A proper condition program of losing weight should not exclude building muscle. Building muscle is good for your joints, your bones, your energy / stamina… and most importantly, to burn more calories.
Now only if there were foods that helped to build muscle and lose fat, right?! Well… they’re are!
To build muscle and lose fat, you need a variety of proteins, vegetables, fruits, carbohydrates (carbs), and healthy fats. Eating protein targets the building & maintaining of muscle. But, it also helps fat loss: protein has a higher thermic effect than carbohydrates or fats!
Eating fats also helps fat loss; your body holds fat if you don’t eat fats. Fruits & veggies contain vitamins & minerals, necessary for recovery from your workouts. And carbs fuel your muscles so you feel full of energy at the gym.
Lots of you struggle to get these foods. Sometimes because you’re too busy or sometimes because you just lack information. This list will help you. Bookmark it. Refer to it often. Build your shopping list around it! — 20 Super Foods To Build Muscle and Lose Fat At The Same Time?!
20 Super Foods To Build Muscle and Lose Fat At The Same Time?!
1. Whole Eggs — Cheap & rich source of protein: 7g/egg. The yolk contains most nutrients: half the protein, vitamins A/D/E and cholesterol to naturally increase your testosterone levels.
Don’t worry about cholesterol in eggs. Dietary cholesterol isn’t bound to blood cholesterol. If you have bad cholesterol, lower your body fat rather than throwing the yolk away.
2. Fish Oil — Reduces inflammation (joints/skin), lowers body fat and increases testosterone levels. You need 9000mg EPA/DHA per day. Since you’ll probably struggle to get that from eating fatty fish, consider a fish oil supplement.
3. Wild Salmon — One of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids that also gets you 20g protein per 100g serving. Farm raised salmon is, however, omega-3 deficient: it’s corn/grain fed. Go with wild salmon.
4. Berries — Strong antioxidants that prevent cancer, heart & eye diseases. Any kind works: cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc. Buy fresh or frozen berries and mix with oatmeal.
5. Yogurt — Contain bacteria that improve your gastrointestinal health. Don’t buy frozen yogurt or yogurt with added sugar and fruits at the bottom. Get plain low fat yogurt. Eat it with berries & flax seeds.
6. Flax Seeds — Source of fiber, protein & omega-3. Grind the flax seeds to get the most out of them. Take 1 tbsp with yogurt & berries before going to bed. Stay away from flax oil: it’s unstable and contains no fiber.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
7. Extra Virgin Olive Oil — 70% monounsaturated fats that protect against heart diseases and cancer. Add 1-2 tbsp olive oil to your salads. Buy Extra Virgin Olive Oil: it contains more polyphenols and tastes better.
8. Mixed Nuts — Contain mono- & polyunsaturated fats, proteins, fiber, vitamin E, zinc, potassium, magnesium, etc. Mixed nuts are caloric dense, great if you’re a skinny guy who wants to gain weight.
Anything works: almonds, walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts, … Peanut butter also works as long as you buy natural peanut butter without added salts/sugars.
9. Red Meat — Protein, vitamin B12, heme iron, zinc, creatine, carnosine and even omega-3 if you eat grass-fed beef. Eat steaks & hamburgers from top round or sirloin. Read Dr. Lonnie Lowery’s article on Meat.
10. Broccoli — High in cancer-fighting phytochemicals and anti-estrogenic indoles. Broccoli is also high in soluble fiber and low calorie, helping fat loss. Eat other cruciferous vegetables for a change: cabbage, bok choy, cauliflower, kale, …
11. Spinach — One of the most alkaline foods. Spinach prevents muscle & bone loss, but also cancer and heart diseases because of its high nutrient profile. Try one of the spinach recipes I shared a while back.
12. Turkey — If you don’t believe saturated fat is good for you, try white turkey. The leanest beef has about 4.5g saturated fat/100g, while white turkey has close to 0g (that why it’s so dry). Eat turkey with spinach & quinoa.
Quinoa
13. Quinoa — South American “king of grains”. Quinoa is higher in fiber & protein than rice or oats, tastes a lot better and is gluten free. Buy the whiter grain, it’s better quality. Eat it post workout with meat & spinach.
14. Oats — Reduce cholesterol, provide you with low-gi carbs for energy, and high in soluble fiber. Try this post workout shake of whey & oats.
15. Tomatoes — High in lycopene, which prevents cancer. The lycopene in tomato paste is 4 times more bioavailable than in fresh tomatoes. Have pizza or pasta with tomato sauce & olive oil post strength training.
16. Oranges — Vitamin C to fight diseases, magnesium to lower blood pressure, anti-oxidant beta-carotenes, etc. Quit drinking processed orange juice which often has added sugars. Eat oranges or make your own orange juice.
17. Apples — Pectin in apples helps weight loss by increasing satiety. Apples are also the strongest antioxidiant after cranberries (eat the peels). Unfortunately apples are one of the most pesticide-contaminated fruits. Go organic.
18. Carrots — Their huge vitamin A content improves eye-health, especially night vision. Carrots are also rich in fiber, low calorie and taste good, even raw.
19. Water — Your body holds water if you don’t drink enough. Drinking prevents water retention, helps muscle recovery and prevents dehydration from strength training. Get a brita filter and drink 2 cups of water with each meal.
Green Tea
20. Green Tea — Strong antioxidant and natural diuretic. Green tea also speeds up fat loss, prevents cancer and improves blood sugar & circulation. Drink green tea in the morning instead of coffee. Real green tea, not the teabags.
In Closing
A healthy diet and healthy lifestyle means significant sacrifice and drastic changes. It’s an education process followed by an implementation process.
At the point of me writing this article, I have lost 35 pounds (245 to 210) in a span of 8 weeks. How?
I’ve reduced my portion size, I drink water 95% of the time… and 1% milk, I do not snack on ANYTHING outside of something like nuts, particularly almonds (all-natural, not roasted or salted), no fast foods of any kind, and no desserts. A good guide for food is… if you can sit something out for 3 hours, in the heat, and it won’t go bad… don’t eat it!
5 Comments
Whole eggs and salmon are my favourites! Always remember to eat proper and enough food even though you are planning to lose weight. Great post anyway!
Harold recently posted..Should You Give Les Mills Pump a Try?
Every individual searching for the instructions on proper diet foods as well as with including muscle building then I think this place is more essential for them, here we can get the opportunity to go through the options for build muscle with proper knowledge on diet foods.
These mentioned 20 super foods are really worked as a super natural power which give a perfect result on muscle building with balance diet.
use hcg
These are great foods you have listed to help with weight loss and build muscle. If you stick with high protein foods, you build the muscle you want — basically 1 gram of protein for each pound you weigh — thanks for the write-up!
Jessica Johnson recently posted..How to Increase Your FICO Score 50 Points in 30 Days
Most of the people have a myth that if you take red meat, you will not be able to loose your weight. You have presented this point that red meat also very important to loose fat and gain muscle. Because red meat have got many healthy ingredients which are most needed for our body. Others was the green tea and water. These are also very important. People take so much things to loose weight but forget about water
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Well presented, keep going with your good works.
Ralph recently posted..Study shows that Phentermine is an Effective Weight Loss Solution
the food list you have mentioned is really nice but i usually drink green tea and i think its much better and easy to drink a cup of green tea because in normal days we are busy and we dont have enough time to mentain such routine so i always love and i always prefer green teae specially those who have a busy life. and thanks for sharing with us.
Alan Green
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[...] protein: 7 g per egg. The yolk contains most nutrients: half the protein, vitamins A/D/E and cholesterol to naturally increase your testosterone [...]