There is an exception for some who will follow this beginners outline. Someone who has trained, who has lived a disciplined lifestyle such as this at some point in there life, but has for whatever reason turned away and finds themselves back at square one. For this person, they should consider themselves as the above definitions state if they are to truly meet their goals.
You've finally reached a point in your life where youre ready to get into shape. You may be young you may be old but either way youve made the right choice. There is a good chance youre here because you are ready to pile on pounds and pounds of muscle. There is a good chance youre here because it is time to lose the fat and simply get into shape. Finally there is a chance that you realize your overall health is of a greater importance than anything else. Hopefully, no matter who you are, for the sake of your own wellbeing, no matter why youre here your overall health comes into play. As a beginner, you probably have a vast array of questions. Thankfully for you, youve come to steroid.com and we have the answers.
No matter your goal, physical exercise along with a sound diet is one of the best things you will undertake in your life. With regular physical exercise and proper nutrition, you will make your immune system stronger, lower your risk of diseases such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes and the most prevalent disease in our world today, obesity. If this is not enough reason, regular physical exercise coupled with a sound diet does in fact improve your overall mental health, and in many cases, can prevent or help cure depression. Regular exercise seems to have a very positive effect on mental functions and capacity. Studies have shown that regular exercise can have a positive effect on neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases. Further, regular exercise can in fact reduce damage to or even reverse alcohol abused induced brain damage.
Whoever you are, no matter what your goals, the following outlines will start you down the right path. Many will read this nutritional outline and at first glance be left with many questions and doubts. Such questions and concerns might be:
Q: I want to Get Big how is this enough food, enough calories? Shouldnt I be eating like there is no end in sight?
A: Youve just begun and chances are you already carry too much body fat. If not, chances are youre not used to eating multiple meals per day. If you are, the odds are slim that youve had proper nutritional intake planned out in your diet. Following this outline you will ensure you dont add tons of extra body fat; you will accustom your body to proper nutritional intake. For the first time in your life, youll be eating correctly and feeding your muscle the nutrients they crave.
Q: Isnt there too much fat in this diet?
A: Fat is an important tool in our diets, the right fats. This is discussed in the outline.
Q: What about carbs, how can I train effectively on this amount of carbs?
A: As it was mentioned with calories, you are new to this game. If you are overweight or if you are what we call physique overweight then excess carbs, sure you may be able to push more weight, but you will get fat. If you are in fact a hard gainer, then yes, you will need more carbs. If this is the case, see the Hard Gainer outline at the bottom of the page.
Q: The big ripped guy at my gym said I need to eat everything in sight, he said thats how he does it, why shouldnt I listen to him?
A: Just because this is the way this guy does it, does not mean you should too. The odds are slim, very slim that he ate like he does now when he first started, sure there are exceptions, but these are the genetically gifted and few fall into this camp.
Q: My trainer says if I eat like it says in this diet Ill get too fat, he says that I shouldnt eat any more than 1200 calories per day. Whos right?
A: There are good trainers and bad trainers. All trainers, no matter what they tell you are first and foremost there to make money. There is nothing wrong with this, they have to make a living too. But some trainers will sacrifice efficiency for fast short-term results. If they starve their clients enough and drive them hard in the gym, the scale will go down. Their clients may even shape up a little bit, but as a result, it will be at the expense of excess muscle loss, and cause long-term metabolism failures.
Q: I want to be a figure/fitness competitor, is this diet for me?
A: There will be three diets discussed in this outline. In general, most of you will need to follow and should follow the first one discussed. Be it you want to be a bodybuilder, fitness or figure competitor or just someone looking to get into shape, the first diet will be the best place to start for most of the women who are looking to do any of the above. We will discus a diet for hard gainers as well as a diet for those women who put on size easier then most to the degree where it could be damaging if they did find themselves wanting to pursue the figure or fitness stage.
***Note: This diet is designed assuming all things are perfect. Assuming that the individual who will use this diet is following all guidelines perfectly, is in perfect health, has had a positive genetic response to the beginner diet, and is not someone who suffers from some type of metabolism dysfunction.
***Beginners Meal Plan***
Meal 1:
-3 egg whites or liquid equivalent
-2 whole Omega-3 eggs
-1/4 cup of oatmeal
Or:
-20-25 grams whey isolate powder
-1tbsp natural peanut butter
-1/4cup of oatmeal
When time is a factor first thing in the morning, simply mix in a shaker bottle your 20g of whey, 1tbsp of PB and your oats. Shake and drink. It may sound unappealing but youll find its not that bad.
