#1 = Tryptophan which reduces anxiety and depression, helps with migraines, helps the immune system, reduces heart spasms, it is also a natural relaxant and aids in normal sleep, taken with Lysine it reduces cholesterol levels in the blood.

#2 = Lysine improves formation of bone cartilage and connective tissues, it aids in the absorption of calcium, it aids in the production of enzymes, hormones and the production of antibodies that help fight diseases and illness.

#3 = Methionine is the supplier of sulfur which prevents problems with hair, nails and skin. Methionine aids in the liver’s production of lecithin, reduces liver fat and helps protect the kidneys. Methionine also aids in reducing bladder irritations and infections and promotes hair growth.

#4 = Phenylalaine keeps you awake and alert, it is used in the brain to produce a chemical that transmits signals between the brain and the nerve cells, phenylalaine helps to improve your memory and also reduces hunger pains.

#5 = Threonine aids in digestion and intestinal tract functions; it also helps reduce liver fat.

#6 = Valine calms emotions and aids with mental vigor; it also aids with muscle coordination.

#7 and #8 work together; they are Leucine and Isoleucine, they help to produce essential biochemical components in the body, production of energy, stimulate the brain and aid with alertness.

There are also non-essential amino acids, why they are called non-essential is some what of a mystery, since all of them are needed for different biochemical reactions in the body as you will see.

Arginine improves immune response, promotes wound healing, aids in regeneration of the liver, and is needed for muscle growth.

Tyrosine aids in healthy functioning of the thyroid and pituitary glands, helps to improve memory and transmits impulses to the brain.

Glycine is required during cell production to release oxygen, it also aids in the production of essential hormones in the immune system.

Serine is essential in storing glucose in the muscles and liver, also aids in the immune system and produces a fatty acid cover to protect nerve fibers.

Aspartic acid aids in the removal of ammonia from the body. Ammonia is toxic to the body and aspartic acid helps to protect our body from the poison until it is expressed through the urine.

Glutamic acid helps improve mental capacities, aids in healing ulcers and helps with fatigue.

Alanine is a source of energy for the muscles, brain and nervous system. Alanine produces antibodies that help the immune system.

Cystine is an anti-oxidant and aids in the protection against pollutants, it can help slow the aging process, it is necessary in the production of skin.

Proline is vital in the functioning of joints, and helps to strengthen the heart muscle.

Taurine is necessary in the removal of free-radical waste from the body, it is a factor that is necessary for changes that take place during aging.

Histidine is found in the blood, it is used to treat several diseases such as RA, (rheumatoid arthritis) ulcers, and anemia. These are just a few of the amino acids that are essential in your diet for better health.

It is very important that you choose foods that are rich in amino acids as well as vitamins and minerals for your health.

Super foods are believed to contain the highest numbers of amino acids, vitamins and minerals. If you go to Google and type in super foods, you will find several sights, all telling you about the same thing, that eating a natural diet will protect you from several diseases and illnesses. Here are the ones that most people agree on, they are readily available in markets: Apples, avocados, tomatoes, bananas, cabbage, carrots, garlic, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, oranges, cantaloupe, broccoli, watermelon, dry beans, spinach, kale, salmon and other oily fish, flax seed, oats, soya, blueberries, cranberries, squash, almonds, beets, ginger, olive oil, tea, chili peppers, mushrooms, papaya, pineapple, kiwi, mangoes, apricots, pumpkin, walnuts, yogurt, parsley, sage, rosemary, cinnamon, brussel sprouts, lentils, pomegranates, concord grapes and brazil nuts.

After much research I found that not all of the foods I studied were true super foods. You have to consider where and how your food is grown. They do however; contain the necessary ingredients to be beneficial in your diet. It is absolutely true that you need various foods that react together for improved benefits in the body. If you consume an avocado you will reap the rewards but if you consume a grapefruit with your avocado they work as a team to fight disease and illness.

This is true for most foods, there are however exceptions and they are; Wild salmon, tomatoes, broccoli and broccoli sprouts, kale, spinach, garlic, onions, blueberries, walnuts, pomegranates, depending how and where they are grown, then there’s goji berries, mulberries, goldenberries, sauco berries, acai berries, noni fruit, mangosteen fruit, bee pollen, royal jelly, green tea, sea vegetables, quinoa, and umeboshi plum.

