Have you been constantly going to the gym, and working out hard but you don’t have much muscle to show for it? You probably aren’t eating enough of the RIGHT food. That is exactly what happened to me. I went to the gym twice a day (AM and PM) worked out different muscle groups, drank AM and PM protein powders, took creatine, read muscle building magazines and relied too much on supplements to help me gain muscle, but unfortunately I didn’t see much improvement. Why was it so hard for me to gain muscle? The problem was that I was eating less food in a day then a fifth grade girl would eat, and on top of that, I didn’t know a thing about nutrition.

Muscle Gaining Diet tip #1

Eat, Eat, Eat

It is VERY important that you feed your muscles. Your muscles don’t grow while you are in the gym, they grow while you are sleeping and living your everyday life. Muscles take extra energy for your body to maintain, so in order for your body to hold onto muscle, it needs your help. The good news it that YOU can help your body hold onto muscles and help your muscles grow by giving it more Food! Yay!

Fun Fact: Muscle burns fat.

Muscle Gaining Diet tip #2

Eat at Least Six Meals a Day

Make it a rule to eat every three hours. It’s great for your muscles to have a constant flow of nutrition. It might be an overwhelming amount of food at first, but your body will learn and you will start to get hungry every few hours. Eating more often also helps your digestion, energy and metabolism. Think about it, if you only eat one huge meal a day, your body is going to think that you aren’t going to feed it again for another 24 hours, so it goes into a “starvation mode” and holds onto as many calories as possible, giving you excess fat. If you are eating six meals a day, then your body takes the nutrition it needs as fast as it can and gets rid of the waste in expectation that it will eat again shortly.

Fun Fact: When you eat more often your metabolism speeds up because it is constantly working, digesting and moving through calories.

Muscle Gaining Diet tip #3

You Are What You Eat

The types of foods that you put in your body will result in how your body will feel, function and look. Since you are now eating more calories everyday, it is important to know what kind of food to eat. Obviously the more that you eat fatty, processed, fried and greasy foods, then the more fat that your body will hold onto. If you eat the “healthy” things that your mother told you to eat growing up, then you will have a healthier, leaner body. I’m talking about filling your shopping cart with colorful fruits, vegetables, good carbs like whole grains and brown rice, good sources of protein like chicken, fish and low fat beef or turkey. Your body also needs to eat good fats such as avocados, almonds, and omega 3’s from fish. Along with food, water is essential to your new lifestyle. Be sure to drink at least 8 cups per day (and more on workout days.)

Fun Facts: When you go to the grocery store, shop around the outer edges of the store, were the produce and proteins are kept. Stay away from the center of the store, where all of the processed, canned foods, chips and cookies are. A healthy meal is colorful, but an unhealthy meal is usually tan and colorless.

Muscle Gaining Diet tip #4

You don’t need all of those supplements that the magazines are selling you.

But adding the RIGHT supplements is vital for muscle gain. Here are three of the best:

1. Protein powder: A good quality protein powder is crucial. It helps to replenish your muscles after a workout, reducing soreness and maximizing muscle gain. It will also give you more strength for your next work out, and it’s a great way to get in extra calories.

2. Multi – Vitamins: Just take them. They help with your immune health, give you energy, support your metabolism, cushion your joints with Vitamin C, fuel muscles and support your recovery with amino acids. Some multi-vitamins help with colon health and most women specific multi – vitamins aid in breast health and bone support.

3. Fish oil: It is known to be one of the absolute healthiest things a person can take. It reduces the risk of heart disease, helps you maintain healthy cholesterol and blood pressure, and is great for your skin, joints and brain.

Important note: I once walked into a large supplement store with hundreds of product on the shelves, and the nutrition-expert employee told me that if he could only sell one product in the whole store, he would line the shelves with fish oil. It is that good for you!

These tips will help you live a healthier lifestyle and gain a lot of muscle in a HEALTHY way. Make sure to use a good workout system that will keep you on track with your routines and meal plans. If you eat a lot and don’t work out, then you will gain extra unhealthy fat. All of these tips are stated with the assumption that you are in the gym working out, and are in need of replenishing your muscles. If your muscles don’t need to be repaired, then the extra food that you are eating will turn into unhealthy fat.