Scooby's Home Bodybuilding Workouts Nutrition

Nutrition is key for success in bodybuilding.  Its a waste to spend hours in the gym but not provide your body with what it needs for muscle growth, the goal is to provide your body with a constant supply of protein for rebuilding torn-down muscles.  Just having a big protein shake after working out and then eating crud the other 23hrs is a waste of your time in the gym.  Working out damages your muscles and protein is needed to repair them, this takes many days.  Since the human body isnt very good at storing protein, you need to consume protein constantly not just one big dose at dinner or after working out.  Five to seven small, well balanced meals a day is key to building muscles!  Some people think that on days they don't lift weights they can eat poorly - WRONG.  If you have had an intense workout in the last 2 days then you need to make sure you eat your 5-6 well balanced meals. If your muscles are sore then they are being rebuilt and need protein, soreness is a good reminder to eat!

 After about 5 years of bodybuilding I had plateaued, I was only eating 3 meals a day and all the protein came in dinner.  By changing my diet (training stayed the same), I added 10lbs of muscle in the next year!  What provides me personally with the best results is to eat 6 'meals' a day with the first and last being a glass of protein powder in water right when I awaken and before I go to sleep.  I divide up my daily protein (240g) over the 6 small meals so my body has a constant source of protein to rebuild.  Avoid processed food as much as you can, if it comes in a wrapper or a frozen box its not going to be that good for you.  Unfortunately there is not a lot of good research relating to bodybuilding and protein requirements and even less on which types of protein are the best, I use 1g/pound of bodyweight.  Since there are negative health effects from meat, I try to get most of my protein from plant sources and supplement that with dairy whey.   Because of the health problems associated with meat, I have recently converted to vegetarianism.   I have complied the cost per gram of various protein sources which can vary from. 

Many people ask if they should take supplements.  I believe that with a good basic diet supplements are not only a waste of money but might be harmful given the unregulated nature of the industry.  The one exception is protein powder, I use significant amounts of dairy whey since I dont eat meat.  My favorite snack is a home-made protein shake.

Very few people have the time to prepare healthy meals so what do you do?  Eating protein bars and meal replacement shakes is a bad idea because of the cost and high degree of processing, here are my suggestions:

	Learn to like vegetables!  For convenience find a veggy mix in the freezer section of the store that you like.  Try some non-fat sauces to add flavor if you cant stomach them plain, try salsa.  When you are hungry between meals you can pop a big bowl in the microwave and have a filling snack in minutes.
	Learn to like oatmeal!  It is very convenient, high fiber, and filling.  You can make a bowl at work and add a scoop of protein powder to make a 3 minute emergency meal.
	Homemade protein shakes.  High in protein, low in fat and really quick to make.  You can make them at home and put them in a thermos for later in the day.
	If you have time, once a week cook up a batch of chicken breasts, a pot of pinto beans, and a batch of brown rice then put them in meal-sized tupperware, add some salsa for flavor.  Keep half in the fridge and put half in the freezer for the second half of the week.