Proper muscle building nutrition is more important than the workouts themselves in obtaining the perfect body shape. The right foods will play a large part in gaining lean muscle mass and fat loss. Post-workout recovery is critical as this is when you build muscle with the right amount of nutrition and rest.

How much do you need to eat for proper weight gain?

Well you need to eat around 15-20 times your bodyweight (in pounds) in calories to help gain muscle. So if you weight 150lbs that’s 2500-3000 calories per day. The extra calories you take aid the body to repair and build muscle.

Calorie counting is good and bad. If you’re eating junk food with zero nutritional content then you won’t reach your goal. Protein intake needs to be increased to at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. If you like metric it’s 2.0-2.5 grams of protein per kilogram.

The protein that you eat from animal sources, beans, diary, fish, nuts and seeds will provide your body with important amino-acids. This will in turn build and repair muscle. Protein and fats are superior in muscle growth than carbohydrates.

How often should you eat in a day?

This depends on the individual and what foods they eat. You must let the foods be absorbed and utilized by the body before eating again. In my food combining article I stated how each food digests at different rates. Example: fruits take 30-40 minutes, vegetables 45-60 minutes, starch foods 60 minutes, nuts and beans 2-3 hours, diary, fish and meats 2 to 4 hours.

So eating every 3 to 4 hours is ideal. Stick to lean meats, vegetables, oatmeal, fruits, nuts, beans and dairy. Avoid simple carbohydrates, sugar, wheat and starchy foods. You want constant energy levels during the day and not insulin spikes going up and down.

You need Fat to lose Fat!

Studies have shown that dietary fat has a direct relationship with testosterone production. An increase in dietary fat intake seems to bring on an increase in testosterone levels. Taking coconut oil increases metabolism up to 25 percent. Fish oils not only provide essential fatty acids but also help with joint pain from intense workouts.

Drink Water!

If you’re dehydrated your body takes longer to repair itself so drink plenty of water during the day.

Multivitamins and Supplements

“You can’t make a mule out of a thoroughbred” – if you’re not training, eating and resting correctly.

Some people think supplements is the magic bullet but they are more like icing on the cake. Supplements only make a 10 percent difference. So here a few that may help you:

• Protein Whey – most of the protein shakes out there are just protein isolates with lots of sugar. That’s just a bad combination that you don’t want to put in your body. Stick to 100% all natural whey if you’re thinking of buying these products. Whey will provide the body with essential amino-acids and proteins for muscle growth.
• Creatine also helps in gaining muscle mass. It helps the body to produce energy faster. This helps you to train harder and get faster results.
• Omega 3 Oils, Glutamine, Chondroitin and Selenium will help with post-workout joint pain.
• Multivitamins also help with the extra demands you put on your body via training. So replenish your body with the right amount of vitamins, minerals and trace elements with multivitamin supplement.

My final tip is rest more – if you don’t, you won’t grow. Your body does not grow in the gym but grows when you are resting.

Correctly combining foods can make a difference in improving digestion, metabolism and maximizing the nutrients that your body absorbs. The right food combinations also eliminate the effects of bloating, acid reflux, gas, abdominal cramps, heartburn, food allergies, bowel problems, weight gain, indigestion, constipation,  fatigue after a meal and premature aging. Different foods breakdown at different rates depending on the content of water, proteins and fats in the food.

Drinks

You must drink 2 cups of water (500ml) about 15-30 minutes before you eat, to help your digestive system. This will increase the production of more gastric and bicarbonate secretions into the small intestine which aid to breakdown the food faster. Never drink during meals as this will dilute the digestive juices in your stomach, making it more difficult for your body to assimilate the foods.

Foods

Foods, from fastest to slowest to digest, are: fruits, green vegetables, vegetables, starchy foods, proteins and fats. Normally fruits take 20-40 minutes to digest. Followed by raw green vegetables which take 30-40 minutes. Steamed or cooked vegetables take longer 40-50 minutes. Vegetables which have starch like potatoes, corn, yam take about 60 minutes. Concentrated Carbohydrates (grains) like rice, oats, legumes, beans and peas will breakdown in 90-120 minutes. Next up come the nuts and seeds which take between 2-3 hours to digest.

Diary like low fat cheese and milk are faster to digest than whole diary. They take 90 minutes to breakdown because of the low fat content. Whole hard cheese and milk will breakdown in 4-5 hours. Animal proteins like egg yolk 30 minutes, whole eggs 45 minutes. Fish 30-60 minutes, followed by chicken 90-120 minutes, turkey 2 hours, beef/lamb 3 to 4 hours and pork 4.5 to 5 hours. Fats and Oils take longer to breakdown than animal proteins.

Think of your digestive tract as a one lane highway. If you first eat the foods that take longer to breakdown followed by faster ones, then you’re going to have a traffic jam in your stomach. Example: having a large meal with vegetables and protein followed by a fruit dessert. The dessert has to wait 4 hours in your stomach. Normally it should go in and out of your digestive system in 20-40 minutes. If it stays longer in your stomach, waiting to be absorbed, it will rot and decay. This renders the food useless, leading to digestive issues.

Food combining rules

Some food combining rules to follow are:

1. For best digestion – chew all food close to a liquid before swallowing.
2. Eat foods in order from fastest to slowest to digest whenever you have different foods in your meal.
3. Melons fruits should be eaten alone by itself.
4. Do not combine fruit with any other food. After eating fruit wait at least 30 minutes before eating other foods. If you want to eat fruit after a meal, then wait 3 hours until your previous meal is fully digested.
5. Vegetables combine well with all foods except fruits.
6. Animal, beans, peas and nuts proteins are best with vegetables that have low and non-starch content.
7. Starchy foods are best combined with green salads.
8. For snacks between your main meals it’s best to have fruits, vegetables or nuts alone.

If you follow these rules for combining foods, you will resolve the majority of problems with your digestion and weight issues.