Tony's Top 10 tips. Nutrition!

Wow, after last week's discovery that I had lost 14 pounds in the past six weeks I went on a serious "refeed" to bring my weight back up in line.  I won't even tell you everything I ate!

So let's talk about nutrition this time.  You knew this day would come didn't you?

8.  Watch what you eat.  This doesn't mean you can't eat the things you like.  Just watch the proportions of protein to carbs and fat.  If you are trying to build muscle while you are losing weight it's critical that you consume protein.  Do not starve yourself; your body will "eat" muscle first, before it will burn fat.  The only way to burn fat is through intensive cardio, and building up muscle to increase your metabolism.  

Bottom line for most of you is reduce your fat and carbohydrate intake and increase protein.  The formula I like to use is to consume more grams of protein per day, than your total consumption of fat and carbs.

And you knew this was coming too:  start recording everything you eat and make notes breaking down protein, carbs and fat.  Use one of the online nutrional analysis databases to simplify this.   Set up a spreadsheet of your day-to-day food intake, and create a total for each day.

After a few days you will probably notice a pattern.  You will catch the culprits that are throwing off the protein/carb/fat balance, and that's where you want to change your diet.

Bread?  Crackers?  Ice cream?  Pasta?   If you are eating too much of these you're going to gain fat.  Find the culprits and start training yourself to avoid them.  Train your brain to just walk past these foods in the grocery store.  Sure you can have them as a special treat occasionally.

Make sure to include vegetables and fruits in your diet.  Some people will tell you that they should make up the largest part of your diet!  They provide fiber and vitamins, and keep your whole system healthy.

Does any of this come to you as news?  No?  I didn't think so.  But does that mean that you are following this advice now?  Again, I didn't think so.  Sorry, but there is just no way around this formula.

Since nutrition is such an important part of losing weight and building muscle, we're going to deal with it next time as well.  Then, we will talk about what you should eat before and after a workout.