If you’re trying to get bigger and stronger then you can spend a long time lifting weights regularly, but if you’re not eating a diet that is focused on building muscle, then it’s only going to be harder for you to get to where you want to be. Successful muscle gain is based on both tearing the muscle down with training and then rebuilding it bigger and stronger with the right nutrition. The key is to eat more calories than you burn and add more of the best foods for building muscle to your diet.
Chicken Breast
When it comes to muscle growth and bodybuilding, you can see why chicken breast is a popular food choice. It’s easy to prepare, easy to get hold of and often not very expensive. With a high protein content, chicken breast is ideal for a muscle-building diet, and you can easily buy it in bulk and prepare different meals that include it for throughout the week.
Lean Pork Chops
Another meat that you might want to include more of in your diet if you’re working out a lot and want to build muscle is lean pork chops. Use them in the same way that you’d use chicken breast; there are tons of meal ideas that you can consider, and you can easily buy and cook them in bulk for different meals too if you like.
Eggs
With one egg containing around six grams of protein along with healthy fats and nutrients like zinc, eating more of them when you’re trying to support your workouts with your diet is a great idea. Hard-boiled eggs are a great snack idea, and they are in this list of the best keto snacks. You can also easily turn eggs into a main meal by creating an omelet or egg salad. They work well paired with lean meats, or just on their own.
Wild Salmon
Adding more wild salmon to your diet is a great way to get more from your workouts. Wild salmon contains a huge 25g of protein per 3.5oz serving and is very high in omega-3 fatty acids. If you can’t get wild salmon then farmed salmon is also a great choice, but you may need to limit your consumption.
Greek Yogurt
One food item that is easy to get hold of, relatively inexpensive and packed with protein is Greek yogurt. It’s a hugely versatile ingredient that you can eat on its own as a snack, for breakfast with fruit, or even add to savory dishes like curries or soups. With 10g of protein per 100gs and completely free of carbs, this is definitely one to add to your post-workout food list.
Hemp Seeds
If you want to get more plant-based protein in your diet, then hemp seeds are an ideal choice. Unlike other plant-based foods that you will need to combine to get a complete protein, such as eating peas and brown rice together, hemp seeds are packed with 32g of complete protein per one hundred grams, along with around 50g of healthy fats.
Soybeans
Along with being high in protein with 13g per one hundred gram serving, there are lots of great reasons to try and add more soybeans to your diet. For example, soybeans have been shown to be highly beneficial for your heart health. To get the best results, it’s recommended that you eat sprouted or fermented soybeans and avoid processed.
No matter how often or how hard you work out, you will struggle to get the results that you want if you’re not getting the right diet. Add more of these protein-rich foods to your regular diet to start seeing a difference.