Here’s My Big Secret…

A proper weight gaining diet and smart training!!! This might not come at a shock, but the truth is, there isn’t a miracle stimulant or pill (that’s legal and wont kill you anyway haha). Eating at the right times within the anabolic windows and the right nutrition is the key. I am going to share with you exactly how I ate and when I ate it. This should shed some light on what you HAVE to do if you want to gain muscle mass. A great workout routine isn’t enough…

First off, you need to eat as if you were 15-20 heavier than you currently are. We will call this your target weight. From here you have a couple of easy calculations, they are:

Protein: 1.4(g) X target weight (lbs)

Calories: 24 X target weight (lbs)

So let’s say that you are currently 150 pounds. You need to eat like you are 165 pounds minimum while you are training like a mad person. So you’re numbers would look like this.

Protein: 1.4 X 165 = 231 grams/ day

Calories: 24 X 165 = 3960 cal/ day

This obviously is going to require more than just whole foods to hit that protein goal. In fact, you are going to need 2-3 protein shakes per day! One for breakfast, one directly after your workout, and ideally one before you go to bed. Going to the local supplement store and buying a large bag of weight-gainer is one way to go, but not recommended. These powders contain a lot of sugars and preservatives that your body doesn’t want. Ideally, find a source for raw whey protein. I found this at a local egg factory. They sell pure preservative whey protein in bags of 24 kilograms for $240. Big purchase, but cuts of whey protein costs in half basically. A good protein shake will consist of:

1) 1 cup or milk (1% or skim)

2) 2 tablespoons of EXTRA virgin olive oil (this is the least processed oil and possesses great fats)

3) one serving or more of fruit (I usually use a banana or cup of berries… or both :P )

4) 70 grams of whey protein powder.

This is the basic version of a high quality protein shake. Lots of other people go crazy with natural peanut butter, flax seed, grains, greens+ powder, various veggies ect. But for the focus of this information, we will use this shake as the base protein shake. This shake listed above will run 67 grams of protein and roughly 600 calories depending on what fruit you use.

So now that we have the protein shakes covered let’s talk about the whole foods. You are going to be consuming fish, chicken, eggs, steaks for protein. For low GI carbs, you will be eating brown rice, whole grain breads, oatmeal, and whole wheat pastas. Finally we come to fats. You will benefit from picking up some fish oil capsuls in this area. Otherwise you will be consuming extra virgin olive oil, avocados, almonds, peanuts, limited amounts of natural butter (never margarine!)

This is what a typical day will look like. As long as you get your quota of protein each day, you don’t need to stress too much about what percentage you are eating of carbs and fats. Just try to keep your dishes balanced somewhat evenly. Every meal (including shakes) must include protein, carbs, and fats. The only exception is snack time, which can easily consist of say a few hardboiled eggs and veggies. Now for the example…

Breakfast: Natural balance protein shake (as illustrated above)

Snack: 3 Hard boiled eggs and cucumber

Lunch:
Brown rice (one cup after cooked, coated with extra virgin olive oil)
steamed broccoli (not boiled since that lessens the nutrients)
One large grilled chicken breast

(mid afternoon workout)

Protein shake

Dinner:
Whole wheat pasta (coated in extra virgin olive oil)
Greek salad
Slab of salmon

Protein shake (before bed)

Judging by the portions that you have for lunch and dinner, this day will run you around 252 grams of protein and 4200 calories. A quality multivitamin is also highly recommended. Even when you have a great diet, like the one listed above, you are still missing out on some minerals and vitamins. This is how I ate for 5 days a week. I allowed myself one cheat day, which was always saturday. I am young, I have friends who want to go out and have a few beers. So I let myself partake in those activities once a week. Alcohol reduces protein synthesis by 40%. Obviously this is brutal if you drink heavy on the same day that you did a quality workout. This is why your muscles feel sore after a day of activity followed by heavy drinking, because your body couldn’t rebuild over night!

So this is what I did. I also used mono-hydrate creatine. Lately I have upgraded to a PH balanced buffered creatine called purple K. I have seen amazing strength gains with this creatine, so I also recommend using it. Another plus is the fact that it bypasses your digestive system allowing you absorb 95% or more instead of 10%. This also eliminates the possibility of the toxin creatinine. Hit the gym hard! Eat like this and you’ll succeed. If you need a smart weight training program, here are the top 3 on the web. Click Here.