Five Guidelines for Proper Nutrition

Yes, consistently going to the gym is important.

However, what truly leads to muscle growth and a 'kickin' body is what you do OUTSIDE of the gym.

In order to become progressively stronger in the weight room, one needs both adequate sleep and nutrition. The sleeping part is easy, just make sure to sleep 7-8 hours per night. But the nutrition part??? Not so much.

Here are my five rules for developing a sound nutrition.

1. Know Your Goal- Are you trying to gain, maintain, or lose weight? Each goal requires a different caloric intake, and amount of macronutrients (grams of protein, fats, and carbohydrates)

         To Gain Weight- Start by increasing your daily caloric intake by 250-300 calories (ideally through complex carbohydrates) If you steadily start to gain weight, maintain that intake. If you don't see any weight gain after a week, up your intake by another 250 calories.

         To Lose Weight- Do the opposite of above. Simply decrease your intake by 250-300 calories initially and go from there. Do what works best for YOU. Ideally, it should be carbohydrates (specifically sugars) that should be decreased.

         To Maintain- Keep eating the same amount of calories as is. However, make sure your intake correlates with your activity level.

Staying true to your goal is SOOOOO much easier through logging your food on a calorie-counting site. I personally use caloriecount.about.com

2. Be FLEXIBLE!- Believe me, as healthy as meals such as grilled chicken with sweet potatoes are, it gets boring FAST! Therefore, one has to be flexible to in order make a clean eating regime work. Here some examples of proteins, fasts, and carbohydrates one can eat frequently in order to make his/her diet full of variety.

Proteins: Grilled chicken, tuna, lean ground beef, veggie burgers, lean ground turkey, Greek yogurt, whey/casein protein

Carbohydrates: Brown/white rice, oatmeal, sweet/baked/mashed potatoes, whole wheat bread, wheat tortillas, whole grain pasta, vegetables (green/black beans, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.)

Fats: Peanut Butter, eggs, avocado, nuts (peanuts, almonds)

3. CHEAT!- One or two times a week, it is OKAY to have a few pieces of pizza or that cheeseburger with fries. However, be responsible doing it! Don't go overboard!

4. Go Out- Just because you're eating healthy doesn't mean you can't eat socially with friends or family at restaurants. Before going out, type into Google, the name of the restaurant that you're going to, and look at its menu in order to get an idea of what you should order. Most restaurants actually post the nutritional value of each meal online!

5. Drink Water- Muscles are largely made up of water, therefore an adequate consumption must be consumed in order to keep the muscles happy. The formula that I was taught regarding proper water intake was: Weight (in lbs) x 0.5 (ounces) = Recommended intake


Eating healthy consistently can be difficult; however, through being flexible, and having the occasional cheat meal, it is SO possible! Hopefully these guidelines help you on your journey of living a healthy lifestyle.