- Similar to dieters, lifters who intend to cut, eat nutrient-dense foods and avoid foods with empty calories. As many bodybuilders lift daily and take one day off every week, they need high-quality protein at every meal.
Rather than eating hamburgers, steaks and hot dogs, you eat soft-boiled eggs or egg-white-only omelets. Steamed vegetables, whole fruits, whole grains, non-saturated fats and complex carbohydrates round out the training table. - The Food Pyramid by USDA recommends healthy adults eat no more than 30 percent of fat daily and of that amount, no more than 10 percent of saturated fat (fat that is solid at room temperature). Bodybuilders know not to skip healthy fats: it helps produce testosterone, which is needed to build lean muscle tissue.
Women who drop below 10 percent body fat from heavy training may cease their menstrual cycle; eating non-saturated fats helps prevent that. Choose from flax seed, hemp seed, olive oil or any fish oil in fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel or sardines (look for wild-caught and low-mercury). - Eating every two hours does not mean eating a five-course meal. Stick to several small meals and even smaller snacks. A meal might be half a turkey sandwich, a half cup of chili, half a cup of mixed steamed vegetables and 1 tbsp. of flax seed oil and spirulina flakes.
Snacks can be 1/2 cup of low- or non-fat yogurt with 1/8 cup of roasted, unsalted almonds or walnuts (high in heart-healthy omega-3 oils) or unsalted sunflower seeds. Desserts can be 1/2 cup of low-fat yogurt or a fruit smoothie with protein powder.