Keep It Simple, Stupid! (Ok, none of you are stupid)

Far too often we think of diets and eating “right” as something that is just far out of our reach. Truth is, fad diets and weight loss companies want you to feel that way so that they can solve that dilemma for you with the purchase of their miraculous program; either that or we just feel like “oh screw it, I’ll never get it right” and abandon all hope of ever being able to eat a healthy balanced way.

Here are a few tips and tricks that I would suggest taking into consideration. Keep in mind that it’s always a good idea to have someone who know what their talking about (a nutritionist, dietician, or someone who is well versed in food and nutrition) help you set the appropriate macronutrient/calorie parameters for you based on your body and goals.

• Look for lean cuts of meat–beef is an easy one to think of, don’t go for the cuts with fat marbled throughout, opt for a filet or strip steak, best would be flank; trimmed of all visible fat.
• When choosing cheese and milk and yogurt, go for a lower fat variety vs full fat, you can’t taste the difference (at least I can’t), and this is an EASY way to reduce fat intake.
• Choose fresh foods whenever possible-shop the perimeter of the grocery store more than you would the aisles. Freeze things to use later, and try to fill your meals and snacks with as many whole raw foods as possible. Not only will this help to keep you feeling full (more volume from salads, apples, berries, etc vs a bag of potato chips), but you also get so many more vitamins, minerals and fiber from whole food sources; which will help with energy levels and regularity (yea, that means what you think it means 😉 )
• Track your food! I don’t want to created a movement of OCD folks, but so many people aren’t even aware of how much they’re eating! You might think that because you buy organic fruit snacks and eat a lot of hummus that you’re styling–when truth is your diet is lacking protein and healthy fats and you didn’t even know it! A food scale is also a good investment, not that you’ll need to measure every bite for eternity, but it really helps to put things in perspective when it comes to serving sizes.
• Don’t skip meals. I know this is an oldie, but it’s a goodie too. I’m sure 100% of us can relate to skipping breakfast, and lunch and then by 3pm we are crabby, ravenous and are not about to take the time to prepare ourselves a meal–so it is drive thru time! And because we’re starving we are pretty much guaranteed to make horrible choices and order way more than would ever be necessary in one meal (not that this has happened to me or anything…). So keep some snacks in your purse/desk/car for those times where lunch got pushed back so that you are not setting yourself up for a disastrous hunger binge.
• Watch what you drink! Don’t be chugging sugar filled coffees, juice, pop all day. Those are the sneaky carbs and calories that add up without us even thinking about it! Aim to be drinking at least half your bodyweight in oz of water (as in; if you weigh 160 you should get at least 80oz of water a day), I say a gallon every day–but some folks think they’re eyeballs will float out of their head with that 😛 And so often our body will disguise dehydration for hunger, so before you go scarfing a Big Mac, chug 16oz of water and then re evaluate.
• Think protein with every meal/snack. You should be keeping a pretty steady supply of protein in your system to help with muscle building and metabolism function. Also, your body can only efficiently use so much protein at one time–so if you “save” 60+ grams for the end of the day, not all of that will have gone to good use; and who would wanna waste protein?! So think “where’s the protein” when you go to choose a meal or snack (I try to have at least 20g with each feeding)

More of the story, don’t over complicate things. The majority of us will not need to be so so exact with our calories and macros that it needs to be all consuming. Granted, there are those people with really specific fitness related goals where nutrition needs to be super exact; but for the average mom or business dude, it’s just about making better choices, and not allowing oneself to go to either extreme–either way obsessive and restrictive, or overly gluttonous and not intentional.

Hope that helps!!