How To Eat For Mass Without Constantly Stuffing Yourself Silly

I'm not a big fan of stuffing yourself full of food every meal of the day to gain mass. While it IS true you need to take in an excess of calories, eating excess calories throughout the day not only keeps you feeling continuously stuffed, it is more likely to make you gain fat as you go through the program.

To get the best results possible while keeping fat gain to a minimum, I recommend timing your food intake to coincide with time of day and your training. It's a simple concept and one that I've found to be VERY effective not only for keeping fat gain to a minimum but for really allowing you to pile on muscle mass at the same time!

Basically, your biggest meal of the day should be the one following your training session for the day.

THAT is when your body is really primed to use the nutrients you put in. I've found you can eat upwards of 1/3 to 1/2 of your days total calorie intake in your post-workout meal and not gain significant fat. This overfeeding is also

VERY anabolic. The massive influx of nutrients gives your body signal that it can start packing on the muscle mass and not have to worry about preparing for a famine.

Your NEXT biggest meal should be breakfast. Being the first meal of the day, it's your opportunity to get in a good amount of nutrients without gaining fat. You've just had a long overnight fast and your body is ready to get some nutrition in - it'll process and use everything efficiently.

Your remaining meals for the day should be small to moderate in size - no stuffing yourself. The smaller meals will help your body process the nutrients more efficiently, which means you don't have to eat as much. Be sure to note, though, these small meals should be high quality food. A small meal is not a bag of chips. It may be a piece of fish and a couple of potatoes with veggies.

But the bottom line is, don't stuff yourself the whole day through. Wait until you have a REASON to eat a larger meal, like waking up in the morning or having a hard workout. You'll get the benefits of high-calorie eating without the increase in fat that you normally see.

What To Eat For Mass:

First, get a pen and a piece of paper and draw 4 vertical lines down the page.

In the first column, write down all the protein foods you like to eat. (e.g.

beef, chicken, eggs, fish, etc.). In the second column, write down all the

carb-containing foods you like to eat (e.g. potatoes, rice, bread, etc.). In

the third column, write down all the fruits and vegetables and salad stuff

you like to eat (e.g. apples, bananas, broccoli, carrots).

In the last column, write down all the foods that are a mix of things all

together or are processed (e.g. lasagna, hamburgers, casseroles, etc.) or

don't really fit into the other categories because they're basically junk food

(e.g. pizza, desserts, etc.).

Now here are the rules...

l At least 75% of your food intake should come from the first 3 categories. A rule of thumb I like to use is one protein source, one carb source and one fruit/veggie/salad source in each meal.

l Next, not more than 20% of your food intake should come from the mixed/processed sources.

l Finally, not more than 5% of your food intake should come from the junk food sources. You can consider these as "cheat" meals if you like, or just consider them as part of the eating program! For me, when I'm eating for mass, sometimes I just feel like I need a big "calorie bomb" pizza to really get things fueled up.

These rules mean the majority of your food is coming from unprocessed, natural foods, but you don't have to be a saint about what you're eating either.

Those other food sources, while not being ideal, CAN provide a lot of calories and definitely increase your eating enjoyment, which is an important thing to get out of your nutrition program. You can also "shop around" and add other foods into the

appropriate places on your lists as you find things you like.

Now that you know WHAT to eat, it's just a matter of eating it at the appropriate times and in appropriate quantities! THAT is your meal plan.

My Tips On Eating For Mass:

Here are some more tips to keep in mind as you go through weeks 2 through 4...

l Eat a generous amount of protein daily to take advantage of the protein-deprivation of the all-fruit day (approximately 1 gram per pound of bodyweight, e.g. a 200 pound person should eat about 200 grams of protein). You can also calculate this formula based on lean bodyweight, the theory being that fat is not metabolically active and doesn't require protein to maintain itself. While this is very true, gauging by your total bodyweight will make sure that you eat MORE protein, which is exactly what we're looking to do on this phase of the program, which is why I prefer to judge it this way.

l Try to primarily eat foods that are less processed (they will be easier for your body to digest and work with). The more natural and unprocessed the foods you eat are, the better your body will be able to digest and use them.

l Related to this, I find it's also best to keep the number of ingredients you eat in any given meal to a minimum. The fewer the number of different foods your body has to work on processing, the more efficient it'll be. What do you think it is easier to process...a bowl of oatmeal or toast, juice, eggs, milk, cereal and fruit? The rule of thumb I like to follow is one protein source, one complex carb source and one vegetable source (though you CAN eat more than one vegetable source without a problem).

l Try to eat fairly frequently throughout the day. This will stimulate your metabolism to a greater degree than fewer but larger meals. Every time you eat, your metabolism is stimulated. That being said, it's perfectly fine if you can only get in 3 meals a day. Sometimes, that's all I can get in a day! I wake up, have

a protein shake, eat a BIG breakfast, have lunch in the early afternoon, train late in the afternoon then have a BIG post-workout meal. For me, it works like a charm - I get great results and I don't get hungry. If you can eat 5 or 6 meals a day, go for it. If you can't, don't worry about it.

l Drink plenty of water!

This is extremely important in all the phases but especially when your target is adding muscle. Water is what your muscles are primarily made of, not protein or

anything else. Your muscles need to be well hydrated not only to function properly but to grow. Muscle growth occurs in the soup inside your muscles. Without enough

water in the soup, the soup gets thick and muscle growth and repair slows down! You should make an effort to be drinking water VERY frequently throughout

the day.

l Don't be afraid of leftovers. When eating for mass, make a LOT when you make something. That way, you'll always have leftovers that you can eat the next day without having to cook again.