Sea vegetables are true super foods, they contain significant amounts of protein and they also contain all the minerals found in the ocean. They offer 10 to 20 times the vitamins and minerals found in plants grown on land with just a few exceptions. There is a reason for this; we, as a population, have depleted our soils of the necessary nutrients that plants absorb. We also use chemicals and pesticides on our crops, these chemicals and pesticides are non-selective and destroy everything even the micro bacteria and micro fungi that is digested by the plants.

When you purchase an apple from the store it is usually lacking most of the minerals that the soil once provided, minerals that are essential to our health. This is not true for the sea vegetables, the ocean is still productive, we have yet to destroy it and therefore it is a rich source for your health. Kelp, blue-green algae, spirulina, chorella, dulse, alaria, sea lettuce, irish moss, kombu, wakame, and nori are all rich in vitamins, minerals and all the essential amino acids.

Some fruits that are grown wild in other parts of the world are also true super foods and are still rich in nutrients because the soils are not depleted. The Mangosteen fruit is native to South East Asia, it has been studied for 20 years by independent labs and doctors for its medicinal uses; it contains 25,000 anti-oxidants, the highest number ever found in one food source, it contains amino acids as well as a vast majority of vitamins and minerals.

The Goji berry is native to Asia; it contains amino acids and essential minerals and vitamins. Mulberries are native to Turkey; they are high in vitamin C, iron, calcium and protein. Goldenberries are native to Colombia and Peru, Sauco berries are native to South America, Umeboshi Plum is native to Japan, Noni fruit is native to Polynesia. The Acai berry has 30 times more anti-oxidants than blueberries, all eight essential amino acids and trace minerals. The list goes on, but what you eat is up to you, your health is in your hands.

If you are already suffering with a disease or illness or you’re prone to certain diseases or illness, due to family history, then there are a few things you need to know. If vegetables are cooked at over 118 degrees the heat will destroy most of the beneficial properties. You can not eat as much as you need, which is 8 to 10 servings a day, but there is a solution, you can juice your way to health. The food pyramid has changed which came as no surprise to me, I still have trouble with this type of system, not everyone needs the same things, and every person on this planet is different and has different nutritional requirements. There are some terms you need to understand before we continue:

Vitamins = nutrients that are necessary to your health, a shortage or an excessive amount for extended periods can cause health problems.

Phytonutrients = these are anti-oxidants that are plant-derived; they help to improve your health but are not required.

Carotenoids = they are in the dark coloring of the skin of fruits and vegetables (pigments), they are also anti-oxidants; there are dozens of carotenoids.

Free-radical = they disrupt living cells by attacking them, free-radicals are missing an electron and they steal one from other cells, they are responsible for all diseases and illness due to their damage. Free-radicals are in air and water pollution, and in junk foods we eat. You can not escape from them; they are a part of life. Free-radical damage accumulates with age if you do not protect yourself.

Anti-oxidants = they neutralize free-radicals by donating their extra electron; all anti-oxidants have an extra electron. Anti-oxidants protect us from free-radical damage. Anti-oxidants are called scavengers; they prevent cell and tissue damage which leads to disease and illness. They are absolutely required for optimum health in very large numbers every day.

Synergy = nutrients that are taken in combinations; these combinations cause the nutrients to become more powerful then when taken alone.

Notice that the list above states that people agree that blueberries are a super food. Not all foods have been studied, take the cherry; it’s deep rich red color is full of carotenoids or it would not have that great color. The cherry has not been extensively studied yet. What does this mean for you?

Be wise and eat fruits and vegetables that have the darkest and richest colors, in combinations, to receive maximum benefits. Do not make the mistake that others have made and write off all the unlisted fruits and vegetables, everything that grows in the ground has benefits for your health. Your food choices are a life or death decision, so do your research and find the best solutions for your health.

Beans may reduce the risk of heart disease; lentils support heart health; berries of all kinds have synergistic effects and are scavengers of free-radicals; citrus fruits are all full of anti-oxidants; vegetables steamed on low heat are a great source of fiber and complex carbohydrates; sea vegetables are bursting with carotenoids, vitamins, minerals and amino acids and can be found in many forms, tablet or powder.

Sea vegetables support your whole body; green leafy vegetables are bursting with eye health nutrients as well as supporting the heart, brain and bones. Nuts help reduce the risk of heart disease; oats are a prime source of complex carbohydrates and full of fiber. Cold water – wild fish, not farm raised, contain beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, necessary for coronary heart health. Wild salmon, trout and tuna all contain different amounts and should all be consumed; seeds and nuts help balance hormones and have anti-oxidant activities; soy packs a punch with its anti-oxidation effects; mangosteen fruit is bursting with anti-oxidants and works in your entire body for your overall health.

