AN EASY DIET SECRET TO HELP MAXIMIZE MUSCLE MASS GAINS
How many times have you heard this?:
"You need to eat some protein at least every three hours to keep your body in a positive nitrogen balance to support muscle growth."
Or how about this:
"You need to eat 6 to 7 meals a day spaced 2 to 3 hours apart and each meal needs to include some high quality protein foods."
OK, we’ve all probably heard that or read that a million times but how many are actually doing it consistently. I not only read that "eat protein every three hours" from various experts a bunch of times over the past 10 years...but I actually wrote it in two of my books. And guess what? I wasn’t following my own advice.
OK, OK, I know you think I’m a hypocrite. I’ve got numerous excuses for it but I won’t try to justify my actions. I decided to stop making excuses and start following my own advice.
I knew that following this nutrition program would be easy if I just took a little time to plan my meals. I figured out what time I normally ate breakfast and scheduled a meal every 3 hours until bed-time. I never went more than 3 hours without some high quality protein going into my stomach.
My breakfast, lunch and dinner were usually eaten at home (although some times I ate out when other people were paying<grin>) and I usually packed enough food in my Lil Playmate cooler for my between meal feedings. The food for my between meal feedings was things like high protein/low carb bars, a high protein Meal Replacement powder (MRP), whey protein mixed with water or milk, cheese and crackers, cold chicken, dried beef, cottage cheese, yogurt...foods that were high in complete protein but easily transportable and could be eaten on the run. It really didn’t take much time to get this food together and pack in the cooler.
I usually did this before bed or I got up 15 minutes earlier than usual and did it before I left the house. I don’t really like to cook (I’m a true bachelor!) so I selected foods that were ready-to-eat.
Was it worth it? I gained 4 pounds of muscle within a 3 week period even though I had been stuck at my same bodyweight for almost a year! My energy level was much more consistent throughout the day and I didn’t run out of gas in the middle of my workouts like before. I believe this was because eating protein foods every 3 hours was keeping my blood sugar levels much more consistent.
My strength levels in most of my major exercises starting going up and I had also been at a plateau in my strength levels for quite some time, too.
The biggest compliment came when one of the guys at my gym (who uses steroids) said, "Man, you are really pumping up lately!" That confirmed that I wasn’t just thinking I was looking bigger, but I actually WAS bigger.
I thought back to when I made the best gains of my life and remembered that I was doing the same thing...eating a meal with high quality protein every 3 hours.
Since following my own advice again and seeing the benefits, I wondered why I ever got away from it. The only conclusion I came to was...
LACK OF DISCIPLINE
If you're training the CORRECT way for a natural or hard gaining bodybuilder, (that’s the subject of another newsletter...actually many other newsletters) the only thing keeping you from making muscle gains is...
ABOUT 15 MINUTES OF PREPARATION!
Look, if I packed all the food and supplements you need to take with you throughout the day so you could eat every 3 hours, it would be pretty easy for you to just do the eating, right?
And I’m not talking about gorging yourself on huge amounts either. Just small, enjoyable meals...foods you like, that don’t leave you feeling stuffed and bloated, just consistently satisfied. You could do that, right? Especially if you knew that it was going to get you sprouting muscles!
It only takes a few minutes of planning a day to do this. And you also have to make a list of the things you need and do your grocery shopping once a week. So that takes a little preparation and time, too...but not very much.
Trust me on this. The gains you make will FAR outweigh the extremely minor inconvenience of following this nutritional program.
And one of the things that has made it most convenient for me is this: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are my "whole food" meals. I usually eat these meals at home.
The other 2 to 3 "between" meals are a high-protein/high-quality MRP like "Nitro Mass" (http://www.drugfreebodybuilding.com/mrp.htm).
If I know I'm going to be out running errands and I don't want to lug around my little cooler, I just put my "Nitro Mass" powder in a small 24 to 36 oz. Rubbermaid-type container. Then when it's time for my meal, all I need to do is add some water, shake it up, and I'm on my way. It's so convenient!
