Step 3: Creating Your Meal Plan That Adds Slabs of Muscle 24 hrs. / 7 Days a Week

Alright,

Now that you know your numbers from yesterday the next step is to start creating your own meal plan.

But before we do that, we're going to have to go through some fundamental NUTRITION Basics. Trust me, you NEED to know these fundamentals before trying to create your meal plan.

Muscle Building Nutrition Fundamentals

Proper nutrition is just as if not more important than exercising. Why? Because think of your body like a house. You can’t build that house bigger and stronger without the bricks right?

And guess what the “bricks” are when it comes building muscle, CALORIES. And if you’re a naturally skinny guy like myself, then you’re going to have to consume A LOT of extra calories in order to build muscle and build it fast.

So let me break it down for you…

It takes approximately 3500 EXTRA calories to build 1 lb (2.2kg) of new body mass.

And I say body mass because it ultimately depends on your genetics and where those extra calories come from that decide how much of those extra calories is converted to muscle and how much is converted to fat

(i.e - from fats and bad carbs (like chips and soda) you’ll gain mostly fat

i.e. - from protein and good carbs (like tuna and whole wheat bread) you’ll mostly gain muscle.

It doesn’t matter how hard you train, if you cannot provide your body with these extra calories on a daily basis (with the right combination of carbs, protein and fats) your body will struggle to build muscle.

This might explain why you haven’t gained the muscle you’ve been looking for especially if you’re like me when I first started out thinking all you need to do is workout and suck down a protein drink and you’ll build slabs of muscle in a week.

The truth is you need to consume A LOT of calories (in the right proportions) if you want to build muscle, gain weight and ultimately change your physique.

The Important Food and Nutrient Groups for Building Muscle

* Protein -

You can’t build a house without enough bricks.

Your body can’t build muscle without protein. It’s the stuff muscle is made of.

Important things you need to know about protein

• It’s the building block for the body
• Protein helps build, repair and maintain body tissue
• Protein can also be used for energy by the body, this is important and I’ll explain why in a minute
• If you weight train without consuming enough protein, your muscles will actually shrinkin size.

Here’s a good rule of thumb when it comes to consuming protein - If you’re trying to build muscle you should be consuming1.5x your body weight in protein.

i.e. – If you weigh 150lbs you should be consuming upwards of 225 grams of protein each day.

Foods high in quality protein include…

• Grilled Chicken and Turkey
• Egg Whites
• Tuna and other fish
• Milk and other low-fat dairy products
• Lean Beef

Remember, extra protein alone won’t make you bigger. You also need to provide additional nutrients to your body in order to build muscle consistently.

*Carbs

are the preferred source of energy for your muscles and the rest of your body.

If you’re not consuming enough carbs, your body can start using your “extra” protein as a source of energy rather than using it to build new muscle and repair old muscle tissue.

That’s why extra protein alone isn’t enough to build extra muscle ( you also need the right amount of carbs in your diet as well)

Good Carbs

(Slow acting carbs AKA Complex Carbs) are carbs that don’t spike your blood sugar levels like whole grain breads and potatoes.

Bad Carbs

(Fast acting Carbs) are carbs that spike your blood sugar levels which release insulin to help bring your blood sugar levels back down to normal. These are found in refined sugars, corn syrup, (sweet stuff) etc.

Increased insulin levels will typically result in fat gain as these carbs are converted to fat to help bring your blood sugar level back to normal.

High blood sugar levels throughout the day can lead to cardiovascular disease and other heart related problems later in life.

Both types of carbs play key roles in building muscle and gaining weight, consuming bad carbs at key times throughout the day can actually spike muscle gains with minimal to no fat gain. (Knowing how to exploit this little known fact was what helped me gain 42 lbs in less than 4 months)

Foods high in good carbs include…

• Oatmeal and non-sugary cereals
• Whole-grain breads
• Brown Rice
• Beans
• Potatoes

*Fruits & Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables supply your body with minerals and nutrients not found in other foods.

