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There are a lot of supplements out there claiming to help you lose weight or gain muscle. The problem is that most of these are completely ineffective, unsafe, or just cost too much money. So let’s look at some alternatives to these over-hyped supplements.

Even if your goal is simply to lose weight, you should focus on building some muscle because this will increase your metabolism, making your fat loss even easier and more rapid. The three foods below are great for fast muscle building nutrition.

Food #1: Green Tea

Green tea has several interesting compounds called catechins. The most interesting is epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG. This compound is a strong antioxidant that has been shown in many scientific studies to have anti-cancer benefits.

In addition, EGCG has been shown to help you lose weight by increasing your metabolism. The interesting thing is that EGCG is not a stimulant like caffeine or ephedrine. It increases your metabolism through an alternate mechanism.

To get this fat burning effect you can drink green tea or take a green tea extract supplement. You are looking for 200-400mg of EGCG per day. This is the equivalent of 1-2 cups of caffeinated green tea. If you prefer to drink decaf you should be aware that the processing of the decaffeinated version destroys most of the EGCG, so you will need 3-6 cups to get in your 200-400mg.

Food #2: Grass-fed Beef

Beef has gotten a bad rap in the press for being high in saturated fat and cholesterol. While this is certainly true of most beef, the beef from grass-fed cattle is a great source of fast muscle building nutrition

You see, cows were made to eat grass. Unfortunately, most of the beef out there is from cattle that were fed grains. This fattens them up faster and makes the farmers more profit, but it’s at the expense of your health. When grass-fed and grain-fed beef are compared there are huge differences in the health properties of each.

Here are the three main reasons grass-fed beef burns more fat and builds more muscle than grain-fed beef:

1. Grain-fed beef has more saturated fat than grass-fed beef. Saturated fat is more likely to be stored as fat, and has many negative consequences for your health.
2. Grain-fed beef has less omega-3 fatty acids than grass-fed beef. Omega-3 fatty acids are very important for optimal health, and they also help you to lose fat. This is good news for grass-fed beef, because it has omega-3 levels that rival salmon!
3. Grain-fed beef has less CLA than grass-fed beef. CLA is a fatty acid that has been shown to help you burn fat and gain muscle more efficiently. Grain-fed beef has almost no CLA, while grass-fed beef is full of it.

Food #3: Green vegetables

We’ve all heard the “eat your vegetables” speech a hundred times. We know that vegetables are good for our health, but did you know that vegetables, green vegetables in particular, will help you lose fat and gain muscle much faster?

There are three ways that green vegetables help you build muscle and lose fat:

1. Fiber. The fiber in green vegetables slows down the digestion of your food. This causes nutrients to be released into the blood stream at slower rate which makes them less likely to be stored as fat.
2. Alkalinity. Your body likes to maintain a very specific pH balance. The problem is that most of the foods in a typical diet are very acidic and tend to throw-off your pH. Green vegetables, especially spinach, help to restore a balanced pH, which helps prevent muscle and bone loss.
3. Phytochemicals. Sure, there are a ton of vitamins and minerals and green vegetables, but the real power is in the phytochemicals. These compounds have health-promoting and fat-loss benefits that we are still discovering. This is why a multi-vitamin will never replace a solid diet of good foods.

Summary

So there you have it, 3 foods for fast muscle building nutrition. Try to incorporate each of these foods into your diet at least 2-3 times per week, if not more. Combine this with a well-designed training program and you will be on your way to more muscle and less fat in no time!

If you truly want to gain weight fast you will need to know some simple, yet forgotten routine tips and tricks for the hard gainers out there. I have outlined a couple of sure fire ways for you to not only gain the pounds, but actually feel like working out because it’s fun again.

Many, many guys have tried to gain weight fast. Well, if you were like me, them you know that just about all of the fluff and products out there don’t even come close to work. It took me years to finally realize this, but now that I know it, I have found that the most basic of things are the ones that have helped me out the most. Best of all, every single one of them have been cost effective and a great learning experience while I gained the pounds of muscle I wanted fast!

