Proper nutrition for bodybuilding can sometimes become a full time job. Between groceries shopping, meal prep, and actually eating 6 times a day it becomes a chore many guys skip at the expense of not making great gains. You need to eat to gain muscle mass every 3 hours and have a good pre-workout and post workout meal.

Stock up on muscle building foods like chicken, rice, beans, lean beef, grains, and lot of colorful fruits and vegetables. Include some healthy fats like olive oil and nuts or add milled flax seed to Greek yogurt.

Muscle Building Meals -Here are a couple meal ideas to help you get your 6 per day

Tuna salad sandwiches are great. Make them with low fat mayo and pack them on whole grain wheat bread or Ezekiel bread. Add some lettuce, tomato, and low fat cheese. You can make a huge batch of tuna and put several premade sandwiches in the fridge. These are loaded with protein for muscle growth and fiber from the bread. If you are watching your carbs get low carb pitas or wraps. They are loaded with fiber and lower in calories.

Turkey Chili is something you can make a big batch of. Use plenty of kidney, black, and pinto beans to add more protein and fiber. This is a great muscle building recipe to gain muscle or lose fat. If you can't eat that much freeze containers of it that you can take out and reheat in the microwave. Making big batches of healthy chili is a good way to save time and money.

Pasta and Chicken can be combined in so many ways. If you are bulking up to gain muscle mass cook up large pots of pasta and broil or bake pounds of chicken breast to cut up and add to your pasta mix. Use pasta with higher protein content and added essential fatty acids to increase the nutritional value. Get creative and make olive oil dressings rather than just tomato sauce. Spice it up with herbs and vegetable to give it more antioxidant power. This is how to eat to gain muscle mass when you workout hard.