If you want to gain more mass, you'll have to be very particular about your diet. You will need to follow a specific diet which will be different from normal diet for a normal person. For bulking, you will need to follow a diet for mass gain. Let's find out what you need to do.

The diet

Packing on lean muscle is tough and it is also difficult for most seasoned athlete. Besides strict training which is well structured around hypertrophy, you need a specific diet that will be able to support your body as it grows.

Like many bodybuilders, you can go for a bulking and cutting cycle. The bulking stage focuses on packing on as much muscle as possible. If you want to add more muscle mass, you will need to eat healthy food and you will need to eat a lot of it. You can use a calorie calculator to find out the maintenance calorie for you. This is the calorie intake you need to eat each day to maintain your weight. You need to calculate it because it will vary based on your height and weight, age and activity status.

In general, men need 2500 calories and women need 2000 calories. Besides that calories, you'll also need some more calories to ensure that you are feeding the growth. Extra surplus of 500 calories should be good enough for you. When you consume the extra calories, your body will use the extra energy to train harder and build muscle. When you increase the calorie you are consuming, it will also increase the muscle mass. However, you need to understand that you should eat the right food and it means you need more protein.

Water

When you are trying to gain muscle mass, you will need to ensure that you are well hydrated all the time. 1.5 to 2 L of water every day is necessary for you. If you want to increase your calorie intake, you can also drink milk which will give you calories and some additional protein. There are different protein powders available that contain casein.

Carbohydrate

When you're trying to gain more muscle mass, you need more carbohydrate. If you are training harder, you're more likely to build muscle mass. You need whole grains instead of processed refine carbs. Processed refined carbs are not good for you because they quickly spike blood sugar and they may be stored as fat in your body. Post training, you can take some simple carbohydrates because they will increase insulin levels in your body and higher insulin levels will increase protein synthesis and decrease muscle breakdown.

Protein

Protein is the key nutrient for you when you're trying to add more muscle mass to your body. It will support lean muscle development and you will need 3g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day. Ensure that you are getting the required protein because otherwise you'll not be able to add more mass to your body.

Fat

Fat is necessary for you when you're trying to add more mass to your body. It contains lots of energy and it should be an integral part of your diet. However, you should limit the saturated or trans-fat but add more healthy fats to your diet. Peanut butter, nuts, avocado, coconut oil, oily fish are some of the sources of healthy fat.

References 1. Mass Gain Meal Plans
2. Weight and muscle gain
3. The effects of protein supplements on muscle mass, strength, and aerobic and anaerobic power in healthy adults