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1. Meal Planning
2. Do's and Don'ts
3. Did you know?
4. Guidelines

If you want to get big, you have to think big- 5-7 good-sized meals a day. Make sure you have a balanced diet, and try to stick to the 40/30/30 guidelines for meal planning (40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein). A typical day should look something like this:

• Breakfast should include foods like cereals, bread, toast, bagels, pancakes, eggs (only 2 max, or get rid of the yolks), fruit juice, milk (avoid whole, and 2% if possible), and oatmeal. Breakfast should be about 1/3 of your calories for the day.
• Mid-morning snack should include things like protein shakes, tuna, granola bars, fruit, veggies, energy bars, small amounts of meat (chicken is the best obviously), and other snack type foods (avoid the vending machines).
• Lunch should include some type of meat- chicken, beef (in moderation), pasta, veggies, fruit, fish, milk, juice, cold cuts, and sandwiches.
• Snack before workout should be about 350-500 calories, and high protein. Try to include something like a protein shake, or another small snack, and a few carbs. Don't eat too much. A high protein snack 30 minutes before your workout is a tremendous help if you want to get big.
• Snack after workout should be about 50g carbs, 30g protein; try fruit juice because fructose is more easily used by your body than glucose (sugar, candy).
• Dinner should include foods like beef, chicken, veal, veggies, fruit, small serving of pasta, and some salad.
• Small bedtime snack- a little milk, vitamins, a glass of juice. This should be a very small amount of food. Excess food is converted to fat while you sleep.

1. Try to sink up the release of protein with the end of your workout (it takes about 60-90 minutes for protein to be absorbed by your system), and get a few carbs when you finish your workout.
2. Take your vitamins.
3. Drink lots of water throughout the day (a gallon or more: the more the better within reason).
4. Eat lots of veggies.
5. Stick with a 40% carb, 30% protein, 30% fat diet.
6. Eat a big breakfast.
7. Eat 5 servings of fruit each day.
8. Eat several snacks each day.

1. Eat junk food (nuts, chips), and fast food (unless you have chicken or fish).
2. Eat large snacks before bedtime.
3. Do too much aerobics. Thirty minutes 3 times a week max.
4. Drink carbonated beverages. They inhibit the free flow of oxygen to your muscles.

1. That people that eat a majority of their calories in the early and middle part of the day are less likely to gain fat than those that eat their calories at dinner, and bedtime snack.
2. That those who consume a large dinner are twice as likely to suffer a severe heart attack, and have heart problems than those that eat a large breakfast instead. This is because you can burn off the calories throughout the day, and the big bedtime snacks are converted to fat in your sleep. Now this doesn't mean that you should starve yourself in the afternoon, and evening either though.
3. Water is responsible for 70% of the mass in your muscles, so keep it flowing freely. Next comes protein; vitamin c and e are also helpful.
4. Calories are acquired from sources like this

• 4 calories per gram of protein and carbs ingested
• NINE calories per gram of fat ingested

1. Sun tanning is good for you- it actually helps your body make important vitamins among other things, once again, don't overdo it, because of the possibility of cancer.
2. Soft drinks and carbonated drinks are not good for you. The carbonation bonds to your blood cells, and decreases the surface area of the cell, which will inhibit the free flow of oxygen, and can affect your lifting enormously.

Here are some basic guidelines to accompany the above nutritional information.

1. You can either have a big lunch, or slightly larger snacks, I use the latter approach.
2. If you don't gain weight, add some calories (350-500).
3. Stay within the 40/30/30 guidelines. You can expect to gain some fat as well, but overall, your bodyfat % shouldn't increase (you will gain lean body mass faster than you will gain fat).
4. Start off this schedule using about 3000-3500 calories a day, and go up from there only if you aren't getting bigger.

If you have any questions, comments, compliments, or complaints e-mail me at: frank416@Megsinet.net, and I will answer them ASAP.

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