Best Muscle Building Foods

As I was doing my morning cardio today, I was thinking about what best muscle building foods I should eat today.

I don't always eat the same foods in my diet everyday; especially when I'm NOT trying to achieve more definition through "cutting".

Since I'm currently in off-season diet mode, I like to spice things up a little so that my meals don't get boring and blah.

On days I do cardio in the morning, I wait to have my first meal afterward. I perform low intensity treadmill walking (or brisk walking outside) first, then I have my meal. I do this because I am able to tap into my body fat stores easier than if I had eaten a meal prior to my cardiovascular session. When I keep my heart rate around 120-125 BPM, my body knows I'm not trying to run a marathon and looks to my body fat for energy. Now, if I had eaten carbohydrates prior to cardio... my body would have used those carbs for energy instead of my body fat.

By the time I'm finished walking, I'm usually pretty hungry. I have found that I can stay in fat burning mode longer if I eat muscle building protein foods with some FAT.

Fat?

Yep, that's right... FAT.

Eating healthy fats with protein after low intensity cardio (LI) allows me to keep my body burning, what it has already started to burn from cardio, body fat. Now some may disagree but I found this to work for me.

Here's what I had for breakfast:

• 4 Omega 3 eggs (very good source of healthy fats)
• 100g chicken breast on the side
• low carb ketchup (1 carb / TBSP)
• 100g broccoli
  
• fish oil (more good fats for your body)

The above meal has about 25 grams of fat in it that I will allocate towards my daily target intake. It also contains "trace" carbs, mostly from green vegetables, which are great to eat on a low carbohydrate diet. And this breakfast also has high body building protein intake, necessary to build muscle.

So that covers a sample muscle building meal for breakfast, but what about the other meals throughout the day?

Well, as I said I enjoy a variety. I like to "mix and match" foods, so to speak. As long as I am meeting my daily macro nutrient intake, I'll eat pretty much any of the following foods:

Carbohydrates for Body Builders

I find the best carbs to eat during the day are complex carbohydrates that are Low Glycemic carbohydrates, from the low glycemic index, (Low GI). These burn slower in your body after you eat them so they have a minimal insulin spike (i.e less of a chance of storing in your body as fat). I find the higher carb foods are great for breakfast and early day meals, and the lower carb veggies are great for evening meals (when I want to minimize my carbohydrate intake). These low GI carbs are great to eat before you work out with weights as well, since your body will slowly use them as fuel while you're exercising.

Higher Calorie Carbs - Slow Burning Foods (Low GI)

• oatmeal (the real stuff, not instant with sugar)
• whole wheat or whole grain pasta
• long-grain and brown rice
• sweet potatoes and yams
• whole grain bread
  
• apples
  
• pears
• peaches
• grapes
• oranges
• green peas
• tomatoes

One of my favorite meals prior to my weight lifting session is whole wheat pasta, extra lean ground beef and some tomatoes. High protein combined with slow burning carbs to get me through a grueling workout!


Lower Calorie Carbs - Slow Burning Foods (Low GI)

• asparagus
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• cucumbers
• green beans
  
• peppers, red, green, yellow
• spinach

Oh boy... do I EVER like using the above for stir frys and salads!

** Sidebar: Please bear in mind that the foods I list are a fraction of the best muscle building foods available to you and are merely my preferences. **

Carbs After Workout

A subject of great debate amongst many bodybuilders... "What are the best post workout carbs to eat?"

In general, by the time you've finished your weight lifting session at the gym (or at home) you've pretty much exhausted your body's glycogen stores. Bear in mind, the amount you have burned is also relative to how intensely you exercised and how long you worked out. Now is the BEST time to utilize the insulin spike caused by carbohydrates to your advantage.

So... I like to eat High Glycemic carbs as soon as possible after lifting. I also have a high protein whey isolate shake with my carbs, to get the recovery process started ASAP.

High Carb FAST Burning Foods (High GI)

• low fat kid's cereal bars
• low fat sugary kid's cereal (i.e. Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms, etc)
• Gatorade
• dextrose

Usually I'll have a couple of cereal bars and a shake post-workout. I try to limit high GI carbs to after my workouts only, unless I have scheduled a high-carb day (usually during dieting).. but that's for another post.


Healthy Bodybuilding Fats

Did you know that your body doesn't really need carbs to function? But it DOES need fats.

Eating low carb for a long period of time can make you feel kind of crappy, but your body actually prefers to burn fat for energy! Carbs are necessary for "filling out" as a bodybuilder (especially right before a body building competition) but are not really crucial for energy IMO.

About a year and a half ago, I tried a diet called the Anabolic Diet. It is a low carb / high fat / medium protein diet plan. I ate this way for nearly a year. While at first your body tends to "fight" with you (because of the lack of carbs it is used to getting), after a while you do adjust. I actually felt pretty good after I became "fat adapted".

The beauty of this diet was that you would eat low carb (less than 30 grams per day including all trace carbs found in just about every type of food) and on the weekend you would "carb up" for a 12-36 hour window. Now, needless to say, you would have to know when to stop eating carbs or you could wind up spilling over and storing body fat. But with trial and error, I have found this to be a pretty good diet. I also found that the high fats I ate gave me a lot of energy and increased my testosterone level naturally.

Here are some good muscle building diet fats I like to eat:

Monosaturated Fats

• avocados (one of the best foods IMO)
  
• almonds and almond butter
  
• cashews
• extra virgin olive oil
• peanuts and natural peanut butter
  
• walnuts

** Buy UN-roasted nuts for best health!


Polyunsaturated Fats

• enova oil
• flaxseed oil
• salad dressing with low carbs ("Newman's Own" is my favorite)
  

** I try not to cook with any mono or poly fats. I add them to my foods AFTER cooking so as not to denature them.


Saturated Fats

• bacon
• butter
• cream
• cream cheese
• cheddar cheese
• coconut oil
• sour cream
• animal fats

I try to strike a balance with all of the above fats, but usually eat slightly less saturated fats. I do think that saturated fat has gotten a bad rep from the health care industry though. Everything in moderation is key, I think.

Unlike monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats, I do cook muscle building foods in saturated fat.

I enjoy a good stir fry cooked up in a TBSP. of coconut oil!

When using fats, keep in mind that they contain 9 calories per gram of fat, compared to 4 calories per gram of protein or carbs.


Best Muscle Building Protein

IMO the best protein for building muscle comes from whole food, not supplements. Why?

Because supplements are not a substitute for real food. When given the choice, I'll usually choose meat and eggs over protein powder. Protein powder is great if you are pressed for time and have nothing cooked OR post-workout.

With that said, the best protein powder for me is 100% whey isolate. A lot of people are concerned that whey isolate burns too quickly in your system, but I always eat something along with it to control the insulin response. Whey isolate + peanut butter = slower digesting protein.

Here are some high protein foods that I enjoy eating in my body building diet:

• skinless chicken breast
• ground beef - boiled, drained, then rinsed = very lean ground beef
• lean pork
• turkey breast
• tuna in water
• flank steak
• 100% whey isolate protein powder

So there you have it... another long ass post! Hopefully you'll be able to construct your own bodybuilding diet based on the best muscle building foods of your choice! Back to the weights tomorrow, till then...