Pikey

This subject needs a book and as Tall has said we’re all different on top of which, body time, BMR, job, age and sex and training regime will all have an impact. Eg I can’t eat like my training partner he carries a good 50lb more muscle than I do and has a different body type.
But the basics are similar. I also think high fat low carb is pants for bodybuilding - muscle needs glycogen for energy and to look "full" protien can be converted to glycogen but naturally the body converts carbs

I eat way more than 1lb of protein per lb of lean bodyweight, I’ll have 35g -50gram across each meal and then 100g with the post workout shake which conservatively puts me close to 2gram per lean lb, could I get away with less probably, but then I want to ensure there’s enough in my system at anyone time.

I try to stay away from simple sugars as much as possible, I eat an organic grapefruit each morning as they are good to encourage absorption of other supplements through the stomach lining and I’ll eat a couple of apples per week otherwise unless I’m allowing myself a cheat I stay clear. However a sugary drink whilst training encourages an insulin spike which means the post workout meal will be transported to the muscle cells better. While it works it also gives me a banging headache – we’re all different…my training partner swears by it even when pre contest…

I cycle carbs, and whilst it takes some mental discipline it’s a great way to grow, keep carbs low for a few days and watch your body grab them when you do refeed, using this method I can grow steadily without layering loads of fat. Just by changing the refeed profile around I can also rapidly lean up .If I go with consistently high carbs I feel bloated after a few days and loose all appetite. And if I go with consistant low carbs to diet I soon feel terrible…When I was younger and doing a lot more cardio based training I probably ate 3-4 times the amount of carbs I do now, I didn’t get fat and I was 10K – 15K lighter than I am today. I’d eat a full malt loaf for energy prior to a cardio based session… Equally I was never competition lean.

With carbs my main view is keep it low to medium GI, in the main I’m aiming for steady lean growth
I’m bad for not eating enough fats, amongst other things this tends to cause me dry skin patches, there’s good and bad fats , avoid saturated animal fats but complex triglycerides are good for the body it’s a good idea to include some, nuts, oily fish and seeds in the diet, when not pre contest I eat pumpkin and sunflower seeds with my salads.

On the whole I think the best advise is avoid ready meals, as they are normally full of salt, simple carbs and fats, try and eat natural solid food as much as possible, make sure protein supplements are good quality and don’t get much saturated fat down your neck .

If your are interested in bodybuilding get a couple of good books there’s loads out there, most people seem to think bodybuilding is about gear, considering effective muscle stimulation and rest as a given diet is a very major factor, you could never grow to your maximum potential and never be ripped if your diet isn’t bag on for what your trying to achieve...