The importance of diet to bodybuilding

[Grunt76]

No matter how much experience you have, you've got to have some opinion as to the importance of diet to your bodybuilding goals.

Be honest in your response, and please respond before looking at the results. This could be a really good poll, it's up to you to not skew the results by seeing what OTHERS are saying!

THIS POLL IS ANONYMOUS, SO OTHERS CAN'T SEE WHO SELECTED WHAT. SO JUST BE HONEST.

 

[WannaBeHulk]

Re: The importance of diet

glad to see that most people agree that diet is the most important factor cause it really is. for example, at my gym, theres this guy who weighs about 160 lbs, lean as hell (i would say 5-6% bodyfat), benching 275 lbs for multiple reps. hes a friend, so i have discussed supps and diet with him. he doesnt know anything about supplementation. in fact, he just started taking whey about a week ago. on the other hand, his diet is great. its mostly fish, chicken, veggies, and some whole grains.
also, there are guys at the gym that always discuss supps with me. they are bigger yet weaker and in poor shape despite admitting to paying $200/month on supps. diet goes a long way and i believe most goals in the weight room are achievable by touching up the diet. being a competing bodybuilder, i now know the importance of diet. i have changed my diet many times to figure how i respond to what foods/macronutrients. right now, i have a good idea of what works best for me, but every year i find new ways to grow bigger and cut easier through tweaking my diet. im still learning, and i have dozens of people asking me to write them out a diet because they see how effective diet really is.

 

[prld2gr8ns]

Re: The importance of diet

Diet has to be the most important thing for weight loss, muscle building, etc. Your body will only build from what you put into it. My take on it is that diet is about 50% of the overall solution, 25% is doing the exercise, and the other 25% is making yourself do both.

 

[Rage (SoCal)]

Re: The importance of diet

This thread is too predictible Grunt, way too easy.

But really, shitty diet habits will get you know where...of course there are genetic exceptions for this.

 

[WannaBeHulk]

Re: The importance of diet

Diet has to be the most important thing for weight loss, muscle building, etc. Your body will only build from what you put into it. My take on it is that diet is about 50% of the overall solution, 25% is doing the exercise, and the other 25% is making yourself do both.

i would say sleep is another important componet of the equation.

 

[Ripped1]

Re: The importance of diet

Diet is one of the key factors in training. Alot of people think you can hit the weights and just get in shape. I have trained allot of people that quit training because they saw no results. What it came down to was thier diet. follow a healthy yet strict diet.At the same time make sure your diet is tailored to your type of training

 

[Grunt76]

Re: The importance of diet

I was training a guy and whenever I was talking about diet, he retorted "Hey, with the amount of work I put in at the gym, I can at least eat junk food!" :blink:

 

[Rage (SoCal)]

Re: The importance of diet

I was training a guy and whenever I was talking about diet, he retorted "Hey, with the amount of work I put in at the gym, I can at least eat junk food!" :blink:

LOL...nice.

 

[WannaBeHulk]

Re: The importance of diet

I was training a guy and whenever I was talking about diet, he retorted "Hey, with the amount of work I put in at the gym, I can at least eat junk food!" :blink:

thats so funny cause i know so many people like that.

 

[Achilles13]

Re: The importance of diet

I was training a guy and whenever I was talking about diet, he retorted "Hey, with the amount of work I put in at the gym, I can at least eat junk food!" :blink:

Lol i've heard that too many times for people in the gym. Better yet, they will say they are on a diet and got get a medium fri, cheeseburger, and diet coke from Micky D's...


But, diet is the most important thing. I think alot of people don't focus on diet because it takes ALOT of time to setup. Planning meals, knowing what to eat, when to eat it, etc... You also have to be dedicated to stick with it. I know some people who will do fine for a week or two, but after that, they go back to their old ways. Rather its cutting or bulking, diet is the most important factor to success in either.

