Nutrition is 90% of the war that you will face on your fitness journey. Learning the key fundamentals of healthy eating will be the backbone to your overall success. It is important to start your fitness journey learning about nutrition and diet-planning so you do not waste your time with countless hours of exercise with little to no results. Last article we talked briefly about nutrition. I want to take that a step further and talk about how we can make nutrition functional in our lives by diet planning. So, what are some important factors you need to consider when planning a diet?

-> Smart Food

1. Pick foods that are nutrient dense and fulfill your needs. This depends heavily on your overall goal (weight loss, muscle gain, sport specific, etc.). If your goal is to lose weight, understand the importance of eating to maintain a healthy metabolism while also developing lean muscle. The best way to manage this is to set your calorie range or get a professional to help. Once you know your calories range, you can plan your macronutrients. Once, you plan your macronutrients, you can ultimately plan your individual meals. DO NOT skip this step or "play it by ear". If you want great results in a faster time frame, you will take this step extremely serious.
2. Make it exciting! Often times, diet plans tend to be boring. Limiting the variance in your food choices. This only increases your cravings for things outside of your diet plan and also increases the chance of binge eating on cheat days. Make your diet plan exciting for you. I'm not saying that you have to cook something different for each meal. but I find it easier to stick with a plan that allows you to eat different foods and recipes instead of the same old boring chicken and vegetables. If you don't mind boring and less variation is easier for you to manage, then by all means, keep it simple.
3. Within Calorie Range. In all that you do in your diet plan, stay within your calorie range. A calorie is a calorie no matter how you slice it. Based off calories alone, a gram of sugar is the same as a gram of any other carbohydrate source... it is worth four calories. A gram a sugar certainly caries less nutritional value, but is a caloric sense, it is the same. So if you fall off your diet plan or did not get to eat the meals you had planned for the day, try your best to ultimately stay within your calorie range and it will not blow your diet. You should be able to pick back up where you left off.

-> Managing Cravings

It happens to all of us and generally our cravings are for carbohydrates. Of the three macronutrients, carbohydrates are the most satiating. How do we manage our cravings when they hit hard. There are two schools of thought that are generally "built in" to most diet programs.

1. Cheat Meal. A cheat meal is used as a break from your strict dieting. This is usually a reward once or twice a week. I am not a subscriber to this idea as it can ruin the work you put in during the week. Just one simple cheat meal that accounts for just 850 extra calories once a week would essentially be almost an extra pound of body fat. 850 calories is very modest as most cheat meals can easily add up to 1800-2400 calories in 1 sitting. Do that twice and you have gain an extra pound. Seems counter productive to me.
2. Refeed Meal. This method is more practical to address the needs of a sound diet. This is especially helpful if you have a slower metabolism which in turn deals with your blood leptin levels. There is a great article on Bodybuilding.com regarding this. Check it out here.

-> Planning

1. Methods.There are many different methods of planning your diet. There are the popular options of Intermittent Fasting, Carb Cycling, and Ketogenic. All of these work in their own right but may not work for everyone. I see these options as temporary fixes to bad eating habits as most of these methods are not easily managed for long periods of time. I could go into great detail about each, but this articles would become a novel. Do some research and see if these methods interest you. Again, I would push that if you are a beginner to this, do not do too much too soon. You should first obtain an understanding and foundation of managing healthy eating habits while living a healthier lifestyle. Focus on making healthier decisions and staying within your calories limit. Once you have mastered this, you will move to more specific diet and meal plans when you understand what your body will respond best to based on your specific needs.

2. Macros. If you feel you are ready to make the leap from counting calories to a more specific diet plan, counting macros is where you will begin. Setting these numbers are tricky so I definitely recommend the help of a professional because the numbers will change as you progress and move from goal to goal. The basics you need to know is that 1 gram of protein is worth 4 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrate is worth 4 calories, and 1 gram of fat is worth 9 calories. Maintaining a healthy balance between these three will be necessary to effectively reach your goal in a reasonable time frame. Unfortunately, there are no generic numbers you should shoot for. Generally, you will see a 45/35/20 split on most calories counting applications. This means that 45% of your calories should come from carbs, 35% from protein, and 20% from fat. These percentages will change based on your BMR (basal metabolic rate), activity level, and overall goal. I know that I eat 45% of my calories from carbs, I will blow up like a balloon. Again, find the right plan and numbers that work for you. THIS IS WHERE HAVING A COACH IS EXTREMELY HELPFUL!

3. Meal Prep. There are countless ways to go about this so this is up to you! Meal prepping can be time consuming but necessary to stay on track with you diet. This is another area where you do not want to just wing it. Get a food scale and measure cups. This is the best way to get the results you desire. Also, if you do not take time to weigh and measure your food, how will you ever know if the diet plan actually worked for you? Here are some easy tips.

• Plan your food for the week ahead of time
• Chop whatever food that needs chopping at once.
• Plan your portions to either cook twice a week for all meals or cook everything at once and freeze your meals.
• Grab a lunch box or cooler that you can carry your meals throughout the day
• Do not skip your meals! Eat what you have planned in a timely manner!

Next New Years Tip we are going to discuss how to set smart goals and how to stay on track!

January Series Notes

•  New Years Exercise and Diet Tips for the first 10 days of the New Year.
• I will be outlining the 5 most important things you will need for your fitness journey in great detail.
• Stay tuned for more updates!
• NEW CONTENT HEADING YOUR WAY!!

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