Nutrition Plan Outline

As Promised here is an outline of my nutrition plan that I am following. Like I said in my last post this new nutrition plan is not drastically different from what I was already doing. My trainer assigned me the VFP Plan for Muscle Gain with Weight Loss, which is meant to be simple to understand and follow and easy to implement. So here are some of the main points to follow on this plan.

1. Creating your Metabolism- By eating every three hours you will maximize your energy level and your body's ability to lay down muscle, and you will also find that you become more productive throughout the day. So following this plan I will aim to eat three meals a day and two snacks.

2. Meal Size- This refers to consuming more frequent meals. Meals should consist of a combination of complex carbohydrate, protein, and fat. A serving of carbohydrate is the size of your first, a serving of protein is two times the size of your palm, and a serving of fat is the size of the last digit of your thumb.

Here is a Sample Food Log for the day:

Meal 1: 

Carb- Oatmeal with Sliced Bananas

Protein- Scrambled Egg Whites

Fat- Low Fat Cream

Other- Coffee

Snack 1:

Carb- Protein Bar (at least 400 calories)

Meal 2:

Carb- Boiled Potatoes

Protein- Chicken Breast

Fat- Parmesan Cheese and Butter

Snack 2: 

Carb- Whole- wheat crackers

Protein- Low- fat cheese and Ham

Meal 3:

Carb- Wild Rice

Protein- Grilled Fish

Fat- Balsamic Vinaigrette

3. Plan Ahead- The most critical factor to achieve muscle gain is to plan ahead for all meals, and have them prepared and ready to eat and convenient. Failing to plan ahead and skipping meals is a common stumbling block for successful muscle gain. 

4. Increase Water Intake- You should drink 80 oz of water a day. In order to generate new muscle your body must be hydrated. It is suggested to drink 16 oz of water before each meal and snack,  and 24 oz after each workout.

5. Choose complex carbohydrates- It is very important to eliminate simply carbs such as fruit juices, processed snack foods (chips, pretzels, cookies, bagels, and white bread). Some suggested complex carbs include: oats, corn, beans, peas, skim milk, vegetables, brown rice, whole what pasta, whole wheat crackers, low- fat yogurt, sweet potatoes, and fresh fruit.

6. Choose lean protein sources- Suggested proteins include: Poultry (chicken or turkey, white meat, no skin), Fish (cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, salmon, trout, tuna), Egg whites or egg white substitute, Non-fat or low-fat cottage cheese, cheese with 3 grams or less fat per ounce, lean Beef.

This is just a basic outline of my nutrition plan, obviously as with every diet/nutrition plan this may not work for everyone; but you never know what works until you try it. I will definitely keep you posted with my progress. So far I am 2 Pounds down from last week, this is definitely a great start.

Until Next Time, 

Amber <3