 

[Iron Warrior]

Re: The importance of diet

I was training a guy and whenever I was talking about diet, he retorted "Hey, with the amount of work I put in at the gym, I can at least eat junk food!" :blink:

Those are the consumers that fall for over hyped Cell-Tech, they just are trying ignoring their real problems by taking something which they believe will do the work for them.

 

[magic8ball]

Re: The importance of diet

Diet is definately most important. Race cars don't run on fruit juice and jets don't fly on kool aid. My best gains came when I tweaked my diet. After I put forth the effort, proper eating became second nature.

 

[Ripped1]

Re: The importance of diet

Its funny at this time of year how busy the gym is. All the new years junkies that are gonna eat like crap and go to the gym. Dont get me wrong I think its great they took the first step in getting to the gym. But I really wish some of these people would get nutrition advice.

 

[max-rot98]

Re: The importance of diet

Whats even more irratating is the people that know how important diet is but only eat right on cycle. I have way to many gym friends that I never see til they go on and come up to me and say "god my legs are so sore from training em. First time I trained legs in a month. And dude I hate eating this much but I'm on now so I have to take advantage, especially since I can't get fat now." Same idiots that 2 weeks into a test cyp/enanthate cycle are like dude I have put on 6 lbs and am getting amazing pumps already.

I have been training for years. My dad got me started at 13 but I really didn't care about it till I was 15. He always used to tell me I needed to eat more and I would blow it off. Finally I understood how important it was. He was right.

 

[502 Country Boy]

Re: The importance of diet

Common sense tells you that diet and sleep are the two most important things besides actual training...I thought this was common knowledge?

 

[Grunt76]

Re: The importance of diet

Common sense tells you that diet and sleep are the two most important things besides actual training...I thought this was common knowledge?

It is, but the goal of this poll is to give newbies some insight as to what is really important to get results. Hopefully, this poll and the sticky called "What is a "good diet"?" will convey some of the import of these matters to those people who come here asking about steroids before even having an OK diet. But for that, the more experienced bros all have to put in their votes. It's shaping up. Of course, there aren't any "newbie" votes... yet, but it might come. And they just might learn something.

 

[Apowerz6]

Re: The importance of diet

One summer break, i decided to wow eveybody, and come back 30lbs lighter in 12 weeks, not only did i do it but i over did it, I ate every 2 hours no matter what, and i boiled my chicken breast cutting out most of the sodium, i got down from 235 to 195, I came back to school, and people asked did i have cancer, or HIV, as under 200lbs on me makes me look sickly !!! i told them no just a good diet. From then on I knew DIET was the key. Now that I am cutting for my first show, i have it in my head i will be ripped to shreds and hard as nails, endomorph be damned. And you know how i will do it, by dieting. I know all are waiting for my log, but I am waiting to put my pics up, and get everything set up with Usp for their cutting log. Anyway I am glad my bro Grunt has set this up because DIET is key, and Next is INTENSITY do you SPEAK IT !!!

 

[somewhatgifted]

Re: The importance of diet

"YOU CANT BUILD A BRICK HOUSE WITHOUT BRICKS"
FOOD (PROPER CARB<PROTEIN<FAT RATIO) = BRICKS...
MCDONALDS (JUNKFOOD) = CARDBOARD
MCDONALDS + TRAINING = CARDBOARD HOUSE

I hope this is a clear message lol.

 

[Beelzebub]

Re: The importance of diet

Common sense tells you that diet and sleep are the two most important things besides actual training...I thought this was common knowledge?

to tweak a nimitz quote "common sense is an uncommon virtue."

 

[bpmartyr]

Re: The importance of diet

to tweak a nimitz quote "common sense is an uncommon virtue."

Common sense would say: "you are correct sir!"

