To obtain the physique of a bodybuilder, a lean diet is essential. Every day you must plan each meal and monitor your intake to achieve optimal results. Keeping a food journal is necessary, but can be a painstaking process if done the old-fashioned way, by hand. Fortunately, technology makes it simple to record your meals and also provides immediate feedback regarding what you're putting in your mouth, ensuring your diet is as lean as possible.
Keeping an Online Food Journal
Lance Armstrong's website, www.livestrong.com, provides a popular online resource for recording your food journal. The Daily Plate is easy to use and has a nutritional data base of thousands and thousands of food items, including restaurant menu items. When you make an entry, it supplies you with totals and percentages to measure your progress towards your dietary goals.
Total Calories
The total calories you consume will be determined by your size, activity level and bodybuilding goals. Websites such as The Daily Plate allow you to enter your weight, your weight loss or weight gain goals, your activity level and the time frame needed to reach your goals and advise you of the total calories that you should consume ideally to reach the stated goals. Divide your total calories up into four to six small meals and snacks throughout the day.
Adequate Protein
Getting enough lean protein is always necessary in a bodybuilding diet. Monitor total grams as well as percentages of total calories. Again, your current size, goals and time frame will determine the amount of protein you should consume. Your goal may be to reach 1.5 g of protein per pound of body weight or you may be shooting for 40 percent of total calories. Lean protein sources include egg whites, organic chicken breast and protein supplements.
Healthy Fats
You should avoid unhealthy fat, but certain amounts of healthy fat are required in your diet. Do not eliminate all fat, just the bad fat. Avocados, nuts and extra virgin olive oil are examples of healthy fat. Depending on your metabolic type, keeping the percentages at 15 to 20 percent of total calories is generally advisable.
Complex Carbs
Complex carbs provide your body and brain with the on-demand fuel it needs to run properly. Without carbs, your energy levels plummet and your mind gets foggy. Daily requirements can range from 40 percent to 65 percent of total calories, depending on how you oxidize your food. Jillian Michaels offers a Metabolic Typing Test in her book "Making the Cut" to help determine if you are a slow, balanced or fast oxidizer. Oatmeal and brown rice cakes are healthy snack ideas.
Fiber, Salt and Sugar
You should also monitor and regulate fiber, salt and sugar intake. Consume at least 25 g of fiber each day. A rule of thumb for sodium is 1 mg of sodium per calorie per day, so if you eat 2,000 calories per day, keep your sodium to 2,000 mg or less. If all your other numbers are in line, your sugar intake will be in line as well. You should consume no added sugars; only sugars found naturally in fruits and vegetables, perhaps with the exception of small amounts of added sugars in protein supplements.
References
- "ACE Personal Trainer Manual"; American Council on Exercise; 2003
- "Making the Cut"; Jillian Michaels; 2007
- The Daily Plate
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