Breakfast Lunch And Dinner Diet To Lose Weight And Build Muscle
Don’t eat too many calories, don’t eat too few calories coming up with meals to lose weight and gain muscle can be tough when there’s so much advice out there on the best way to do it. Are you better off loading up on protein? Or should you emphasize carbs instead?
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Despite any misconceptions you might have heard in the past, it’s possible to improve your muscle strength and performance while you still lose weight. And no, you don’t have to follow any fancy eating plan. Focusing instead on basic nutritional wisdom and exercise guidelines will help you achieve an improved body composition. Here’s what you should know, along with a few ideas for meal plans and recipes to lose fat and gain muscle.
Food Portioning And Tracking Intake
It is also good practice to track your daily intake using a food tracking app. This way, you get an accurate calculation for how many macros and calories you are consuming each day and on average, each week. It is also helpful to account for any unexpected foods that creep into your diet – which is almost guaranteed to happen!
Moreover, using precise food portions is a great way to ensure you are tracking your intake accurately. Consider getting a food scale to weigh out your protein portions, or use measuring cups and spoons when cooking to account for the calories in every ingredient.
Sweet Potato And Chorizo Hash
If youre a big lover of a fry up but you arent quite prepared for the many calories that often come with them, this Sweet Potato and Chorizo Hash is the ideal alternative. All you need to do is prep the ingredients the night before ready to go the next morning or whenever you want to eat it. This recipe is also pretty high in protein so its ideal if youre looking to make some gains in the gym!
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Whole Foods And The Gut
Whole foods are loaded with fibers that are sometimes lost during processing or refinement. Fiber is essential for a healthy gut because aside from its traditional roughage reputation, it also feeds the healthy bacteria in your gut, providing a whole host of other benefits.
They also provide a lot of variety, which the gut loves. The more variety, the better. So, even though you might fall in love with certain recipes, its important to mix up the kinds of whole foods you eat to maintain a healthy gut. Aim for 30 different whole foods each week. Its easier than you think!
How Much Protein And Carbohydrates Do You Need To Gain Muscle
The optimal protein intake for gaining muscle appears to be between 1.6 and 2.2 g/kg, based on the most up-to-date scientific literature . The lower end of this range, ~1.6 g/kg, appears to be the point of “saturation” for most of the population and should be considered the target number for most people for optimal protein intake for gaining muscle. This translates to around 0.7-0.8 g/lb of body weight per day.
Carbohydrates also appear to be critical for maximizing muscle growth. Lack of carbohydrates in the diet has been shown to impair muscle growth in some populations, and the current guidelines for optimizing muscle growth are 4-7 g/kg per day . This translates to 1.8-3.2 g/lb of body weight per day.
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Baked Potato With Baked Beans And Cheese
Not everyone realizes that baked potatoes are relatively low-calorie and I love topping mine with the classic British combination of baked beans and cheddar cheese for an easy, vegetarian, low-budget, and comforting dinner, often with greens on the side.
Ludlam-Raine said: “Baked potatoes are such a staple midweek meal. Both the beans and cheese contain a source of protein, but to help keep the calories, fats, and sugars down, opt for low fat cheese and/or keep to a small matchbox-sized portion, and choose no added sugar and salt beans if you can. To add volume to your plate, you could add a side salad.”
Foods That Help You Build Lean Muscle
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Both nutrition and physical activity are critical if you want to gain lean muscle.
To get started, its essential to challenge your body through physical activity. However, without proper nutritional support, your progress will stall.
High-protein foods are very important for gaining muscle, but carbohydrates and fats are also necessary sources of energy.
If your goal is to gain lean muscle, you should focus on exercising regularly and eating more calories each day from muscle-building foods.
Here are 26 of the top foods for gaining lean muscle.
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Steak And Bean Burrito Bowl
Serves: 4Nutrition: 450 calories, 13 g fat , 563 mg sodium, 42 g carbs , 41 g protein
What better way to eat some of our favorite protein-packed foodsblack beans and grass-fed beefthan in a burrito bowl. This tortilla-less dish is not only delicious but also budget friendly. Even though grass-fed beef can be pricey, this recipe doesn’t only rely on the beef. That way, you can save money and be just as satisfied by the ample amount of veggies it’s served with.
Get the recipe from Gimme Delicious.
Q Is The South Indian Diet Healthy
A. Yes, the south Indian diet is probably the healthiest. That is because south Indian cuisine comprises an array of healthy delicacies made from fermented batters. The steamed idlis iddiappams and uttapams made from fermented batter promote weight loss. The dishes are rich in probiotics and are a boon for gut microbes. Besides this, the use of green leafy vegetables in the south indian cuisine is abundant.
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What It Takes To Lose Weight
You need to be consistent. It may sound cliche, but its 100% true.
