• Building muscle is as easy as working out and eating the right foods.bodybuilding,muscle image by yam from Fotolia.com
  
  Weekly diets to gain muscle are tailored on a case-by-case basis. The Build Muscle & Gain Weight Fast Guide recommends a diet containing 30 to 50 percent protein, 20 to 50 percent carbohydrates and 20 to 40 percent fat. However, these ratios depend greatly on each person's metabolism and workout plans. Regardless of the percentages, the diet you choose should contain fresh natural foods free of chemicals and added sweeteners to maximize your body's muscle building potential.
  
  

Eat More Calories and Protein

• Eating more seems like an oversimplification, but it's true--in order to build muscle and gain weight you must consume more calories per day than you expend. This creates what Iron Magazine refers to as a "caloric surplus." The bodybuilding and weight training publication recommends consuming 18-20 times your body weight in calories daily, with at least one gram of protein per pound of body weight. Foods that are high in protein include red meat, broccoli, fish and beans. Increasing calories with foods that contain "empty calories," such as potato chips, will not help you build muscle and will only make you gain the wrong kind of weight.
  
  

Eating More Fat

• A muscle-building diet should contain dietary fat to increase your body's hormone production. Bacon, butter and heavy cream contain essential fatty acids which encourage your body to produce the hormones which will assist in promoting growth and increases in strength. Essential fatty acids also increase testosterone production, help prevent muscle degradation and increase good cholesterol levels. Muscle-building diets should not contain high percentages of saturated fats, which can clog arteries and contribute to the onset of disease.
  
  

More Water in the Diet

• Increasing your intake of protein puts a greater strain on your kidneys to eliminate metabolic waste. Thus, your muscle-building diet should contain plenty of water in order to stave off dehydration and help your vital organs to perform at peak efficiency. Dehydrated muscle takes longer to repair itself and can become strained or damaged more easily. Hydrate with every meal, and before and after workout regimens. As a general rule, if you wait till you're thirsty, you're already on the road to dehydration.