Want to look nice in your swimsuit this summer? Building abs and sculpting muscles starts in the kitchen before you ever hit the gym! Achieving muscle growth is a formula based on adequate calories, fluids, protein, and muscle-fatiguing strength training.

Drinking plenty of fluids, eating the right energy-rich foods along with weight lifting — all timed to fuel workouts and repair muscle tissue — will help you sculpt your muscles.

Nutrition Plan

A balanced dietary intake as recommended by the 2012 Dietary Guidelines is a good foundation for meal planning. In general, eating a well-balanced diet with enough calories to support exercise is the prescription.

Getting enough calories including adequate fat and protein, with an emphasis on five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables, plenty of whole grains, cereals, beans, legumes, and enough fluid for optimal hydration.

Muscles and Food

Fueling your workouts takes a combination of healthy carbs and protein.

Protein is important to build and repair muscles. Carbs provide the energy to fuel fitness.

You can’t eat protein and expect it turn to muscle,   pull protein into muscles with exercise.

Experts recommend these muscle-friendly foods:

• Fruit and vegetables – are the foundation of all healthy diets, providing fiber, vitamins, minerals, and fluids. Vegetables contain small amounts of protein.
• Low-fat dairy – provides high-quality protein, carbs, and essential vitamins such as vitamin D, potassium, and calcium. Rosenbloom and Clark recommend chocolate milk as a good workout recovery beverage. If you are lactose intolerant, you may tolerate yogurt with active cultures.
• Lean meat – This is a great source of protein, iron for oxygen transport to muscles, and amino acids including leucine, which Rosenbloom says is thought to be a trigger for muscle growth.
• Dark-meat chicken – Boneless skinless chicken is good, but go dark and increase iron by 25% and three times the zinc for a healthy immune system.
• Eggs – An egg a day is OK but don’t throw out the yolk. Eggs contain all of the essential amino acids and half the protein is in the yolk with other import nutrients like lutein for eye health.
• Nuts - Unsalted raw or roasted are a good source of protein that also contain vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, and healthy fats.
• Beans and whole grains – These quality carbs contain small amounts of protein for energy and muscle repair, along with fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.

Timing Is Everything

Timing is critical in muscle development because you need carbs and protein to perform strength training and protein and carbs for muscle recovery. The best plan is to eat a diet containing both nutrients and small amounts of healthy fats throughout the day.

Consuming a protein beverage like chocolate milk within an hour after exercise will give muscles the building blocks it needs when it is most receptive for repair.

If you will be eating a meal within 1-2 hours after a strenuous workout,you don’t need a snack and can wait for the meal to provide the recovery nutrition.

How Much?

More than half your calories should come from healthy carbs. Carbs supply fuel for energy and prevent protein from being broken down and used as an energy source so always fuel up before working out.

But be careful: It is a delicate balance of eating enough calories to build muscle but not too many calories, which can lead to gaining body fat.

Protein has a role to build and repair muscle tissue in addition to other functions, like producing hormones and immunity factors. Male endurance athletes should eat 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, whereas male body builders may need 1.6-1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

Two cups of milk contain about 20 grams of protein, which is the amount recommended to stimulate muscle protein synthesis.

But most people don’t eat by the numbers… The foundation of each meal is based on healthy carbs, with additional protein like oatmeal with nuts and yogurt; turkey and cheese sandwich with veggies or spaghetti with meat sauce, and a salad. These are all great for body building.

Athletes are advised to divide their food into four equally sized meals and choose three out of these four options: fruit or vegetable, grains, healthy fats, and calcium-rich or lean protein at each meal.

For a food plan designed just for you, consult a registered dietitian.

Get Muscle-Building Results by Fatiguing Muscles

The only way to build bigger, more defined muscles is with progressive resistance training – gradually increasing weights and endurance. Use a weight heavy enough to cause muscle fatigue after 9-12 repetitions. If you can easily do 13 repetitions with good form, you need to increase the weight.

It is the act of pushing the muscles past the comfort zone that promotes muscle growth and see more definition.

Strength training results show up quicker than aerobic exercise. It’s encouraging to start seeing enhanced definition fairly soon after working out at least twice a week for 30-45 minutes.

The exact length of time it takes to start seeing enhanced definition in your muscles also depends on your percentage of body fat. An extra fat layer around your muscles will not let the newly toned muscle show through without weight loss. Gaining 2 pounds of muscle per month is a reasonable expectation.

