Eating like a bodybuilder is easy right? After all, it's only 6 meals a day, involving cooking, preparing, weighing foods, shopping, figuring out how many calories you need to grow and not to mention eating all that food.
So by now I hope you realize I was being slightly sarcastic with the above paragraph J Eating like a bodybuilder is not easy and is by no means an overnight process in which anyone can do it.
It takes time, patience, dedication and an enormous passion to build muscle, lose fat and or transform your body.
But if you are just starting out in fitness and you cannot even imagine yourself eating 6 meals a day right now, don't worry it's not as hard and overwhelming as it may seem and with the proper guidance and direction, you should be eating like a bodybuilder in no time at all.
That's where I come in.
If you know anything about me, you might know that unlike most people out there, I started out in fitness by searching Google on how to build muscle just like every other Average Joe out there (no pun intended).
So I know just how frustrating it can be in the beginning.
Now, it didn't take me long to start eating like a bodybuilder or even later become a certified trainer and fitness model champion, but let's just say I was a little more motivated than the average person and I am very obsessive compulsive about things.
But now, I am in a very good position to give back and teach some effective techniques at fast tracking the bodybuilder diet for those of you still struggling with this.
Are you ready to fast track into the bodybuilder's diet? Good, let's get started.
Nutrition...
Is There a More Boring Topic? Ok, so I realize that to most people looking to build muscle, nutrition sounds like the most boring topic in the world and to be honest, when I first started out I felt the exact same way.
It was a few years before I started to watch what I ate and began to incorporate a more regimented diet and nutrition intake and it was at that point that I realized just how important nutrition is.
I know your excited about lifting weights, gaining muscle and impressing that girl you've had your eye on for a while (I realize there's more reasons than that, but that seems to be the most popular one) but if you give your nutrition just as much attention as your workouts, you will dramatically increase the results you are currently getting.
Think of nutrition like gasoline for your car; first of all, if you don't give your car gas (feed your body properly) it won't run for too long (you wont have the energy to workout).
The more 'gas' you give the car, the further you can travel just like the more nutrition you consume, the more energy you can expend in your workouts.
Make sense? Now obviously, we have to balance that intake as, just like if we fill a gas tank too much, it overflows, the same goes for our fat stores in the sense that if we eat more than we need to gain muscle, our fat glycogen stores can overflow and spill into our fat cells.
Don't worry; I am going to give you a quick and easy method to determine your calories before the end of the article.
I will also provide you a step-by-step plan to get on track to the bodybuilder's diet in just 4 weeks.
Let's first go through my favorite subjects...
the mistakes! You need to be aware of the common mistakes most people make when trying to develop the bodybuilder's diet.
Mistake #1 - Trying To Change Too Much Too Fast Everyone lacks patience including yours truly, but you need to trust me when I tell you that changing too much too fast will not lead to anything good.
Most times, if you try to jump from eating 2-3 meals a day to 6-7 meals a day, you might not experience the best results and when you're not eating you will probably be spending the majority of your time in the bathroom (sorry, but its true).
Baby steps works best and small progressions are much easier and less overwhelming.
Besides, if you make things too difficult, you might just quite because it's not fun anymore which is the one thing you want to avoid.
Mistake #2 - Spending Too Much Time in The Kitchen Don't get me wrong, the kitchen will be the place you spend a lot of your time outside of the gym, but what most people do wrong is spend too much time preparing food.
You need to know how to maximize your efforts so that you are not spending too much time cooking more frequently than need be and I have some killer tips to have you prepare all your weekly meals in under 3-4 hours a week.
Mistake #3 - Reliance on Supplements Reliance on supplements is one of the worse things you can do in the beginning because your body simply doesn't need them.
Now there are some essential ones that you need, but for the majority, there not worth it at this stage and sometimes not even as you progress.
Your body will respond very well to simply changing your eating patterns when you start eating more quality foods in larger quantities.
Take advantage of this time and save your cash for fresh food that your body was designed to have.
Mistake #4 - Not Being Fully Committed Unfortunately, everyone will hit a point called the crossroads of the fitness lifestyle where they need to choose between old habits and new habits.
If you begin eating healthier and start the bodybuilder's diet, but are still consuming fast food, cookies, chips and more than enough alcohol, I'm sorry to say, but you will simply cancel each other out and you will not end up any better than you were before.
I am not telling you that you cannot enjoy your favorite foods now and again, but you are going to have to make a conscious effort to limit the bad intake and focus on the good intake.
That's just the way it works but you will be much more satisfied with the results and soon it will not feel like a stretch or an inconvenience.
Mistake #5 - Where's The Variety? One factor that makes most people quit the so-called bodybuilder's diet is the fact that every meal seems to be chicken, rice and veggies...
chicken potato and veggies...
chicken and...
well you get the idea.
The key to sticking to your nutrition plans is to avoid boredom and tasteless meals.
Sure at first it might be hard to think of new ways to prepare meals, but just do quick searches online to find healthy meal recipes and you will benefit big time from that.
Always try and include a variety of meals but following the same nutritional breakdown (amount of carbs, proteins and fats).
Go and find part 4 of this article for a 4 week plan to eat like a bodybuilder.