The first thing that you will need to know if you want to gain weight fast is that free weights are your friend. Please, take your time and master your form and postures when using free weights, as this will help your weight gain drastically. The two most major free weight exercises that you will need, from my experience, will be dead lifts and squats. These two exercises alone will set the path for your gaining. They are the foundation of your mass building. The great thing about these two monsters is that you only have to do them one, maybe two times per week, depending on your fast gaining goals.

Secondly, I am not a fan of “high-tech” supplements. None of them have worked for me. Then a bell rang in my head while reading a great book. I found out that the most simple of nutritional supplements were the ones that I should be taking alone, and they alone have shot my pounds through the roof, fast. The first one I am talking about is the multi-vitamin. Yes, the multi-vitamin.

You can get a high quality multi-vitamin for pretty darn cheap nowadays. They have helped my energy, endurance, attention, and overall “feeling of health” which I would contribute a good 25% of my weight gain to, because it makes me push myself that much harder. My fun level and “wanting” to gain weight skyrocketed, which is crucial is you want to gain weight fast. This, with the addition of a cost effective, good quality protein has done wonders for me, and that is an understatement.

These are just a few of the simple, yet effective ways to get right over that hump in no time flat. You can do it too if you stick with your plan and stick with the basics. If you want to gain weight fast in this day and age, you don’t need all the fancy crud that is usually attached to gaining the pounds.

As most of you will no doubt be aware, nutrition plays a huge role in muscle building. It is as important as training itself.

If you are serious about your muscle building goals then you need to get serious about your nutrition. I can guarantee that if you are not feeding you body with the right nutrients then you will be wasting 70% – 80% of your efforts in the gym.

See the article below ‘Basic Nutritional Requirements For Muscle Building’ to get a good idea of the principals you should be adopting into your diet.

BASIC NUTRITION FOR MUSCLE BUILDING

To build muscle effectively, you need to give your body the right balance of essential nutrients. You also need to take in enough calories for energy. If you are training to build muscle, you need extra calories – around 40 to 50 calories/kg of body weight each day. So if you weigh 90 kg, for example, you’ll need between 3600 and 4500 calories daily while you are training.

Once you know how many calories you need, the next question to answer is how much of which foods you should eat in order to get all of the nutrients your body needs to build quality muscle. The basic nutrients you need fall into two categories: macronutrients and micronutrients. Here’s an overview of how to divide your calories for optimal nutrition.

MACRONUTRIENTS: Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat

Protein

Protein is especially important for muscle building because it is the nutrient used to build muscle! Bodybuilders have a slightly higher need for protein in order to repair muscle fibers that break down during training. You should include 1.2 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight in your daily diet. So again, if you weigh 90 kg, you need between 108 and 153 grams of protein per day.

An important point to remember with protein is that if you want the extra protein to be used for tissue repair and muscle building rather than for energy, you must eat a sufficient number of total calories as well. The rest of your calories will come from carbs and fats.

Carbohydrates

Your body uses carbs for short-term energy. This is the energy you need to get through intense bursts of physical activity (weight training). Carbohydrates are converted into glucose, which is stored in your muscles as glycogen. Glycogen is your body’s fuel tank. In other words, when you work out, carbs provide the fuel. You need to have enough fuel (glycogen) in the tank so that your body doesn’t turn to breaking down muscle for energy.

To build muscle, about 55-75% of total calories should be from carbohydrates. The higher end of this range applies to times when you are training intensely. The athlete who weighs 90 kg would need between 1980 and 3375 calories from carbs depending on the level and intensity of training. One gram contains 4 calories, so that is between 495 and 843 grams of carbs each day.

Fat

Fat is necessary for healthy cell membranes. The body also needs fat to absorb certain vitamins (known as “fat soluble” vitamins). Of course, too much fat is stored as body fat, and of course, you want to avoid that. The good news is that as you build muscle, your metabolism will increase and you will be able to burn fat more easily.

You should keep your fat intake low, but not too low. Your body needs some fat for proper balance. Aim for 20 to 35% of total calories from fat. A gram of fat contains 9 calories, so that’s somewhere in the range of 90 to 150 grams of fat per day for a 90 kg man.

