How do you get the best gains? By training hard and strict – of course. And when you’ve left the gym the REAL bodybuilding process begins, when you feed your body what it needs to reconstruct and overcompensate while you’re resting at home. Make the best use of your biological clock, giving the body exactly what it needs, WHEN it needs it the most.
Enough babble. You wanted it, so here it is, once and for all – the basic eating schedule for good growth.
Meal #1:
The breakfast should always be big. You’ve been fasting for 8 hours or more by then, so you better do all you can to get out of the catabolic state that’s chewing up your muscles for fuel. Get a good 40 grams of protein and a good part of your daily carbs right there and then. I’ve found oatmeal porridge and eggs to be close to the ultimate breakfast.
Suggestion:
2 large bowls of oatmeal porridge + lowfat milk
6-12 scrambled egg whites + a few yolks
1 glass of orange juice
Multivitamin/mineral capsule
Meal #2:
Snacktime. By now you’re probably at work or in school, so we want something convenient to just munch on during a ten-minute break, keeping blood sugar up and muscle recovery going.
Suggestion:
1 lean protein bar
or
1 pure protein drink (for non-hardgainers)
1 banana
or
1 gainer drink (mostly carbs, for hardgainers)
1 banana
Meal #3:
Now you need a good, sturdy lunch to keep you going for the rest of the afternoon. As you’re going to train right after work/school, you want to start storing a good supply of carbs for workout-energy. Now we’re talking pasta, rice or potatoes.
Suggestion:
1 cup of pasta
8-12 ounces of meat of your choise
Steamed carrots & peas
or
1 cup of rice
2 skinless chicken breasts
Steamed carrots & peas
Meal #4:
Afternoon snack – and pre-workout meal. We want something light yet carb-dense. This is also a good time to take your creatine, and make sure to drink plenty the hour before workout so that you’re well-hydrated before you hit the gym.
Suggestion:
1 carb/protein drink
Handful of nuts or sunflower seeds
or
1 banana
2 rye-sandwiches with lean turkey and lettuce
Meal #5:
Post-workout meal. Now you’ve trained, and boy, do you want to forcefeed your muscles or what? Now you have the chance to stuff your muscles with glycogen (energy for the next workout) at the same time as getting youself into an anabolic state ASAP. Some scientists even claim that if you time it well (i.e., eat within 30-60 mins after training) you’ll even increase the body’s natural release of growth hormone during the following night!
Suggestion:
1 Gatorade or similar (for once, sugar is GOOD!)
Rice/Potatoes/Pasta-dish + meat of your choise
1-2 fruits of your choise
Meal #6:
Last meal of the day. Now you’re going to bed, so you want to avoid carbs (could make you fat). Protein, on the other hand, will be just what your body need to rebuild itself while you’re soundly asleep. Aim for low-calorie, low-carb and high-protein. That spells “pure whey-protein drink.” And you can have it right before going to bed.
Suggestion:
1 pure protein drink
…There you have it, plain and simple. 6 meals throughout the day. No magic, no bull – just good nutrition. If you want to gain weight, you just make sure to get big serving sizes, and when you want to cut up you decrease it slightly. Look at the packages and make notes in your daily log of the total calories. This will help you to adjust your diet properly when you hit a plateau. Unless you’re dieting to lose fat, it’s OK to have that bag of nachos or something once a week. Just make sure you get good food the rest of the time, and you’ll be right on target while keeping morale up. And remember: Don’t go overboard with the protein drinks. Food is the foundation, so only resort to supplements when you don’t have time to cook. Exception: Last drink before going to bed.