Here are some good guidelines regardless of your goal:
- Eat as few processed foods as possible. The world is polluted enough, try not to unnecessarily pollute your body with chemicals you can't pronounce.
- You need all the basic macro-nutrients (i.e. fats, proteins, and carbohydrates), so eat all of them. The key is quality and quantity. Well, in theory you don't need carbs, but we're talking reality, not theory so eat them.
- Avoid added sugars. Note, I said added sugars, not sugars in fruits. Also note, I said fruits, not fruit juice. Fruit juice is at best, equivalent to soda with vitamins in it.
- You don't need supplements, but sometimes they can help.
- Eat breakfast. Try to get something with a good mix of protein and fat. An egg sandwich (preferably not between syrup injected breads and sausage in the middle) or trail mix are some good quick examples.
- Chew your food.
- Eat as many different colors as you can. This is a good guideline to get essential nutrients.
- If you're going to eat junk, it's best to eat it right after you work out. After you workout, muscles are primed to absorb nutrients. So that Big Mac will hopefully be partially absorbed by your muscles and not your gut.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Eat your fiber. It's important to shit normally.
- Eat foods you like. If your diet calls for eating a bunch of shit you don't like, you won't stick to it very long. If you can't stick to it, then it's not a good diet.
- There are no foods you should never eat, just foods you shouldn't eat a lot.
- Most people lack ideal amounts of zinc, magnesium, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids. These supplements and maybe glucosomine (if you have joint trouble) are worth considering (talk to your doctor first).
- For three days to a week, record what you eat and drink in detail. Also record what kind of activity you do. This can give you a decent idea of what your body needs. You can calculate your calorie requirements here or at Bodybuilding.com . Both of these calculators have their weaknesses, but if you use the advanced versions you can get a decent idea of what you need.
Let's look at some common goals:
Goal: Lose weight
I normally prefer the term "fat loss" better, but for the sake of the goal we'll just look at loosing weight. What should you do?
- In order to loose weight you need to use more calories than you're taking in. 80% of weight loss is diet (completely made up number). Think about this for a second: A can of Pepsi has 150 calories. Running a mile burns about 120 calories. What's easier, abstaining from the Pepsi or running another mile? You know the answer.
- A good guideline to go by is trim what you eat by 500 calories a day. This will add up to 3,500 calories a week or about one pound of body fat.
- Don't skip strength training. A lot of people (especially women) completely neglect strength training when it comes to weight loss, but it is still important. Muscle is active tissue and uses calories all day long even at rest. No, you won't necessarily loose a ton of fat by strength training, but it will allow you to occasionally flub on your diet without suddenly packing on pounds.
- Eat proteins, fats, and foods with carbohydrates that also contain fiber. Proteins and fats generally take longer for your body to break down. "Good carbs" i.e. fruits, vegetables, and whole, fibrous grains balance out any sugar they may have with fiber. This allows for a more gradual absorption of glucose.
- Try eating foods that are not very calorie dense like vegetables and lean meats. If it's not calorie dense, chances are it contains a lot of fiber, a lot of protein, and/or a lot of water. These will help fill you up without taking in excessive calories.
- Watch what you drink. It's very easy to drink a lot of calories so watch the sodas, juices, cream and sugar in you coffee\tea, and sports drinks. If you're not exercising hard for more than an hour Gatorade is not doing anything good for you.
- Listen to your stomach to tell you you're hungry, not your brain. Most of the time when we think we're hungry, we're not really hungry.
Note: Odds are if you are trying to bulk up some you will gain at least a little fat too. I'm not saying it's impossible to gain muscle without fat, just your diet needs to be 99.9% of exactly what you need all the time and you probably won't gain muscle as fast this way either. Basically, it's really hard to gain muscle without gaining any fat (aside from those who just started working out).
- You can't build something out of nothing. If you have been lifting for a while (more than 8 weeks) and have not noticed a gain in muscle, odds are you're not eating enough. Building muscle is 75% diet (another completely made up number). Figure out how much you're eating then add 500+ calories per day.
- You need more than just protein. Everyone loves protein when it comes to putting on muscle, but there are other macro-nutrients. Fats are important for hormones like testosterone that tell your muscles to grow. Carbs while not completely necessary, help replenish glycogen from muscles depleted during workouts.
- Eat before and after you work out. This way as much nutrients will be absorbed in your muscle as possible.
- Keep your workouts intense, but relatively brief. Strength train with moderate to heavy resistance (I'm not big on rep ranges but between one and 20 difficult reps), with big compound movements for under an hour. This is just a guideline, but you're breaking down muscle when you lift, so going too long is not helpful. You build muscle recovering from the workout, not doing it.
- Don't give up aerobic exercise all together; just take it down a notch and account for the calories you burn doing it. It's true aerobic exercise doesn't do a lot to build muscle, but it's still good for you. Keep it either intense and brief, or long and easy (think walking). Account for the calories burned doing it.
- Your body won't metabolize an obscene amount of protein so give your kidneys a break. I don't think anyone knows exactly how much protein your body can turn into muscle, but it's probably not more than three grams a pound (probably much less) so don't go crazy and eat something else.
- Some supplements are useful. Creatine is safe (at least in the short term). Take it with sugar (loading is mostly bullshit) and after a month or so you should notice a difference in appearance and in performance in the weight room. Protein shakes are unnecessary, but can be a good quick way to get protein to your muscles right after a workout.
- Even though you're eating more, still try to keep the foods you're eating reasonable. Don't go crazy with fatty or processed meats and junk food. Eat poultry, fish, avocado, olive oil, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, eggs, nuts, beans, "natural" peanut butter, lean beef or pork, ect., for your proteins and fats. Eat your fruits and vegetables!
- Focus on your goal. If you want to run a marathon focus on it, don't turn it into a plan for weight loss. You might accomplish both, but trying to loose weight while doing it might result in shortchanging yourself on energy and nutrition. Focus grasshopper.
- Drink early and often because once you're thirsty it's too late. If you're doing long endurance type sports or competing in the heat, take in some salt, potassium, and maybe some sugar.
- Eat foods that agree with you. I know people who can't tolerate Gatorade while running so why force the issue? Find what works to keep you energized before, during, and after training.
- Don't eat or drink anything at your event you haven't tried during training.
- Food is an important part of recovery. Make sure to eat a meal (or at least something with carbs and protein) and water right after you train or compete.
Keep training and keep eating.
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