Maintaining optimum nutrition is essential to building a strong, massive physique, yet it is the most neglected element in the average lifter's program. Without super nutrition, all training efforts are a waste of time. Nutrition also has an impact on the efficiency of steroid cycles. The idea is clear; food plays a major role in the acquisition of muscle mass. The first thing we need to do about our nutritional program is get excited about it. Realize that eating better will help us reach our weight training goals. A person must really be motivated to eat super nutrition or they just won't follow through. If the enthusiasm is not there, you might follow the diet for a week or two; real gains come by following the diet for months or even years. My eating program depends on being prepared. The most important part of that is having the good food you need, when and where you need it. Regular trips to the grocery store are a must.
The following list is an example of the type of food I buy every week when I go to the store:
- 20 potatoes
- 24 ounces frozen orange juice
- 4 dozen eggs
- 1 pound frozen strawberries
- 7 grapefruits
- 1 pound brown rice
- 7 bananas
- 5 pounds pasta
- 10 chicken breasts
- 1 pound oatmeal
- 3 pounds ground beef
- 2 pounds vegetables
- 24 ounces cottage cheese
- 18 ounces dried fruit
- 2 gallons 2% milk
- 1 loaf wheat bread
I also buy carbo-plex and egg protein powder once a month along with a few other supplements. I buy other things of course, but this is the core of my diet. Sating like this can be surprisingly affordable. The major problem people have with this type of diet is finding time to eat all the food, much less prepare it. The sample meal program I have made up here is built around my own schedule. I am home for breakfast, at work all day, and then home for dinner. So as you can imagine, I do not have access to a kitchen at work. Planning is the only way I can get proper meals. What I do is prepare most of my meals at night. While I am sitting around watching the tube or something, FU bake about 10 potatoes. I keep them in the refrigerator up to four days. They are great plain and cold. I precook my pasta at night; it holds good for about four days also. I bake four chicken breasts at a time which lasts me a day or two. I find that eating right is quick and easy if I am prepared.
This land of diet can get boring; I eat the same things almost everyday. do go out to eat about twice a week. One time I might have a steak an potato and once a week I might have fish. Here is an example of my daily meal schedule:
Breakfast
8:00 AM |
Snack
10:30 AM |
Lunch
Noon |
Pre-Workout
4:00 PM |
Dinner
7:00 PM |
Snack
10:00 PM |
| 4 egg whites (warmed and blended with cold juice) |
3 ounces dried fruit (apricots are excellent) |
1 chicken breast |
3 ounces dried fruit |
1 large bowl of salad |
1 cup yogurt |
| I whole grapefruits |
1 plain baked potato |
impound serving of pasta (I like it plain) |
1 plain baked potato |
1/2 pound of ground beef or steak (drain all fat) |
3 egg whites (in blender with juice) |
| 6 ounces of cottage cheese |
1 cup juice |
1 cup juice |
1 cup juice with protein powder and carbo-plex |
Large serving of vegetable (I like darkblue beans) |
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| 1 large bowl of oatmeal (plain, with milk, or fruit) |
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1 plain baked potato |
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2 whole wheat rolls or slices of bread |
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| 2 pieces of whole wheat toast (with honey or jam) |
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1 piece fresh fruit (I like bananas) |
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| 2 cups milk |
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This is just an example of my diet which is of course based on my preferences and limits. Like I said, I must take my meals with me to work. I have a cooler which holds all my food. A person could take a diet like this one and make a lot of substitutions and still be right on track. Tuna could replace chicken; I personally can't stand tuna though. One large protein/carb drink could replace a meal or two if it were necessary. This diet gets me about 4,500 calories a day; give or take 500. It is about 60% carbs, 20% protein, and 20% fat. I follow this diet as closely a possible. I drink about 10 cups of water per day, but most of that is between meals. Vitamin supplements are taken after breakfast. Those of you who already eat like this know how much it helps, those who do not, owe it to yourselves to give it a try. What you'll find is that your muscles grow faster than ever. Also your metabolism speeds up making you burn more fat and feet much more energetic. I personally accelerate this rate even further by doing intense aerobic work three times a week.
This means difficult 45 minute rides on a stationary bike, in addition to my weight training. Put it all together, stay with it, and just watch those muscles grow. You will notice that the program has an abundance of nutrient dense food. I am familiar with a number of athletes who consume high calorie diets and complain that they just get fat. This is because they consume nutrient dilute foods or empty calories. Empty calories serve no purpose in building muscle mass. They are not used efficiently and are more likely to be stored
as fat. The high calorie diet is only effective if it is one which is abundant in nutrients. It is known that anabolic steroids can only exert their positive effects when an ample amount of dietary protein is consumed. It is also a must that carbohydrate intake be high enough that it is the sole source of energy, allowing protein to be used for its primary functions and not energy purposes. Notice that the diet incorporates many aspects of an excellent nutritional program. Among those are: adequate intake of nutrients, balance of nutrients, low intake of sugar, fats and salt, and a variety of food sources. Notice that the diet also consists of foods that are economical, convenient and very available. They also have outstanding nutritional value. Each person should try to incorporate all of these aspects into their own
personal nutrition program. Evidence has shown that without frequent, nutritious meals, muscular hypertrophy cannot be maximized. There is no doubt that optimum nutrition is essential to superior athletic performance as well as health.
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