6-Week Meal Plan To Burn Fat And Grow Muscle

Usually bodybuilders and beginners who want to build on muscles while staying lean follow the same principle of bulking: eating everything that’s available to them. Then they start off “cutting” or burning fat by lowering their calories and choosing cleaner, healthier options. Though this strategy works wonders, it takes a lot of time to get into a desirable shape. Also excessive eating and cutting can lead to serious health concerns on cellular level, making it difficult for the athlete to manage weight at a desired scale.

Athletes work out hard, both on the field and in the gym. But training is only part of the equation. They also need to eat right. Leslie Bonci, RD, director of sports nutrition says “If you’re only [focused on training] you might not get the body you want, and you may increase your risk of injury.”

Barry Rubin, head strength and conditioning coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, believes that having an unhealthy body weight not only slows you down but also makes you more sluggish and vulnerable to injury. “You can’t outrun your calories,” he says. “If you start doing that, you’re going to get hurt and over train.”

If you look to cut down fat and build muscle instead, then focusing on every calorie that goes into your mouth is very important. Watching your diet also helps merge the above two phases into one, helping you to build muscle while losing fat, achieving a fit body.

In order for you to witness a noticeable difference, try this diet for a period of six weeks.

Breakfast – Coffee

In the morning take 12 ounces of black coffee, which offer 4 calories while revving up your metabolism. Depending upon your taste, you can make any type of coffee that you want. Here is a recipe of French Press.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons coarsely ground coffee
• 12 ounces of water

Preparation Time: 6 min

Method

• Put ground coffee in French Press. Now pour in water. C
  lose the lid without stirring it. Leave it that way for 4 minutes.
• Use plunger down with the weight of your hand until it touches the bottom. Now quickly pour out the coffee and serve while hot.

From This Meal You Will Get:

4 calories, 0g protein, 0g fiber, 0g carbs, 0g fat

Need Anything Else?

For breakfast you can consider from the following options:

• One serving of any fruit of your choice
• 4 eggs
• Quarter cup of nuts
• 8 ounces lean meat
• 2 Tablespoons natural peanut butter

Lunch – Avocado And Salmon

You can easily get 45 grams of protein that help in muscle building and omega-3 fatty acids that improve heart health, increase recovery while reducing inflammation.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces salmon OR a single chicken breast
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and Pepper for taste
• Half Avocado OR 3 eggs

Preparation Time: 13 min

Method

• Pour olive oil on the salmon. Now sprinkle salt and pepper. Grill each side for 5 minutes.
• Cut avocado in half and serve along with the fish. Alternatively, you can serve the fish with 3 eggs.

From This Meal You Will Get:

480 calories, 47g protein, 7g fiber, 9g carbs, 29g fat

Dinner – Chicken With Potatoes

24 ounces of potatoes will provide you with sufficient carbs that will help in regeneration of new muscles. If you are not fond of eating potatoes, you can replace them with 4 cups of white rice or you can opt for both, reducing their quantity.

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• One and half red potato, cut
• One large sweet potato, cut
• 8 ounce chicken fillet
• 1 cup white rice
• ½ red pepper, cut
• ½ cup carrot, cut
• 1 cup broccoli

Preparation Time: 35 minutes

Method

• Pour 1 tablespoon oil in a wok. Fry red and sweet potato until they are slightly tender and brown. This would take around 12 minutes.
• Now take out the fried potatoes from the wok into a bowl and pour 2 tablespoon oil in it. Now stir fry chicken fillet for about 3 minutes on each side.
• Cook rice according to the instructions on the package.
• Now heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and stir fry red pepper, onion, carrots and broccoli for about 10 minutes so that they are soft and golden brown in colour.

The above recipes offer very few calories with rich sources of high-quality protein and some carbs that burn fat, help in regeneration of new muscles while providing the body needed energy to perform intense, anaerobic workouts. They keep on releasing energy slowly throughout the day so that you can burn fat during first half of the day while directing your energy into muscle growth during the rest of the day.