Hardgainer Nutrition: Hardgainer Food Group Hierarchy

by InAllHonesty

FeedTheVillage.com - Tips and Advice: Hardgainer Nutrition: Hardgainer Food Group Hierarchy

Hardgainer Mass Building Nutrition Pyramid

This article will be the hardgainers guide to the different food groups.

I can not stress this point enough; if you want to get big you need to eat like you want to get big.

Forget about sticking a needle in your arms and messing around with pro hormones, go to your local grocery store.

Your grocery store should be the foundation of your program.

What you buy, what you eat, and how much you eat is vital to the success of gaining weight. protein powders, creatine, and vitamins are all important, but will always come second to a good strong healthy diet.

Sports nutrition is a complex and very detailed subject, for the sake of this guide, and your sanity, I am going to keep it as simple as possible.

You can also find books on being a hard gainer below:

Here is your hardgainer food group hierarchy:


** Consult your physician before taking any supplements or changing your diet**


1) Water! -That’s right, good old h20.

Maybe not a food group, but it should always be at the top of the list.

You will want to drink at least 8 glasses of water each day.

You will want to spread this out as much as possible.

If you expect to train to your fullest potential then you must be hydrated at all times.

Sure you will have to go to the bathroom a lot, but that is a good thing.

Sports drinks and juices are good too, but should not be substituted for the 8 glasses of water per day. Watch the sugar content in your juice.

Ever notice something that says “contains 10% juice?” Well, what they really should write is this juice is 90 % sugar.

Stay away from sugar, and keep it simple with ice water.

If you get sick of plain ice water add a lemon or lime to sooth your pallet.


2) Protein- will be the one area that you should record daily on paper.

Getting the proper amount of protein is an absolute must if you expect your muscles to grow.

To keep this as simple as possible, you will want to figure one or one and a half grams protein per pound of body weight.

For example if you weight 154 pounds, you will want to take in at least 154 grams of protein per day.

Between tuna, protein shakes, nuts and peanut butter, you should have no problem consuming one or two grams of protein per pound of body weight.

If you lack protein, you will lack size, simple as that.









3) Fiber- will be the next thing you will want to look for.

In order for your body to digest all of the protein you must offset it with as much fiber as possible.

There are many different foods that will give you the fiber you are looking for.

Your standard Quaker Oat will provide you will a very good source of fiber intake.

Oatmeal may sound boring but be creative and throw peanut butter, nuts, or your favorite fruit for a unique variation.


4) Good Carbs- are things like whole wheat pasta, whole grain bread, oats.

Carbs are your starches. Go ahead and substitute that plain white piece of bread for a five grain whole wheat slice and shove it full of deli meats.

It’s the little things that you will need to change to get the big results.

In fact, I prefer the taste of whole wheat over any other type of bread.

Oh yeah, and whole wheat beagles in the morning with all natural peanut butter is amazing!



5) Fruits and Vegetables -come next.

Fruits and vegetables are full of nutrients that your body needs to gain.

When it comes to fruits, bananas are the way to go.

They are full of fiber and potassium.

Oranges are too a very good selection for they will help build your immune system as with their abundance of vitamin C.

As far as veggies go, if you can eat them raw, then go for it.

Instead of cooking your green beans or carrots, give them a quick wash under clean cold water; and eat.

The advantage to eating raw veggies is that you will not lose any nutrients that may be lost in the cooking process.

Broccoli is another great one.

The joy of being a hard gainer is we can load our veggies with butter and ranch dressing to get those extra calories we so desperately need.


See, being a hard gainer is not so bad.





6) Milk- if you can drink it, go for it.

Milk is great source of calcium that will aid in the muscle building process.

I unfortunately am lactose intolerant and am unable to give any personal experience here, but from what I have been told, seen, and read, is that milk is good for your body.

Same deal with the weight gainers.

I can’t drink them, but hear they work well.


7) Supplements- Supplements are a great ADDITION to any diet.

Just make sure you don’t jump on the liquid diet and drink all your protein.

Do buy a good protein powder and use it one or two times a day as a meal replacement.

Too much whey powder can cause an increased strain on the kidneys.

If you are interested in taking supplements, I recommend you read the supplements section of this hard gainers guide, as it contains valuable information on what a hard gainer should stack.