I get asked a lot of questions by new clients and new gym members, especially about nutrition and dieting.
Here are answers to the most popular questions.
How Much to Eat Here is a simple rule to follow when trying to figure out how much to eat for each meal.
A portion of carbohydrates should each be about the size of your fist, and a portion size of lean meats or poultry should be about the size of your palm and as thick as a deck of cards.
A portion of vegetables can be any size you like.
If you are a vegetarian, combining beans and brown rice together with a green vegetable will make a balanced meal with adequate protein.
Your food should fit easily on your plate.
If you start to feel yourself getting satisfied before you finish your meal, stop eating.
Do not stuff yourself! The key is to stop eating before you get full.
Also, green veggies are a free food! If you are still hungry after dinner I recommend eating more steamed green veggies and salad to fill yourself up! Go very light on the salad dressing or better yet, use balsamic vinegar and lemon juice.
Eat all your meals slowly and chew your food very well.
Don't make your stomach work so hard! The digestion of food should be effortless.
I suggest getting a whey protein powder that you can mix with water.
This will ensure you are getting adequate protein and it is convenient.
I recommend 100% whey protein.
Counting Calories You do not have to count calories (unless you want to).
Just make sure you eat enough to be satisfied not stuffed.
If you really want to count calories you should be eating 12 times your GOAL weight.
For example, if your goal weight is 120 lbs.
you would multiply that by 12 and eat 1440 calories per day.
The breakdown of those calories would be like this: 20% Fat 25% Protein 55% Carbohydrates To lose fat you must put yourself into calorie deficit.
This means you will have to eat less than you have been eating and exercise more.
You must burn off more calories than you take in.
One pound of fat equals 3500 calories.
To lose 1 pound of fat per week, you would have to cut your calories by 250 per day and burn off 250 calories performing an activity.
To lose 2 pounds of fat you would have to cut your daily calories by 500 and exercise long enough (roughly 1 hour) to burn off 500 calories.
You may find that reducing your calories to 12 times your goal weight is too drastic to start with.
If this is the case, eat normally for one day, keep track of your caloric intake, and then reduce your calories by 500.
If your weight loss slows after a few months, you can reduce your daily caloric intake by 500 again.
Never eat less than 1200 calories per day unless you are under a doctor's supervision.
Supplements Supplements and diet aids are unnecessary and can sometimes be risky.
The FDA does not regulate most supplements.
If you eat a variety of foods each day, you should be getting enough nutrients.
Stick to a wide variety of foods eaten in their natural state (i.
e.
unprocessed) and you will provide your body with everything you need to maintain good health.
Taking a multi-vitamin is the one thing I can safely recommend.
Water Drinking water is very important! Water is responsible for transporting needed nutrients to the body's cells and transporting the waste out, and for keeping the body hydrated.
Since the body is made up of about 65% water you must try to drink at least a ½ ounce of water per pound of bodyweight daily, possibly more! For example, if you weigh 150 lbs.
you should be drinking 75 ounces of water per day or ten 8-ounce glasses of water per day.
Never let yourself get thirsty.
Dining Out Eating out does not have to be a challenge.
You can either be a pessimist and think you have no choices or you can be an optimist and recognize all the choices that you do have.
The first thing you want to do is look at the menu and isolate the meals that fit into your eating plan.
Chose meat or poultry that is steamed, baked, broiled or grilled.
Make sure they are not covered in sauces or marinade.
A plain baked potato is an excellent choice for carbohydrates, as are beans as long as they are not in a sugary sauce (like baked beans).
The best choice overall is steamed vegetables and salad.
Ask your waiter or waitress for extra vegetables in place of starch if your carbohydrate choices are unsatisfactory.
Order your salad dressing on the side and just dip your fork for flavor.
The best dressing is olive oil and vinegar if the restaurant does not offer any fat free or light choices.
If you're eating breakfast out, you should have no problem.
Many restaurants offer either egg substitute or egg whites only.
Ask to have them prepared scrambled and dry, no butter or oil.
You will probably find oatmeal or cream of wheat on the menu, as well as fresh fruit.
Omelets are also a good choice.
Order them made dry (no oil) with egg whites or egg substitute and load it up with vegetables.
You can even add turkey! Just remember to order your omelet without cheese.
Lunch choices are pretty simple.
A salad with grilled chicken breast is perfect choice.
If you are tired of chicken, you can substitute lean steak, salmon or shrimp.
Most restaurants also have a wide selection of salads (leave out the croutons).
It is your responsibility to check the menu.
Find out if the restaurant has decent carb choices such as steamed brown rice or baked sweet potato.
Don't be afraid to ask nicely for what you want.
Most restaurants will happily make substitutions or omit certain items that don't fit into your eating plan.
The bottom line is, don't be afraid to eat out.
Just be smart! Cheating Try not to think of straying from your eating plan as "cheating".
You are making a change for life.
The key is balance and moderation.
Any kind of sweets or fried, high fat food will not have too much affect on your weight or overall health if you eat them in moderation.
For example, if you eat 2 meals a week that are total crap, it will not affect your fat loss.
However, binge eating for an entire day can set your fat loss back a whole week.
Be careful! You could easily eat enough in one or two meals to gain back several pounds! Try not to eat sweets or high fat foods for the first four weeks of starting a fat loss program.
After 4 weeks, allow yourself a "reward meal".
Continue for another two weeks before you allow yourself another "reward meal".
Once you get to your goal weight you will have changed your eating habits forever.
That does not mean that you will not crave ice cream or cheeseburgers.
Those foods taste awesome! To keep yourself in check and easily maintain your new healthy weight, allow yourself one reward meal a week.
DO NOT binge for the entire day; simply eat whatever you want for one meal on that day.