How Much of Which Types of Food to Eat?

A successful weight gain diet requires not only the right muscle building foods, but also the right number of calories eaten in the right macronutrient ratios. Determining the right number of calories to eat can be tricky, but it's a crucial componenet of your weight gain diet.

Since the body uses the nutrients from the foods you eat to rebuild and repair muscle tissue, not consuming the correct number of calories each day will make building muscle very difficult.

Eating the right ratios of carbohydrates, fats, and protein is also a very important part of your weight gain diet. In order to maximize the recovery and repair process of the body, you have to consume the macronutrients in the correct ratios. If these ratios are out of balance, they can reek havoc on your body, and significantly hinder your ability to build muscle.

What Macronutrient Ratio is Best for a Bodybuilder?

It's important not only to choose the best bodybuilding foods, but also to consume them in the correct rations. The Macronutrient ratio is the percentage of daily calories of carbohydrates, protein, and fat that make up your total daily caloric intake. They are normally expressed in the order protein-carbohydrates-fat.

Example: A ratio of 30-55-15 would consist of 30% protein, 55% carbohydrates, and 15% fat.

Determining the macronutrient ratio of your weight gain diet can be difficult, since everyone has specific needs depending on their body type and genetics. What makes it more difficult is the fact that many of the experts have their own beliefs as to which ratios work best.

Below are the ranges of ratios that are generally recommended for bodybuilders:

Carbohydrates - Carbohydrate ratios generally range from between 30 - 60%. The more active you are, the higher your carbohydrate intake should be. Remember that the majority of the carbohydrates you consume should be complex carbohydrates, as apposed to simple carbohydrates.

Fat - Most experts generally recommend that between 20 - 30% of your total calories are derived from fat. Stick primarily to polyunsaturated and monunsaturated fats, limit saturated fats, and avoid trans fats.

Protein - Most bodybuilding diets derive between 20 - 50% of their total calories from protein - and for good reason. Protein is the only macronutrient that the body actually uses to build muscle tissue. Remember that the quality of protein varies from food to food, and consuming high quality proteins is very important.

Ultimately, determining which macronutrient ratio suits you best will depend on your body type, level of daily activity level, and your bodies metabolic rate. Before you spend too much time deciding which macronutrient ratio you will begin with, do keep in mind that the ratio that you choose at the beginning of your program will likely change, and is not as important as consuming the correct number calories at this point.

To determine the best ratio to start with, consider you activity level, as well as your body type. Here are some examples:

Thin, ectomorph body type ("hardgainer")- Typically hardgainers have a very fast metabolism and are best to consume higher amounts of protein and fat in their diets since gaining weight can be a challenge. This body type may want to consider starting with a ratio of 40-30-30.

Significant levels of body fat, or endomorph body type - Endomorphs typically have slower metabolisms, and should consider ratios that are higher in protein and lower in fat. If you fall in to this category, you should consider Ratios like 40-45-15 or even 45-40-15. The extra protein calories will help boost your metabolism, and the lower levels of fat will ensure that you do not store excess calories as body fat.

Very active individuals - If you are very active and burn a large number of calories each day due to your job or recreational activities, consider a ratio that is higher in carbohydrates like 30-55-15. Your body will need these extra carbohydrates to burn as energy.

If you don't fall in to any of the above categories, try starting with something in between like a ratio of 30-50-20. Remember that you will be modifying the ration throughout your program, so it doesn't have to be spot on at this point in time.

How Many Calories Should a Bodybuilder Consume?

Determining how much food you should eat to gain weight isn't always that easy. Since everyone's body has unique metabolic demands that are dependent on body composition and genetics, determining the right caloric intakes for your body will require some experimentation and diligence on your part.

Pinpointing the exactly how much food you should eat is nearly impossible, but that's alright! An estimation will suffice, as long as you track your bodybuilding progress closely. It is also important to keep in mind that as your body composition changes, so will your caloric requirements. For every pound of muscle you gain, you will have to consume about 13 more calories per day. This means that you will constantly have to be making changes to your diet to reflect your bodies increased metabolic demands.

Now let's take a step by step look at how to estimate how much food we should eat...

Determine Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

First we need to estimate our basal metabolic rate (BMR). This is the number of calories your body requires to maintain it's body weight. Once you determine your BMR, write it down as you will need it for step 2.