Many will choose to simply drink their egg whites for convenience. Sounds gross but they have no taste. Use actual egg whites, not egg product.
KCL: 300-350, PT: 20-25, Carb: 18-20, Fat: 15-19
Meal 2:
-20 grams whey isolate powder mixed in water
-1tbsp of natural peanut butter
-3-4oz filet or lean beef
-green vegetables or green salad
Peanut butter mixes easily with your whey. You do not have to do this but doing so is fine.
How you cook your steak makes no difference. Grilled, baked or pan cooked with Pam is great.
Green vegetables should not have added ingredients such as cheese or butter.
KCL: 205-210, PT: 20-25, Carb: 2-10, Fat: 10-15
Meal 3:
-4-5oz chicken breast, turkey or fish
-1/4cup rice
-1oz almonds or cashews
-green vegetables
-1/2 sweet potato
Baking, grilling or boiling your chicken is the easiest. Cook enough to last you several days as well as the rice.
Sweet potatoes can be cooked quickly in the microwave. Just poke a few holes in the skin with a knife or fork
KCL: 340-350, PT: 20-25, Carb: 17-20, Fat: 20-25
Meal 4:
-Same as meal 1 or 3
Mix it up to help with variety
KCL: 300-350, PT: 20-25, Carb: 17-20, Fat: 15-25
Meal 5:
-Same as meal 2
Green Salad means just that Green. Do not load your salad with added ingredients.
The same can be said for green vegetables, Green is what you want.
Meal6:
- 4-5oz chicken
-1oz almonds
-20-25 grams whey isolate
Last meal of the day, it should be eaten not too far off before bedtime. Being hungry before you go to bed is never any fun.
There are no carbs in this meal since you dont need them. Youve already trained.
KCL: 210-285, PT: 22-25, Carb: 2-3, Fat: 8-14
Daily Totals:
Calories (KCL): 1560-1755
Protein (PT): 122-150
Carb: 58-83
Fat: 78-113
*Note: Diet does not take into account carbs from green vegetables. This will take your carb total over the amount listed but dont let this worry you at all. Good news is, although on paper it looks very low in carbs, you will have more then enough energy to train. Further, you will be eating a substantial amount of Good fat to fuel your training more then adequately.
All-in-all, this diet is designed to get you going in the right direction, so as to not put on too much fat. In fact, many will see their body fat go down and more importantly, all will learn how to eat.
***IF AT ANY TIME YOU NEED TO LOSE BODY FAT AND YOU BEGIN TO STAGNATE, YOU WILL NEED TO BEGIN MOVING YOUR CARB AND FAT SOURCES AROUND.
At this point, alternate each meal, in one meal have foods that give you carb sources, but take away the fats. In the next meal take away the carb sources and keep in the fats.
You may need to begin cycling your carb intake. Not in the manner in which you might do if you were dieting hard for competition, youll need to experiment with this.
When we speak of Carb Cycling in this case, simply cut the carbs down one day and then go back to the normal amount the next. At times it may be wise to keep the carbs cut back 2 days in a row, use sound judgment. This is the kind of thing that cannot be written out in detail since it would greatly vary from person to person.
*Your daily caloric intake should be split into 3 sections that are adequately planned for utilizing Proteins, Carbs and Fats to the fullest extent possible. Protein being the bulk of your calories, but this does not mean the other 2 nutrients are not of equal importance. Protein will make up 50% of your daily intake, while carbs will be at approximately 30% and fats will make up approximately the remaining 20%. Now this only refers to your actual food intake. Fat intake will in actuality be slightly higher than this due to the supplements you take, which will be discussed further into the diet outline.
***Notes on diet***
If you train first thing in the morning, do not do so before eating your first meal of the day
If you train later in the day, your post workout meal should be meal 2, 5 or 6
Try to eat meals 1, 3 and 4 before you train.
There are no added in post workout carbs at this stage in your diet. Youre body is new to training and new to eating multiple meals per day. As a beginner, your body will store all the glycogen it needs in the meals before training and from the meals from the previous days. Our focus is gaining lean muscle tissue, not fat.
Meal order is unimportant, specific meals should be eaten at certain times, as said in bullet points, however, the specific layout of the meal plan is not set in stonemake it fit your routine as best as possible.
