Creating a personalized muscle building diet can take time and be a trial and error process. To start, you’ll need to determine exactly how many calories per day you should be consuming. Then figure out what percentage of those calories needs to come from proteins, carbohydrates, and fat. Throughout the process of choosing the best muscle building diet, keep track of everything you eat and the progress you make so you can adjust along the way.
Current research shows that in order for to maintain current weight, a person needs to consume 15 times body weight in calories. For example, a 190 pound (86 kilograms) man would need to consume 2,850 calories a day to stay at that weight. When you want to gain weight, some experts suggest that you eat anywhere from 16 to 20 times your body weight as part of your muscle building diet.
If you have a healthy amount of body fat, which would be under 15% for men and under 25% for women, you should start by eating 18 times your body weight in calories. If you have a higher percent of body fat, starting with 16 times your body weight is best. From that point, keep track of how much you gain in the next three weeks. If you’re happy with your progress, continue consuming that amount of calories. If not, go higher or lower and reevaluate in three weeks.
Once you’ve determined how many calories you need to eat to gain weight, the next step in choosing a muscle building diet is to determine what ratio of proteins, carbs and fats you need to eat. In order to build muscle, 20-50% of your calories should come from protein sources, 30-60% from carbs, and 20-30% from fat. If you’re very active, start with a higher amount of carbohydrates. If you’re thin and perhaps have issues with weight gain, start with a higher fat and protein ratio. If you have excess body fat, start with a high protein diet.
When choosing a muscle building diet, it’s important to keep track of your progress and what you eat, reevaluating every three weeks to determine if anything needs to change. It is also important to drink plenty of water in order to help your body make muscle instead of fat. Eating more calories than you burn automatically causes your body to create tissue — whether it be muscle or fat. Consuming the proper ratio of protein, carbs, and fats is what makes your body create muscle instead of fat.