There is some evidence that men and women need different nutrients to support biological needs. Men need to protect themselves against prostate cancer, bladder cancer, testosterone levels, sperm counts, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

Men should add five tomatoes, or five servings of tomato sauce, a week to their diet to protect them from prostate cancer. Three oysters a day have the full day’s supply of zinc which is essential for the male reproductive system, testosterone and sperm counts. Men are three times more likely to get bladder cancer than women; broccoli, brussel sprouts and cabbage, eaten five times a week, shows a reduction in this disease according to the studies. Eating a handful of un-salted peanuts every day helps lower your bad cholesterol levels, helping to reduce the risk of heat disease.

Potassium can reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke. Watermelon and other melons can help reduce your chances of developing high blood pressure. Women need to protect themselves against gallbladder disease, breast cancer and fight osteoporosis.

Women tend to be anemic due to low iron levels, and women suffer with menopausal hot flashes. Women with low vitamin C levels are more likely to develop gall bladder disease than those with higher levels of vitamin C; papaya has twice the amount of vitamin C than an orange. Flaxseed is rich in an estrogen like compound called lignans. Make sure to get the seeds and grind them in a coffee grinder. You can put them on cereal or mix in muffin mix as there are no lignans in flaxseed oil; lignans have effectively slowed tumor growth in women that already have breast cancer. Vitamin K along with vitamin D and calcium are all important nutrients for fighting osteoporosis. Women that get enough vitamin K are 30 percent less likely to suffer factures in their later years.

Collard greens are the best source for this protection, although dark green leafy vegetables, brussel sprouts, spinach and broccoli are also good sources. Women tend to be lower in iron than men due to menstruation and this can cause sever fatigue. To get the highest doses of iron you should try buffalo meat, you get an easily digestible 3 milligrams of iron in a 3 oz portion of this very lean meat.

In later life women tend to suffer with the dreaded hot flashes. There may be relief found in tofu. A half cup of tofu contains 30 mg of isoflavones, which are plant chemicals that have a structure that is similar to estrogen, and may offer some relief from hot flashes.

For men and women alike, make sure to add super foods to your diet, such as; sea vegetables, mangosteen fruit juice, Goji berry juice, or other berry juices.

Being healthy takes effort on your part, do not put your health into someone else’s hands, they are not you and their nutritional requirements may be different than yours. Everyone is an expert when it comes to their own health, read and listen to the information but please make an informed choice for yourself.

Do the research! Your life and the quality of your life is in your hands.

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First, you might want to look at your exercise habits, if there are any. If there arenít any exercise routines to examine, no fitness. Everyone, no matter what their age, benefits from exercise. It keeps our bodies conditioned, our mental sharpness working at top speed, and thanks to the physical aspect, we get a boost to our cardio health, extra calorie burn, and more oxygen to those cells!
Do you take in more calories than your body needs? Are you supplementing your vitamins and minerals to make sure you are getting your recommended daily allowances? If youíre not making the most basic of efforts to take care of your nutritional needs, you arenít a fit individual. You may not look sick, you may not have any noticeable symptoms of ill-health, but youíre not the fit and toned individual you could be.

What about the stress levels in your life? Do work in an environment with high levels of stress? Is your personal life a source of comfort or does it add to your stress levels? Do you engage in some form of stress-relieving activity? Stress is the number on contributor to heart attacks and strokes, since they manage to speed up the affect of the real culprits. Stress is basically an out of control situation for most adults today. We manage to schedule every moment of our free time, and leave ourselves with no time for quiet reflection, or time to deal with lifeís unexpected emergencies.

Fitness requires us to examine more than just our exercise routine. The mere definition of fitness refers to the bodyís ability to meet physical stresses. That includes coping with our day to day life, getting from the beginning of the day to the end, without being worn completely out. In order to be truly fit, we find ways to rid ourselves of built up stress, the kind that begins to affect our muscles, muscle tone, and composition. Massages are the best cure for ridding our bodies of the stress buildup that can occur, even with exercise regimens and detract from our overall fitness.

