In fact, your nutrition plan is even MORE important than your training program in terms of the results you are able to achieve. I have been working out for many years, but it was not until I started to pay close attention to the nutritional aspect of my health and fitness efforts that I really started to see some serious results. Even once people realize the dramatic effect that a healthy diet can have on the their muscle building and fat loss results, as well as energy levels and overall health, so many still choose to ignore the nutritional part of the equation. Why? 1) Eating healthy is not always convenient and 2) Fattening food tastes too damn good! Hey, I enjoy delicious fattening foods such as pizza, cheeseburgers, ice-cream, and cookies as much as anyone, but once you start to see the dramatic improvements in your physical appearance and overall well-being from adopting a healthy eating program, you realize that the benefits of eating healthy FAR outweigh the temporary pleasure from eating any particular food. Even when following a healthy nutrition program there is still room to include some of the delicious tasting "not so healthy" foods. The key is to limit the amount of these types of foods that you consume since weight gain and weight loss ultimately comes down to the number of calories consumed vs. the number of calories burned. Also, when you follow a healthy diet the majority of the time, you actually enjoy the times you allow yourself to eat the "non-healthy" foods much more. I usually have a couple of "cheat meals" on the weekend, where I allow myself to eat whatever I want. It serves as a nice mental break and allows me to taste different types of food.

So, what is "healthy"? Or in other words, "What do I need to eat to pack on loads of lean muscle and/or strip away unwanted bodyfat?" Well, here are a few basic guidelines to follow when developing an effective nutritional plan:

1. Include a source of lean protein with each meal
   High quality protein provides your muscles with the proper nutrients to build muscle. Examples include chicken, turkey, egg whites, lean beef, tuna, and meal replacements, such as Ny-Tro Pro 40.
2. Eat Your vegetables like your mama told you!
   Vegetables provide the most nutrient dense source of carbohydrates available, as well as an abundance of vitamins and minerals. Since vegetables are so nutrient dense and low in calories you can practically eat as many as you want without gaining any fat! In fact, vegetables have such a positive effect on your metabolism, they are really "negative calories", meaning that it takes your body more calories to digest the vegetables than the calories contained in the vegetables themselves. Fresh vegetables are the best if you have the time to chop and prepare, but the frozen kind are just fine and very convenient. Just about every supermarket has a wide variety of frozen vegetables.
3. Limit saturated fat but include some "good" fat in your diet
   Diets low in saturated fats protect against many problems such as heart disease and high cholesterol. It is also easier to lose fat on a diet low in saturated fat since one gram of fat contains 9 calories compared to 4 calories per gram of protein or carbohydrate. However, if your total fat intake is too low then testosterone levels will decrease and your body will become less efficient at performing many mandatory functions. You need a certain level of "good" fats containing Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Examples of foods containing these "good fats" include flax seeds and flax seed oil, olive oil, canola oil, natural peanut butter, and CLA, or Conjugated Linoleic Acid.
   
   
   Get Beef high in Omega-3’s and CLA!
   
   
4. Eat frequent smaller meals throughout the day
   Eating small, frequent meals throughout the day has a positive effect on the body's metabolism, which makes the body more efficient at burning bodyfat. Small, frequent feedings also ensures that your muscles are constantly supplied with the proper nutrients they need in order to grow. Breaking up your normal 3 meals per day into 6 smaller meals per day alone will have a big impact on your muscle building and fat burning efforts. Also, small, frequent feedings will keep blood insulin levels stable and increase energy levels throughout the day.
5. Drink lots of pure water throughout the day
   Our bodies are made up 1/3 of water and our muscle are 70% water! Water plays a vital role in proper hydration, transport of nutrients through the body, digestion, the flushing of toxins from the body, and other important functions of the body. Water has 0 calories so go ahead and drink up.

You can also view my TRAINING JOURNAL to see exactly what I eat everyday. Remember, though, when looking at my nutritional plan that I am training for a competitive bodybuilding contest. I realize that people have different goals with their workout and training programs. That is why I offer custom nutritional and workout programs specifically tailored to meet your individual goals.