Eating

One of the most under-appreciated but critical components of fitness is nutrition. I have run across more people than I can count who are frustrated because they work their ass off in the gym, but don’t make any progress because they aren’t eating right.

Be aware of what you eat. You don’t have to know to the gram how much protein you’ve had; just make a list of what you eat and how much of it you eat. Include everything, even the handful of chips that you had while you were waiting for your food to finish cooking. Often times, it is the little things like snacks and sauces that can make or break your nutrition.

Read nutrition labels to get a sense of the nutritional and caloric makeup of different foods that you eat. If you have a rough idea of how many calories are in something, it makes a huge difference. You’ll be surprised by some foods as well, and might even find that some foods are healthier than you thought.

Think about what aspects of your diet are probably not what they should be. You probably have a pretty good idea of at least a few things that you should be doing to get better results. It might be the donut that you get every morning, or that you don’t eat enough protein, or that you use cheese like its own food group. Cutting down on these things can often make a huge impact with relatively little effort.

Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is the amount of energy that your body uses in a day. You can use a TDEE calculator like this one to get an idea of what your TDEE is. It is not a perfect gauge, but it can help to give you an estimate of how many calories you should consume in a day. You can then adjust accordingly based on your goals.

Make sure you’re getting the right amount of calories. Both overeating and undereating will cause problems for you. We all know that eating too much will hinder fat loss. However, if you don’t eat enough, it can cause your metabolism to slow, which makes it harder for you to burn fat, as well as causing other issues like fatigue and muscle wasting.

Get plenty of protein and be sure that you’re eating foods that are mainly protein, not foods that simply contain protein. A lot of people talk about how they get protein in their diet from things like peanut butter and rice and beans. The problem is that while these things contain protein, they are not an efficient source of protein. Peanut butter contains a lot of fat, and rice and beans contain a lot of carbs, so if you are trying to reach your daily protein intake by eating those things, you are going to get a lot of extra fat and carbs, which will throw off your diet. However, if you get your protein from things like meat and eggs, you are getting a lot more protein with a lot less fat and carbs, so if you are looking for protein,

Make sure you’re getting fats and carbs in your diet as well. Your body uses fats and carbs for it’s normal functions, so if you don’t consume enough of these, you will run into problems. Your body uses carbs as it’s main source of energy. It uses fats for things like storing energy and providing insulation. Fats also act as messengers and are involved in the chemical reactions that help control growth, immune function, and reproduction.

Figure out what your goal and stick with it. If you want to shed a few pounds, stick to that and don’t try eat and train like you’re trying to trying to add 10lbs of muscle. If you’re trying to get stronger/add muscle, you’re going to put on some extra fat too – that’s a part of the process. If you eat like you’re getting ready for swimsuit season, you’re going to have a very difficult time getting bigger and stronger.

Finally, remember that the best plan is the one that you’ll stick to. I have worked with tons of people who try out diet plans that are made up of foods they hate, so they never follow the plan. I also know a ton of people who try to be absolutely 100% perfect with their nutrition by skipping dessert at parties, and they end up burning out after a while. If you have a slice of cake at someone’s birthday party, you aren’t going to ruin all of your progress. If you follow your plan most of the time, you should be in good shape, so don’t be afraid to live a little.