Nutrition is about 65-70 percent of the battle when it comes to packing on lean muscle mass, so I think it is important to have a full understanding of the right foods to purchase at the supermarket for muscle building. First and foremost, I recommend cooking 6 meals per day at home, since this will give you total control of your macronutrient ratios. Also, to stay sane, I recommend one cheat meal per month. A cheat meal is a meal that you would not typically eat in your bodybuilding diet, like a cheeseburger from mcdonalds or an ice cream.
When picking groceries, it is important to read the nutrition facts and the ingredients. The nutrition facts will tell you calories, macronutrients, sugars and fibers. You should look for foods with low calories, low if not zero sugars and high protein. For the most part you also want low carbohydrates since you only should be consuming carbs pre and post workout (30g each time) to prevent excess fat storage. Moderate fats are okay, but stay away from trans and hydrogenated fats since they increase risk of heart disease exponentially. Pay attention to the way the ingredients are written. The ingredients are listed in order of how much is in the product, so if sugar comes first, second or third, you know you should be avoiding it.
Most of the time, the healthiest and most natural food products are on the outskirts of the supermarket. Buy most of your groceries from the produce section, the meats and seafoods. There are some good items in the frozen foods section, though. Frozen packaged fillets of fish, frozen chicken breasts, turkey burgers and mixed vegetables are all integral parts of a good bodybuilding diet. Stay away from sodas since they are packed with sugars, and even diet sodas have been proven to spike blood sugar and increase cravings for sugar.
To avoid purchasing unhealthy foods and staying on your bodybuilding diet, I suggest coming up with a list of foods to buy before going to the supermarket. This will keep you on track and purchasing the right foods.
- HR
