Bodybuilding Nutrition

For fully managed nutrition, the guide recommends a macro-tracking app (a 2-week free trial is referenced in the original). To set it up manually:

Best results on this program: a 5–15% caloric surplus (bigger surplus = more fat gained alongside muscle).
Build muscle while losing fat: eat at maintenance.
Fat loss as main priority: a 5–15% caloric deficit (larger deficits tend to cost more muscle and are less sustainable).
Going beyond a ~10–15% surplus causes disproportionate fat gain without much extra muscle [17]; a leaner bulk is recommended for aesthetics, but you can bump to 15–20% if you're fine gaining more fat faster.

Finding maintenance calories:

Method 1 (faster, less accurate): bodyweight (lb) × 14–18 (more active → ×18+; less active → ×14 or lower; unsure → ×16).
Method 2 (slower, more accurate): track bodyweight + calories for 2 weeks, average each week, see the weight change. Maintained → that average is maintenance. Lost 0.5–1 lb → maintenance is ~200–500 cal above average. Gained 0.5–1 lb → maintenance is ~200–500 cal below average. Guess-and-check until weight is stable.
Example: maintenance 2,500 cal → 5–15% surplus = +125 to +375 cal = 2,625–2,875 cal lean-bulk intake.

Surplus or maintenance (gaining/recomping): 0.7–1 g/lb/day (1.6–2.2 g/kg/day).
Deficit (cutting): 0.8–1.2 g/lb/day (1.8–2.7 g/kg/day).
Very overweight/high body fat: use height in cm as a rough target (e.g. 180 cm → ~180 g protein), cutting/bulking/recomping. The height formula tends to overestimate — most can eat ~20–40 g less and still build muscle just as well.

Less important than calories and protein for bodybuilding, but don't let either get too low (hormonal/performance issues).

Fats: ~20–30% of total calories (e.g. 2,700 cal → ~675 fat cal → ~75 g fat/day at 9 cal/g).
Carbs: whatever calories remain after protein and fat.

Nutrition doesn't need to be micromanaged to succeed on this program — this is for those who want everything dialed in.