Weight training increases your body's calorific needs.
The extra calories will go towards building muscle and improving your body shape.
It not enough to just pump iron and work out the different exercise machines at your gym, you also need to take care of your body's need for extra nutrition and calories during this period.
A good diet helps in muscle growth and recovery from fatigue after exercise.
Also, as your muscles develop and grow your dietary needs will keep changing.
You may have to eat more and modify the calories consumed from week to week.
How do you keep track of diet and nutrition while building muscles? Your first friend in this journey are your bathroom scales.
You have to keep track of your weight on a regular basis.
Are you gaining weight? Despite working out and eating well if you are still not gaining enough weight may be your diet needs to be changed.
Check yourself in a mirror.
Are you gaining weight mainly on your buttocks? Some foods settle as fat around the waist.
Some people find that their bellies are growing bigger.
So you will have to change what you eat to eliminate the excess fat deposition.
Measure using body fat calipers Use calipers to measure your fat every 2 weeks.
This helps you know whether you are gaining fat or muscle.
Use the right equipment and help from experts to measure this and chart it to track progress every week/month.
If the diet is right you will gain muscle mass and no fat.
In fact your body fat will be converted to lean muscle.
If you don't enough your muscle itself will suffer a breakdown which is not the aim of your bodybuilding diet.
So eat according to the needs of your body.
Make your own diet and nutrition program To gain weight you need to eat more calories than what you burn off due to metabolism and exercise.
Now calculate how many calories you are burning off due to exercise and your normal body functions.
Some folks have a naturally high metabolic rate.
They need to eat more than those with slow metabolism.
You will need to eat a little extra to start building muscles.
Once you know the amount to eat extra you will have to decide the type of foods to consume.
Some foods just don't work.
Replace them with other alternatives that work for you.
Many muscle-building programs have detailed nutrition plans, recipes and blueprints to follow during the weight gain and muscle-building phase.
Just use the listed recipes to include in your diet chart.
Just vary the several alternatives listed so you don't get bored by eating the same foods.