In 1965 Larry Scott, the first Mr. Olympia, commented, "bodybuilding is 90% nutrition." When it comes to sports nutrition, there are many myths and fallacies that float around. A lot of impediments can get you off target and stop you from attaining your goal weight if you are trying to follow a diet. It is a hard fight, but you can win it. See how many of these frequent errors relate to your own eating behavior.

1. Eating too much. Several bodybuilders have the impression that to gain muscle they have to eat as much as possible. While bodybuilders have to eat a lot, particularly those with rapid metabolisms, many of them go too far and eat an excessive quantity of calories, which end up being hoarded as body fat. The number one goal of bodybuilding is building muscle and the number one enemy is body fat. To burn fat and keep muscle, in addition to doing aerobic exercise, you need to eat fixed quantities of protein, carbohydrates and fat.

2. Dieting impatiently. A lot of bodybuilders leap from one diet to another without giving the first plan time to work. Even if your intentions are good, radically altering your diet is not a good idea. It takes at least three weeks for your body to become accustomed to nutritional changes, so don't expect instant transformations in your physique. This applies both to those wanting to gain and to lose weight.

3. Not having a cheat day. Nearly everyone says to build muscle or lose fat you should follow your diet every day. However, not having a weekly cheat day planned into your dietary program is a huge mistake. What will help you keep on track if you don't have something to look forward to at the end of the week? Plus, you need time off from the bland but wholesome food you've been consuming for the past six days. Cheating is best done in the morning to permit it to be burned off during the day – and remember to cheat in moderation!

4. Failure to plan. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." One of the main blunders people make is starting a fat loss agenda without really making a decision. Of course you want to get rid of the extra fat, but have you stopped to truly think why? The only way to sustain fat loss is to think of it as a lifestyle change, because eventually you will lose the initial high and reality will set in. Outline a good resistance training and aerobic program with the help of a competent personal trainer. Set your goals, know your reasons, and write down how you will achieve the goals.

5. Not eating enough. Your body can't distinguish between deliberate calorie denial and starvation. Not only will ruthless diets slow down your metabolism to a crawl, causing your primary weight loss to come to a standstill, they will almost certainly cause a "rebound" effect. To permanently free yourself of the fat stores in your body, you've got to burn more calories and augment your metabolic rate with a specific training schedule and correct nutrient ratio adaptation. You should aim for approximately 250 calories over maintenance level to make gains while reducing fat storage.

6. Failing to accurately track calories. Be sure to count calories as well as carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Many bodybuilders don't shake off fat at the pace they anticipate, and others are unsuccessful in gaining weight because they don't keep a record of what they're eating. As burdensome as it might seem, the muscle elite keep daily records of what they consume and where they consume it – they don't guess or estimate. They create a long-term plan of action and maintain daily tabs on food and supplement intake. Your log should include date, time, food type, and carb, fat, sugar, sodium, protein and caloric content.

7. Following diets from magazines. Magazine diets should be used as a guideline only. There's nothing wrong with learning from what the pro bodybuilders do, but their diets suit their individual body types. Keeping meticulous records of what you eat and how you respond to those foods can help you tailor a diet that's perfect for your needs.

8. Not restricting alcohol consumption. Alcohol use must be limited, if not eliminated. Alcohol is metabolized more like fat than like carbohydrates, and it has calories. It adds no benefit to weight loss and muscle growth, and the empty calories add up quickly.

9. Making huge amendments all at once. Try to make very small incremental modifications to permit your body to become accustomed when adding or subtracting calories from your diet. A copious boost in calories will encourage fat storage, while severe decreases will cause the body to hoard fat.

10. Not drinking water. A deficiency of water can cause you to eat too much owing to you confusing thirst with hunger. It also causes you to run the possibility of dehydration, which can bring about exhaustion, lightheadedness and the incapacity to reason clearly. Water revives your muscle cells, and it also flushes your system. Drink 10 eight-ounce glasses a day. This may appear to be plenty, but it's actually not that hard if you fit water consumption into your normal schedule.

These are 10 of the main blunders bodybuilders make when trying for an optimum physique. More important than avoiding these mistakes, however, is focusing on the constructive adjustments you can make to take you nearer to your goal.