I’ve been asked recently for nutrition advice, so I thought I’d post a blog with some thoughts for you to consider. Proper nutrition is the base of any fitness regiment and the most important part of living a healthy lifestyle. The problem is figuring out what proper nutrition means, and the amount of information (good and bad) available to sift through makes it nearly impossible to figure out. In order to simplify things, I have 3 rules that I follow:

1) Eat meat, vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar.
The first step to proper nutrition starts with eating the right foods. Foods rich in nutrients and vitamins. It is important to eat whole foods and avoid pre-packaged food with lots of preservatives. This food prescription is the basis of the “Paleo” diet that has been popularized lately. I don’t subscirbe to any “diet” and I don’t recommend you do either, but paleo is a good place to start figuring out what works for you. The main premise behind paleo eating is that you eat whole foods, focusing on fresh meat and vegetables. Be wary though, there are a lot of recipes and blogs out there that claim to be paleo attempting to cash in on the newest craze, but post recipes containing sugar and other ingredients that are contrary to healthy nutrition.
With all of that being said, I personally eat the occasional slice of bread (sandwiches are my favorite), dairy products here and there, and legumes (beans) which all go against the “Paleo” diet. The reason for this is…

2) No one diet works for everyone.
As different as we all are physically, so should our diets be different. We all have different tastes, nutritional needs, preferences, etc. I recommend starting with the foods described above, and then playing with some recipes to figure out what works the best (being careful to always stay away from preservatives and limiting sugars). It’s important to try out different foods and see how they affect not only how you feel, but how you perform in your workouts.

3) Eat to perform, keeping your health and fitness goals in mind.
Different fitness goals require different nutrition. If you’re trying to gain strength, putting on mass may be helpful and your nutrition plans should reflect that. If your goal is to trim down some, your nutrition will be very different. Always keep your goals in mind and eat accordingly. If you have any questions about developing a nutrition plan specific for your goals, feel free to talk to me and I will be glad to help you get started.

To help get you started, here is a recipe from Paleomg.com: