Healthy Eating Tips for the Busy Bodybuilder on the Go!

Healthy Eating Tips for the Busy Bodybuilder on the Go!

Food matters a lot, especially to a bodybuilder. Unfortunately, life moves at a rapid pace, so there isn’t always enough time to cook a healthy meal. Does this mean you have no choice but to rely on greasy burgers from McDonald’s? We think not!

Choosing Wisely

Here’s the thing that many bodybuilders fail to realize — it’s completely okay to eat at fast food joints while on a bodybuilding diet. Check it out.

Burger Mania

Believe it or not, but a healthy meal can be had from even the likes of McDonald’s. How? Ever consider getting a grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo? Couple that with a side salad with fat-free vinaigrette dressing and you have yourself a relatively healthy and tasty meal loaded with 40 grams of protein!

Here’s the thing — practically every burger joint in America offers grilled chicken sandwiches and side salads. And it just so happens that there are dozens of burger joints in every city. Get the picture?

Veggies Galore

Quite a lot of fast food entities offer a near unlimited supply of veggie add-ons. Consider Subway. Any sandwich can be loaded with black olives, banana peppers, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles and more! Yeah, some of them might not fit perfectly with say a steak sub, but it’s well worth asking for a deluxe! Why? It means more fiber, more nutrients and more grub.

In fact, if you add every vegetable option, you suddenly up the nutritional content by 4% iron, 15% vitamin A, 1% calcium and 4% iron. And you get all that for just 80 added calories. Added to that is the simple fact that veggies tend to be more filling than carbs, especially when eaten in bulk.

Being Nitpicky

The real trick to eating healthy while on the go while maintaining your bodybuilding regimen lies with the details.

Size Matters

Many of our readers are 250-pound hulks who bench 600 pounds with ease, but if you are not one of them, for the love of God, never choose a super-sized portion. You do not need to be eating 1000-calorie meals. It makes zero sense, and it’s apt to make you fat a lot quicker than it makes you ripped.

Do you want to know what else matters? Labels! Yes, labels suck when dealing with people, but they serve an important function when we speak about food. Consider labels like batter-dipped, breaded, scalloped, au gratin or pan-fried. They should right off the bat inspire the word “NO” from you, and you KNOW why!

So Do Condiments

A huge chunk of bad calories and fat lies in simple, everyday condiments that we take for granted. Did you know for instance than honey mustard contains 3 grams of fat per serving? A lot of people mistakenly assume honey mustard is as harmless as regular mustard, but that is very, very wrong.

The best way to protect yourself while on the go is to limit yourself to just ketchup and mustard. This means no mayo, no ranch dressing, no sour cream, no spreads and certainly no honey mustard. This is in fact why adding vegetables is so important. It makes up for the slightly reduced taste favor.

Below is a list of condiments that are safe for a bodybuilding diet:

  • Ketchup
  • Mustard
  • Hot Sauce (tip: for less sodium, try Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy)
  • Salsa
  • Curry Powder
  • Cinnamon
  • Vinegar
  • Hummus
  • Lemon/Lime

Final Thoughts

Living the bodybuilding lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to the perks of normal living. It means only that you need to fine-tune your decisions. Choose grilled chicken over beef and pork. Load up on vegetables. Choose a healthy portion size. And watch out for condiments. It’s that simple.