MICRONUTRIENTS: Vitamins and Minerals

Your body needs vitamins and minerals for energy and to build and repair muscle tissue damaged during exercise. When you’re working out to build muscle, you will probably have a greater need for vitamins and minerals than the average person.

Vitamins

Antioxidant vitamins are probably the most important vitamins for muscle building workouts. The antioxidant vitamins are A, C, E and K. These vitamins repair damage to cells and muscles caused by oxidation, which occurs normally in the body every day as you use energy. Exercise increases the amount of oxidation, so antioxidants are very important for athletes. Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of vitamins A, C and K. Nuts, eggs and wheat germ are good sources of vitamin E.

Another group of vitamins important for muscle building are the B-complex vitamins. They play an important role in chemical reactions that create energy, and they are also involved in making red blood cells and repairing tissue. Your metabolism, which increases when you train, also depends on B vitamins to function. B vitamins are found in whole grains, wheat germ, nuts, beans, milk, eggs, dark leafy greens, beef and liver.

Minerals

Minerals are essential for the immune system, energy production and the proper function of the hormonal systems. They are also involved in the production of blood and in maintaining healthy bones. The most important minerals for muscle building include calcium, iron and zinc.

Calcium – is needed to maintain bones and decrease the risk of stress fractures. You need at least 1000 mg of calcium in your diet each day. You can meet this requirement with three or four servings of low fat dairy products or fortified cereals or juices.

Iron – is needed for the formation of substances in the blood that carry oxygen. Without enough oxygen, you will not have enough energy for exercise and bodybuilding. Athletes often have low iron, which can negatively affect performance and energy levels and lead to iron deficiency anemia. To prevent this, be sure to include iron-rich foods such as lean red meats, fish, poultry, shellfish, eggs, beans and dried fruits in your diet each day.

Zinc – is another important mineral involved in building and repairing muscle and in the production of energy. A diet that contains meats, fish, poultry, whole grains and vegetables should provide enough zinc for muscle building workouts.

To sum up

In general, you can get the nutrients you need to perform at your best by eating a healthy diet. This means choosing lean meats and dairy products, whole grains and plenty of fruits and vegetables. Avoid “trans” fats and saturated fats like those found in whole milk dairy products, animal products and junk food. Instead, choose “good fats”, which come from fish, nuts and seeds. Also be sure to limit your intake of foods made with white flour and white sugar because these foods have been stripped of most of their nutrients and are generally “empty calories.” (calories which add to your daily diet but contain no nutritional value)

If you’re not sure that you’re eating well enough, you should consider adding high quality nutritional supplement to your diet. There are some good carbohydrate supplements in the form of powders, shakes, energy bars etc. Good quality protein shakes or protein drinks are definitely useful for muscle building as well. Be sure to read the labels of these products and avoid brands that have a lot of sugar, preservatives or additives in them.

If you’re serious about putting on extra muscle to your frame, you need to know that simply working out at the gym is not enough to gain muscle mass. In muscle growth, nutrition is very important, maybe even more so than lifting weights. In this article, I’m going to show you what foods are vital if you want to bulk up.

First off, protein is absolutely key. Protein is considered the building blocks that your body needs to gain muscle, as protein aids in the repair and growth of all muscles in your body. You see, when you work out, your muscles begin to tear microscopically, and in order to repair these tears and make the muscle bigger, it’s essential you have the vital amino acids found in protein.

So what foods contain protein I hear you say! Lean meats, such as chicken and beef are a great source of protein. Also remember to include fish, cheese and eggs in your diet too, especially fish, as this contains lots of protein as well as nutritious amino acids.

If you want to gain muscle, you also need to eat more calories than you burn. So, if your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 1600, for example, aim to eat around 2400 calories. This way, your body has no choice but to gain muscle! So long as you’re eating a healthy diet, and not eating foods such as crisps, then you will build a leaner, more muscly body!

Aim to eat around six small meals per day. Each meal should be relatively high in protein in order to build significant muscle. Now if you’re struggling to hit the amount of protein and calorie intake, I suggest supplementing with protein shakes. These are extremely quick to prepare and useful, especially if you don’t like cooking like me! Be sure to take on board the tips in this article if you want to gain lots of muscle.