Exercises that demand total body involvement are the best for maintaining and improving your level of fitness most effectively. Running, swimming, jogging, dancing, cycling, and very brisk walking are some of the more popular total body involvement exercises.

There are so many occasions to stop and question our efforts at maintaining optimal health, that we usually donít even take the time to begin the examination. But it is beneficial to our overall health, the quality and quantity of our life, to make every effort to be fit, healthy, individuals.

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Weight Loss Diet Failure

You’ve probably bought into the propaganda that says you’ve failed at dieting; a different – and more accurate – way of looking at it is that the weight loss diet has failed you. That’s because most diets focus on short-term changes that result in temporary weight loss, but never tackle the underlying factors that make you put on the pounds to begin with. In other words, they focus only on the “outside” problem – your body – and neglect everything below the surface – your emotions, your intellect, and your relationships.

A diet for summer might work for swimsuit season, but if you don’t strengthen your foundations before you lose weight, those Diesel skinny jeans won’t fit when fall rolls around.

Turning Failure into Success

In order to lose weight and keep it off, you need a guide who will lead you on an exploratory journey to discover the power and control that you possess. Then, you need to be taught how to harness those powers to achieve all that you want in life – including fitting into your skinny jeans.

You may have been told – either verbally or through insidious advertisements – that if you don’t have power over your eating, you have no power at all. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every woman is magnificent, and every woman has mental powers, emotional powers, social powers and physical powers just waiting to be tapped. When you heal your past wounds, and recognize and reinforce the power within you, you have laid the foundation for permanent weight loss.

Practical and Fun

If a weight loss diet is a drag, you’ll never succeed in reaching your goals. On the other hand, if you have an empowering program to follow that is also practical and fun, you hold the keys to success. In fact, you can even drop a whole size in two weeks.

The “secret” – if you want to call it that – is to adopt a well-tested exercise program that can instantly fit into your lifestyle. Remember, the success lies in simplicity, clarity, and practicality. Then, you need to adopt an eating plan that works synergistically with your exercise plan to build on the foundation of the inner work you have done in order to embrace your personal power.

Remember that, with the right guide, you can do more than go on yet another weight loss diet; you can truly win in all areas of your life and achieve an outer beauty than matches your inner beauty.

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Lose Weight

Lose weight by going on a safe weight loss plan. Just by losing weight, you will feel better and healthier. You will look good and feel great. That should be your Mantra. I look good and I feel great.

The main thing is to set your goals so that you lose weight, surely, safely and you will like what you see in the mirror. People will start complimenting you.

And you will be able to wear clothes you pushed to the back of your wardrobe, as they had shrunk. You might even find you have a brand new wardrobe.

Take More Exercise

If you are able, do more exercise to burn the calories. Walking is extremely good. Or put on a CD and dance to the music. Don’t put on fast music that you can’t keep up with. You don’t want to die of exhaustion.

Exercising will help you lose weight, increase your energy, and you will get the feel good feeling as your endorphins will come into play. Endorphins are your friends.

Eat Sensibly With A Well Balanced Diet

Eat a well balanced diet. Or if you do not eat as you should, use supplementation. Few people eat a well balanced diet. So by taking supplementation you will be getting all the right vitamins and minerals in the right amounts that your body needs.

Look After Your Heart and It Will Look After You

Your heart is the one thing that keeps you alive. Look after it and it will look after you. If it is too late and your heart is giving you problems eg High Blood Pressure, you need to take Omega 3, 6 and 9. Capsules are readily available from your Health Food Shop.

And most importantly, if your GP has prescribed medication, keep on taking them regularly, no matter how well you feel.

Increase Your Energy

Increase your energy by eating foods that help speed up your metabolism. Using the Mediterranean Diet is ideal. It will also help you to lose weight.

The Mediterranean Diet means you will be eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, especially dark green leafy ones.

Be Kind To Yourself by Making Time For You

Pamper yourself every so often. Love your self.

Spend an evening manicuring your nails, use a mudpack.

Put on your favourite music, or watch a video. The point is to choose what you want to listen to or watch, not what someone else tells you to do.

Get someone to give you a massage. Aromatherapy can be very beneficial.

You may have to promise to give him or her a massage in return. But not on the same night as your pampering session.

Be Positive. Your Thoughts Are What Make You What You Are

Keep a positive mental attitude. Don’t let negative thoughts take over your mind. When this happens, think of something good instead.

