Nutrition for Natural Bodybuilding (Guide)?

“If you want something you’ve never had before, you have to be willing to do something you’ve never done before.” – 4-time Mr. Olympia, Phil Heath

From the early days of bodybuilding, the key factors to success were the workout and the food. While the workouts have changed, including new equipment and developing new exercises, food has remained the same, at least for the bodybuilder.

From the first famous bodybuilder Eugen Sandow to Arnold Schwarzenegger to Andrea Shaw, the current Ms. Olympia, nutrition is one of the most crucial factors in bodybuilding and physical growth.

The basics of the bodybuilding diet haven’t really changed much over the last 120 years since Sandow promoted the first bodybuilding show, “The Great Show,” at the Royal Albert Hall in England in 1901.

Eat lots of healthy proteins

Eat lots of healthy vegetables

Eat a few complex carbohydrates

Don’t eat any processed foods or simple carbohydrates

This diet plan is essentially the same as every other healthy diet ever promoted. The major differences are the ratio of proteins to other meta-nutrients, like fats and carbohydrates, the quantity of food, and the timing of meals.

Lots of bodybuilders rely on supplements, shakes, and even pharmaceuticals to grow muscle. Nutrition experts and most bodybuilding experts will tell you that you don’t need those things if you eat the right foods in the right quantities at the right times of the day. If you need more food and supplements to complement your diet, that’s okay, but the core of a great body is the foods you eat.

“Eat Clean”

On bodybuilding bulletin boards, comments on social media, and TV commercials, the most common refrain is “Eat clean.”

Most bodybuilders will think of things like chicken or steak. That’s great, especially if they’re grass-fed. Many people don’t consider that their shake mixes, pills, and many of the sides to their dinners aren’t clean.

For example, white bread is not “clean.” Eating whole-grain bread instead of white bread is a much better way to eat clean. Rather than oatmeal with protein additives, eat plain oatmeal and some scrambled egg whites to up the protein content. A potato maybe natural, but it’s mostly simple carbs that defeat the efforts you’re trying to make.

Bodybuilding Nutrition: The Diet Plan

Not everyone needs to go on a strictly regimented diet to look great and build lean muscle mass. Some people process nearly everything well enough. They just need to avoid pizza every night, and they’re fine.

If that’s not you, there are some guidelines that have been proven over decades of nutritional study:

Pre-workout – Eat some healthy carbohydrates like oatmeal to fuel your workout. Avoid high sugar, prepared pre-workout foods. A gel that’s a color not found in nature and made with bunch of refined sugar or honey is not the carbs you need. Whole food complex carbohydrates will serve your work out better. Add fruit for some quick sugar hits.

Cardio fuel – This is another place where it’s easy to grab some strange gel to fuel your body. Try having fruit juice or milk instead. There are plenty of carbs in those to fuel you, and you won’t be getting any artificial ingredients.

Post-workout drink – The goal after a workout is to drink something that has a 3:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio. Chocolate milk meets these criteria. You can either drink traditional sugary chocolate milk or look for a version made with honey or cane sugar.

Protein – You shouldn’t need protein supplements. You can get lots of lean, healthy protein from fish, soy, chicken, skim milk, and low-fat, grass-fed red meat. Egg whites and dried fish are almost 100% protein if you want to bump up your protein intake. Many bodybuilders think eating food adds calories, but drinking a protein shake or take a protein supplement doesn’t. If it has protein, it has calories. There’s no difference. But your body is designed to process fish or meat better than it is with isolated protein shakes. With that being said, with a busy life you may need a protein shake to supplement if you aren’t hitting your protein mark.

Snacks and fats – Many of us eat healthy meals, but snack unconsciously. If you want a snack, grab some tuna, nuts, or hard-boiled eggs. You’ll get plenty of energy and protein from these foods, but they’re whole foods, not processed junk. Fruits and vegetables make great snacks. Olives can be a pleasant change with a lot of health fats, but no cholesterol.

Hydrate – Drink a lot of water. Workout drinks aren’t always necessary. Many of them are just as bad as soda when it comes to the sugar levels. Water is what your body needs. Coffee and tea are great to add flavor and some caffeine, but you really don’t need a lot of processed drinks.

Strength training means we need an increased amount of protein to build muscle. The American College of Sports Medicine says that during strength training we should eat between 1.2 and 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. This can rise to 2.0 grams or more for some people in the cutting stage of their development.

Phases of Bodybuilding

There are two main phases of bodybuilding: bulking and cutting.

Your body’s nutritional needs change with each phase.

Bulking: ~20% protein; ~50% carbohydrate; ~30% fat

Cutting: ~25% protein; ~60% carbohydrate; 15% fat

During the cutting phase, some builders reduce their carb intake to less than 30%, but only ones whose bodies can tolerate the change. Many people can’t drop that low in carbs without significantly losing energy and even strength.

When to Eat

The key to timing your food with bodybuilding is eat constantly, every 2 to 3 hours.