 

[Beowulf]

Re: The importance of diet

All this diet nonsense is overrated. 1g of test and everything you eat will become rock hard muscle

 

[insectgod]

Re: The importance of diet

All this diet nonsense is overrated. 1g of test and everything you eat will become rock hard muscle

Hey, uh, do you like... actually have to lift weights and stuff? Hey, maybe if I take 2g of test, then I can just sit on the couch eating doritos and watching ESPN?:nutkick:

 

[rysigpi]

Re: The importance of diet

I finally got the importance of diet about a year ago. Fall 04/ winter 05 I bulked up by eating everything in sight. I ate a ton. I gained a ton of muscle. I gained a ton of FAT TOO! :blink: It should have been obvious and it was but it snuck up on me. IT was a pain in the arse to burn off that spring too.

Fast forward to fall 05/ winter 06 where I bulked smart. I gained 25 pounds and am almost as lean as what I was in the summer. I have been cutting for about 10 days now and I can now say that I am lean as I was during last summer weighing almost 20 pounds more. :twisted:

 

[mab904]

Re: The importance of diet

In my opinion, diet is the most important aspect of the bodybuilding lifestlye. And also a major factor in a person's overall health and longevity. Unfortunately I have found that most people, in the gym and otherwise, are unwilling to put forth the effort needed to feed their bodies correctly. They are perpetually searching for that magic supplement or pill that will give them the results they desire. There is no such pill. People always ask me, "what can I take?" and "what do you take?" When I tell them it's all about how and what I eat, they stop listening. Like I'm hiding something from them. It can be so frustrating at times.:rant:

 

[rysigpi]

Re: The importance of diet

In my opinion, diet is the most important aspect of the bodybuilding lifestlye. And also a major factor in a person's overall health and longevity. Unfortunately I have found that most people, in the gym and otherwise, are unwilling to put forth the effort needed to feed their bodies correctly. They are perpetually searching for that magic supplement or pill that will give them the results they desire. There is no such pill. People always ask me, "what can I take?" and "what do you take?" When I tell them it's all about how and what I eat, they stop listening. Like I'm hiding something from them. It can be so frustrating at times.:rant:

I know what you mean. People are always looking for that easy way out. As soon as I mention diet to anyone of my friends they look at me like im crazy and wtf am I doing it for. They are the same ones that ask if I have been juicing and what supps am I taking to get that big...:blink:

 

[bpmartyr]

Re: The importance of diet

I know what you mean. People are always looking for that easy way out. As soon as I mention diet to anyone of my friends they look at me like im crazy and wtf am I doing it for. They are the same ones that ask if I have been juicing and what supps am I taking to get that big...:blink:

Yup, get it all the time. "Why are you on a diet? You're not fat." Or my favorite, "how do you stay skinny? Everytime I turn around your eating something!" Perhaps it's due to the fact that I was eating a banana, an apple or some yogurt instead of a bag of chips or a Little Debbie deathcake.

 

[1ad man]

Re: The importance of diet

diet is huge ask any mr olympia what he changed up to look better and they wont say aas or training they will say diet. damn i screwed up today had today lots of cake and sweet sour pork with rice with my girlfriend she said it was valentines day. is one or two days of cheating okay bros on the diet.

 

[insectgod]

Re: The importance of diet

I finally got the importance of diet about a year ago. Fall 04/ winter 05 I bulked up by eating everything in sight. I ate a ton. I gained a ton of muscle. I gained a ton of FAT TOO! :blink: It should have been obvious and it was but it snuck up on me. IT was a pain in the arse to burn off that spring too.

I did the same thing last summer, with Ergomax. I got hyuuuge, but mostly around my waistline, then I spent all of the fall slimming down with massive cardio and restricted food intake (and scary yohimbe side effects). I will NEVER do that again. It might work for Lee Priest to eat nothing but KFC, but all the fast food I ate made me a lardass. Between thanksgiving and Christmas I did 1,4 and SD, prolly gained about 12 lbs, and my waistline still dropped about an inch. Good times! The only thing I did differently was eat better food, cut out almost all of the sugary crap and fried things.

