What You Should Be Eating

Ok...so we talked about controlling our portions and calories at mealtime. Now we need to identify what we should be eating and why.

Before we do this, let's first discuss what your primary goal should be. Losing weight is probably the first thing most people focus on, and what number reflects on a scale when they step on it. That should be a SECONDARY goal. Your PRIMARY goal should always be reducing bodyfat and replacing it with lean muscle. Being overweight means that the bodyfat percentage is too high. We want our bodies to contain as much muscle as possible because muscle is what burns calories, so the obvious conclusion here is that you should be focused on losing fat while building muscle, not just losing weight. That should be your goal.

How do we accomplish this? Well, it's not something that will happen overnight. It's going to take a consistent, and disciplined approach to making a change to a clean diet and regular exercise. Another seemingly obvious conclusion here is that if the bodyfat percentage is too high, you need to dramatically cut your fat intake in your daily diet. (this means reading food labels and learning to tell yourself NO). While doing so we need to increase the amount of protein each day that we put in our bodies. Why? Because Protein is what builds muscle. We also need to ensure that we stay well hydrated at the same time by drinking plenty of water. Muscle is made mostly of protein and water. So...in order to lose fat and build muscle, we need to cut the fats, while adding the protein and water.

Another thing we need to consider here and equally important is carbohydrates. These are the body's main source of fuel. However, if not kept in check can lead to not only increase weight, but increased bodyfat. Carbs if not used, are converted and stored as fat by the body for energy at a later time. We don't want this to happen. What we DO want to happen, is to cut our carb intake enough so that the body begins to draw on the existing fat stores in the body for energy, burning off that fat. If you constantly overload your body with carbs, you'll never get into those fat calories that you've saved up over the years. You cannot eliminate carbohydrates from your diet altogether, its almost impossible, and wouldnt be a healthy decision anyway. You will have to cut them way down though in order to get rid of the fat.

To summarize, here's what you need to start doing. Increase your protein and water intake, and cut back dramatically on the fats and carbohydrates each day. You must be involved in some type of physical exercise regimen 3-5 times a week at the same time. Remember also that all of this is meant to be a PERMANANT lifestlye change, not simply something you do for a little while.

In my next post I will talk more about protein, fats, and carbs to give you a better idea of the types of foods you should be eating AND avoiding. STAY TUNED...


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