Meals: Size, Space and Timing

Well, I'm trucking along, almost done with the first three week interval of the program. I'm making some good gains already and can't wait to do my first update pic.

For me, one of the hardest parts of trying to gain weight is having to eat so much. That's why I'm really glad I found this great product that lets me eat without the hassle!


Human Feedbags!

Haha, just kidding. But seriously, eating massive amounts of calories and knowing when and what to eat is hard for most people to figure out. I mean, most people know the basics; eat every 2 hours, have a gram of protein for each pound you weigh etc., but there's so many more little details that I've found out that get overlooked.

So, I decided that I would put all the necessary info you need to know about meals into one place. This is going to be a pretty long post because I will be giving explanations for each

Tip #1 - Always eat your first meal within 30 minutes of waking up. It's been about 8 hours (assuming you're getting enough sleep) since your last meal so your body will be screaming for some calories and start to break down muscle for energy very quickly.

Make sure you have designated "wake-up" food items that you can eat right when you wake up so you don't have to wait until your first meal is done. "Wake-up" foods are food items that you can eat that have a decent amount of calories, a lot of carbs, don't need to be prepared and can be consumed right away. Bananas, yogurt or granola bars are good examples.

Tip #2 - Your first meal should always be your biggest. Make it at least 200 calories more than your other meals for the day. You haven't had any calories all night and you body needs a lot of calories to catch up.

Tip #3 - Your pre- and post-workout shakes should have at least double as many grams of carbs as grams of protein. This is so your body only uses the carbs for energy and not the protein. Putting some type of pure sugar in your shake is usually the best way to get the required carbs, this also helps replace the glycogen in your muscles quicker.

Tip #4 - Have your last meal no less than two hours before going to bed. If your meal is not digested by the time you go to bed, your body will have to use extra energy to digest while you sleep instead of using that energy to build muscle. Also, it's harder to fall asleep while your body is digesting.

Tip #5 - You need a lot of calories to gain weight, but don't use this as an excuse to just pig out, you want to gain muscle, not fat. Higher fat levels are associated with higher estrogen levels and lower hgh production, both of which will kill gains. Try not to go too far above 500-1000 calories extra a day when trying to gain weight.

You can probably see how knowing these little facts that most people aren't aware of can really help with your gains. I'll post tomorrow with an update of how my workout is going.

Click Here! to check out the program I am using, Vince Del Monte's No-Nonsense Muscle Building.