Your body only creates new muscle once it knows everything is running optimally which means if you’re lacking or deficient in essential nutrients  (i.e. – vitamins and minerals) your muscle building results will suffer.

In other words don’t be a wuss and be sure to eat plenty of fruits and veggies while you’re bulking up.

High nutrient fruits include…

• Apples, Berries, Bananas, Oranges

Vegetables…

• Spinach, Corn, Peas, Carrots, other leafy types of vegetation

*Fats – Good Fats and Bad Fats

Fats also play a role in building muscle fast which we’ll get into in a sec. But before that, the first thing you need to do is learn the differences and benefits of the two kinds of fats – Good Fats and Bad Fats.

(Yes, believe it or not but not all fat is bad for you)

Good Fats:

mono and poly unsaturated fats

Bad Fats:

saturated fat and trans fat.

The only reason saturated fat is considered bad fat is because in EXCESSIVE amounts it is typically linked to cardiovascular disease and other heart related problems over time.

I say this because; you should look to include saturated fats in your diet when bulking up. Diets that are rich in meat and fish are ideal because the saturated fat in them provide cholesterol which is needed for Testosterone synthesis (the process your body goes through to produce Testosterone).

This is important because Testosterone is the “BIG DADDY" hormone that directly stimulates muscle growth within the body.

If you know how and when to consume these fats and increase your Testosterone levels with your diet you can be sure to expect BIG muscle gains almost effortlessly.

It took me a while to realize this, but not all fat is bad for you. Consuming fats is an ESSENTIAL part to gaining muscle fast.

Ideal fat sources include…

• Nuts
• Naturally Peanut butter
• Fatty fish like salmon
• Lean read meat – i.e. – lean beef

*Water

Pure water has no protein, no calories, or nutrients.

But it’s the most important “food” in your muscle building pantry.

Water makes up 70% of your body. It lubricates joints and transports nutrients through your body.

Without water, every other food and nutrient is useless.

You should be drinking at least 8 glasses of water every day, and even more on your workout days.

Meal Timing – (SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT)

It’s important to never, ever let your body get hungry. Why? When your body is hungry, your metabolism slows down and instead of burning carbs for energy, your body breaks down your own muscle tissue for extra energy (also known as "atrophy"). Not good!!!

To avoid this make sure you’re eating a muscle building meal every 3-4 hours.

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Creating Your Own Muscle Building Meal Plan

See why it was sooo important to find out how many carbs, protein and fats you should be consuming on a per meal basis (Your Numbers from yesterday) because you can now use those numbers to make your own CUSTOMIZED meal plan.

Now when it comes to your meal plan you have 2 options:

Option #1- You Can Do It Yourself.

If you want to do it yourself, here are some steps to help you create your own CUSTOMIZED meal plan that builds muscle 24 hours a day / 7 days a week:

Step 1 - Get your numbers handy.

Make sure you print out a copy of your Weight Gain Calculator results or make sure you write them down somewhere. This way you don’t lose them. If you haven’t done so already go to: http://www.weightgaincalculator.com/vip and get your numbers right now if you don't have access to my DELUXE Weight Gain Calculator you can use an alternative tool at: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/weight_gain_calculator.htm

Step 2 - Decide how many meals will include protein supplements.

Tip: You can use protein supplements to help you hit your numbers. No more than 40% of your total daily protein should come from artificial sources. So if you're going to consume 6 meals a day, no more than 2 of them should come from protein supplements.

Step 3 Find 6 foods high in protein, 6 foods high in Good Carbs, 6 foods high in good fats

For a list of foods high in protein checkout:

• http://www.build-muscle-and-burn-fat.com/list-of-high-protein-foods.html
• http://www.weightlossforall.com/protein_content_from_good_source.htm

For a list of foods high in carbs checkout:

• http://web.mit.edu/athletics/sportsmedicine/wcrhighcarbs.html
  (GI Level > 70 = Fast acting carb, GI Level < 55 = slow acting carb)

For a list of foods high in fats checkout:

• http://www.dietaryfiberfood.com/fat-saturated.php

Step 4 - Mix and match

Mix and match these different foods until you come up with a total of 6 meals that satisfy your numbers.