Hey, fellas, let's talk about bulking. I've been into this exercise/training/healthy lifestyle for a couple years now, and maybe have done three bulkers w/ PH's. I find it to be the most difficult to hit a target caloric intake while keeping a good ratio (40/40/20, for example. I find 35/35/30 to be a lot easier to hit.):trout: Assuming someone is trying to hit 4000 cals a day, what kinds of things do you throw into the mix to hit that target? F'rinstance, I found that a lb of lean ground beef cooked into little 4oz patties and eaten for snacks to help out. I'd get these down with a piece of fruit every couple of hours. I also like to throw in some almonds, but they tend to make your fat ratio go up. Obviously, what works for me might not work for thee, and vice versa, but let's hear what some of y'all do.:hammer:

 

[ryano]

Re: The importance of diet

diet is huge ask any mr olympia what he changed up to look better and they wont say aas or training they will say diet. damn i screwed up today had today lots of cake and sweet sour pork with rice with my girlfriend she said it was valentines day. is one or two days of cheating okay bros on the diet.

For me a cheat meal is essential...

One of my favorite things besides lifting, is my smokey mountain weber.

I think a cheat every once in awhile helps keep you on track. Its like a little reward for a job well done.

I use to have cheat days instead of meals...bad idea for me. If the frequency and quality of your meals is in check all the time some sweet and sour chicken every once in a blue moon isnt going to throw everything out of whack. Just dont let your cheat meal turn into a whole cake or pie.

 

[Grunt76]

Re: The importance of diet

insectgod I feel the best way for me to bulk with somewhat clean calories, although I tend to go the 5000-6000 cals route when assisted because my maintenance is about 4000, is to eat a whole chicken every day. A 5-lb chicken (organic, this is what I eat) has 425g protein and 138g of fat. Now you might think this is a lot of fat, but if you stay near fat-free in the rest of your stuff, veggies, fish, shakes, etc. I find that's not too bad.

Plus it's super-easy. Pop it in the oven for 2 hours and you've got a bunch of snacks or a couple meals. I dunno about you, but cold chicken is pretty good in my book, I can just pop it into a plastic container, carry it pretty much anywhere and eat it cold. Yum. Protein.

 

[insectgod]

Re: The importance of diet

Grunt, you're a freakin' genious! When my next bulker comes around, I'm gonna try that. I can't wait to hear what my wife will have to say about that. I imagine, though, that whole roasters are fairly inexpensive. I probably won't go for organic, since I am poor white trash ovah heah. I bet I could get about six meals out of a 5 lb bird, though she'd probably want a drumstick or wing. Stuff that down with some brown rice, salad, broccoli, and a couple pieces of fruit and I bet I'll cover all my bases and still keep the fat nice an low.

You know, right now I am trying to maintain and to that end am eating about 2800~3000 cals a day, but I am starting to suspect that I am below maintenance with that. Especially since I am back doing cardio regularly. I totally had to drop the cardio when I was on SD, it was just too difficult, painful, etc. Perhaps it would be important to mention that the 'perfect diet' is one that is flexible to one's circumstances? I probably need to tweak mine, but I'm kind of waiting and seeing since I'm trying DS's Rebound Reloaded.:box:

 

[Beelzebub]

Re: The importance of diet

whole chopped up chickens at walmart at 3.80. last a couple days for one person.

 

[Apowerz6]

Re: The importance of diet

yeah i buy bbq roasted chickens everytime i work at vitamin world, whole chickens does abody good

 

[somewhatgifted]

Re: The importance of diet

The walmart in my town only has dry goods and some stuff in the freezers, no deli, or fresh produce. Oh and they have alot of crap that breaks right away, irritating employees, and horrible return policy, i was on my 3rd watch then i bought somewhere else.

insectgod I feel the best way for me to bulk with somewhat clean calories, although I tend to go the 5000-6000 cals route when assisted because my maintenance is about 4000, is to eat a whole chicken every day. A 5-lb chicken (organic, this is what I eat) has 425g protein and 138g of fat. Now you might think this is a lot of fat, but if you stay near fat-free in the rest of your stuff, veggies, fish, shakes, etc. I find that's not too bad.

