Record what you eat… This step is very important. If you don’t see what you are eating, you will lie to yourself or be blinded by the “it doesn’t count”, meaning well it was just a bite or just a sip. You also won’t know how much to cut or add to your diet to achieve your goals.

Eat every 2 to 3 hours. By keeping your blood sugar in level, you won’t have peaks and valleys with your insulin, a very very powerful hormone that regulates fat usage. More information on this later. Just understand, high levels can be very detrimental to fat burning!

Don’t “eyeball” your diet. You wouldn’t eyeball a precision cut in carpentry or guestimate a critical measurement. “Measure twice cut once.” Your body is the most precise and delicate piece of machinery ever made. Treat it that way, and it will do exactly what you want it to.

Count those calories and balance your Protein, Fats and Carbs to YOUR GOALS. A good rule of thumb is to follow from .5 to 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight. AGAIN YOUR needs and goals. Lower for loss, higher for building muscle.

Once you have your protein, you can use a simple formula such as 35/50/15. The first number is your Protein % followed by your Carbohydrates and finally your Fats. The exact percantages can be debated, that is why this is just an example.

So you weight 200 lbs and you want to lose weight. We will go low with .75 grams per pound of body weight.  That equals 150 grams of protein… 4 calories per gram yields 600 calories.  Your total caloric intake should be around 1720 calories at this ratio. (600/.35)Then balance from there.

50% of 1720 is 860 calories or 215 grams of carborhydrates (860/4).

Finaly 15% of 1720 is 258 calories. But fat is 9 calories per gram so you are at about 29 grams of fat a day. (258/9)

Your balanced nutritional ratio comes to 150/215/29 in grams or 600/860/258 in calories. Remember Protein/carbohydrates/fats.

Now that we know how to BALANCE your basic macronutrients… Lets understand what foods make up that balance.

Your proteins need to be low in saturated fats and easy to absorb. Some examples are: white meats, fish, milk, soy and eggs. Red meats usually have a much higher saturated fat content and should be eaten in moderation but not avoided. Obviously you wonder “How do I get 150 grams of protein when a whole egg only has 7 grams of protein??? That is where protein supplementing comes in handy. A good  protein supplement is a no brainer in any nutritional program.

Carbohydrates should be complex and low glycemic, making them less of an impact on your blood sugar and insulin levels. Also this is where we get most of our phyto-nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.. These things are what give us the ability to function normally and have levels that must be maintained to allow our bodies to burn fat, build muscle, and just plain FUNCTION! I’ll explain more on vitamins and minerals later. Good examples of carbohydrates are vegetable and fruits! More colors is better. The majority of your nutrition should contain this simple but very very overlooked macronutrient. They fill you up, keep you clean, and don’t taste bad! But most important they make your body work properly.

Fats are REQUIRED for your body to operate. We normally think of fats as being bad. The fact is certain fats are essential to building muscle and carrying out various functions of the body. The 2 fat types we need to be concerned about are  Saturated fats, the bad fats. Avoid these fats as much as possible. You will find these types of fats mostly in meats. Also Unsaturated fats, these are the good fats. They are a good energy source and help us build muscle. You can find them from many plant and fish or seafood oils.

Drink WATER!  If you are looking to burn fat,  water will be your best friend. Drink as much as you can and as often as you can. Also, it is very important to drink lots of water when you’re eating large amounts of protein to clean urea from the system. Be mindful of what is in your water. It should be clean clear water. Also don’t neglect some of the new studies that show bottled water has leaching of trace carcinagins from thin bottles. We obviously can not avoid all of it completely, but the majority of your water should come from a thick walled container and be drank from a glass or even aluminum bottle. We all drink from bottles so don’t let it discourage you if its your only source, just slowly make the change to something safer.

Remember, comment on all articles, make suggestions of what you want to see covered and always keep your health in mind!

To your Health,

Lee Lamb, owner LSF

www.LifeStylzFitness.com