The formula you use will depend on your current body type. See the

Formula 1: 1.0 X body weight (KG) x 24 hours = BMR (in calories)

*Use this formula if your body fat level is between 18 - 22% and would consider yourself to be of "average" build.

So if we use a 150 pound man as an example, it would look like this:

Step 1: Convert your body weight in pounds to kilograms by multiplying it by .45

150 X .45 = 67.5 KG

Step 2: Multiply your body weight in KG by 1.0

67.5 KG X 1.0 = 67.5

Step 3: Multiply that number by 24

67.5 X 24 = 1620 Calories

Formula 2: Body weight X 15 = BMR (in calories)

*Use this formula if you have a body fat percentage of less than 17%, and have a fast metabolism.

Using the same 150 pound man as an example with this formula, it would look like this:

150 X 15 = 2250 calories

Remember that both of these formulas are just estimates, and although there are more advanced ways of determining your BMR, these simple formulas will probably be all you need to begin with.

Increase Your BMR BY 25 - 35%

Once you have determined your BMR in calories, use the formula below to determine the actual number of calories you should consume daily:

(BMR X 25%) + BMR = Total daily calories

Using a 150 pound man with a BMR of 1620 calories, the formula would look like this:

(1620 X 25% = 405) +1620 = 2025 Calories per day

Putting It All Together

Now that you have estimated the number of total calories that you need to consume each day, and have chosen a macronutrient ratio that suits your body type and training goals, it is time to make the final two simple calculations. If you are getting tired of performing all of these calculations manually, there are bodybuilding calculators that will do them for you.

The final two calculations will determine:

1. The daily caloric consumption of carbohydrates, fats, and protein.

2. The number of grams of carbohydrates, fats and protein that will be consumed each day.

Don't worry, this is the end of the math equations! These are very simple calculations that can be performed quickly. Once you become familiar with these simple calculations, you will be able to perform them with ease.

Step 1: Determine Daily Caloric Consumption For Each Macronutrient

To determine you daily caloric consumption for each macronutrient, simply multiply each nutrients ratio percentage (in decimal form) by your daily caloric intake goal. The formula looks like this:

(Daily caloric intake goal) X (Nutrient ratio %) = Nutrients daily caloric intake.

Lets continue to use the example sited above and use the 2025 calorie figure with a macronutrient ratio of 30-50-20.

Protein: 2025 X .30 = 607.5 Cal

Carbohydrates: 2025 X .50 = 1012.5 Cal

Fat 2025 X .20 = 405 Cal

In this example, the goal would be to consume approximately 607 calories of protein, 1012 calories of carbohydrates, and 405 calories of fat each day.

Step 2: Determine How Many Grams of Each Macronutrient to Consume

The final step is to use the number of calories that will be consumed daily to determine the number of grams of each macronutrient that should be consumed daily. the formula for this calculation looks like this:

(Macronutrient daily calorie intake) / (Number of calories per gram) = Nutrients daily intake in grams.

*We know that carbohydrates and protein contain 4 calories per gram, and fat contains 9 calories per gram.

Protein: 607.5 / 4 = 151.8 Grams

Carbohydrates: 1012.5 / 4 = 253.1 Grams

Fat: 405 / 9 = 45 Grams

Now we have estimated how many grams of each nutrient should be consumed each day. You can take this one final step further, and divide the number of grams of each nutrient by the number of meals that are going to be consumed each day, which would look like this:

(Macronutrient daily gram intake) / (Number of daily meals) = Number of grams per meal.

Protein: 151.8 / 6 = 25.3 Grams

Carbohydrates: 1012.5 / 6 = 168.8 Grams

Fat: 45 / 6 = 7.5 Grams

There you have it! If you have performed these calculations correctly, you should have a good idea where to start as far as calorie consumption goes. Just make sure that you are regularly tracking your bodybuilding routine. This is the only real way of determining whether the caloric estimates you have made are accurate, and your weight gain diet is on track. Regularly monitoring your bodybuilding program includes taking your body weight, body fat percentage, and anthropometric measurements. This will allow you to make the necessary modifications to your diet, such as increasing caloric intake if you are not gaining weight, and decreasing caloric intake if you are gaining excess amounts of body fat.