Try alternating between the meals each day as much as possible
Try your best not to drink shakes back to back. Try to limit it to no more then two shake meals per day. This is not a must but will aid you a great deal. However, it will not always be possible due to time constraints, and thats fine.
For the last meal of the day there are 3 meal choices, again mix and match
***Notes on Food Types***
1. Eggs: Eggs are one of the best sources of protein you can take in. With all foods, no matter how much protein the food has, the body can only use and process a limited amount from each food. Eggs, however, rank higher than almost any food we can ingest and process almost the entire amount of protein from the food. Omega-3 eggs have even more benefit for the bodybuilder, as well as for general health overall. Omega-3 eggs have Omega-3 fats in them, a huge building block to a well-tuned physique; as well as an added bonus in helping to control cholesterol. If you cant find Omega-3 eggs, which should be very rare, regular eggs will work fine.
2. Whey Protein: There are a million brands and types of whey proteins on the market today and it can be a difficult task to know which one is best.
Choose a protein powder that is of isolate form, not concentrate. Isolate protein absorbs more efficiently then concentrate.
Choose a protein powder that is very low in sugar, close to no sugar or even no sugar is what you want.
Choose a protein powder that is not full of saturated fat.
Choose a protein powder that is not high in cholesterol.
Once you have narrowed your search down to meet the above requirements, choose the protein powder that taste the best.
3. Peanut Butter: Use only natural peanut butter. Your peanut butters ingredient list should read, Peanuts and salt thats it. It should have no added sugar. A jar of Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter will have 2 grams of sugar listed on the back label for one serving of 2tbsp.
4. Beef: Your choices of beef should be filet minion, top round sirloin and lean ground beef (4%-*% fat) in that order.
5. Chicken: Make chicken breast your primary source of chicken. Its high in protein, low in unhealthy fats and a perfect bodybuilding food.
6. Green Vegetables: Broccoli, asparagus, spinach and green beans should be your main source of vegetables. Other vegetables can be acceptable and can be good for you, but the before mentioned should be your primary sources. Vegetables such as corn, white potatoes, and tomatoes should be held to a very minimal consumptionthere is no benefit for these in your diet at this stage.
7. Fish: Choose fish such as flounder, tilapia or cod, Salmon is also a great choice in place of beef.
8. Turkey: Choose the white meat
9. Rice: Brown or white is fine. If you put on body fat easily stick with Brown. Both are very similar, however, brown rice is lower on the glycemic index. (see definition for glycemic index)
10. Sweet Potatoes & Oatmeal: Simply excellent sources for your carbs and perfect foods for aiding in putting on muscle in your diet.
***Measuring Food***
1. Meats: Measured raw, NOT cooked
2. Rice: Measured cooked, NOT raw
3. Oats: Measured raw, NOT cooked
4. Nuts, Peanut Butter: Simply measured in a cup or tablespoon
***Cheat Meals***
For those that have extremely fast metabolisms, 1 small cheat food or treat is acceptable, but limit the entire meal to once per week. You should already know if you have a very, very fast metabolism.
***Foods to be Avoided***
Milk of any type: All milk contains massive amounts of sugar, regardless if Whole, Skim or in between, it contains the same amount of sugar
Processed foods: Most processed foods contain large amounts of sugar and often lack the nutrients you need
Soda: Any soda that is sugar free, i.e. Diet Coke is fine. If it is not diet or sugar free, then do not drink it.
Fast Food: This should be a no brainer. Fast foods are loaded with sugar and all the bad fats that simply make you fat. Whats worse is they are packed full of calories but many of these calories are the wrong types. Fast food is more often than not made up of so much sugar and saturated fat that the bulk of your calories in those meals come from those two physique building enemies
Excess Cheese: A little cheese here and there is not going to be the end of the world, but there is not a lot of benefit from eating cheese. If youre following a proper diet, proper means gaining lean muscle with as little fat as possible or dropping body fat while preserving lean tissue. Dont go overboard, dont do as some and cover everything you eat in cheese. The less you eat, the better youll do.
Excess Condiments: Condiments cause many bodybuilders to consume more calories per day then they should. Many condiments are riddled with sugar and this is a major downfall to many diets. See list of Acceptable Condiments.
