How to Calculate a Bodybuilding Diet

Nutrition is key to living a healthy and active lifestyle, and is even more important when you are wanting to build muscle mass through bodybuilding. The human body uses the nutrition that you ingest to properly repair and build new muscle. Choosing the proper diet when engaging in a bodybuilding exercise regimen is key to achieving successful results. Calculating the ideal diet is different for each person, as we all have differing physiological requirements.

Instructions

• 1

  Determining your metabolic rate is the first step in designing a personalized nutrition plan for bodybuilding. Using an online metabolic calculator, you can enter your weight, height, age and other relevant information to determine the amount of calories your body would need to engage in strenuous physical bodybuilding activity. This information will be used to determine the amount of fats, proteins and carbohydrates necessary for a properly balanced diet.

• 2

  Use the caloric requirement you've calculated, and divide it into a protein, carbohydrate and fat ratio of 30, 50 and 60 respectively. For a 3,000 calorie diet, you would need to consume 900 calories from protein. Since there are four calories in one gram of protein, you would divide 900 by four to calculate a protein requirement of 225 grams per day. You would need 1,500 calories from carbohydrates a day, and since one gram of carbohydrates contains four calories, you would need 375 grams of carbohydrates. The remaining 600 calories of your diet will come from fat. One gram of fat contains 9 calories; thus dividing 600 by 9 reveals that you will need 67 grams of fat per day.

• 3

  Divide your meals into five to six separate smaller daily meals. This mode of eating will help keep your body's metabolism at a higher rate, and will ensure your body is properly absorbing all of the nutrients that it requires.

• 4

  Choose foods that are free of by-products and artificial fillers, and reduce both your salt and dairy intake to prevent excessive water retention. Protein sources should be minimally processed, and your carbohydrates should be limited to complex carbohydrates only. A list of the best foods choices for a bodybuilding diet is available online at a number of convenient sites.