Muscle Building Foods

I’m sharing my own personal struggle in bulking up, with the hopes of helping others along their journey.

When I first started lifting I was about 155lb (Due to pride I have to state this quickly, 3 months later I was 185lb & the first month was a huge learning curve.)

At 5’7 155lb 27 years old and never lifted a day in my life. I needed a lot of help! I had no idea what I was doing. No idea of diet. So lost in a gym that when I walked through the doors I just felt a huge wave of confusion.

However here’s my saving grace. The owner of the company I was working for had been trying to get me to a gym for 2-3 months before I gave in and decided to go with him. The owners bio is 49 years old and had been weight lifting since the 70’s. At almost 50 years old I could not fathom a good excuse to not kick my own butt and succeed at my goal.

My goal? Bulk up. I mean come on, I’m 155!

So your like SO WHAT.

Here’s my point: KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING. Diet, Form, Exercise, Importance of rest. Do not walk in blind. Educate yourself. You will only then be able to achieve your goal’s.

For now we’ll deal with diet.

I drank, smoked cigars, ate whatever I wanted and overall didn’t think a moment about my health.

I quit drinking, no more cigars. No alcohol, soda’s, or juices. I limited myself to water, skim milk, coffee – normally straight espresso. That’s it.

Old Meal Plan:

• Breakfast: Half dozen egg whites, Six slices of whole grain bread. (egg sandwiches, 3 of them) And water. Coffee post workout.
• Lunch: Salad  Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, 1/2 chicken breast, light shredded cheese. Water.
• Dinner: Shredded wheat blended with Vanilla yogurt, 2 whole chicken breasts.

Was in the gym 3 times the first week. Second week Mon-Fri Mornings. Third week Mon-Sat one hour morning 6am, one hour nights 6pm.

My diet never changed. I WAS STARVING! I plateaued hard. After decent progress my 1st three weeks, my energy died.

Couldn’t finish the sets or reps. My workout partner nearly laughed out right after he heard what I was eating.

New Meal Plan:

• Breakfast: Protein shake blended with whole milk and a banana. Half dozen whole eggs. Six slices of wheat toasted. (Egg sandwiches) Espresso pre workout. Coffee post workout. Apple,Orange, snack before lunch.
• Lunch: (I never liked salads anyways). Brown rice with dark meat chicken cubed. Equivalent of three chicken breasts. Water.
• Dinner: Protein shake and skim milk. Yogurt + Granola blend. Two grilled chicken breasts.

This is what worked for me. I was able to get my energy back and see some really nice gains. I started out benching the bar. …..YES just the bar 45lb.

By mid-end month three I was benching 3sets 8-10reps at 155lb and had gained 25lbs. (That’s Standard Bench, Incline & Decline) Mind you I lived in the gym at this point.

Summary: Define your goals. Then even more importantly, you Must define how you will achieve those goals . Proper nutrition is (in my opinion) the hardest  task to take upon with any workout routine. Simply due to the fact that it plays such a major part in accomplishing whatever you have set out to achieve.

If something is not working, modify it. Eat more, eat less, change the food or change the routine whatever you have to do.

Find someone! Coach, trainer, friend or someone you can just laugh with. (You would be amazed at the times we almost dropped weights due to laughing about some ridiculous joke. If you think about it, breaking your body down at the gym or home then becomes ….. FUN?)

Proteins:

• turkey and chicken
• dairy products like milk, cottage cheese, and low-fat yogurt
• eggs
• fish as in salmon or tuna

Carbs:

• fruits
• pasta
• whole grain cereal and bread
• brown rice
• vegetables like corn, broccoli, and green beans

Fats:

• olive oil
• almonds
• peanuts and peanut butter

Snacks:

• Fruits
• pretzels
• Nuts

Liquids:

• Milk
• Water
• Espresso
• Coffee