the exercise you are engaging in pays off in a visible way. Thus, if you want to be successfully muscular, you also have to watch what you eat.
The 5 Essential Tips
Abiding by a strict and tailored diet is the best way to build mass fast, while at the same time preserving your well-being and ensuring that those extra calories don’t turn into fat. Here are the five essential tips for a proper meal plan for muscle gain female that you need to follow if you want to bulk up in a healthy and sustainable way.
Choose Appropriate Foods
It’s no secret that the foods you choose to eat are the centerfold of any meal plan. And when your goal is to build brawn, there is a specific list of meats and produce that you need to consider when designing your recipes. Remember that lean muscle promoting foods are your best friend in this situation and stick to them.
Grass-fed beef, brown rice, quinoa, eggs, organic milk and cottage cheese make excellent additions to any menu due to their beneficial nutritional value. As for fruits and vegetables, next time you’re at the farmers market make sure to pick up some apples, oranges, cantaloupes, spinach, and beets.
What is more, how you cook your organic produce and free-range meat is essential in preserving the necessary nutrients. Using healthy methods such as steaming, roasting, and broiling is vital if you want to achieve the most prolific results. Hence, techniques that involve refined oils, such as deep frying, must be avoided.
Pay Attention to Protein
Just like it is the case with most macronutrients and micronutrients, the average person needs to consume a certain quantity of protein each day in order to remain healthy and in shape. Most nutritionists and dieticians suggest that between 10 and 35 percent of one’s daily caloric intake consist of protein.
Therefore, if you eat 2,000 calories per day, then between 200 and 700 of them should come from protein-rich sources. Nevertheless, the situation is a bit different when physical performance is involved. Therefore, when muscle mass gain is your primary goal, your body weight is the most accurate tool for calculating the necessary amount.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that weightlifters, and athletes in general, ingest between 1.2 and 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram, or 0.5 to 0.8 grams per pound. By comparison, the average person needs just 0.8 grams per kilogram or 0.35 per pound of body mass to maintain a fitting level of well-being.
Carefully Time Your Carbs
Besides protein, carbohydrates are another essential macronutrient that promotes an increase in brawn. After all, the bulk of the calories you should consume comes from them. The most common mistake novice bodybuilders commit is binging on every starchy food in sight at any given moment so that they carbo-load. However, the reality is that this practice isn’t useful.
The best strategy to pursue outside the gym is to time your carb intake carefully. The best times of day for it are during breakfast, and then immediately after your workout. While the former fuels you for the day, the latter is crucial if you want to hit that perfect anabolic time window during which maximum muscle recovery occurs.
Eat More Frequently
Another thing to keep in mind is that eating frequently is the preferred approach to the muscle-building diet. Bodybuilding.com contributor Shannon Clark recommends this practice because it keeps the body in a constant anabolic state. This is a necessity when you want to gain some mass because it sustains the recovery period during which the actual brawn is produced.
Therefore, eating as often as five or six times per day needs to become part of your daily ritual. It is also beneficial because it helps your body digest and process all the additional nutrients you are feeding it as part of your protein, carb, and fat-loaded menu. This prevents it from gaining you weight instead of muscle.
Maintain Proper Hydration
While focusing on the food is essential in any diet, including your muscle-building one, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t also pay attention to your fluid intake. Drinking at least two liters of water each day is indispensable for everyone. When you engage in regular intensive physical activity, you might want to drink even more than that.
This keeps the muscles and joints lubricated, which aids the recovery process. Furthermore, it promotes tissue elasticity and health, which is an essential part of any athlete’s well-being. Therefore, roughly half your body weight in ounces is an adequate starting point. Just make sure not to diminish your appetite with it.
Final Thoughts
A bodybuilder’s diet isn’t an easy one to follow. It is incredibly saturated and nutrient-rich, but at the same time, it must consist solely of clean and organic ingredients that have been prepared in a healthy way. Therefore, you will need to take these five tips into consideration to come up with the perfect meal plan for you.
Author Bio: Amanda Wilks is a writer, contributing author forThe Kitchen Advisor, cooking enthusiast and sports advocate. Learn more about Amanda on Twitter.