Strength training is vital to building muscles but it is also an important part of any fitness program and should be done 2-3 times per week for 20-30 minutes. It is a great investment in your future well-being because you need to use your muscles or you will lose them.

As we age, strength training helps maintain muscle strength, prevent osteoporosis, and decrease muscle and joint injuries.

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It is no big secret that good nutrition provides good health. Although most people are aware of the health benefits of eating nutritious food, many individuals still continue to neglect their choice of food and end up causing themselves unnecessary harm. Heres a list of how good nutrition can be beneficial for your body and mind

BETTER PERFORMANCE

To perform even the smallest task, the body needs to have energy. The proteins, fats and carbohydrates in the food you eat contribute to the energy that your entire body needs. But to conserve this energy you require certain vitamins and minerals, which can be obtained either from foods or supplements.
If your diet does not contain any of these integral vitamins and minerals, you could face serious health problems. By ensuring proper energy through the vitamin and mineral intake by means of the foods you eat, youll provide your body with the necessary fuel needed to do all the tasks required to maintain a healthy life.
These include the production and maintenance of body tissues, the electrical conduction of nerve activity, the mechanical work of muscle effort, and heat production to maintain body temperature.

GOOD FOR CELLS

The body functions through a very a synchronized intricate system. The cardiovascular, reproductive and respiratory systems can be broken down to a cellular level where hormones, enzymes and neurotransmitters are constantly interacting through complex processes to make the body function. These processes are all made possible by the nutrients that we ingest every day.
A diet deficient in vital nutrients will soon lead to disease. By eating foods from a variety of different sources both animal and plant-based you will provide your body with the essential nutrients without which its cells cannot function properly and effectively.

TISSUE GROWTH

Good nutrition has the advantage that it ensures growth, healing and the maintenance and build-up of muscle mass. For these essential processes to take place, the body needs energy, certain vitamins and minerals, but especially protein on a daily basis.
Protein can be obtained primarily from animal products such as meat, eggs and milk. Most plant foods are relatively poor in protein, with the exception of legumes and beans. Although the non-vegetarian diet generally incorporates enough protein, vegetarians may be getting too little of this vital nutrient. If youre a vegetarian, it is important that you make a point of including protein-rich foods in your diet. The advantage is that, should you suffer an injury, your body will be ready and able to repair the damaged tissue. You will also be able to maintain your muscle mass and increase it when you exercise.

BETTER IMMUNITY

Foods and nutrients can play an immune-boosting role. The key is to optimize your intake of plant-based foods, such as fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts and legumes. Including more omega-3 fatty acids in your diet by eating more fish is also helpful.

AVOID CHRONIC DISEASES

Good nutrition can be used as a tool to combat chronic diseases of lifestyle. It is a well-known fact that obesity and overweight can lead to chronic diseases, like diabetes type 2, heart disease, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and some cancers. Make a point of including more plant-based foods in your diet. Plant-based foods generally have a lower fat content, are rich in fibre and are also excellent sources of phytochemicals.

SOUND MENTAL HEALTH

The most basic principle in preventing depression and mood swings, is to eat a balanced diet that contains foods from all the different food groups fruit and vegetables, unprocessed grains and cereals, lean meat, eggs, milk and dairy products, legumes and nuts, poly or monounsaturated margarine and oils. A good diet and sufficient intake of the omega-3s, can also help to prevent Alzheimers disease later in life.
The only person responsible for your health is you. If you take the initiative to maintain good health, it will only benefit you.

Is sleeplessness bothering you? What about the difficulty to loose weight despite hardest efforts? Or is your hair line receding faster than what it had taken your father? Well, ever wondered why this was so? Scientists and dieticians of this world are arguing that this is and many other hosts of similar problems are connected to our diet!

Modern food is unfortunately not without harmful chemicals used either for growing vegetables, preserving or cooking flavonoids. Many dietary problems like indigestion and ulcer are frequent in people who have to depend on chemically treated food. In this background, the new school of theory which is gaining moment is eating whole and natural food. Meat and vegetables without preservatives, buying fresh and raw milk from vendors directly and fresh fruits are some of them.

Diet
Having said this, it doesnt diminish the importance of daily intake of various nutrients and calories. Deficiency in any of them will gradually show up as trivial problem initially.

Let us see what USDA has recommended for the Americans. If you are taking less than 1,800 calories as a teen, you must raise it by at least 200 counts a day. The figure goes further up for an active man. Also calorie needs of women are different from that of men. Example, an 18-year male needs 400-800 extra calories than women. What food gives these calories and how to calculate the calorific values? And what other nutrients make food balanced?

