Nutritional Guidelines for Women

If you exercise at least 3 times a week, use the following formula to ensure you’re feeding your body enough to repair itself.

Eat 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day.

Eat 1.5 grams of carbs per pound of body weight per day.

Eat 1 gram of healthy fats per 4 pounds of body weight per day.

Example 130lb woman, it would look like this:

130 grams of protein

100 grams of carbs

32 grams of fat

That’s about 1600 calories per day. If your priority is to build muscle, then you need to add about 500 calories per day to your maintenance diet. Try bumping up your carbs by 50 grams per day and fats by 30 grams per day. If your trying to cut weight, then subtract 500 calories per day from your maintenance diet. Drop your carbs by 90 grams and your protein by 10 grams per day.

It is important to consume high quality calories. Junk food such as white bread, pastas, chips, juice and soda, will make you look and feel like crap, while good calories like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins, will keep you in tip-top shape.

Whole Food Proteins:

Lean Meats (Beef, pork, chicken and turkey)

Fish

Eggs

Protein Supplements

Egg, Whey and Casein

Vegetarian Options:

Eggs

Low Fat Cottage Cheese

Low Fat Greek Yogurt

Tempeh

Tofu

Quinoa

Almonds

Rice and Beans

List of Complex Carbs:

Acorn Squash

All-Bran Cereal

Black Beans

Black-Eyed Peas

Butternut Squash

Garbanzo Beans (chickpeas)

Green Peas

Kamut

Kidney Beans

Lentils

Lima Beans

Navy Beans

Oatbran Cereal

Oatmeal

Oats

Parsnips

Pinto Beans

Quinoa

Rice (brown, colored and wild)

Sweet Potato

Whole-Grain (breads, cereals and flours)

List of Veggies

Lettuce

Spinach

Broccoli

Green Beans

Cauliflower

Drink a lot of Water

The human body is about 60% water in adult males and 70% in adult females. Muscles are about 70% water. It is suggested that the average person—who is inactive—requires a minimum of 8-to-12 cups of water per day. However, this amount is far too low for bodybuilders and other active people. Active people need much more to replace the fluid lost during exercise.

Depending on your size and perspiration rate, you lose about four cups of water per hour of exercise. If you are working out in a mild climate, you are probably losing about 1/2 gallon of water through perspiration.

It has been reported by the Institute of Medicine that women should consume 91 ounces of water per day ¾ of a gallon. Men should consume 125 ounces or One gallon per day (a gallon is 128ounces.)