Plus it's super-easy. Pop it in the oven for 2 hours and you've got a bunch of snacks or a couple meals. I dunno about you, but cold chicken is pretty good in my book, I can just pop it into a plastic container, carry it pretty much anywhere and eat it cold. Yum. Protein.

Good advice grunt76 as usual you cheap, ahem smart man .lol

 

[Sirius]

Re: The importance of diet

In my opinion, diet is the most important aspect of the bodybuilding lifestlye. And also a major factor in a person's overall health and longevity. Unfortunately I have found that most people, in the gym and otherwise, are unwilling to put forth the effort needed to feed their bodies correctly. They are perpetually searching for that magic supplement or pill that will give them the results they desire. There is no such pill. People always ask me, "what can I take?" and "what do you take?" When I tell them it's all about how and what I eat, they stop listening. Like I'm hiding something from them. It can be so frustrating at times.:rant:

I often get the "I want to look like you!..tell me what to do!" ...when I tell these wannabees that I do aerobics at 5am for 1 hour...followed by a glass of fresh squeezed juice, an eggwhite omelette and some cottage cheese, papaya, grapes, melons, etc...99% of them are walking away at that time...just lazy people wanting something the easy way. Bodybuilding builds character...it takes creativity, dedication, commitment, serious willpower, devotion... and much more. A serious bodybuilder can achieve anything in life with the characteristics he/she has gained from this sport and lifestyle.

 

[ryano]

Re: The importance of diet

I have def toned up and dropped some bf.. but i still have 20 pds or so before I do a serious bulk..I eat clean and frequently at work...I often get asked "whats that powdered **** you drinking"? Protein..Im trying to drop some extra weight...then the lard ass with the 20 oz pepsi (2nd one for the day) on his desk and little debbie wrappers everywhere, starts to give me diet and nutrition advice.

Pisses me off...happens all the time.

 

[moflika]

Re: The importance of diet

I'm sure its been said, but without a good diet AND good training you won't get anywhere. Remove either of those factors and you'll have no chance. A good diet is so important that it tends to get on my nerves. I'll train hard and get lazy with the diet and know in the back of my head that I'm just wasting a work-out if I do that. : /

 

[2fast2live]

Re: The importance of diet

I like experimenting with my diet. Makes me feel like a mad scientist, and that for some reason, gives me a warm fuzzy inside.

 

[somewhatgifted]

Re: The importance of diet

Cant build a brick house without bricks. nuff said lol

 

[KCWOO]

Re: The importance of diet

Diet is the most important that is a given. only a couple of people said cardio. Getting your heart rate up for at least 30min is 2nd best. Working out is great but for melting fat you need clean diet and cardio. Then of course training is good the more muscle the more the body burns fat. Supplements are last. I know a guy in the gym and he is one of the biggest gys in there and he doesnt have the money to spend on all the supplements. So he eats real clean trains and does cardio and if he can afford it he gets a good protein powder. Thats it. And he is 235 and shreded and is only 5'8

 

[ryano]

Re: The importance of diet

insectgod I feel the best way for me to bulk with somewhat clean calories, although I tend to go the 5000-6000 cals route when assisted because my maintenance is about 4000, is to eat a whole chicken every day. A 5-lb chicken (organic, this is what I eat) has 425g protein and 138g of fat. Now you might think this is a lot of fat, but if you stay near fat-free in the rest of your stuff, veggies, fish, shakes, etc. I find that's not too bad.

138 grams of fat? Is that with the skin or without?:think:

 

[Grunt76]

Re: The importance of diet

This seems to be including the skin, because these organic birds are MUCH leaner than the standard ones, and the "whole chicken" nutritional information that I used to make that assertion is higher in fat %-wise than the "thigh only" whereas the breast is almost fat-free. If you follow my meaning. Here:

Organic Chicken Breast
Nutrition Information
Calories: 110
From Fat: 10 Total Fat 1 g.
Saturated Fat .5 g.
Cholesterol 65 mg.
Sodium 160 mg.
Total Carbs 0 g.
Protein 22 g.