Keep telling yourself you feel wonderful, even if you don’t. If you tell your subconscious mind something enough times, as it does not reason, it will believe it to be the truth.

Enjoy Family Life

Enjoy family time. Show your family that you love them. Play games with the kids.

It is said that a family that play together stay together.

And arrange things so that you can spend an evening alone with your partner.

Improve Your Knowledge

Never stop learning. Be like a child, keep asking why. Curiosity does not kill the cat; it just makes it cleverer.

Drink More Water

Drink enough water to flush the toxins out of your body. Also not drinking enough water can cause you to be constipated.

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Berries

You may like all types of berries or just one or two favorites, but you can never go wrong by adding a few fresh berries as a quick energy snack or frozen berries made into a luscious smoothie in place of calorie laden desserts. Berries are high in vitamin C across the board, but some are high in other nutrients as well. Choose ripe blueberries for vitamin C and heaps of anti-oxidants for the health of your circulatory system. Gogi berries are less well-known but are wonderfully rich in many of the nutrients your body needs to be nutritionally and physically fit.

Citrus

The foods of the citrus family are widely recognized as a valuable source of vitamin C. Choose fully ripe citrus fruits for the best nutritional value and choose citrus as near to the tree as possible. Tree ripened fruits picked at the peak of perfection and consumed with hours of picking give you the top nutritional rating. Try grapefruit for breakfast. Add a dash of fresh squeezed lime to your salad as a dressing and enjoy slices of orange with coconut in a light honey dressing for dessert.

Vegetables

The variety of vegetables is amazing. For people who are vegetarian or vegan, choosing vegetables to be part of a nutritionally sound diet is a way of life. Your vegetable group provides many of the minerals required in a good diet. For example, you may realize that potassium is necessary for healthy nutrition. Many people claim the benefits of potassium found in a single banana. But did you know, you can also get adequate potassium in your diet by eating a stalk of broccoli? Try a salad of fresh young spinach topped with pine nuts and stirred with lightly cooked penne’. Feta cheese and a light vinaigrette dressing to create the perfect light luncheon meal.

Whole Grains

Like many other of the best foods, choosing only one type of whole grain for your meals doesn’t provide all the variety you need to be nutritionally sound. Often, mixing two or more whole grains together will give you complete proteins. For example, brown rice and wheat kernels with a spicy seasoning are a popular dish in many countries.

Salmon

Salmon is lean fish and nutritionally one of the best fish choices. It is rich in Omega-3 oils that are noted as helping improve the functioning of the brain. Salmon baked whole with just lemon or lime as a seasoning makes a fantastic main dish or a hearty luncheon featured menu item. Salmon is also commonly found in chilled seafood dishes.

Legumes

A legume is the name for a variety of fruits with a single dry seed. Legumes are sometimes called pods. Examples of edible legumes are soybeans, peas, dried beans and peanuts, among others. Legumes are rich in iron and high in fiber, making them excellent nutritional choices. Peanuts are a type of legume that have been used to make hundreds of different products some edible and others with various types of helpful uses.

Nuts and seeds

Nature has packed a lot of goodness into small packages. Most everyone has heard of walnuts and pecans which are very good nutritional products, but did you realize that flax seeds are brain food–containing critical non-meat sources of the Omega-3 oil.

Lean proteins

The keyword here is lean. Americans eat far too much protein compared to the rest of the world. Cut down of portion sizes–three ounces will provide all the needed protein needed for your day. Also, trim all visible fat from your protein source. Alternatively, use non meat substitutes such as the complete proteins found in vegetable dishes like beans and brown rice.

Tea

Depending on the type of tea you prefer, you can get an energy boost from a cup of green tea, or the calming effect of chamomile tea. Get going with mint teas or start your day with Earl Grey Breakfast Tea. Herbal teas are soothing, tasty and good for you. Non herbal teas will help you to stay alert when you need help to function.

Olive oil

Olive oil is probably the healthiest substance you can use to keep fat in your diet. You can use it on your salad, mix it with a little vinegar to create your own, or fry other foods in the hot oil. Just make sure that the temperature is not too hot so that the oil is broken down.

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Unfortunately, most people I see performing weight training or resistance training at the gym are spending too much time with the exercise and not working hard enough.  They’re not going to burn very much fat this way.

