Since you're trying to build lean muscle mass, your main focus is taking in more calories than you burn off over the course of the day. Having that small calorie surplus is vital, because your body needs the energy to build new lean muscle.

Shoot to eat between fifteen and sixteen calories per pound of body weight, every day. (For example, if you weigh 120 pounds, you want to eat between 1800-1920 calories.) This is slightly higher than what you require in order to maintain your body weight, and will help encourage the formation of new muscle tissue.

These additional calories are essential to start the muscle building process. If you want to reach this goal, you're going to have to eat. We'll show you how to keep it healthy, so you stay lean as you get sculpted. Once you have your calorie intake, it's time to determine your macronutrients. This includes proteins, carbohydrates, and fat. Contrary to what you might have read, low carb diets are not always best.

To build sexy, toned muscle, you need balanced muscle-making meals. Preparing your menu is one of the best ways to ensure success. Take some time to carefully plan out your meal schedule so you won't miss a beat when school get busy or your social gets hectic.

Forget the traditional 3 meals a day. Instead, divide your calories up between 5 to 6 small, quality meals every 2-3 hours apart. It helps to cook your food in advance so it's always ready during the week. Lack of time-management is the biggest reason for abandoning a program, so overcome this obstacle right away.

Scheduling time to make food for the week will separate you from the countless girls "trying" to shape and tone their bodies. Unlike them, you'll succeed. If you don't prepare your food in advance, be prepared to fail. You have to work in the kitchen for the work in the gym to show.

If you're looking to target a ratio for your intake, aim for 40/40/20. This equates to 40% of your calories from carbs, 40% from protein, and 20% from healthy fats. If you're getting worried about all these numbers and calculations, we have a ton of nutritional articles that contain sample diets, recipes, and extra tips to help you reach your goal.

For best results, we'll help you choose your food sources wisely. Each meal should include a fist-sized portion of lean protein. The best protein-rich foods include chicken breasts, lean cuts of turkey, egg whites, low-fat cottage cheese, white fish, whey protein powder, and very lean red meat.

For your carbohydrate sources, look towards fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains such as oatmeal, brown rice, wheat pasta, and potatoes. Include a fist-sized portion of complex carbohydrates in each meal, as well. Avoid refined carbohydrates like sugary cereals, snack bars, fruit snacks, or white bread, white pasta, and white rice. These will increase blood sugar levels quickly, putting you on an energy yo-yo.

Finally, include small amounts of healthy fat with each meal. Awesome healthy fat sources include nuts, nut butter, olive and flax oils, and fatty fish like salmon. Include small amounts of fat in each meal, generally excluding pre- and post-workout.

When it comes to eating around your workouts, the right nutrients are critical. The most important meals of the day are your pre- and post-workout meals. Before and after your training sessions, you want to focus on getting a protein-rich food along with some fast-digesting carbs.

The easiest and most convenient way to do this is to make a protein shake. About 1-1.5 hours before you train, you want to get in 20-30 grams of protein, plus 30-40 grams of carbs. Grab a whey protein isolate from Bodybuilding.com, and power-pack it with some low-fat yogurt and frozen fruit or oats. (This is the amount in a large banana, around two cups of berries, or 1/3 cup of oatmeal.)

Then, immediately after you're done lifting, have a quick-absorbing shake with protein powder and oats, or a carb supplement like Maltodextrin or Vitargo. This will ensure that your body is fuelled going into your training session, and that it recovers quickly afterwards. For best results and beautiful muscle, don't leave your muscles hungry around your workouts!

On weekends, it can be really tough to stick to your goals. If you're going out with the girls or the family, make smart ordering choices. Ask for sauces on the side, choose grilled meat over fried or battered, and swap pasta or white rice for vegetables. You can always share with a friend, or eat half the meal and box the rest. For drinks, try and stick with water. Unnecessary sugars from soda can add up quickly.

Eating clean, quality calories will give your body muscle-building material, rather than extra stuffing. These small tips will go a long way: you'll be able to enjoy yourself without throwing off your program.

Finally, let's cover cheat meals. Since you're aiming to build muscle, cheat meals aren't required to boost the metabolic rate like they are during a fat loss diet. For muscle building, you want to eat clean as much as possible, but there aren't necessarily strict rules around cheating. If you're sticking with our healthy eating plan, cheat meals will allow you to indulge in your favorite foods every once in a while, or have an alcohol beverage if you're out for a night on the town.

Since you're in a clean calorie surplus to build muscle, extra cheat calories won't necessarily hurt. However, if you cheat often, you risk eating too many calories, in which case some of them can go towards fat storage. You can often avoid this by having smaller meals on days when you know you're going to cheat (such as special occasions).

Be aware that adding a small amount of body fat while building muscle is normal. The body can only make so much muscle a day, which is why you don't want to eat 1000 calories over what you need. Keep your calorie surplus around 250, and you'll prevent the fat gain. Our advice is, cheat only when it's planned.

Quite simply, if you aren't building the muscle you want, then eat a little more quality food. Instead of adding an additional meal, try adding a little to each meal throughout the day. Extra protein, olive oil, or almonds with a few meals will bump up your calories and push your figure in the right direction.

On the same note, if you're adding weight in the wrong spots, you can reduce portion sizes, or adjust where you're getting your calories. If you start to see a little pudge, reduce your carbs and bump up protein as a replacement. Protein is extremely hard to convert to fat, so this can be a great adjustment.