Organic Chicken Thighs
Nutrition Information
Calories: 180
From Fat: 110 Total Fat 12 g.
Saturated Fat 4 g.
Cholesterol 85 mg.
Sodium 75 mg.
Total Carbs 0 g.
Protein 19 g.


Organic Whole Chicken
Nutrition Information
(Serving Size 4OZ. (112G)) Calories: 210
From Fat: 130 Total Fat 17 g.
Saturated Fat 5 g.
Cholesterol 95 mg.
Sodium 70 mg.
Total Carbs 0 g.
Protein 21 g.


If you were to use 8 servings of thigh and 8 servings of breast, the nutritional information adds up to:
Nutrition Information
Calories: 2320
From Fat: 960 Total Fat 106 g.
Saturated Fat 20 g.
Cholesterol 1200 mg.
Sodium 1880 mg.
Total Carbs 0 g.
Protein 328 g.

Bulking needs calories. Most of the energy for growing muscle can easily come from fat, that isn't a problem.

 

[BBAddict]

Re: The importance of diet

138 grams of fat? Is that with the skin or without?:think:

I agree that it's not a bad amount of fat, but considering the fact that you should be getting omega-3,6,9 fats and maybe even flax seed, I think it's best to watch the amount of animal fats that are consumed. They're definitely less than ideal fats.

 

[ryano]

Re: The importance of diet

Could just inject one of those bad boys... with some bacon grease,butter, and some spices.

Seriously though ...just taking of the skin would reduce the fat considerably...

I am going to try this approach on my next bulk. If anything. I have to break in my new Smokey Mountain Weber.

 

[Synthetik]

Re: The importance of diet

Or have you all ever heard this one: "What is the best fat burner?" I was asked by my bro a few weeks back, and I told him that it's all about the food you eat. Fat burners will only assist you only if your diet is in check. Then he starts telling me he drinks coke, eats sweets, snacks late, etc.....WTF.....

Although, I have to admit that I was one of those that thought the latest pill on the market was going to help me get lean and big. Little did I know food was cheaper and 100x better!

 

[Blinq]

Re: The importance of diet

For the endomorphs keeping the diet in check all-year round is 'a must'. Lucky ppl seem to get results without paying so much attention to what they eat, but surely 'dieting' pays off.

 

[exnihilo]

Re: The importance of diet

To chime in on this thread (because I love to voice my opinions, lol) -

If your training is 100% in line, dieting dictates how much fat you gain when building up, and how much muscle you lose when cutting down. This is important if you want to stay lean most of the time, because if your diet is not in line you will end up getting fat trying to bulk, then lose all the muscle and strength you just gained trying to lean back down - a nasty tread mill. If you only care about getting big and strong as hell, diet isn't really that important (see: dave tate).

As far as looking pretty, it's all about diet I don't think logging what you eat is really that important though, unless you are trying to go sub-12% bf. It's pretty easy to keep your calorie count in check just by limiting fatty food intake and eating a reasonable portion of food on a regular schedule. I'm sure you could get slightly better results by counting meticulously, but I don't think it's worth it for the majority of people out there.

 

[xaktsaroth]

Re: The importance of diet

About amount of fat in the diet, It is so hard to go to 40/40/20 protein/carb/fat. It is easy to go like 35/35/30.

 

[Grunt76]

Re: The importance of diet

About amount of fat in the diet, It is so hard to go to 40/40/20 protein/carb/fat. It is easy to go like 35/35/30.

True, although some people naturally dislike fatty foods. Not me though. For some people, the % of macros seems to be more important than for others.

This explains the neverending debate in nutrition circles about "cals in / cals out" and "not all cals are the same" shools of thought.

 

[1ad man]

Re: The importance of diet

i had a question in terms of losing bodyfat which cardio equipment is more productive the treadmill or elipitical climbers or walkers i should say. My friend said bikes and stairclimbers are more effective i argued and said that treadmill burns more fat around the whole body .

so which one is more effective in terms of burning fat thanks guys.