If there is one thing which is the most fundamental in body building, it's nutrition hands-down. Of course, sleep too is important for proper rest and recovery. But think about it, if you don't eat, you simply won't grow and make muscle gains like you expect. You might have the hardest workout in the world but if you don't have a proper body building nutrition, you're just wasting your time plain and simple. Food is a vital element if you want to gain muscle mass. When we talk about body building food, we are talking about real natural food not supplements. But you simply can't allow yourself to eat whatever you want. Natural body building food and nutrition consist of a careful selection of food items which are healthy, low-calorie and low-fat but have a high nutritional value. You should preferably have 4-6 meals a day comprised of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats. Here is a typical 6 day meal of an average body builder taken every 2-3 hours and eaten in small quantities. Of course this is just an example and can vary depending on the individual.

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8 am
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Meal 1 - 5 egg whites and 1 yolk, 1 cup of oatmeal with 3 cups of skimmed or low-fat milk, 1 banana

Special tip:

An average sized egg has 6.5 grams of protein with 3.597 grams in the white and 2.696 grams in the yolk and a total of 5.6 grams of fat. One egg yolk has about 210 mg of cholesterol and the daily recommended dose for an adult is 300 mg. So stick to 1 egg yolk per day with 2 maximum. In fact, most of the fats are in egg yolk but the latter has only about 1.6 grams of saturated fats and the other fats are healthy fats ie unsaturated fats like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. If you need to eat more than 2 whole eggs per day, go for the egg whites only. Egg whites have almost no fat content but mostly protein. Egg yolks have a bad reputation because of its high level of cholesterol but according to researchers, dietary cholesterol does not raise the bad cholesterol levels as much as saturated fats do. Saturated fats like animal fats are the main cause of raising high blood cholesterol levels which cause clogging of the arteries. Also remember, since you are exercising, this will reduce your bad cholesterol levels.

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11 am
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Meal 2 - 250 g boiled/grilled/baked skinless chicken breast, cup of broccoli, cup of brown rice, 1 medium baked potato, 1 table spoon of olive oil

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2 pm
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Meal 3 - 250 g boiled/grilled/baked skinless turkey breast, cup of broccoli, cup of brown rice, 1 medium baked potato, 1 orange

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3.30 pm - 5 pm
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Workout

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5 pm
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Meal 4 - 250 g boiled/grilled/baked salmon fillet or 1 can of tuna, cup of green beans, 1 medium baked sweet potato, 2 slices of wholemeal bread

Special tip:

Limit your intake of canned tuna to no more than 3 per week because of mercury levels.

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8 pm
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Meal 5 - 250 g boiled/grilled/baked lean red meat, cup of green beans, 1 medium baked sweet potato, 1 orange

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10 pm
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Meal 6 - 200 g boiled/grilled/baked white fish fillet, tomato, lettuce

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11 pm
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Sleep

Don't forget to drink at least 1.5-2.0 litres of water daily.

If you follow a proper nutrition, have adequate amount of sleep and train hard, there is no reason why you can't make good muscle gains even without using any additional supplements.

About the author

Jean Lam is the webmaster of Body Building Resource which provides articles on weight training, nutrition and fitness, body building book and DVDs.