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1. Drink plenty of water.
At least a gallon of water should be consumed every day. Water will not only keep your body hydrated, but it will help carry waste out of your body. Avoid “designer” water and carbonated “water”. These products while still better than most beverages, are not water and do not carry the same benefits. “But I don’t like water” you say. Learn to love it. It loves you.

2. Eat 5-8 meals per day, every 2-3 hours.
This should be nothing new to anyone. Just in case, the primary reason for increasing the frequency of food consumption is to increase your metabolic rate. If your body is in a constant state of using up the calories you consume, there won’t be much room for those nasty fat cells to start filling up. If possible, you should try to count your calorie consumption. 10xyour body weight= calories per day. So if I want to lose weight and I weigh 205lbs then I should shoot for 2050 calories per day. Eat more, not less.

3. If it breathes, eat it.
Your diet should consist of an abundance of fish, poultry, and lean cuts of beef, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. Natural food is much friendlier to your digestive system and your body will thank you for it. Try to eat a vegetable with every meal. Even if you don’t want to count calories, these meals will provide a rich balance of nutrients and promote fat loss. If you’re a vegetarian, please go and try to feed some hummus to a lion. Let me know if he likes it.

4. Breakfast is really the most important meal of the day.
Most people don’t eat a good breakfast, if they eat anything at all. This meal is crucial. Remember how your body works better when in a constant metabolic state? Well, you just slept for 8 hours, and you weren’t eating anything. Your body is starving and if you don’t eat something soon, your metabolism will slow down and begin to store that fat you’ve worked so hard to get rid of. The best things to eat in the morning when focusing on fat loss are nuts and meat. Try to avoid sugars this early, as your body is highly insulin sensitive after a fast and you don’t want to feed the beast when it’s most hungry.

5. Eat something before bed.
A popular myth in the diet world is that any meal consumed before bed will turn into fat overnight. This couldn’t be further from the truth. You must eat before you sleep in order to keep your metabolism working while you’re enduring an extended fast. The best foods to eat are slow-digesting proteins such as yogurt or cottage cheese.

6. High Fructose Corn Syrup is the devil.
This widely popular sweetener is probably the single worst “food” you can subject your body to. It holds no nutritional value and will serve only to spike your insulin levels and help you pack on fat. HFCS is found in most processed foods and should be avoided at all costs.

7. Forget about “carbs”
The recent trend of demonizing carbohydrates has got to stop. They’re not as bad as people think. Focus on whole grains and vegetables and fruits. These are all carbohydrate-rich foods, and all very helpful in promoting fat loss. Things to avoid are refined carbs. Basically, anything that’s fake: white bread and bagels, refined sugar, most breakfast cereal and almost anything in the “snack” aisle. Also, be careful of packaged, dried fruit. Most of it has added HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP which instantly destroys any nutritional value the fruit may have provided.

8. Fish oil is your friend.
This is a tough one. This one is even tough for me. Fish oil comes in capsules now, so you don’t have to taste it going down, but you will taste it throughout the day, and that’s not fun. However, with that said, fish oil is a huge help in reducing body fat. And it’s relatively inexpensive. Again, this will be a tough one to swallow, but if you really want to get that six-pack, it will sure help.

9. Train your body for strength.
This should be obvious, but for some reason, it’s overlooked. The average person feels that cardio alone will help promote fat loss. In fact, steady state cardiovascular work will put your body in a catabolic state, burn muscle as well as fat, and will increase your performance at running on a treadmill, or using a recumbent bike or elliptical machine, depending on what you’re doing. Strength training will increase your muscle density. Muscle tissue will burn calories at a rate that is roughly 70 times that of fat. Basically, the more muscle you have, the easier it will be to lose fat. Now, especially for the women, increasing muscle density is not the same as increasing muscle size. You will not look like “those women” on ESPN with all the rippling muscles. These women work very hard to look like that, and you will never look like them unless you absolutely want to, and train to that end. Bottom line, strength training is key to fat loss.

10. Don’t follow the rules 100% of the time.
How will you ever make progress if you’re miserable with your diet? If you love to drink blue slurpees and eat snickers bars, then don’t eliminate them completely from your diet. Taking a break from time to time is actually a good thing. This doesn’t give you license to start eating everything in sight or to order the 5-5-5 from Dominoes for yourself, but one day per week you can go a little nuts, just keep it under control. This serves two purposes. One, the diet will be easier to stick to when you can keep eating the foods you really enjoy from time to time. Two, your metabolism will get a nice kick-start and begin working overtime to move all those sugars and calories around that it isn’t used to.

On different occasions I have been asked about nutrition and ways to improve your eating habits to help with preparing for an event or fight. Personally I have found that cutting weight is a demanding thing, all on its own, so if you can keep eating healthy when your not training for a competition then, when something comes up you wont have far to go.

That said I have two nutritional plans that have worked very well for me. One is a great everyday plan, the other is easy to follow but requires a bit of calorie counting. I find this plan is perfect when preparing for a competition where you have to cut weight to make weigh in. Today I will go over the everyday plan. On Monday I will cover the 2nd plan.

Please note that I did not create these plans myself they are from Professional Dietitians. I have just used them, like them, and want to share them.

Enjoy,
Yams

3 Food Plan

Developed by Orlando-based nutrition counselor Karen Beerbower, RD, the three-food rule is simple:
Every time you eat, choose a combination of three food items. Each item should come from a different food group, and one item must be a protein. That’s it.

How It Works
The rule works because it gives you structure, satisfies your food cravings with a healthy variety of foods, and allows you to eat all the foods you love. Want cookies? Fine, but also have a glass of milk and an orange. Macaroni and cheese for dinner? Great. Just include two more items, such as fresh green beans and a fruit salad.

If you want seconds on the mac and cheese, that’s okay too, but you must have seconds on the beans and fruit salad as well.

Pick from these food groups: fruits, veggies, dairy, grains, and meat (includes fish, eggs, nuts, legumes).

Protein Power
The three-food rule also helps you feel more satisfied and less hungry because you’re eating the proper amounts of protein, protein’s important; it slows digestion and increases satiety.

Sample Groupings
The following are some perfectly matched three-food meals and snacks to get you started on this weight loss program. As a rule, count mixed dishes, such as pizza, sandwiches, and stews, as one item. For the healthiest combinations, include a fruit or vegetable as one of your items whenever possible. Beverages, except milk, are “free” items and not considered part of the plan. Protein foods are marked
with a (P).

Snacks
Cottage cheese (P) • Fresh fruit • Graham crackers
Cheese slice (P) • Crackers • Grapes
Peach slices • Trail mix • Yogurt (P)

Breakfast
Eggs (P) • Grapefruit • Toast
Dry cereal • Fruit • Milk (P)

Lunch
Celery/cucumber sticks • Ham-on-rye sandwich (P) • Fresh peach slices
Chilled roast chicken breast (P) • Cucumber and romaine salad with vinaigrette dressing • Whole wheat crackers
Banana • Potato soup • Tuna sandwich (P)

Dinner
Fresh green beans • Blackened salmon (P) • Wild rice
Baked ziti with meat sauce (P) • Garlic bread • Salad with vinaigrette dressing
Asparagus • Flank steak (P) • Lemon orzo pasta

Protein also helps maintain lean body tissue, and it assists in the formation of important compounds that supply energy and sharpen your mental focus and cognitive skills. Good sources include meat, eggs, dairy products, fish, seeds, nuts, and legumes.