So you’ve set your sights on the goal to build muscle mass. You’re dedicated, your committed, and you are ready for the challenge in the gym.Here’s some of the top mass building to-go recipes.

What you aren’t so sure you’re ready for however is all the hours of prep work that goes into preparing the many meals you need to eat during the day. Here’s some of the best mass building to-go recipes. 

It’s no secret that if you want to build muscle fast, you need to eat right to provide the calorie support to do so. You can devote time and energy to the gym, but if an equal amount of time and energy is not devoted to the kitchen, you could end up falling short.

So how can you get around this?

How can you make sure that you are going to be able to still keep up your busy schedule, but find the time to get those calories and nutrients in that you need?

What you need to do is seek out easy to prepare, calorie loaded muscle building meals and snacks to take with you on the go.  When you have a line-up of these on hand, you can make sure that you are never missing a beat since many of these you can simply take with you on the road to class, work, or wherever you happen to be.

Here are your quick mass building to-go recipes

Creamy Salmon Pita

Rather than opting for classic tuna, pump up the calories with salmon instead. Canned salmon is just as fast and easy, but will supply you with better bodybuilding nutrition.

To double the benefits of this meal, rather than mixing with traditional mayonnaise, boost your nutrition by mixing it with avocado. Avocado’s will supply healthy fats to get the calories up and keep your testosterone levels high.

Mash this all together and then place in a whole wheat pita along with some spinach leaves for nutrients and carbohydrate support.

This lunch meal will take all of 5 minutes to make and easily provide you with 500+ calories.

Your Own Peanut Butter Bars

Think twice about buying commercial protein bars. While they definitely can be tasty, they are definitely not always nutritious. The problem with commercial protein bars is most contain low-grade protein, they contain far too much added sugar, and they may also contain sugar alcohols, which can cause severe gastrointestinal upset in many people.

Not a fun time.

Instead, make your own.  Simply mix together some raw oats, natural peanut butter, a quality protein powder such as Protein Build, along with some honey to get the mixture to stick.  Add any mix-ins you like – dark chocolate chips, dried coconut, dried fruit, or nuts and then form into bars.

If you really want to get fancy, melt some dark chocolate and then dip the bars in this, placing in the fridge to cool before serving.

This way, you control what goes in and you know there is nothing but quality ingredients added to your snack.

Calorie Loaded Yogurt Parfait

If you can transport along an ice pack, or have access to a fridge, the muscle building foods will work perfectly.  It’s important that you are taking in some dairy products daily if you can to help provide the calcium your bones need to stay strong.

Of all the dairy varieties, Greek yogurt comes out on top. It’s rich in protein, lower in sugar than most yogurt varieties, and low in saturated fat as well.

To up the calorie value on this snack, layer in a bowl some Greek yogurt, low sugar granola (or make your own if you have the time), slivered almonds, fresh blueberries, and dried cranberries.

Keep layering these items until the parfait is completed and then cover and take with you wherever you happen to be going.

It’s a far smarter snack than any yogurt parfait you’d pick up at the local coffee house, which is typically low in protein and very high in added sugars.

Supercharged Protein Shake

Nothing gets easier when you need calories on the go than a protein shake.  But, if all you’re using is a protein shake, you have two main options.

First, you can use a plain protein powder, which will give you about 120 calories and not much more than protein.

Or, you can use a meal replacement shake, which will provide more balance, but not exactly the high-quality fats or carbs you need.You should also consider the best protein powder for women and men.

Instead, consider preparing your own meal replacement powder. It’s easier than you might think.

First, take a protein powder such as Protein Build and then to that, add some ground oats.  This will add the complex carbohydrates you need in the shake and since they’re ground, you’ll hardly notice them in there.

Now we need to add some healthy fats. For this, add either some ground flaxseeds, which will help to provide some great omega-3 fatty acids, or add some coconut milk rather than regular milk or water.  You can also use unsweetened coconut flakes as well if that’s what you prefer.

Either way, with these additions, you will have a nicely balanced meal replacement shake that will give you everything you need and you can tailor make it to the exact macronutrient ratio you require at that time.

It’s the perfect choice for ultimate on-the-go nutrition.

Peanut Butter Cup

Finally, if you’re getting home after a long day of work, maybe a long deltoid workouts, and whatever else you had going on and now need something to fuel up before bed, this high calorie, nutrient smart protein peanut butter cup snack will work perfectly.

You don’t want to eat a very heavy meal right before you turn in for the evening, but that said, you do need to eat something that sustains you.

This recipe works perfectly.

First, start with some low fat cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is one of the slowest digesting forms of protein you can get being of the casein variety.

To that, add a half to full scoop of chocolate casein protein powder.  Again, more casein means your muscles get fed for the 7-hour+ fast you’re about to enter.

Now to that, we need to add healthy fats.  Stir in 1-2 tbsp. of natural peanut butter (depending on your calorie needs), and top with a few peanuts.  This will add crunch to the snack, giving it a better texture.

This perfect combination of slow digesting protein along with healthy fats and low carbohydrates is just what your body needs at this point in time.

You can also play around with this recipe, using different flavors of protein powder along with almond butter and other toppings such as almonds, walnuts, pistachios, or some fresh berries. Just be sure that you do keep the carbohydrate content a bit lower in this meal as you want to minimize that before going to bed.

Conclusion

So don’t get frustrated over the fact you just don’t have enough time to keep up with your muscle building diet plan. Instead, seek out quick, easy to prepare recipes that you can bring with you throughout the day so that you never have to worry about missing your meals and sacrificing all the hard work you put in at the gym.

-Terry Asher