Beginner Endomorph Muscle Building Nutrition

Generally you have a large frame and tend to be heavier than most.

You have a slower metabolism, and carbs can become a problem relatively quickly.

You are usually working to drop weight/lean out and/or increase your strength.

When exercising, building muscle mass happens almost just by looking at the weights.

You've indicated that your experience level is on the lower end, so keeping it simple is the best idea.  You don't need to worry so much about calorie counting and tracking exact grams of intake for protein, carbs, fat, etc and should focus mostly on improving overall healthy eating habits.

As a Endomorph, building muscle and strength is your strong-suit.  The key is to do it in a manner that will allow you to show of that muscle, instead of hiding it under a few layers of fat.  While following these recommendations, if you notice that you are gaining more fat than you would like (because you are getting stronger but are [visibly] seeing less and less muscle) up your protein portions and decrease your carb portions with each meal and wait 2-4 weeks and re-evaluate.  Repeat this process until you are getting the results you are looking for.

The Key factors you need to focus on are:​
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• Try to follow a consistent eating schedule, whatever it may be (once every two hours, or only 2-3 meals a day) so long as you are as consistent as possible with the meal times.
  • Since your goal is to gain lean muscle mass - while we like to offer you the freedom to eat when/how it works best for you, it may be too difficult to eat enough total calories to gain weight with only 2-3 meals a day.  For that reason, it will probably work best to eat a minimum of 4 meals each day, and even up to 6 depending on your activity level and metabolism in order to eat enough to add muscle.

• Try to follow the meal guidelines below as much as possible.  The goal here is progress, not perfection - so only make changes your diet to meet these guidelines that you feel confident you can stick with and follow consistently, and progress from there.

• Try to include as much food as possible from the "superfoods" listed below.​​

• Eat until you feel around 80-90% full, if after a few weeks of following these recommendations you are not seeing any weight gain eat until you feel completely full and increase your overall daily caloric intake (increase the portion sizes slightly in each area or with just the protein and carbs).
  • If you increase your food portions and notice you are putting on weight, but not necessarily muscle mass then decrease the carb portion and increase your protein intake.

• Obviously, to build muscle you need to be following an exercise plan in addition to getting proper nutrition.

For Men, at each meal try to eat/include:

• 2 Palms (measure with the size of the palms of your hand) of a Protein food
• 2 Fists of vegetables
• 1 cupped handfuls of a carb source
  • less is more when trying to drop weight
• 3 thumbs of a fat source

For Women, at each meal try to eat/include:

• 1 Palm of a protein food
• 1 Fist of vegetables
• .5 cupped handfuls of a carb source
  • Again, Less is more when trying to drop weight
• 2 thumb of a fat source

If you are following an exercise/workout routine -  eat a meal 1-2 hours pre and post workout.

Superfoods:

Proteins:

• Lean Red Meat (Beef, Venison, Bison, Preferably Grass-Fed)
• Chicken (Ideally Free-Range and/or Grass-Fed)
• Salmon (Preferably Wild-Caught).
• Eggs (Ideally Omega-3 and/or Cage-Free)
• Plain Greek Yogurt
• Cottage Cheese
• Coconut Milk Yogurt
• Protein Supplements

Carbs:

• Mixed Beans
• Quinoa
• Whole Oats
• Sweet Potatoes
• Rice (depending on how/what you cook with it.  Preferably organic and/or brown rice.)

Drinks:

• Green Tea (or any Tea not sweetened artificially or with sugar)
• Sports Drinks (Such as a Pre/Post-Workout)
• Purified/Mineralized Water

Fruits/Vegetables:

• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Kale
• Generally Any Coniferous Vegetables
• Carrots
• Mushrooms
• Mixed Berries
• Oranges
• Pineapple
• Grapefruit

Fats:

• Raw, Unsalted Mixed Nuts
• Avocados
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Fish Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Flax Seeds
• Grapeseed Oil (Non-GMO, preferably Organic)

Herbs & Stuff:

• Garlic
• Ginger
• Turmeric
• Cumin
• Cinnamon

This list is by no means all-inclusive, but should give you an idea where to start and should serve as a guide for some of the best foods to include in your diet.

Important note:  The weight loss industry is renowned for being full of s***.  Most (if not all) of the fad diets you come across are not worth your time, and the same goes for the supplements.  I have personally researched these and know them to be solid, no b.s. products that will deliver the results they promise.

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