USDA has a chart food guide pyramid with suggestions to get these calories. You have to do some calculations to balance your diet.

o 5 servings of vegetables
o Four servings of fruits
o Three servings of milk products
o 11 of pasta, cereals, and bread
o Two to three servings of meat both red and white, eggs, nuts and beans put together.
o Sparingly, fats and sweets.

As per USDA US Department of Agriculture, one serving equals a bread slice; an ounce of cereal, a cup cooked rice and veggies each, one glass juice-milk each and 2-3 ounces lean meat, 1 cups boiled beans

Diet must not be seen in a limited context. Diet is a generic word so you have diets that suit patients too. The secret is eating as much as needed your body would absorb. Keeping a balance diet since young is important if you want to live to old age. It could save you a substantial savings on medical bills!

Why is it that all of us cannot keep the skin we were born with. Well Ive still got my skin but it has changed and, according to my mother, it has changed a lot. It would also need to have stretched a bit, well in my case stretched a lot. As we get older, things happen to our skin, like wrinkles. I have them but I am a man so I can get away with it. Unfortunately, ladies find it harder to get away with having a few wrinkles. As a man, I am not too bothered by a few wrinkles and as long as I keep my skin clean, I do not bother with it much and no one really notices. What we do notice though is skin on women, and because many men are somehow genetically programmed to be uncaring and insensitive about your skin, you spend a great deal of time and effort to make your skin look good.

Why is it then that men can get away with wrinkles but women cannot? Is there anything you can do about it? If you adopt a skin care program then this should help to affect how your skin looks and more importantly it will affect how you feel as well, and that is very important. You have to remember that the skin is the largest organ in your body and so by adopting a skincare program you are looking after yourself.

So what can you do about it? Well to start with after every shower even after you have dried yourself your skin is still damp and by applying moisturizer you are trapping moisture into your skin which is a great plus factor. Another one is to drink water and this hydration helps your skin as well. However, if you notice that even after this your skin is always dry and sometimes a little flakey, just visit your doctor to check things out. One other reason you should quickly visit is if there is a major change such as dark, or lighter, skin patches and any changes or growth to moles you may have. Get these checked out just to make sure you have no problems.

One thing to watch out for is the effect the sun has on your skin. The sun is at its fiercest when it is highest, which is generally at midday, so just take care. Applying a good sunscreen helps, and another thing to take into consideration is that elastin, which is a substance in your skin, breaks down under strong sunlight. This can cause the skin to sag so just be careful. It is a pity about the effects of sunlight on skin as most of us feel much happier when exposed to sunlight.

Rather than buy every skincare product on the market there is a lot you can do to help your skin by developing your own personal skincare program.

Healthy skin is helped by a healthy diet, and a healthy diet is usually a balanced diet containing fresh vegetables and fruit. Both of these have been found to contain antioxidants which can help your skin protect itself from day to day living. To get the best values from fruit and veg though it must be fresh or only lightly cooked.

Another important factor in skincare is skin hydration and this is helped by drinking a sensibly amount of water. I have seen it suggested that 4 to 8 cups a day is sensible but if you are drinking bottled mineral water check the chemical makeup of the water as some are high in sodium which means high salt levels. Do not fall into the trap that drinking 4 to 8 cups of coffee a day, which is mainly water after all, is as good for you. Coffee contains plenty of caffeine which helps the body to dispose of water. I had a great idea that I would drink beer instead of coffee as that is mainly water, but drinks containing alcohol, including wine, do not class as water either. It does not have to be bottled water either; tap water is fine as long as it is pure and clean. Not at bedtime though as drinking late at night means your body may retain this water causing your skin to stretch a little which is not something you want to happen.

Your skin also stretches when you become overweight and after a diet, and loosing weight, you will need to exercise to tone your skin into shape again. A younger person has more flexible skin but when you are older your skin is not as flexible and it becomes harder to tone your skin after loosing weight. The answer is not to try and put on weight in the first place but that is not always easy especially as we get older. However please try to keep weight gain off your skin care program as the two do not go together.

Whatever you decide to do, do some research and find out what will work best for you. One way of doing this is to talk to people selling skincare products in stores. Although their job is to try and sell you their product, they will still give you good advice. You could ask your friends as well, as some of them may be able to guide you in the right direction. Whatever you decide to do, good luck.