Women's bodybuilding diet

Overview
For women who body build, poor nutrition is a mistake they cannot afford to make. While following a good diet is important for men, it's even more crucial to a woman's success in the gym. On average, women carry less muscle, more fat and have slower metabolisms than their male counterparts. For these reasons, it is critical that a woman bodybuilder stick to a well thought-out plan.

Ignore the Gimmicks
Female bodybuilders need similar nutrition to men when following a bodybuilding program. Most supplements (such as protein powders and bars) that cater to women are nothing more than the same supplements sold to men, simply repackaged, and sold at a higher price and smaller serving. According to bodybuilding expert Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale, about 30 percent of total calories should come from protein. Many of the supplements geared towards women will not have enough protein for the female bodybuilder.

What to Eat
The ideal bodybuilding diet is rich in protein and complex carbohydrates. With some healthy fats. Great protein sources include lean meat fish and poultry as well as eggs. Complex carbohydrates should come from whole grain breads and pasta, oatmeal, and brown rice. Vegetables are important for the vitamins and fiber. Healthy fats include olive oil, fish oil, natural peanut butter and avocado. A typical daily food intake would total about 1800 calories per day. Most bodybuilders use a ratio of about 30 percent protein 30 percent fat and 40 percent complex carbohydrates.

Give Yourself a Hand
Your own hand may be the single best measurement tool you have for figuring out serving sizes. A serving of lean meat should be about the size of your open hand with fingers together. A serving of complex carbohydrates such as rice or pasta should come out to about the size of your closed fist. You can have all the vegetables you want and just enough healthy fat to make your food more palatable. Your hand is a great tool for when you are on the go and do not have time to carefully plan your meal. Bodybuilding is all about consistence, being able to quickly measure servings will help keep you on track.

Graze, Don't Gorge
Female bodybuilders generally keep their meals small and frequent. Six meals per day is the norm. Meals typically total about 300 to 500 calories each, with the highest calorie meals right after training. Most women bodybuilders will eat about six times per day. A protein shake can be used as a small meal, for example. Small, frequent meals help keep the metabolism high, which aids in burning fat. A constant supply of dietary protein helps give bodybuilders the necessary tools to build muscle.

Consolidated Cooking
Rather than cooking meals individually, Bodybuilders generally cook large amounts of food at a time, divide the food into separate meals and store the meals in plastic containers in the refrigerator. This allows them to take their meals with them to work, school or the gym so they are never far from a healthy meal. Meals higher in carbohydrates are eaten before training when more energy is needed. Meals high in both protein and carbohydrates are eaten after training to replenish muscles. Meals throughout the rest of the day are high in protein and healthy fats. Carbohydrates tend to be lower the rest of the day because unless they are needed for energy, and they can convert quickly to body fat.

Cheat Meals
Many bodybuilders will schedule one cheat meal during the week. There are two main reasons for this. First, a cheat meal helps limit cravings during the rest of the week. It's not as difficult to stay on a plan if the dieter knows she will be able to eat whatever she wants at least once per week. Further, sticking to a strict diet can leave muscles depleted and slow down the metabolism. A high-calorie meal can help replenish muscles and boost the metabolism without derailing the diet.