The nature of your ideal weightlifting diet plan depends on your circumstances and goals. If you're overweight and looking to tone up, your diet will differ from that of a weightlifter who's underweight and looking to build muscle. Moreover, neither of these diets will apply if you're already at a healthy weight and simply looking to improve your body composition.
The Importance of Protein
Weightlifting involves a great deal of wear, tear and rebuilding on the part of your muscles. Your body builds and rebuilds muscle tissue using protein. As such, protein intake is a uniformly important element of any diet targeted toward weightlifting. While protein requirements can vary -- with bulking diets containing more, and slimming diets containing less -- the International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends that weightlifting athletes consume 1.6 g of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. To reach this requirement, focus on protein-rich staple foods, such as meat, fish, beans and tofu. Additionally, consider using a whey protein supplement. This allows you to easily enhance your protein intake while avoiding the inconvenience of extra meals.
Bulking Up
Aside from protein, the most important element of a bulking diet is caloric surplus -- that is, consuming more calories than your body burns each day. To get an idea of how many calories you burn each day, start by calculating your basal metabolic rate using the following formula:
Female: 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
Male: 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)
This is the number of calories your body burns idly in a 24-hour period. To adjust for your daily activity level, apply the Harris Benedict multiplier: multiply by 1.375, 1.55 or 1.725 if you're relatively inactive, moderately active or highly active, respectively. Finally, add between 500 and 1,000 surplus calories to this number, and aim to ingest that quantity of calories daily.
Slimming Down
If you're slimming down, your primary goal is to create a caloric deficit. Using the same method outlined above, calculate your basal metabolic rate and apply the Harris Benedict multiplier. In this case, however, aim to consume 500 fewer daily calories than your result. According to the Mayo Clinic, this allows you to lose approximately one pound of fat per week.
Weight Maintenance
If you're satisfied with your weight, there is no need to apply a surplus or deficit to your caloric intake; simply consume the number of calories indicated by the Harris Benedict multiplier each day. In this case, focus on general nutrition by consulting the USDA food pyramid guidelines, customized for your height, weight, gender and age.
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