Can you eat 3000+ calories each day? Try this Muscle Meal Plan.
To maximise the time you spend in the gym you need to back it up with quality nutrition. No matter how hard you train, if you do not eat properly and supply the body with the necessary calories and nutrients then ultimately you’re hindering your own progress. You gotta eat to grow!
The foundation of this plan is a fairly typical mass-gain diet designed to help you pack 3000+ calories into your diet each day. Geared towards building lean muscle mass, it’s all about meals packed with quality protein, complex carbohydrates and essential fats. The body building muscle building phase requires a strict high calorie/high protein diet and shouldn’t withhold carbs, especially during active cardio days.
Build muscle, not fat
There is a clear difference between getting bigger and getting more muscular. Ideally, we want to gain weight without gaining fat which means you can’t just hit the McDonald’s drive-thru to meet your calorie targets. You simply justify eating stacks of junk food in an effort to stimulate muscle growth. Good, high-calorie dense foods include peanuts, peanut butter, raw oats, lean red meat, bagels and dried fruit.
With 3000 calories per day you should be able to pack on some quality muscle. You may find that you’re eating more food than you’re used to. Healthy meals are generally less calorie dense, so you may need to increase your portion sizes to meet your calorie requirements.
Don’t avoids fats altogether. Walnuts, peanut butter, almonds, avocados, salmon and olive oil are all important as they provide the healthy fats that help your joints recover after a heavy workout. Aim to keep unhealthy fats, however, to a minimum.
Eat often
Eat 6 (or more) times a day. Fuel your body with multiple small meals and snacks each day to keep your blood sugar levels under control and your metabolism steady, and to stimulate new muscle production. If your goal is to grow, don’t ever let your body turn to present body mass as fuel.
Protein
To see solid muscle gains while remaining quite lean is that you need to keep your protein levels high. For a bodybuilding diet, recommendations are to consume 1.0-1.6g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. It’s healthiest to divide your protein consumption into 5 or 6 meals evenly spaced throughout the day to reach your target.
While the strategy is to get protein at every meal and snack, you may need to supplement with a high protein shake one to three times per day. Vitalstrength Pro-Muscle is a genuine high protein mass gainer packed with superior quality whey protein isolates, quality carbohydrates in an ideal 60:40 mass gain ratio to replenish glycogen stores, reduce muscle breakdown and put your body into an anabolic growth state.
A slow-digesting protein before bed is ideal, whether it be in the form of cottage cheese, Greek yoghurt or a protein powder. Pro-Muscle contains both fast and slow-digesting proteins, with calcium caseinate taking several hours to digest. That means your body gets a slow and steady source of amino acids through most of the night, preventing it from breaking down your muscles for their amino acids, which are then converted to fuel for your brain while you sleep.
Keep it personal
Diets and meal plans are not necessarily ‘one-size fits all’ and should not be treated as such. The following provides a guideline for reaching a target of 3000 calories. Exact portion sizes will vary according to your weight and should be individually calculated for a meal plan personalised to your needs.
Depending on your weight, activity levels and metabolism, you may need more or less calories than what is prescribed in this plan. Monitor your progress and adjust as necessary to achieve the muscle gains you’re looking for.
IMPORTANT: If you eat this and you don’t work out, you will gain fat. 3000 calories is more than most people need, and excess calories will be stored as fat in your body.
3000+ CALORIE MUSCLE MEAL PLAN
Muscle Meal Plan Meal #1 – Breakfast
- 3 whole eggs (cooked & scrambled)
- 3 egg whites (cooked & scrambled)
- 2/3 cup cooked oatmeal
- ½ tbsp natural almond butter
Approximate Calories = 520
Muscle Meal Plan Meal #2 – Post-workout
- Protein shake – 3 scoops Vitalstrength Pro Muscle
- With 400ml milk
- 1 large apple
Approximate Calories = 570
Muscle Meal Plan Meal #3 – Mid-morning
- ½ Cup Cottage cheese
- 1 cup blueberries
Approximate Calories = 150
Muscle Meal Plan Meal #4 – Lunchtime
- 150g Poached chicken breast
- 2 cups green salad + half an avocado
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
Approximate Calories = 550
Muscle Meal Plan Meal #5 – Afternoon
- Protein shake – 3 scoops Vitalstrength Pro Muscle
- With 400ml milk
- Banana
Approximate Calories = 600
Muscle Meal Plan Meal #6 – Dinner
- 220g Grilled salmon
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1 cup steamed vegetables/small salad with a drizzle of olive oil
Approximate Calories = 620
Muscle Meal Plan Meal #7 – Nighttime snack
- Protein shake – 3 scoops Vitalstrength Pro Muscle
- With 400ml milk
Approximate Calories = 480
(This Muscle Meal Plan is based on a morning workout. If you train of an evening, adjust your meal timings to suit.)
If you liked this diet, why not checkout our full 7 day muscle meal plan for mass here.