Nutrition is a vital element in any bodybuilding program.

good nutrition is important for overall health but more importantly your muscles need the proper nutrients if they are to grow and give you the body you want.

In this article I'm going to give you a few guidelines on getting the right amount of the right types of foods for growing more muscle.

First of all, your eating patterns are going to have to change a bit. Rather than two or three larger meals a day, you want to eat smaller meals frequently throughout the day.

The idea of this is to increase your metabolism. This will help you burn fat - in fact after four hours or so without food, your body switches into catabolic mode, where you begin to accumulate fat; a holdover from the days of being hunter/gatherers who literally didn't know where their next meal was coming from.

So instead, you're going to eat 4-6 meals a day, about three hours apart.

So what should you be eating?

Good question. Balance is the key when trying to build muscle. You want protein, carbs AND fat in every meal.

You want to strive to get all three in a ratio of roughly 40% of carbs, 40% protein and 20% fat. When you get all three at once it helps your body make the most of each element... and... fights energy crashes by giving you sustained fuel for energy.

What about calories; don't those matter?

Yes, calories do count, but here is how you should pattern your caloric intake: You want low calories (about 2,000 for men and 1,200 for women) for 2 weeks followed by higher calories for 2 weeks (about 2,500 for men and 1,500 for women).

This will give you what every bodybuilder wants, it will help you lose fat and build lean muscle mass -- all at the same time. But remember this: You should adjust these numbers upwards somewhat if you are doing energy intensive training such as running.

Are you now thinking, "OK, so what specifically are good things to eat while building muscle?"

You'll want both simple and complex carbohydrates - while I don't have enough room here to go into an entire nutrition plan, here are a few ideas:

Complex Carbohydrates: Oatmeal, broccoli, spinach sweet potatoes, rice, Simple Carbs: Fruit is your best bet; whatever fruit you enjoy is fine here.

Focus on these Proteins: skinless turkey or chicken, eggs, tuna, very lean beef, fish, etc.

Fats: Stick with the healthy oils such as olive oil, canola oil, fish oils, and flaxseed oil, also natural peanut butter is a good source of protein/fat.

And don't forget: you need a LOT of water. You need water to keep your body flushed of toxins and to stay hydrated for optimum performance/health.

Following the above tips will get you started on your way to a healthy diet for building lean muscle mass.