How to Build Body Mass With Food

Building body mass requires lots of hard work and dedication in the gym. However, if you don't eat the right types of foods, you won't be able to pack on as much muscle mass. The underlying principles of building body mass are these: you must take in more calories than you're burning, and you need to eat the right types of calories to maximize your muscle gains. A proper mass building diet coupled with the right exercise plan can result in significant mass gains over time.

Things You'll Need

• Diet journal
• Protein supplement

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Instructions

• 1

  Determine how many calories you need each day to gain weight. There are several useful calorie calculators on the web. You can use the weight gain calculator resource below, or find another one that works for you. These calorie calculators use the Harris-Benedict equation to calculate the calories you should eat each day based on your height, weight, age and activity level.

• 2

  Change the ratio of carbohydrates, fat and protein you're currently eating. To gain mass, you should get 50 percent of your calories from protein, 40 percent of your calories from carbohydrates and 10 percent of your calories from fat. In general, to gain mass you need to eat at least one gram of protein per pound of body weight every day.

• 3

  Eat the right types of protein. Choose lean protein that comes from fish like salmon and tuna; poultry like chicken and turkey; and cuts of beef like sirloin and flank. Other great sources of lean protein include skim milk, yogurt, eggs, tofu and beans. Buy a whey protein supplement, and drink 1-2 protein shakes each day to get extra protein.

• 4

  Eat the right types of carbohydrates. Most of your carbs should come from whole foods. This means you should get your carbohydrate calories from fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans.

• 5

  Eat the right types of fat. Although fat will make up a small percentage of your daily calorie intake, you still need to eat the right types of fat to build body mass. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are the "good" fats and saturated and trans fats are the "bad" fats you should avoid. Eat foods like olive oil, canola oil, nuts and fish to get your daily fat intake.

• 6

  Start tracking everything you eat. Write down the number of calories and grams of protein, fat and carbohydrates you're eating at every single meal in a diet journal. Keeping a food journal helps you track your dietary progress over time. You can also look at the mass you gain in a given week, and compare it to the foods you eat so you can see what foods work best for you.