Eating for Your Goals Part 2: Eating Clean For Size

Hello Internets

Here is part 2 of my nutrition post. This one is going to focus on gaining size, specifically muscle mass, while minimizing fat gain. 

First things first, to increase muscle mass you have to eat. This is unavoidable because to build muscle your body needs to fuels to do so. Now, there is a plethora of information out there on eating correctly to gain muscle, but I'm going to provide my take on the subject. As always I know there is people out there with a lot more experience with this and I welcome your input!

If you're thinking, as many of my female clients do, "I don't want to get bulky and look like a man", don't worry. Muscle growth is partly dependent on testosterone levels and because women naturally have lower testosterone levels than men this prevents us from getting huge (unless you take steroids, which you shouldn’t).

Why should we gain muscle? A lot of reasons including my favourite; the more muscle you have on your body the higher your BMR (see previous post), which means the more calories you burn when you are not working out.

Points to Gain Muscle While Minimizing Fat Gain

#1: To Supplement or Not to Supplement

I'm kind of on the fence when it comes to whether or not to take supplements when looking to gain muscle mass. I think that whey protein and similar products (i.e. shakes, bars, cereal ect.) have their place for sure. I also think some people get carried away, which can lead to over supplementing.

I get uncomfortable when someone tells me they are on several different types of supplements to get bigger. I'm not sure why. I just believe in good ol' natural food I guess. Nature provides us with lots of different, healthy protein choices, which I will discuss in a bit. Also, your body has a limited amount of muscle building potential, and when you over supplement you just end up with very expensive pee.

I guess my conclusion on this is everything in moderation. Supplement if you feel it’s an "easier" way to get your protein instead of eating more protein, but don't go overboard.

#2: Eating to Gain Muscle While Staying Lean

I think a lot of people (mostly men) simply think "If I eat more calories, I'll get bigger". Well, yes this is true, but you're gaining fat mass rather than muscle mass. As previously mentioned, our bodies have a limited amount of muscle building capacity and if we supersede this capacity then the rest of the fuel coming in turns to fat.

So how do we eat to gain muscle but stay lean? Bobby Tran shed some much needed light on the subject for me last year.

He says to eat protein at EVERY meal, eat every 2-3 hours and eat your food in this order= protein first, then your veggies then your complex carbs if you are still hungry.

Making sure you have protein in every meal 5-6 times a day is a sure fire way to stay lean while gaining muscle mass.

#3: What to Eat

There are lots of great protein options out there, but also some not so great ones.

• Good Protein
• Quinoa
• Egg Whites
• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
• Salmon
• Bison
• Lean Ground Beef (in moderation)
• Turkey Breast
• Not So Good Protein
• Lunch Meat: high in sodium and has cancer causing agents
• Any meat that comes from fast food including subway
• Steak: I only say this because too much red meat can be a bad thing.

Basically, prepare your food, don't buy it pre-made. I know this can be difficult on a busy schedule. See my previous post on how to eat clean on a busy schedule on tips of how to overcome this barrier.

#4. How Much to Eat

This is the trickiest part. Simply put, to gain muscle you need to be getting enough calories. See my last post on how to calculate how many calories your body needs a day. To gain muscle you want to be meeting or slightly exceeding this number.

I think this is it. As always, if you have any questions let me know. I would also like to hear from those who know a little more on the subject *coughBobbycough*

Stay Strong

Byn