Weight Gaining Diet: Top 10 Nutrition Tips for Optimal Muscle Building

You may have noticed that  I place a lot of importance on your muscle building and weight gaining diet. This is because a healthy weight gaining diet is usually one of the two most neglected aspect of muscle building (the other aspect is recovery).

Oftentimes, trainers focus solely on what they do at the gym, and never really think about what they do when they are outside the gym. This is rather absurd if you think about it, because you’re only at the gym about 1% of the time. The other 99%  of your time is spent sleeping, working, eating, playing, relaxing, socializing and whatever else you do.

Understand that a great body is made not just in the gym but also in the kitchen and in the bedroom (rest and recovery). Therefore you should seriously consider how what you do in the other 99% of your time are affecting your muscle building efforts.

So here I’ve compiled a list of the best weight gaining diet tips that you must apply if you are really determined to gain weight and build muscles mass fast. Ignore them at your own peril!

1. Know Your Numbers.

To succeed in muscle building, you have to follow a proven, effective and structured program that addresses your weight gain needs. And you can’t really have a structure if you don’t know your Basal Metabolic Rate, Total Daily Energy Expenditure, your Daily Protein Needs for optimal muscle building, your Daily Calorie Needs tailored to your goal, etc.

Don’t just eat whatever and whenever, with no specific structure to your diet. You’ll build muscles and gain weight faster if you follow a proven bodybuilding plan.

Big Muscles Are Not Just Made in the Gym

2. Have a Pre and Post-Workout Drink/Meal Ready Every Time You Train.

This applies whether you’re doing cardio or weight training. When we exercise, we lose a lot of minerals, our body produces lactic acid, we burn up energy, our body produce hormones that affect our muscles, etc.

When you’re trying to build as much muscle as possible and lose fat, it’s very important to ensure you feed your body some carbohydrates before your workout and then give it protein and carbohydrates after your workout.

The most convenient way to create your pre-workout and post-workout drinks is by blending your own smoothies from fruits and vegetables. Always make 2 servings: drink one serving before you go to the gym, and then put the rest in a vacuum flask and take it to the gym with you. If you’re not getting enough protein in your diet, use a good source of protein with your smoothies like protein powder, Mesquite powder or Spirulina.

3. Drink plenty of water daily.

Our body is about 60% water, so it needs water to thrive, heal, function and develop optimally. For people like us who train a lot, we need to be even more hydrated because our system needs it to build and repair muscles.

A good practice is to drink half of your body weight in ounces. So for example, if you are 200 lbs, drink 100 ounces of water. Distilled water is best.

Another great way to get your liquids is by drinking green tea. Green tea is a powerful antioxidant, a natural energy booster and fat burner.

4. Track and Measure.

You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Throughout your quest for a better body, you will do many things that you think will help you reach your goal. The only way you will be able to tell if the advice you got was sound or not is by observing, tracking and measuring your own results. Regardless of where you got the advice from, ultimately you should only do those things that give you the results you want. But how will you know what’s working for you and what’s not working for you if you’re not measuring?

5. Detox Your Kitchen,  and your entire House.

Get rid of unhealthy foods in your house. That includes the emergency crisps and sweets stashed in your bedroom and in your office desk! You know what these foods are: ice cream, refined carbohydrates, cookies, donuts, chips, crisps, chocolates, pastries, most baked goodies, fried foods, highly processed meats, most microwaveable meals, soft drinks, ready made juices, carbonated drinks, excessive alcohol, etc.

The principle is that even if you crave for them, it doesn’t matter because they are not in the house anyway. Make no mistake about this – if you keep these food items in the house, it will eventually find its way in your mouth!

When grocery shopping, don’t even go anywhere near “the forbidden aisles”. Stick to where the fresh produce are.

6.  Plan ahead and prepare meals in advance.

Ideally, organize your meals in advance so that you can just go about your daily life without having to worry about your diet.

If you’re always on the go, buy disposable cutlery, paper napkins, lunch boxes, vacuum flask, resealable plastic bags, sandwich bags, and food containers so you can easily take your prepared meals with you.

Never ever let yourself run out of food supply in the house. Go to the grocery store 2x a week every week. Running out of food supply is one of the main things that will tempt you to order junk foods.

7. Eat 5-6 healthy and well-balanced meals per day.

Never ever wait until you are starving before you eat anything. This promotes muscle loss and fat retention – exactly the opposite of what you want.

Fuel up your muscles every 3 hours to keep feeding your muscles with the energy they need. Do not underestimate the power of this practice. This practice alone made a lot of difference in my results. I used to eat 3x a day – no wonder I struggled to gain weight and build muscle no matter how hard I worked at the gym!

8. Know Your Macro Nutrient Ratio.

Not all calories are equal. 3,000 calories from ice cream, cakes, fried chicken and pizza is not the same as 3,000 calories from brocolli, chicken breasts, whole grains, nuts and complex carbohydrates. You have to know your optimal macronutrient ratio.

Be aware of what your food contains. When buying packaged foods, always take time to analyze the ingredients and nutrition information.

A good baseline diet to start from is to get 55% of your daily required calories from Carbohydrates, 35% from Protein, and 20% from Fats. Track and measure your results on this diet, and then tweak the figures accordingly to see how the different ratios affect your muscle gains.

9. Chill Out

Did you know that stress affects your hormones in a way that negatively effects your muscle building efforts? So do your best to relax, chill out, and manage your stress levels.

Get rid of anything unhealthy in your life. That may include unhealthy habits, stressful relationships, negative thoughts, self-limiting beliefs, and chaotic environments or situations. I’d say it’s even worth to stop hanging out with certain types of people. Sometimes some of our friends get afraid when we try to be the best we can be and they try to tempt us to reverting back to our old ways.  Don’t let your friends sabotage your progress.

10. Don’t see yourself as ” deprived”.

Don’t get stuck up on the rules or stress about “how you have to sacrifice your favorite foods”. The moment you see it as a sacrifice, you’ll see yourself as being deprived. This may lead to binge eating. Instead, see yourself as making the food choices that are going to give you the body you want.

For example, refined carbohydrates is one of the foods on the banned list. If you are not prepared to give this up then have it, but only as a reward – limit your cheat meals to just one or two per week. Anything over this will severely compromise your progress.

Recommended

If you really want to gain weight quickly, a muscle building routine must be part of your weight gain program. A weight training program, supported by a nutritious high-calorie diet, can help you gain weight as lean muscle mass instead of body fat.

Now you’re probably one of those who find cooking particularly stressful because you don’t know how to cook wholesome meals. Don’t worry, there’s a solution – a collection of done-for-you meal plans full of recipes perfect for bodybuilders.

Empowered Nutrition Plan

If you want convenient, fast, easy meals that are great for bodybuilders without having to research, calculate and plan, here are done-for-you meal plans. All you need is follow instructions.

Vince DelMonte’s Empowered Nutrition Done-For-You Meal Plans will show you EXACTLY what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat it, how to cook it and exactly what to shop for.

You can easily tailor the meal combinations and portion sizes to suit your bodybuilding needs, whether you’re on the bulking phase or cutting (getting ripped) phase. These meal plans are for men and women who want to make their own healthy meals – without the hassles of meal planning.

If you find meal planning confusing, challenging and time-consuming, this ready made meal plans is the answer. I highly recommended you check it out now.