The 10 Commandments of Bodybuilding Nutrition

Nutrition is the biggest component when it comes to having a lean physique. Eighty percent of your results will come directly from your eating habits. Follow these commandments and get to your goals in half the time.

Your main goal should be to set and know your basic macronutrient intakes. If your goal is to be lean, you need to make sure you know how many calories you need to take in to lose weight. Aimless eating will get you nowhere.

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Latest research has shown that spreading your total protein intake out every 3-5 hours throughout the day is optimal to stimulate protein synthesis.

Our bodies primary source of fuel is carbohydrates. During our workouts our bodies are more primed for carbohydrate uptake. Try to consume anywhere from 30- to 60 percent of your total carbohydrates for the day before during and after a workout.

Fat slows down digestion; around our workouts we want to get carbohydrates to our muscles as fast as possible so keep your fat intake below 10 grams during your pre and post workout meals.

Water intake is extremely important for overall health. Eighty percent of our bodies are made up of water. Adequate water intake ensures properly functioning kidneys (kidneys help to burn fat). If you are even slightly dehydrated it can lead to a 10 percent decrease in performance as well.

Fiber is an essential component to overall health. Fiber helps to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, reduces the risk of heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes and helps to regulate digestion. Fiber also helps stave off hunger. Fiber helps to add bulk and acts as a brush cleaning out colon, which allows for faster digestion and prevents constipation.

Protein synthesis is stimulated from adequate leucine content of food. The amino acid leucine is one of the important building blocks for muscle. Consuming 5 -10 grams of leucine per meal will maximize protein synthesis. It can be extremely hard for vegetarians to consume this much leucine because direct sources of protein such as chicken, fish, meats contain more leucine then plant sources of protein. If you cannot get 5-6oz of animal protein per meal then I recommend supplementing that with a BCAA product with your meal to ensure proper leucine amounts.

The downfall to any diet comes from the restriction of one macronutrients. Removing all carbs from the diet (Atkins type diet) is not sustainable for the long run and can cause you to gain more weight post diet. It is better for long-term success to balance out all your macronutrients in your diet then to remove one.

When your parents told you not to do something didn’t it want to make you do it more? Limiting your food sources can lead to binging and other eating disorders. I always recommend a flexible diet allowing the person to fit in any food they like. The more sustainable a diet is the more long-term success you will have. Think about this; if you avoid the ice cream now how likely are you to binge on ice cream at a later time? Where as if you fit a serving or two into your diet daily you have not lost any traction and have developed a healthy relationship with food.

You can have the greatest nutritional guru of all time write you a plan but if you do not follow thru on the plan, that plan is just as worthless as the paper it was written on. Compliance to the diet is the most important factor for success.