Bread: Bread is often a favorite food for many to eat. For a true hard gainer bread may have a place in a diet. In a real pinch, at times, it may be slightly necessary, but it should be avoided as much as possible. As a part of a regular diet, eating bread is one of the surest fire ways to add excess body fat.
Cereal: This has no place in a bodybuilders diet. Even the healthy cereals are in loaded with empty calories; in fact, the so-called healthy cereals are often packed full of more empty calories and more sugar then the so-called Kiddy cereals.
***Acceptable Condiments***
1. Mustard: calorie free, eat all you want
2. Vinegar: all you want
3. Any spice such as pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, etc.
4. Low carb Ketchup: Ketchup itself has no place in your diet, but a little low carb ketchup which has 1g of sugar per serving will be acceptable.
5. Low Carb Buffalo Sauce: this can be a great addition to your chicken; a low carb buffalo sauce should have no sugar added and only 1 carb per serving.
6. Any condiment made by Walden Farms. Walden Farms makes a line of salad dressings, sauces and other items that are fat free, sugar free and gluten free.
***Condiments or Additives to be Avoided***
1. Regular Ketchup
2. Barbeque Sauce
3. Regular Salad Dressings. See list of approved salad dressings
4. Creamers
5. Any sauce with sugar or abundant carbs. If the sauce has more than 1-2 grams of sugar, avoid it.
***Approved Salad Dressings***
1. Oil & Vinegar
2. Sugar free Italian, Balsamic or Greek
3. Any Salad Dressing by Walden Farms
***Protein Bars***
As a rule, protein bars and other so called bodybuilding snacks or meal replacements should be avoided as much as possible. Most of these items will have more sugar in them then a regular candy bar. True, they may indeed be packed full of protein but the sugar far outweighs the benefit.
If you are bulking, you find yourself in a jam and there is no other option, choose a protein bar that has the least amount of sugar. This should be a very limited occurrence. If you are serious about your diet, you will plan out and make arrangements to ensure youre getting the proper foods.
***The Diet Outline itself***
The above diet outline will help you make the progress you desire, however, as this is a guided plan, there are substitutions that are acceptable. When it comes to the meats and protein sources, what you have read above should be followed fairly closely. There are instances when other meats are acceptable, i.e. things like beef tenderloin can be great, but the above listed is your staple.
If you desire other carb sourced foods, and this is the big one where many people want a change, always examine the glycemic index. You should make your choices from foods that are lower on the glycemic index. If you want to sub one carb source food that is in your diet outline with another, gauge the glycemic index to make your choices. See the discussion on Glycemic Index below.
Fats, these will be harder to substitute then carbs. Fats are a very important aspect to the diet, but keep in mind that as great and as important as fats are, most of the best ones have been mentioned in the diet outline already. Foods loaded with saturated fat are not acceptable. Foods that have fats that lack the connecting piece of the puzzle when it comes to healthy fats are not acceptable.
***Glycemic Index***
The glycemic index (GI) measures the effects of carbohydrates on blood glucose levels. The faster the carb breaks down, the faster it will release glucose into the bloodstream. The foods that do this fast are labeled high GI foods. The slower the release of glucose, the lower the food will rank on the GI.
Foods that are lower on the GI will typically have higher health benefits such as keeping insulin levels under control, and preventing type-2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.
Foods low on the GI will have a ranking of 55 or lower on the GI Index.
Foods that are Medium GI foods will have a ranking of 56-69 on the GI Index.
Foods that are High GI foods will have a ranking of 70-99 on the GI Index.
The ranking of 100 on the GI Index is pure sugar.
Below is a chart to show how some foods rank on the GI.
***Supplements***
*Omega-3 Fish Oil: 3000mg every day, split into 3 doses, taken with food
*Coral Calcium: 1000mg-1500mg every day, taken with food
*Potassium: 99mg every day, taken with food
*Juice Plus+ or Related Product: 2 garden blend in the morning, 2 orchard blend at night, both taken with food
Omega-3 Fish Oil: An unsaturated fatty acid essential for good health.
-Benefits:
Reduce blood triglyceride levels therefore reducing heart attack risk
Coral Calcium: A very important mineral for your overall health.
Deficiency can lead to blood clotting, rickets and osteoporosis
Potassium: Important mineral for electrolyte balance in the body. The green vegetables you are eating in your diet provide potassium, as well as the Juice Plus+ that is strongly recommended, however, it is easy to fall below what your body adequately needs due to the hard training. Potassium deficiency coupled with hard training can often lead to some serious muscle cramping.