When building muscle mass, the workout is only half of the battle. The other half is your diet. Without a good diet, is impossible to gain any measure of lean muscle mass. That is because the workout serves as stimuli making your body build muscle tissue. However without protein stores and the proper diet, your body will not have any building blocks to make this possible.

Therefore, it is important that you make sure your body is stocked with the right muscle building diet to help in your goal of a leaner, more muscular look. Here are a few muscle gaining diet tips to help you build a diet that is sure to fuel that metamorphosis in your body.

1. Lean meat. Lean meat is rich in protein and is a good basic building block for more muscle. Meat such as steak and other protein-rich foods has been a staple of many bodybuilding experts for over the past few decades. However, make sure you avoid the fat as it could compromise your bodybuilding goals.

2. Fiber rich foods. Fiber has long been known to help those wanting to lose weight. First of all, it prevents the body from absorbing too much fat. And, it also helps lower cholesterol and is a source of slow-burning carbohydrates, which is ideal for those wanting to lose weight.

Examples of fiber rich grains are oatmeal, wheat, vegetables and fruits. You could also buy them as supplements at any health store.

3. Water. Most professional bodybuilders go on diuretics just lose body liquids so that there muscle cuts can be more pronounced. However it is important for anyone going for in the look to drink enough water since workouts deplete natural body fluids.

4. Soybeans. Soybeans are a great source of protein and are low in fat and contain virtually no cholesterol. Many have been heralding soybean as one of the saviors of muscle building and weight loss.

It can be eaten as tofu, bean curd desserts and others. It is also cheap and easy to procure.

5. Whey protein. Whey protein is ready available at any health shop. It can be taken in as a supplement and mixed with soups, vegetables, and shakes. Whey protein is easy to absorb and is one of the best sources of protein available.

6. Egg whites. The protein of eggs resides in its egg whites. So, if you want to bulk up and get your protein from eggs, eat the whites and avoid the yellow part of the egg. You may also want to purchase processed egg whites from help stores. They are also good sources of protein.

There are several reasons for a hardgainer to get the muscles and fats that he needs. Skinny people have been there best ways to natural weight gain. However, many failures happen. There are lots of reason for the person not to have the best weight that he needs.

You can find several natural weight gain tips in the web. But what are the best weight gain tips that will truly help you to gain weight faster? What tips will counteract on the effects of weight loss?

Food Factor

The foods that you eat tell your body configuration; foods is one of the main natural weight gain tips. Skinny people tend to have poor diet. It is a big problem that you don’t eat the right kind of foods. Yes, when you have a poor diet, it will surely affect your body weight. Remember, your body depends on the vitamins and minerals that it can take from the foods that eat. When the body lacks the vital element for growth and development because of poor diet, it will give you poor muscles growth – the effect: skinny body.

It is very important to check the right kind of foods. If you are thinking of eating meat and pork alone to gain weight, you are not in the right track. It is important to check the balance of nutrients in your body. There are lots of foods that you can duly eat for the best. It is a big thing to choose healthy and nutrient- rich foods. Although, calorie content is a big deal but the nutrients you can get from the sets of foods matter a lot.

Tone your Body

Eating lots of calories alone is not a good solution. It is very important for you to have the best body that you need. Muscles and not fats must pack your body. With the aid of proper food diet, you can conquer the problem of body type. Yes, there are types of body that are truly hard gainer. Exercise is an essential natural weight gain routine.

You need to work on your body. You need to lift some weights; weights can duly help your body to get the right amount of muscle strain and growth. On the other hand, you also need the right type of exercises routine to help your way to weight gain. There are exercises which may be detrimental or may have the opposite effect on your weight gain plan.

Supplement Factor

There are lots of weight gain supplements that can help you gain weight. You need to check the right one which has the essential vitamins and minerals for your body growth. It is a real big deal to choose the right one with lots and lots of weight gain supplements that you can find in the market.

Rest

Stress is an enemy. This may sound simple but it is a very effective natural weight gain plan. You need to have the right rest for your body to relieve itself and heal from the rigorous problem of the day. You need to have the right amount of rest for the best of your body growth. The right amount of rest will help the vitamins and minerals to work for the best.