Category — Nutrition

Most of you know what foods you should be eating to fuel your workouts and sporting activities. However, when it comes to foods you should avoid most people feel like it’s a big gray area. With that said, it’s important to realize that certain things you put in your body can be counterproductive to your muscle building goals.

Here’s a brief list of things you should definitely refrain from putting in your mouth:

• Mostly anything from fast food restaurants
• Anything with high fructose corn syrup
• Cakes or cookies
• Processed foods in boxes or bags
• Any food with trans fat

Now most of this should be common knowledge but sometimes people don’t take the time to look at what’s in their food. Obviously, sometimes it’s impossible to avoid these ingredients, especially if you’re eating out. However, you can take time to to download menus online before you dine out, or ask the waitress for a list of ingredients.

You’ve just worked hard at the gym and come home ready to cook something up for dinner. You know you need some protein to go along with those vegetables, but what kind? There are many choices but only a handful pack the muscle building compounds your body needs to recover.

So, let’s break down the 3 most practical meats: chicken, turkey, and beef and look at the benefits each provides.

Chicken: I like to go with prepackaged breast cutlets because they are the easiest to prepare and contain little or no added ingredients. One average size 3 ounce breast will set you back only 142 calories. It also contains about 3 grams of fat and 26 grams of muscle buliding protein. Chicken breasts are probably the most prevalent meat you can find (in restaurants or grocery stores) and are always a popular choice among athletes and bodybuilders for their excellent protein to fat ratio.

Turkey: The best selection here is ground turkey breast. You can cook some up on the stove top and add veggies and whatever else you like. Turkey contains high amounts of niacin and B-6 and is an excellent source of selenium. A single 4 ounce serving of ground turkey contains 120 calories and just 1 gram of fat while packing 28 grams of protein.

Beef: While it may be the best tasting of the 3, it has the highest fat content. Even 95% lean ground beef contains 5.6 grams of fat (half of it being saturated) and 155 calories per 4 ounce serving. It’s okay to have beef once in a while but try not to make it a staple of your diet. When you do eat it, make sure it’s lean ground which contains the least amount of saturated fat. Ground beef does contain 24 grams of protein per serving and is an excellent source creatine.