If you are trying to gain muscle, consume nutrient-dense calories. Doughnuts = empty calories. A cup of cooked oatmeal with a sliced banana and low-fat milk or a peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread = nutrient-dense calories.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture created a sensible nutritional matrix called "My Food Pyramid," which provides detailed information on what to eat for excellent health.
Eat Well and Train to Gain Muscle
To gain 1 lb., you need only consume 3,500 calories more than you currently eat. Were you to eat three doughnuts a day for seven days, you'd probably easily gain that 1 lb. To make that 1 lb. of muscle, you must exercise. The reason is that when you train, the body builds muscle.
How can you tell? Use a fat caliper to measure your body fat at your tricep, waistline and hip, and after changing your eating and training habits for at least two months, take your measurements again.
Consume Vegetables, Fruits, Whole Grains and Lean Proteins
The USDA recommends eating vegetables; fruits; whole grains such as millet, quinoa, brown rice and oats; lean proteins; legumes; nuts; eggs; low-fat dairy foods; and nonsaturated fats such as olive, sunflower, flax and hemp seed oils.
You can gain muscle if you eat a whole foods diet like this and continue to exercise consistently.
The overconsumption of saturated fat in fats solid at room temperature can lead to increased risk for high blood pressure, obesity or diabetes.
Lean proteins include meats with all the visible fat removed. Bake, broil, steam or grill instead of frying, which produces trans fats, for which no healthy amount is recommended by the USDA.
Eat Several Smaller Meals
If you are a "hard gainer," meaning someone who has trouble gaining muscle, consider eating several smaller meals and snacks throughout the day. Doing this will make it easier for your body to digest, and you provide your body with calories throughout the day, keeping your blood sugar level for workouts.
For example, eating five smaller meals of 400 calories each and two snacks of 200 calories each provides 2,400 calories.
Consume Protein with Meals and Snacks
Include lean protein with every meal and every snack. Breakfast might include a cup of nonfat Greek yogurt that provides about 23 grams of protein and only 120 calories. Add a handful of fresh strawberries for only 50 calories and two slices of dry whole-grain toast for another 140 calories and 12 g of protein.
Your mid-morning snack could be half a juice-sweetened blueberry bran muffin at 110 calories and 3 g of protein with 8 oz. of nonfat milk at 70 calories and another 6 g of protein. A good pre-workout snack is a small raw apple with 1 tbsp. of peanut butter, which provides about 160 calories and 5 g of protein.
The Weight Information Network says many foods that people avoid because they're fattening are nutrient-dense, including nuts and peanut butter. These can both be consumed as part of a varied, whole foods diet.
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