Your body doesnt adapt well to inconsistencies in terms of its ability to lose weight, and gain muscle strength.
To truly be effective in your efforts, consistency in diet is preparation of meals is key. When you have your meals already planned, either the day of, day before, or week before, youre setting up for success.
What I have found to be the most effective is three approaches to meal preparation:
1. Preparing large quantities of protein 5 days in advance
Be it meat, or ensuring I have the adequate peas, beans, or vegetables on hand. This approach requires choosing a meal prep day and setting aside 1-2 hours to prepare meals for the proceeding 5 days.
My wife and I often prepare meals on Sundays, as it leaves us Mon-Friday worry-free of what we will be eating.
2. Preparing smaller quantities of protein 3 days in advance
Same rule applies, but I have also found this approach to be convenient.
Why prepare protein in advance? Because its a staple of your daily nutrient requirement. Muscle growth and development is predicated on several factors including the absorption of Branched-chain amino acids an amino acid with aliphatic side-chains with a branch .
The body needs proteins to survive and thrive, and of course to lose weight along with build muscle lets make sure its ready for ya!
3. Hydration is also a key factor
Bonus tip
Shrimp Sausage & Lentil Jambalaya
Serves: 4Nutrition: 471 calories, 17 g fat , 895 mg sodium, 40 g carbs , 38 g protein
This creole jambalaya dish is the perfect meal to fill you up and slim you down. That’s because thanks to a simple flat belly tweak that substitutes rice for lentils, it’s bursting with satiating fiber and protein. We love the leftovers because once cooled, the starches in the lentils go through a process called retrogradation in which they turn “resistant.” Resistant starches avoid digestion, instead, they help to improve digestion, boost fat burn, and fend off belly-fat-inducing inflammation.
Get the recipe from Cotter Crunch.
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Tips For Making Muscle Building Smoothies
Be warned that small seeds dont blend well in some blenders. Blackberries, strawberries, and seeded grapes are delicious, but they also have tiny seeds that manage to escape the smoothing part of the process every single time.
The seeds can get stuck in the back of your throat and in your teeth when your drinking.
Bananas and melons have the perfect flavor profiles and texture for making delicious smoothies.
Foods that have a mild flavor and smooth texture seem to work best with masking the taste of vegetables.
Throw seeds into the blender first, then the water, ice, and/or powders.
Blend these well before tossing the vegetables and fruit in last.
This will help mix everything together without clogging up the blender motor.
Alternatively, you could spend some money and buy a high-quality blender.
Its a great investment, especially if youre using it to get fit.
Some of the best blenders can cost as much as $200 or more, so be prepared when you start shopping.
Almost any blender over $60 works pretty well, but there is definitely a noticeable difference between the cheap ones and the top-shelf brands.
How Much Protein Do You Need To Gain Muscle
Many people find themselves asking, How much protein should I eat to gain muscle? Like most things in life, there isnt a one-size-fits-all answer, but there are some guidelines that can help when it comes to muscle building foods.
How Much Protein Per Day?
The recommended dietary requirements for daily protein is at a modest 0.8 g/kg of body weight per day. This means if you weigh 130lbs, optimal protein intake would translate to eating a minimum of 47g of protein, or about 2 small chicken breasts a day as part of a muscle building diet.
This RDA requirement is the bare minimum of protein consumption and is based on the average sedentary individual. If you dont exercise and also sit for 8+ hours a day, then the RDA recommendation is perfect for you, and theres no reason why you need to eat more protein.
How Much Protein Per Day to Build Muscle?
I have found from training clients that a higher protein intake translates to faster fat loss and a higher metabolism versus a lower protein intake, even if you dont do strength training. Adding more protein to your diet causes you to eat less, which results in weight loss.
For building muscle and fat loss, I would recommend about 40% of your total calories come from protein, or about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
Good Sources of Protein
Instead, swap out your breakfast with high-protein choices like eggs, Greek yogurt, or smoked salmon, or throw a scoop of protein powder in your smoothie or oatmeal.
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Option : Greek Yoghurt
Greek yoghurt is particularly popular with our female clients who like the texture and taste of it to kill off any sweet-tooth cravings early in the day.
Whether you go full fat or 0% fat will depend on your calorie intake, but whats important is you opt for a quality brand that doesnt add additional sugars to the product.
A 200-300g serving of Greek yoghurt can provide a solid 20-30g of protein with some good fats and a small amount of carbs.
You can either eat it alone or mix in some whey and/or nut butter for additional protein and fats. Berries also work great, especially if you have a sweet tooth and are looking for something low in calories.Try combining Greek yoghurt with a scoop of whey protein and a tablespoon of almond butter. Mix well for a deliciously simple breakfast, that works well with a variety of berries or seeds on top. This is also great with oats, if you are allowed carbohydrates at breakfast on your meal plan.