-Benefits
Juice Plus+: A whole food based nutritional supplement, including juice powder concentrates from 17 different fruits, vegetables and grains. Each ingredient is specially selected to provide a broad range of nutritional benefits. As a physique athlete it is easy to not get as many of the nutrients you need from fruits and vegetables; Juice Plus+ will take care of this completely.
Juice Plus delivers key phytonutrients that are absorbed by the body
Positively impacts several key indicators of cardiovascular wellness.
*You can take other supplements if you like, but try to stay away from anything that has added sugar in it. A lot of supplements contain sugar, and as someone looking to build a great body sugar is one of the number one enemies. The supplements above, along with the diet youll be following is all you really need to get the job done. Whats more, youll be keeping your pocket book fuller if you spend less on supplements and rely on food as the bulk of your daily intake.
***Hard Gainers***
-If you are in fact a true hard gainer, some adjustments may need to be made.
***Hard Gainers Diet***
-3egg whites or liquid equivalent
-1/2 cup of oatmeal
-1 piece of Ezekiel bread
-20-25 grams whey isolate powder mixed in water
-1 piece of fruit
When time is a factor first thing in the morning, simply mix in a shaker bottle your 40g of whey, 1tbsp of PB and your oats. Shake and drink. It may sound unappealing but youll find its not that bad.
KCL: 440-450, PT: 33-36, Carb: 40-45, Fat: 20-25
-1/2cup oatmeal
-4-5oz filet or lean beef
-1/2 cup rice
KCL: 325-350, PT: 25-30, Carb: 25-30, Fat: 10-13
-1/2cup rice
-1sweet potato
KCL: 390-400, PT:22-25, Carb: 28-30, Fat: 15-16
-Same as meal 3
Vanilla or fruit flavored protein mixes well with Crystal Lite
-1/2 cup of rice
-20-25 grams whey isolate mixed in water
KCL: KCL: 340-375, PT: 25-35, Carb: 27-30, Fat: 10-13
Calories (KCL): 2210-2325
Protein (PT): 152-181
Carb: 173-195
Fat: 80-96
At this point alternate each meal, in one meal have foods that give you carb sources, but take away the fats, in the next meal take away the carb sources and keep in the fats.
You may need to begin cycling your carb intake. Not in the manner in which you might do if you were dieting hard for competition. You will need to experiment with this.
When we speak of Carb Cycling in this case, simply cut the carbs down one day and then go back to the normal amount the next. At times it may be wise to keep the carbs cut back 2 days in a row, use sound judgment. This is the kind of thing that cannot be written out in detail since it will greatly vary from person to person.
Post Workout Shake: Not listed on your meal outline, take in this shake immediately after you train, within 15-20 min after training and then eat your next scheduled meal approximately 60 minutes after the post workout shake. Your post workout shake should consist of approximately 20-25g of protein and 20g-30g of fast acting carbs such as waxy maze.
Follow this diet for 4 weeks, if gains slow down, you may need to add in another meal or two. If so, there are some options.
1. Add in more rice or oats to your meals that already contain them. Increasing the amount of nuts or peanut butter per day could also be an option.
2. Add in an extra meal or two. Start with just one extra meal per day, perhaps an extra shake.
If you dont grow from this, then there is something wrong with your training. See the training outlines for advice.
***When to Advance to a More Advanced Diet***
The five points have been mastered in the training section, endurance and strength are up and you have gained lean muscle tissue, yet your gains and progress have begun to slow down or even stop.
-If you are a hard gainer and you are ready to move to the intermediate training level, then you are ready to move to the intermediate diet as well.
- If you are not a hard gainer but are still relatively lean and have not put on too much body fat, and you are ready to move to the intermediate level of training, then you are ready for the intermediate level diet.
-If you are someone who puts on fat easily, if you are carrying a little too much fat already or are right on that line, if you are ready to move up to the intermediate training level, you will more then likely need to stay on the beginners diet for a time until your body fat reduces to a more manageable level. Dont let this concern you, even though you have moved to a higher level of training, you will still be making the proper gains. In fact, now that you are training even harder and have mastered the basics, staying on the beginners diet will greatly benefit you in losing excess body fat and get you that much closer to your goals. However, it is important to note that as you continue to progress, there will come a point that you will need to advance to the intermediate diet level. Use the mirror as your gauge, not the scale.
