When you’re just starting your life at the gym, you will most likely be there for two things: to build muscle or to lose weight. Either way, you should have the correct nutritional plan to keep either of them going. A good nutritional plan should have the right amounts of all of the nutrients, including protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals, fiber and as many of the rest as possible. This will help keep your body pumping and going forwards, but it will also help you put on more muscle than you can believe, and every single pound that you put on will be muscle instead of blubbery fat.
When you want to pack on as much muscle mass as possible, the primary nutrient that you need to consider is protein. If you’ve ever talked to a bodybuilder, they have probably told you that eating a lot of protein is crucial to the muscle building process. This is because your body needs that protein to fix your bodily problems through repairing old cells and producing them anew.
However, the reason that we need to eat this much protein is because our body cannot synthesize it by itself, and when you’re exercising seven days a week your body is getting more and more tired, which means you desperately need to eat more protein to keep it running and rebuild the cells. For this, you need to eat the sufficient amount of protein at the correct time, so that your body doesn’t fall in a catabolic state.
If you want to learn how to put on muscle mass as fast as possible without constantly feeling tired, consider this: bodybuilders, athletes and muscle builders alike take one to two grams of protein for every pound of their bodyweight! If you weigh 200 pounds, you would need anywhere from 200 to 400 grams of protein per day if you want to see good results!
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However, I realize that not everyone is rich enough, available enough or willing enough to spend their hard earned money on expensive dietary supplements. So, to avoid spending that much, here is a list of seven different foods that are relatively inexpensive, can be found in any market and will fill your protein needs. Let’s begin:
Whole eggs
There are 6 grams of protein in a whole egg. Some people like to throw away the egg yolks, but I say don’t! Keep it and eat it, as it has a whole lot of protein and vitamins in it. Also, the yolk has some fat in it but if you cut your cholesterol in other meals, you should be fine. There is half a gram of carbohydrates in every whole egg and around five grams of fat in every yolk. There is no fat in egg whites. There are 78 calories to a whole egg, out of which only 17 calories are in the egg white, which is why some people choose to throw away the yolks as they are very caloric.
Canned tuna
There are 30 to 40 grams of protein in a can of tuna, but to maximize effectiveness and minimize damage by unhealthy ingredients, I would suggest getting those packed in brine or spring water instead of oil or sauces. Tuna is rich in vitamins A, B12 and niacin, but also the minerals selenium, phosphorus and magnesium. It can aid with your weight loss program and it helps strengthen cell membranes. However, don’t eat too much of it as you risk eating too much mercury, which can be harmful.
Milk
Milk has 8-10 grams of protein for every 250ml glass and if you want to put on weight, milk is your new best friend. Remember GOMAD? That means “gallon of milk a day” and it’s the simple answer to the question of weight gain.
Ground beef
Ground beef has about 25 grams of protein per 100 grams, but if you really want to buy premium, get the ones that have a high lean beef content, such as 80 percent or more, and then rinse them with some warm water to lower their fat levels down by at least 50 percent.
Beans and lentils
These have 18 grams of protein per cup and they are also super cheap. Furthermore, they have a high fiber content and a lower fat content. If you buy your beans and lentils dry and cook them at home, you are practically guaranteeing that they will only have the best nutrients in them. Try to avoid pre-cooked food or store-bought ready to eat beans and lentils – they are so much better at home!
Chicken breasts, salmon and turkey
Of course, famous bodybuilding foods such as chicken breasts, delicious salmon and juicy turkey chops need no introduction. These delicious treats have 23 to 25 grams of protein per 100 grams. If you want your meat to have at least a bit of omega-3 fatty acids to keep your heart pounding regularly, pick the salmon. Also, if you want to cut the fat content as much as possible as well as lower your cholesterol, cut away the skin pieces – they contain saturated fat in ungodly amounts.
Almonds
Almonds have 20 grams of protein per cup, they are much less allergenic than peanuts and peanut butter and they can be brought anywhere without any special equipment. Throw them in a plastic bag, put it in your pocket and you’re good to go.
All in all, if you want to pack on lots of muscle you will need to keep your nutrition in check. Even though reading the fine print on all of your products will be dull, you will appreciate it as you will reap its benefits soon enough. This makes sense because come on, who wouldn’t want to pack on lean muscle instead of lumps of fat? If you just get fat from your food, you’re not doing anything right – but with the right amount of exercise and the right nutritional plan, you could work wonders for yourself.
