High Protein Meals – Meal Plans for Bulking Created by Pros
Achieving the bodybuilder look you desire is very demanding. What’s more, sometimes, despite all the hard work, things don’t go as smoothly as one might expect. It can be discouraging and frustrating when you feel like you’re doing everything right, but you still can’t seem to reach your goals.
While the rate at which your body gains muscle is affected by factors such as body type, genetics and age, there are things that you can do to help you achieve your desired size with greater ease. You can’t fast forward to it, but you certainly can pick up your pace towards it. In fact, if you are already exercising, you’re half way there. You’re motivated and doing the work. The next thing you need is good gain weight meal plan.
The Importance of Diet in Bodybuilding
Diet is just as important as exercising when it comes to building muscle. You should think of your eating habits as a part of your bodybuilding routine. For most, exercising, just isn’t enough. Choosing your meals smartly will maximise the results of all the effort you are putting into your training.
Understand Your Body and Your Food
Figure out your workout flow, and give your muscles good food to grow! All that energy your body uses to allow you to do the work at the gym and burn fat (as well as recover after the workout) comes from the nutrients you provide it with. Now, the trick is to supply it with the right nutrients and the right amount, and to do so constantly. Having a meal plan for muscle gain on top of your training, will help you do just that. It’s all in the balance.
First of all, be aware of what you are putting in your body. You probably already know what not to eat. For those amongst us that are determined to succeed with our body targets, a good rule of thumb is to try to avoid the foods that are bad for anyone’s health. These include things with added sugar, such as cakes, cookies, candy, ice cream, soft drinks, juices; and things that are deep-fried, such as chips, pommes frites, fried fish, fried chicken fingers etc. These foods, while sometimes really hard to avoid (especially considering the irony of all things bad for you taste pretty good), provide you with a lot of calories, but hardly any nutrients.
Another thing your body might enjoy, but is an enemy of building muscle and losing fat, is alcohol. Limit your alcohol intake, or cut it entirely if you want to speed up the process. The good news is that the occasional glass of red wine is not going to hurt your efforts. On the contrary, according to some studies, a moderate red wine intake, can even slightly help with fat burning.
To gain muscle, you should eat high protein foods, but what provides you with the fuel for the hard training, are the carbohydrates and the good fats. (Yes, fats.) So, a good diet plan for men is one that includes all three, in the right amounts.
Proteins help repair and straighten muscles. They are one of the essential nutrients in our diet. All food proteins contain amino acids. Our bodies get amino acids from our diet and from supplements. They help the body synthesize and create some proteins, since not all the proteins you consume convert into proteins in your body. Eggs, meat, poultry, soy, dairy, fish, legumes, bananas, are all good sources of proteins.
Carbohydrates are important for muscle growth. If your body doesn’t have them in the right amount, your training will lose quality, which will affect the outcome. The most important carbohydrate is fibre, which is the only one that can’t be broken in sugar molecules, and the body can’t digest it. This is why fibre helps regulate hunger and blood sugar. Good sources of fibre are buckwheat, some fruits and vegetables, whole wheat bread, some seeds and nuts, etc.
Fats have a bad reputation, but in reality, good fats, found in avocados, olives, nuts, seeds, dark chocolate etc., supply the body with energy, they help the metabolism, and they are essential for maintaining hormonal balance in the body, like the testosterone levels.
Last, but not least, don’t forget about water. Water is very important, not only if you are thirsty from your workout. It clears toxins, it helps the body to metabolise fat, and to absorb supplements better. Water also helps you reduce the excess water weight.
I’m Too Busy, I’m Too Tired, It’s Too Bland.
Maintaining this eating style may prove to be next to impossible when you are not a professional bodybuilder. You have your job, your family, or any number of other important things in your life. It’s not an easy task – routinely preparing healthy meals that include everything your body needs, following specific recipes, and all the while keeping your diet well balanced and not to mention, tasty. Fortunately, there are ways to make this task easier.
Though the internet is flooded with information on meal plans for bulking, it’s really hard to know which ones are useful or healthy. Make things quicker and easier for you and find a professional to help you. They’ll be able to study your case and understand your specific needs and goals, so they can give you clear guidelines for a meal plan for bodybuilding, designed especially for you. Any help you can get in achieving your goal is welcomed.
To make things even less complicated, you can have bodybuilding meals delivered at your doorstep. If you don’t have the time, the patience or the skill to cook your everyday healthy meals, this is a great option for you. Make a weekly, fortnightly or monthly gain weight meal plan with a professional dietitian. If you are new to this whole healthy muscle gain diet thing, this is also a great way to jump start your transition to a healthier diet.
These kinds of changes to your diet can be very hard, especially at the beginning. Having your meals arrive where you are, will limit your opportunities to resort to eating whatever whenever. Slipping up is not the end of the world, of course, but the more you can avoid it, the better (especially while you’re still developing this new healthy and beneficial habit).