Most fitness beginners are not aware of the importance of a correct nutrition to build muscle. What are the diet tips I wish I knew when I was a fitness beginner?
The most important aspect of your diet is the calorie balance: how many calories are you eating compared to what you are burning?
If you want to lose weight, you should be eating less calories than what you are burning.
If you want to gain weight and build muscle, you should eat more calories than what you burn.
Counting the calories you eat during the day can be a hard task. Luckily, there are apps for your phone that allow you to add foods and automatically find out how many calories and macronutrients you are including in your diet.
Calorie Tracker Apps:
- MyFitnessPal
- FatSecret
- Lose It!
- Cronometer
- Noom
- Lifesum
- MyNetDiary
- Calory
Drink Water
Your body is 70% water. All your organs, tissues, and cells need water to survive and maintain a good environment.
Water can also help you build muscle (study) and improve your training performance (study)
The National Academy of Medicine suggest an adequate intake of 3l and 2l of water for healthy men and women, respectively.
Carbohydrates Are your Friends
Carbohydrates are your body’s main source of energy. They help to fuel your brain, kidney, muscles, and central nervous system.
If you want to build muscle, carbohydrates will become your best friends. Adding carbohydrates in your diet can help you maximize muscle building (study), improve muscle recovery (study), and sleep better (study)
Make Balanced Meals
Your meals are the way to reach your calorie and macronutrient requirements to build muscle and stay healthy.
Don’t miss out on them, and make balanced meals. Follow the Harvard Plate, and include protein, carbohydrates, fats, and a portion of greens to take the vitamins and minerals to stay healthy.
More is not Better
Many fitness beginners start to eat tons and tons of food, truthfully believing that will help them build more muscle and at a faster rate.
Unfortunately, that is not what happens. Your body has a limit on how much muscle it can build, and adding more fuel to the engine won’t help you speed up the process.
Eat the necessary to build muscle and maintain your fat percentage low. This will give you more room of improvement and time to keep eating and building muscle.
Master Home Cooking
Home cooking, compared to eating out, is a much healthier and recommended option.
You have full control over the foods and amounts you eat. Home cooking is also a cheaper option than going out.
Meanwhile, restaurants prioritize the taste to improve their business, and that often implies adding extra fats, flavour enhancers, and other ingredients that can affect your health on the long run.
Master home cooking and make it an exciting and fun experience.
Include Protein in your Meals
Protein is the most important macronutrient to build muscle. It provides the “bricks” your body needs to repair, maintain, and build muscle over time.
The recommended protein intake to build muscle is 2-3 g/kg. Include protein in most of your meals to maintain a good environment in your muscles and favour muscle building.
Don’t Be Afraid of Fats
Fats -although they share name with that you are trying to get rid of- are an important part of your diet.
Healthy fats can help you create a good hormone environment, maintain your cells healthy, and store long term energy in your body.
Base your fat intake on unsaturated fats, and cut down the saturated fats.
You Don’t Have to Eat Salads 24/7
When I first started dieting I only ate salads… not recommended to anyone.
Dieting doesn’t mean you can only eat salads or some other green foods. Dieting means to control the amount, and type of foods you eat.
Flexible dieting, for instance, doesn’t restrict any kind of food, as long as you are within your calorie and macronutrients limits.
Make a Plan
Having a plan gives you a guideline on what to do to reach your goals.
A diet plan should include the calorie and macronutrients you should eat during the day. Once you have those numbers, you can start distributing them throughout your meals.
Making a plan can be complicated if you don’t know where to start. In the post below, a step-by-step guide to create your own diet plan from scratch!
Be Flexible
Fitness is a long journey. It doesn’t matter how much you restrict yourself; if you are not able to maintain it on the long term, it’s useless.
Be flexible on your diet and create adherence to it. Don’t restrict yourself from anything and have control over what you eat. Achieve a balance between your diet, and what’s out of it.
Cut Down on Alcohol
Alcohol can slow down the process of muscle building (study). If you want to make a difference, cut down the alcohol.
Start by restricting alcohol only to weekends. There are many other alcohol-free alternatives for when you are “having a beer” with your friends.
Don’t Store Junk Food
Having temptations at home makes it much easier to slip and chat on your diet. If you want to follow a healthy diet, don’t store junk food at home.
The best and easiest way to avoid falling in cheat meals is to not be able to have them, unless you go to the store and get them there.
Conclusion
Most fitness beginners are not aware of the importance of a correct nutrition to build muscle. In this post, we have gone through 12 diet tips for fitness beginner!
