You may have heard a saying that goes “Abs are built in the kitchen” and this is true but this also goes for building any other muscle in your body. Think about it, if your body doesn’t get the nutrients it needs to recover after considerable exertion, it won’t recover properly so you won’t build any new muscle and could potentially hurt your existing muscles. That’s why the hard work you put into the gym is only half the equation and having a solid diet to match your work ethic is the only way to get the results you’re looking for.
There are macronutrients aka “macros” and micronutrients, each macro and micronutrient is found in its related food group which is how you can easily determine what nutrients you’re getting out of each food just by looking at it (which you’ll learn in a sec). This post is all about macros and how they relate to building muscle. There are 3 different macronutrients to build our diet around which are protein, fat, and carbohydrates. The first is what we need to build muscle and the last 2 are our sources of energy.
Macro Intake for A Standard Diet
Protein = 4 calories per Gram -> 30% of daily calorie intake
Fat = 9 calories per Gram -> 30% of daily calorie intake
Carbs = 4 calories per Gram -> 40% of daily calorie intake
Protein
Protein is the most important macro when it comes to building muscle because its use is quite literally to repair cells (muscles) and create new ones, this process is known as “protein synthesis”. The most popular sources of protein are dairy, meat, nuts, seeds, and tofu so decide what foods you like from each of these groups and use them as the staple of your diet.
Ideally, if putting on weight is the goal you’re going to want to eat about 1 gram of protein for every pound of body weight but having more is never going to hurt. If losing fat is your goal it’s going to be near impossible to put on muscle because you’ll have to eat at a calorie deficit so you should just try to maintain the muscle you already have, in this scenario eating around 1.1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight is going to be necessary if not more.
If you’re having a hard time getting this much protein in every day get yourself some protein powder to sub into your diet! Click here for the Top 3 protein powders!
Fat
Fat is an interesting nutrient because it sounds like a bad thing and while that can be the case it isn’t always and it’s actually very significant to a healthy diet. There are good and bad fats, the good fat is unsaturated fat which comes from food like nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil, and fatty fish. The bad fats are trans and saturated fats which you’ll usually see in processed food like cookies.
Fats and carbs are similar in that they both provide the body with energy but they deliver it in very different ways. Fats carry over double the amount of calories per Gram compared to carbs making them “slow-digesting” meaning they take longer for your body to process, think about this as your body’s source for longer-term energy stores.
Due to the extra calories found in fat, you feel full faster after you eat fat as opposed to carbs which actually usually results in you eating less food/calories over the span of your day. The amount you eat can differ depending on what type of diet you’re looking for because you may opt for more fat over carbs or vice-versa but generally, a regular or low-fat diet will consist of 30% percent or less fat, and a high-fat diet would consist of closer to 50%.
Carbs
Carbohydrates are essentially the mirror macro to fats because like I said they both provide energy but in different ways. Carbs are the faster-digesting form of energy but some digest quicker than others!
There are simple and complex carbs, simple carbs come from dairy products and fruit as well as processed/refined sugars found in candy, soda, etc. These are going to be good for quick boosts of energy or in our case right before the gym because it’s crucial that we fuel ourselves before going into a strenuous workout or we won’t last all the way through. Complex carbs on the other hand come from whole foods such as beans, peas, grains, and vegetables. These are faster digesting than their simple counterpart but slower digesting than fats which makes them ideal for eating throughout the day to stay energized.
You can also utilize complex carbs to get those extra calories in so you can reach your intake for the day!
Conclusion
Feel free to experiment with your diet the same way you do with the gym because the idea that everybody is built differently and responds differently to different things applies just as much to nutrition as it does to program design.
Learn about new cultures through food! Trust me this is going to be a great way to find fantastic tasting recipes that aren’t too high in calories. Don’t be too hard on yourself I know of so many people that take it too seriously which will turn food into the enemy when it’s really there to help. If your goal is to compete in something gym-related then yea your nutrition is going to have to be pretty much perfect, but if you’re just looking to add on some muscle then a solid diet with some leeway will do the trick. As long as you don’t take your cheat meals too far you’ll be just fine.
To find just how many of each macro you need, use the calculator here!
