4000 Calorie Meal Plan

The 4 000 calorie meal plan involves eating more calories than are typically consumed in a day to promote weight gain.

The average person needs 2,000 – 2,500 calories per day to maintain weight, depending on age, sex, and activity level.

People trying to gain weight should consume 3,500 or more additional calories per week. This can be accomplished by consuming about 500 extra calories daily.

The 4,000-calorie diet plan can help someone gain weight quickly by eating many high-calorie foods throughout the day.

How Does the 4000 Calorie Meal Plan Work?

4000 Calorie Meal Plan

The 4,000 calorie meal plan is designed to help you gain weight and muscle. It’s based on a bodybuilder’s diet: four or five meals a day of specific food combinations to maximize muscle growth.

If you’re looking for lean gains, the 4000-calorie meal plan is for you. This meal plan will allow you to gain lean mass at a steady rate.

For most people, this is a lot of food. There will be days when it’s challenging to get all your calories in, but as long as you stay consistent, you should start seeing some results in six months.

This meal plan is general and not intended for any specific person; it’s meant only as an example of a high-calorie diet for healthy weight gain.

If you have trouble gaining weight, consult a nutritionist or talk to your doctor.

Benefits of the 4000 Calorie Meal Plan

If you’re looking for a way to gain weight without resorting to drinking shakes, then the 4000 calorie meal plan is for you. This is a great way to pack on the pounds with regular food and meals.

There are many benefits to following this meal plan; here are five of them.

Easier To Follow

Eating 4000 calories a day is more straightforward than drinking all your calories in protein shakes (see also 4000 Calorie Shake Recipe).

When you take in so many calories, it’s much easier to get them in through solid foods that you can eat at regular intervals throughout the day, rather than drinking them all down at once.

You’ll also have more variety in your diet and be less likely to give up on finishing it because it gets boring.

Gaining Muscle Mass

Gaining muscle mass is a challenge for most people. Even the most dedicated lifters often struggle to pack on muscle.

It’s not unusual for people to spend years lifting weights without ever building the kind of physique they want.

If you want to build muscle faster than you’ve ever made it before, your diet and training routine must complement each other perfectly.

The 4000 calorie meal plan will help you do just that.

Maintaining Strength

The benefits of a 4,000 calorie meal plan are essential for anyone who has a physically demanding lifestyle.

Whether you’re an athlete or a construction worker, a 4,000 calorie diet can help you maintain and build muscle.

If you have little to no physical activity, a 4,000 calorie diet is unnecessary for your body.

A 4,000 calorie meal plan will help you maintain strength and hold on to muscle mass.

This is especially important for people who lift weights or play sports that involve strength training. A 4 000 calorie meal plan can also help prevent muscle deterioration in older individuals.

A 4,000 calorie meal plan provides your body with the fuel to perform strenuous physical activity.

By eating an adequate amount of calories (not too few), you’ll be able to perform at a peak level in your sport or profession.

Because this is such a high-calorie diet and because many people don’t engage in a physical activity demanding enough to require such a high-calorie diet, this kind of meal plan isn’t for everyone.

Improving Athletic Performance

Consuming the number of calories required to maintain an ideal body weight can help an athlete train harder and perform higher.

While exercising, you burn between 300 and 600 calories per hour — for serious athletes, this could mean burning through 2,000 or 3,000 calories every day.

By consuming 4,000 calories per day on days when you’re training hard and less on days when your schedule is lighter, you’ll be able to replenish the nutrients and energy you’ve lost.

Increasing Energy Levels

Increasing your energy level through eating more calories is one way to gain weight.

This is an essential benefit of eating more calories for the underweight who want to put on muscle or bodybuilders who want to bulk up before competition.

Another benefit is that eating more calories can help increase your strength by increasing your energy level.

This can help you build more power and increase the number of reps you can do during weight training or other exercises.

Reducing Risk of Disease

A 4000 calorie diet can help you to increase your muscle mass. This is important because increasing your muscle mass decreases the amount of fat in your body.

In doing so, you reduce the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.

Eating a 4000 calorie diet will also help you to boost your metabolism. The more calories that you eat, the higher your metabolism will be.

In doing so, you will burn more calories throughout the day. This is important because burning more calories will help you to lose weight.

Foods to Eat on a 4000 Calorie Meal Plan

In addition to calories, you can get the nutrients you need by eating a variety of foods from each food group:

Fruits

4000 Calorie Meal Plan

Bananas, oranges, and other fruits are good sources of carbohydrates and potassium. Fruits also contain vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber.

Vegetables

Potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables are good sources of carbohydrates and potassium.

Vegetables also contain fiber, folate (folic acid), and vitamins A, C, K, and E. Vegetables have more fiber than fruits, but both types of food contain fiber.

Calcium-rich foods

Dairy products provide calcium for strong bones.

Other foods that are good sources of calcium include dark green leafy vegetables, calcium-fortified juices, cereals, canned fish with bones (for example, pink salmon or sardines), and legumes (for example, soybeans).

You may need to take a calcium supplement if you don’t get enough calcium in your diet.

Protein-rich foods

4000 Calorie Meal Plan

Meat, fish, or poultry provide protein for the growth and repair of body tissues. Legumes and nuts also provide protein as well as heart-healthy unsaturated fats.

4000 Calorie Meal Plan (PDF)

Day	Breakfast	Snack	Lunch	Dinner
1	Oatmeal with cinnamon, nutmeg, and fruit	A handful of almonds	Sweet Potato with Hummus	Salad with chicken breast
2	Eggs with toast	A bunch of grapes	Salad with chicken breast	Chicken breast, 3 cups white rice and broccoli
3	6 whole eggs, 1 cup of oatmeal, 1 cup of berries	1 cup greek yogurt	Salad with ground beef or steak	Ground beef or steak (1 lb), 1 cup white rice and broccoli or asparagus
4	4 whole eggs, 1 cup of oatmeal, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese	70% dark chocolate	Turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with lettuce	Tuna or salmon salad on rye bread
5	2 whole wheat waffles with 1/4 cup of syrup and 2 tbsp of peanut butter	Fruit salad	1 cup of brown rice mixed with black beans, salsa and corn	2 cups pasta of your choice (cooked), 1/2 cup vegan pesto sauce, 1 cup broccoli
6	5-6 oz. chicken breast with a baked potato topped with Greek yogurt	Banana with 1 tbsp of peanut butter	Burger, fries and fruit	Steak and potatoes. Dessert: Cake
7	Barbecued chicken sandwich on whole-grain bread, with lettuce and tomato	1 apple	1 cup brown rice, 1 cup black beans	Spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread

Final Thoughts

Every experienced bodybuilder knows how important it is to follow a strict training program and diet.

A big part of that diet is eating enough calories, grams of protein, and carbs to fuel your muscles as they grow correctly.