All bodybuilding trainers are always on lookout for that magic formula that can help them in building big muscle. Although such a magic formula is yet to be found but one thing that surely helps in a big way is Protein.

Protein is available in most of the food elements, however the quantity of protein component varies. Food items like meat, eggs, fish, cheese and milk are some of the richest protein sources. Protein is the food that your muscles need. Your muscle growth can be said to be directly proportional to your protein intake.

However, there is a way to maximize your returns with protein. All bodybuilding programs recommend that you increase your calories per meal as well as the number of meals per day. Same holds true here. You should be targeting at least Six meals a day. Breaking your calorie intake into a portions help yours body absorb it better. If you take one big meal, quite a good amount of protein and other necessary nutrients pass away unabsorbed by your body. The ideal amount of protein intake per meal is 20-25 grams. If this figure looks too small to you, then here is an equivalent meal size. This amount of protein is equivalent of 7 tablespoons of cottage cheese or five ounce of steak.

Here is a very small sample way of structuring your daily meal routine to reach that goal.

• Breakfast with two eggs and bacon and a glass of milk.
• 6 tablespoons of cottage cheese and some fruit in between your breakfast and lunch (roughly three hours after breakfast).
• Lunch should include meat and vegetables and another glass of milk.
• Roughly three hours after lunch, try a couple of eggs whipped in flavored milk.
• Dinner should include meat and vegetables.
• Try a cup of cottage cheese or a meat sandwich before going to bed.

If you try out the above sample routine or design one around it, then you should be easily able to meet your target of 20-25 grams of protein per meal.

This kind of diet is a perfect muscle building diet. Even if you are overweight and want to lose weight, the above diet will serve your purpose as it will kill your cravings and you will be eating healthy food only.

Another important aspect is to keep variation in your diet. Don't get struck around just one kind of protein. Keep variation in your protein sources. Ideally you should be having a mix of protein sources from animal, foods,
eggs, milk, and certain vegetables. This will help you get a healthy protein mix as well as build up muscle in a faster way.