When you have a more than causal relationship with the gym and you are pushing iron for hundreds of reps every day it is important to fuel your body correctly. The basics are very simple. Prioritize protein, get enough water and eat in caloric excess if you are trying to grow muscle. Meat, eggs, green vegetables, complex carbohydrates and water should be making up the bulk of your diet and you already know this. However, there are other things you should consider adding to your diet that may seem a little strange but will ultimately help you in your goal attainment.

• More Eggs

Yes, you know you should be eating some eggs with your diet. Eggs are essentially a perfect food. With 6 grams of the highest quality of protein, a long list of vitamins and a ton of amino acids they simply can’t be beat for fuel, energy and recovery.

Right now I am in the early stages of my workout program and as such I will eat 6 eggs a day. 4 of them with breakfast, one with my midday snack and another one with dinner.

Egg-Cellent Gainz Maker

A four egg breakfast is a very good start. With 294 calories, 29.88g of (very healthy) fats, 1.54g carbs and a whopping 25.16g of protein this is a very good way to start your day. As my workouts ramp up over the next few weeks, my breakfast will grow from 4 to 6 eggs and eventually to 8 at its highest point.

Unless you have very specific problems with cholesterol, if you are lifting weights you should be eating a lot of eggs.

• Baby Food

If you are not on a very strict ketogenic diet in order to cut weight you will need to take in some carbs post workout to refuel your body and glycogen stores. The absolute best way to get post workout carbs is to get something that is very easily absorbed. One way to do that is to get some waxy maize or some post workout carb powder. However, as is often the case now that lifting weights is big business, there are just a bunch of really pricey powders you can mix and hope aren’t filled with all sorts of shit you don’t want.

Refuel like your inner child.

If you want easily absorbed then why not go to the product that is made specifically for that, is all natural, is easily available and inexpensive: Baby Food. If you need a carb refuel after a set of massive volume deadlifts open yourself a small jar of sweet potato babyfood. At only 70 calories and with 16g of very easily absorbed carbohydrates along with 9g of natural sugars, if you want a carb refueling post workout you can’t go wrong with Gerber.

• Pedialyte

While we are on the topic of baby food I think it is important to mention Pedialyte. If you are not already rehydrating with it you should consider doing so. Plan to go out for a few drinks? Pedialyte. Spent 5 hours in the gym kicking ass and feeling a little headachy? Pedialyte. Need an intraworkout drink on very heavy lifting days? Pedialyte. Simply need to up your hydration level? Pedialyte.

Now, don’t get me wrong this is not for every day. Pedialyte is over kill for most days (if you are getting your gallon of water a day) and it is very expensive. However, for special occasions where the hydration is a must this is the stuff to use.

It tastes like shit. Just drink it.

With 6 times the potassium as Gatorade and an off the charts electrolyte boost, when you really need to up your hydration you should be drinking this stuff.

• Sauerkraut

This is one I recently learned about. You seriously need to be eating sauerkraut. High in fiber, vitamin rich and filled with minerals, Sauerkraut is a true to life superfood. With only 27 calories per cup and 1g of net carbs with 1.3g protein there is no reason to avoid this.

One of the biggest benefits of Sauerkraut is that it is both a prebiotic and a probiotic. This means that it will leave healthy bacteria in the digestive system while simultaneously feeding them with sugars which are indigestible to humans, but are loved by those healthy bacteria.

There are a lot of reasons you want this healthy bacteria to flourish in your digestive system. They aid in the production of serotonin as well as preventing insulin insensitivity that will help the body burn fat faster. More than this, sauerkraut helps with inflammation, which is a problem all lifters encounter.

No not that kind of Sour Kraut. Side note, notice the strain and look at the weight he is lifting. Think about this next time you brag about how much you curl.

So warm up (do not cook) some nice fresh (refrigerated not shelf bought) sauerkraut and have a half a cup with your protein 3 times a week. It will fill you up and deliver a ton of great health benefits.

• Cottage Cheese

With a big punch of 27g of protein per cup, cottage cheese is a huge friend to the body builder. However, the protein in cottage cheese is no ordinary protein it is Casein protein. Casein protein is special in that unlike whey protein, which is very quickly absorbed into the body, the amino acids in casein provide a slow release and steady supply of the muscle-building nutrient. This is why cottage cheese makes a perfect before bed snack. While you sleep and your body is in recovery mode your 27 grams of protein will be slowly and steadily feeding the process all night.

The next big benefit to cottage cheese is that it is full of riboflavin. Riboflavin helps to metabolize the protein that is being fed into your system by the cottage cheese as well as breaking down fats and carbohydrates into energy.

Miss Muffet knew you needed both curds and whey.

One thing I like to do is mix a tablespoon of almond butter into my cup of cottage cheese so I get the full gamut of protein. It also helps with the taste. Another thing you might like is to put a scoop of your favorite protein powder into your cup of cottage cheese and whip it until it is like a pudding.

I hope you guys got something useful out of this and will think about adding some (or all) of these foods to your diet.

Let me know below what you think and any off beat food or drinks that you use to fuel your body.