Step 5 - Shift your carbs

Consume the majority of your carbs in the day time and gradually decrease your carb intake toward the evening.

Tips for creating you own meal plan

1. Don’t worry about hitting your numbers EXACTLY just try to get it within 10% of your target number. For example if you’re trying to hit 50g of carbs for your meals and you can only get it to 45g don’t sweat it as long as it’s within 10% of your target it’s fine.

Here’s what I like to do – I usually don’t sweat it if I go over on the protein, in fact I’ll usually try to consume more protein than my daily requirement (more muscle building benefits). And on the flip side with carbs and fats I normally try to be slightly under my target number. Which ever you choose is fine, just wanted to let you know what I like to do.

1. Add variety – Don’t make the mistake I did. I ate tuna and eggs so often I couldn’t stomach the sight of them after a few short weeks. In fact as I write this I’m starting to get a little queezy just thinking about tuna and eggs.
2. Don’t be like I was (LAZY) - Please add variety to your muscle building diet. There’s many ways to do it but just as a general guideline to help you out, try to make sure you’re not eating the same meals each and every day. Mix it up, alternate you favorite foods, try new foods on certain days. Trust me, you’ll be thanking me later.

Option #2. Have Someone Else Create Your Meal Plan Work For You

If you're like me when I first started out and you really have no clue about what to eat, when to eat and how often to eat to build muscle and you're not a dietician whose an expert at creating and planning meals. And you don't have the time, energy or patience to sit down and create a muscle building meal plan for yourself week in and week out then option 2 might be for you .

This is where I got the most bang for my buck out of the No Nonsense Muscle Building Program I purchased because it gave me an 84 day meal plan that I could follow right out of the gate. And what I like most was that the meal plan came with a weekly grocery lists (so I knew exactly what to get and how much of it to get everytime I went into the grocery store).

These meal plans are also pretty legit because I did some background checking and these meal plans were made by a company named Empowered Nutrition that specialize in creating muscle building meal plans but to get it from them directly would cost an arm and a leg.

Here's some screen shots of what the meal plan looked like and what the weekly grocery list look like.

Here's an example of what one of these meal plans look like:

And checkout the grocery list that comes with it.

So you pretty much have two options when it comes to creating your own meal plan.

A - You can create one yourself, which you now know how to to do. I'm going to be brutally honest here, creating a meal plan that's effective, healthy and adds variety can take a lot of trial error, not to mention a lot time figuring out different combinations of food, and the different portions needed to reach your numbers from week to week.

or

B - You can have someone else do it for you. Personally I recommend the meal plans found in No Nonsense Muscle Building Program because that's the one I followed the longest. But http://www.musclegaintruth.com">Sean Nelawanyj also provides very similar meal plans with his Muscle Gain Truth program and he also gives away sample meal plans for free so you can test them out first which is pretty cool.

Grab Your Own 3 Day Meal Plan Right Now

If you want to check out Sean Nelawanyj's sample meal plans , first go tohttp://www.weightgaincalculator.com/vip and use my tool to help calculate which one of his sample meal plans is best for you. Once you've calculated your calories just follow the directions to download your meal plan.

I really don't care which option you choose, whether you create your meal plan yourself or you let someone else do it for you JUST DO IT. You NEED to have a set meal plan, because I don't care how much time you spend in the gym, YOU WON'T SEE ANY RESULTS unless you're feeding your muscles EXACTLY what they need to grow.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's lesson because I'm going to be revealing to you the next part of the equationshowing you EXACTLY what you need to be doing INSIDE the gym to see explosive muscle gains.

See you tomorrow,

Richard Knight
[email protected]

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