Cook To Reach Your Weight Loss Goals
Meal preparation is your friend! Scrambling to prepare food last minute is not fun, and personally I dont do it.
At minimum, I will prepare meals one day in advance to avoid the risk of not reaching my caloric or macro nutrient requirements.
Also dont leave yourself with an empty fridge and being forced to consider ordering some fast food which will most likely be filled with gluten, enriched wheat flower, and other ingredients which may taste great in the moment, but will have you paying for it later with weight gain, inflammation, and much more.
I dont get overly complex when preparing meals because Im not that into cooking. I do it to ready my meals and reach my goals, but I dont enjoy cooking as a hobby.
If you enjoy cooking, then thats great! You can get really creative with your dishes and have fun while doing it.
In either case Im sure if you try some of these recipes youll not only start experimenting yourself with ingredients, but youll start seeing some serious gains in terms of weight loss, or gaining muscle strength. Now youre ready to start learning how to get fit!
Good luck and bon appetit!
Featured photo credit: Pexels via pexels.com
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The Basics Of Weight Loss
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains, losing weight shouldn’t be about fad diets or temporary programs. Instead, you should focus on creating habits that you can enjoy for an entire lifetime, ultimately achieving a healthy weight that you can maintain over time because of the way you regularly eat and exercise. Meals to lose weight and gain muscle become meals to maintain balance and fuel your active lifestyle.
Even if you have a lot of weight to lose, you shouldn’t rush it losing even 5 to 10 percent of your body weight has benefits like lower blood pressure, reduced cholesterol, improved blood sugar levels and reduced risk of chronic diseases.
The challenge comes in that when you lose weight, you’re not just losing body fat you’re also losing lean body mass. In fact, back in 2009, the American Council on Exercise estimated that if you lose weight through a caloric deficit from dieting but without exercise, as much as 25 percent of your weight loss could be from muscle loss. If you’re somebody who is trying to get stronger or build muscle while you’re losing weight, then that’s counterproductive.
Fruit And Fiber Protein Shake
Ingredients & Instructions:
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How Does Your Body Build Muscle
The process of muscle gain and fat loss happens primarily as a result of an energy imbalance i.e. the calorie equation.
Running on a treadmill for an hour each day wont necessarily make you gain muscle mass. Neither will lifting weights alone. The real secret behind building muscle mass is a calorie surplus. A well-balanced diet combined with an efficient exercise regimen is essential to gaining lean muscle mass .
High-intensity training and hard weight lifting can provide dramatic results in muscle gain however, without the right diet, it will not result in the body you want. In fact, without a balanced diet and sufficient calories, your hard workouts will be wasted on gaining no muscle at all.
Read More:An Effective 7-Day Workout Plan To Build Muscle
Smoked Salmon & Protein Bagel
A bagel? I know, it sounds crazy, but hear me out. Pay attention to the nutrition facts on the back of a sourdough bagel and youll be in shock. Besides a large number of carbs, youll also see a sizeable portion of protein. My personal favorite is from Sacramento Baking Company, which boasts a hefty 20grams of protein per bagel. Stack that with some fresh cut salmon and Greek yogurt protein cream cheese, and were talking 40 grams of protein and a solid breakfast of gains.
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Use Meal Prep To Revamp Your Veg
This is where most meal prep falls short. Cucumber slices and carrot batons might make you feel virtuous, but an unsatisfying lunch will only set you up for mid-afternoon snacking. Many vegetables are made more nutritious by cooking and doing so will extend their shelf life, too.
Extra Sizzle
Rapeseed, sesame and olive oils are all good options for sautéing, though extra-virgin olive oil has a lower smoke point . Heat a large pan on medium-high. Add a dash of oil, then the veg, and season. Toss well and then cook until tender.
- Peppers: 6min
Meal Prep Containers
A word on meal prep containers, because youve got to store and transport all those meals somehow. There are a few options available, from glass to multi-compartment plastic, with benefits and drawbacks to each style depending on what youre making. Plastic containers are light and durable, while glass varieties are less likely to stain and keep food fresher for longer. Mason jars are ideal for keeping salads fresh, and Bento boxes make packing snacks and lunches super simple. Stainless steel containers look great, but they tend to be pricy and arent microwave-friendly.
What Is A Whole Food Diet
In other words, it involves a lot of cooking because whole foods do not involve anything processed. That means no premade sauces, dips, or convenience foods like chocolate bars, sweets, or ready-meals. It also includes things like tinned vegetables and white bread.
Why? Processed and convenience foods are often high in salt, saturated fat, and additives in comparison to anything homemade. Because of this, their toll on your overall health is higher.
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