Have you ever tried to start a lighter that was out of fuel? You can create the spark over and over, but without the required fuel, there will be no flame. Exercise and nutrition are very much the same way. Exercise is the spark, and nutrition is the fuel. You can work out extremely hard day after day, creating a great spark, but without the proper nutrition your efforts will be wasted. You won’t effectively recuperate from your workouts, you won’t see the results you signed up to achieve, and you will ultimately get frustrated and quit! If you’ve been searching for a quick guide for WHAT to eat and other considerations, then keep reading… Here are our general recommendations for foods that should make up the bulk of your diet:

• Lean Proteins
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Nuts and Seeds
• Rice (any type)
• *Whole grain bread
• *Whole wheat pasta
• *Oatmeal
• *Sweet Potatoes
• *Quinoa

*If well tolerated and active There are FIVE major considerations we need to examine in depth to understand what changes may need to be made with your diet to achieve your desired result. These five considerations are ranked from most important to least important as it relates to meeting your body composition goals.

Calorie balance

Calorie balance is the most important part of any physical goal you are aiming to achieve. Remember this: The principle of calorie balance generally implies that muscle gain is mostly a matter of eating more food than you burn, and fat loss is mostly a matter of eating less food than you burn.

Macronutrients

Protein, carbohydrates and fat play a vital role in eating the right way. Eating the right amounts of protein, carbs, and fats (in that order!) will have an effect on your outcome, but this is still second to calorie balance in terms of achieving your body composition goals.

Nutrient Timing

Nutrient timing comes in at third on the list, but in reality it’s much less impactful than the first two principles. Some of your results can vary based on when you eat, but this is not as critical to your goals as how much you eat and what you eat. (We generally don’t recommend saving all your calories for the day and eating a gallon of ice cream before bed!)

Food Composition

Food composition comes in at fourth place in regards to body composition. However, it is extremely important to us for you to live a long and healthy life. We understand that a good solid diet should contemplate quality of life and longevity and not just shorter term physical results. So while we rate food composition lower on the list as it relates to achieving physical results, we strongly believe that it is critical to achieving the overall health goals that so many of our clients have as well. Just don’t think that eating a squeaky clean diet without weighing and measuring your food is the primary focus to deliver the physique goals that you have.

Supplements

Supplements – As the name implies, supplements are meant to enhance and complement an already effective diet. They are not intended and not able to overcome errors in calorie balance, macros or timing. We’ll introduce you to some very helpful supplements as it relates to your goals later in this manual.