With that as your start, there are a few other simple rules that can help to keep the muscle lean and growing. Don’t eat more that 70 grams of protein in a single meal.

Stay away from carbs 4 hours before bed

Mix up your proteins so you’re getting different protein throughout the day.

A Sample Day’s Diet

Starting your day well and continuing to eat consciously during the day will help you build muscle. No matter what time of day you work out, there’s a lot you can control just by eating the right meals when they fit your schedule.

Breakfast

1.5 cups of Greek yogurt –sugar-free or plain

.75 cups of strawberries or blueberries (Other fruits are fine, but be careful with high-sugar fruits, like bananas.)

.5 cup of oatmeal (This can be cooked, or you can brown it in a pan and toss into your yogurt)

.75 cups of egg whites

Snack

1 cup of whole grain cereal

1 cup of 2% milk (or non-dairy milk, if you prefer)

1 cup of raspberries

Lunch

1.5 cups of spinach

6-8 ounces of chicken breast, cooked without oil

Half of an avocado

1 slice of whole grain toast

Snack

Two leaves of bibb lettuce

4-6 ounces of tuna

1 small, diced tomato

2 tablespoons finely diced onions

Dinner

6 ounces of lean steak, cooked without oil

3 ounces of romaine lettuce

2 tablespoons kalamata olives

4 ounces grilled green beans

Snack

Three ounces of almonds

1 small apple

Throughout the day, drink lots of water. More than anything else you do; water is an important key to success. It helps your body process these heavy proteins you’re putting in there.

If the protein causes constipation, you can add more fibrous vegetables, like lettuce. While oatmeal and other grains are full of fiber, they also have a lot of carbs, so watch how much of them you eat.

What to Avoid on a Bodybuilding Diet

Fast food or processed foods are off the menu. If you absolutely need to have a Taco Bell night, make sure you do it infrequently and you know what you’re doing. Also, don’t bother going harder in the gym the next day. Just get back onto your routine.

Our bodies can handle a little unhealthy food. You don’t need to punish yourself, but more than one or two cheat days a month, especially at the beginning, can destroy your diet.

Stay away from alcohol, but if you must drink, have one or two drinks made with hard liquor and water or seltzer. Beer and wine are full of sugars and carbs. Whiskey isn’t a bodybuilding food (except in Scotland), but it’s doesn’t come with all the sugars that other beverages come with, especially in a bar. Be careful of the drinks that look low carb and low sugar but aren’t, like any kind of premade, canned drink.

Watch for high-carb whole foods. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are good for you, but they are full of carbohydrates. Eat starches sparingly.

Pasta is a favorite carb, especially for group meals before an event, like a run. The problem is that “carbo loading” with pasta the night before makes no sense. Your body will have processed most of it by morning. Pasta is all carbs. While it’s tasty, it should be eaten sparingly. This includes whole wheat pasta.

A word on whole grain and whole wheat: This doesn’t necessarily mean better. Look for the types of breads and grains that still look like they did when they were harvested. Whole wheat pasta might have the healthy –looking brown color, but most are just white bread in disguise. They have a negligible amount of healthy fiber.

While a little cheese is fine, be careful. Lots of people convince themselves that cheese is protein, but it’s mostly fat. One or two ounces with a meal is okay, but don’t overdo it .

Condiments are full of hidden fats and sugars. Ketchup is a good example: a 16-ounce bottle of ketchup can have ¾ of a cup of sugar. Even low sugar ketchup is not much better. Opt for seasonings that have little or no added sugars. Use a lot of herbs when cooking. Look for mustard that’s just mustard and vinegar. Make your own salad dressings form oil and vinegar. Store-bought salad dressings contain a lot of sugar and fat.

Conscious Eating

Most of us just eat. We watch TV, surf the internet, or play on our phones while we shovel food into our mouths. If you’re going to take bodybuilding seriously, learn to eat consciously.

This is a technique that comes from Buddhism and other faiths and philosophies. Eat small bites. Chew slowly and for a long time. Taste everything in your food.

Many of us never realize that some lettuce has a peppery flavor or that butter lettuce can actually taste like butter. Take the time to chew your food thoroughly so the enzymes in your mouth start processing it. This allows your body to get more from the food you eat. It also helps to keep you from over-eating since every bite becomes work.

Bodybuilding Diets

There are a lot of bodybuilding diets out there. You can find free meal plans, as well as some you must pay for.

If they follow these basic guidelines, you’re okay. If they include a lot of processed bars and shakes, they’re not based on nutritional as much as convenience or someone’s profits.

If you want to add a protein shake during the day to up your protein intake, that’s fine. Make sure it’s high-quality and low sugar.

Mother Nature has made everything you need to build great muscle and have an amazing body.

If you don’t believe it, look at the Mr. Universe statue. That’s Eugen Sandow.

He didn’t have protein shakes, fancy machines, or sugary bars. He ate real foods, worked out, and built the best body he could.

Be consistent

Building greatness takes time. At RAAM! we are dedicated to helping you be the best.