7-Day Muscle Building Diet Plan

Lean Mean Muscle Time

Most of struggle with trying to gain lean muscle mass because the fat gain also tends to come hand-in-hand.  It’s a totally undesirable place to be in but the truth is that all it requires is a bit of strategy and a bit of patience.

By now we all know that getting more muscle also helps boost metabolism since once you’ve gained that muscle it burns more calories to move all that muscle (which is heavier than carrying the fat around).  With that said, what you have to swallow (no pun intended) is extra calories so your body can form that muscle in the first place. In other words, you cannot be in calorie deficit and build muscle mass, and in fact when you are in calorie deficit your body could potentially turn to burning muscle for the extra calories to protect your organs.

So how the heck do we overcome all of this? Do we need a nutritionist, a personal trainer, and a kinesiologist to measure every single portion, to train us hard but not too hard, to measure and calculate all our energy expenditures?  Screw that!

What is requires is a smart nutrition plan full of whole foods focusing in on lean proteins and veggies as much as possible.  In other words, make every calorie count.  Flavor is key to sustainability of a healthy eating plan but with that in mind just make sure your foods are heavy on the vitamins and minerals rather than the empty carbs that come with almost all processed foods.

With that principal in mind let’s look at a lean mean muscle building diet plan to keep you going all week…

7-Day Muscle Building Diet Plan

This diet plan is designed to last you the whole week! All you need to invest in is a high quality protein supplement for your shakes (add 1 scoop per shake). I recommend one of the 3 following options:

• Gaspari Nutrition Myofusion – One of the tastiest and most satisfying proteins on the market.
• Optimum 100% Casein Protein – This one takes longer to digest and will keep your muscles fueled!
• Gardenia All Natural Vegan Protein – If you prefer the vegetarian route or just want to change things up, give this one a try!

Monday

• Breakfast: protein shake with 1 banana & ¼ cup of oats
• Mid-Morning Snack: slice of whole grain toast with all-natural peanut butter
• Lunch: spring mix salad with 1 grilled chicken breast and avocado
• Mid-Afternoon Snack: cottage cheese with fresh fruit
• Dinner: grilled salmon or tuna with a side of veggies
• Evening Snack: mixed nuts and fresh fruit

Tuesday

• Breakfast: protein shake with ½ cup of berries & ¼ cup of oats
• Mid-Morning Snack: slice of whole grain toast with all-natural almond butter
• Lunch: spinach salad with 2 hard-boiled eggs and avocado
• Mid-Afternoon Snack: baby carrots and hummus
• Dinner: whole grain rice with chicken, onions, snap peas, carrots
• Evening Snack: apple with low-fat cheese and whole grain crackers

Wednesday