The secret I’ve found is that training for lean muscle and strength requires the proper application of three vital elements that are often ignored by those who attempt it.  Those three elements are:

-Intensity

-Volume & Frequency

-Progression

The intensity is how hard it is to perform for you, given your current condition.  The volume and frequency are how much and how often you perform the exercise.  The progression is related to how much the demands increase from workout to workout.

Most times, weight training, is carried on for too long and performed too many times per week.  It is unfortunately treated much the same way as so-called fat burning aerobic exercise.  But they are vastly different forms of exercise.  In fact, they’re complete opposites.

Aerobic exercise typically is characterized by low to moderate intensity, high volume and frequency, and little progression.  Anaerobic exercise, or weight training, must be performed at a high intensity, lower volume and frequency, and with progression to be as effective as possible.

No amount of weight training performed at a low or moderate intensity will provide significant muscle or strength building benefit beyond the first few weeks.  On a high level view, it is simply the combination of sufficient intensity, coupled with attempting to increase either the number of repetitions of a weight training exercise or the amount of weight used each and every workout that will keep your body evolving into the ultimate fat burning machine!

You also have to pay attention to other details when creating an effective and efficient routine to maximize your workout and minimize your time spent in the gym.  Why?  Because perhaps even more important that the workout itself is the rest period that follows.  You’re not going to get stronger or more muscular if you don’t rest.

You see, when you strength train properly, you are creating tiny injuries to your muscles.  You then have to let the body repair itself, and then overcompensate and build upon the already existing amount of muscle mass you have.  If you workout again before that process in completed, you’ll experience lackluster, if any, muscle building or fat burning results.

So make sure to get proper rest between workouts, which typically means a minimum of 1 to 3 full days of rest between properly executed resistance workouts.

Now upon hearing the idea that you’ve got add muscle to your body to ensure the maximum fat burning environment, a lot of people, women especially, start thinking, “But I don’t want to get bigger, I want to lose weight!”  But this is such a shame, because it’s very unlikely to happen, and countless women are losing out on these fat burning benefits because of it.

You see, most men and almost all women simply lack the necessary genetic traits required to produce such muscle gains that would cause them to look bulky or overly-developed to most people.  These traits include testosterone levels, muscle fiber makeup, muscle belly length, and others.

Those competitive bodybuilders you’ve seen on TV and in the magazines are the genetic cream of the crop for muscle development and they are typically on heavy doses of anabolic steroids, growth hormone, and other bodybuilding drugs.  Don’t be fooled by these images, or those that scare you into thinking this way.  Also, lean muscle is more compact that fat, as it takes up less space in your body, so you will actually be getting smaller when replacing the fat on your body with lean muscle.

Please understand that you’re putting yourself in the best position to succeed with your fat loss and fitness goals when you perform properly conducted intense resistance training, no matter who you are.

But make sure you understand and apply the three critical principles I discussed above.  If you don’t, you’ll ultimately be unhappy with your results, both in your ability to burn fat and realize the lean, strong, and healthy body you deserve.

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In many popular diet books, “Calories don’t count” is a frequently repeated theme. Other popular programs, such as Bill Phillip’s “Body For Life,” stress the importance of energy intake versus energy output, but recommend that you count “portions” rather than calories…

Phillips wrote,

“There aren’t many people who can keep track of their calorie intake for an extended period of time. As an alternative, I recommend counting ‘portions.’ A portion of food is roughly equal to the size of your clenched fist or the palm of your hand. Each portion of protein or carbohydrate typically contains between 100 and 150 calories. For example, one chicken breast is approximately one portion of protein, and one medium-sized baked potato is approximately one portion of carbohydrate.”

Phillips makes a good point that trying to count every single calorie – in the literal sense – can drive you crazy and is probably not realistic as a lifestyle for the long term. It’s one thing to count portions instead of calories – that is at least acknowledging the importance of portion control. However, it’s another altogether to deny that calories matter.

Calories do count! Any diet program that tells you, “calories don’t count” or you can “eat all you want and still lose weight” is a diet you should avoid because you are being lied to. The truth is, that line is a bunch of baloney designed to make a diet sound easier to follow.

Anything that sounds like work – such as counting calories, eating less or exercising, tends to scare away potential customers! The law of calorie balance is an unbreakable law of physics: Energy in versus energy out dictates whether you will gain, lose or maintain your weight. Period.

I believe that it’s very important to develop an understanding of and a respect for portion control and the law of calorie balance. I also believe it’s an important part of nutrition education to learn how many calories are in the foods you eat on a regular basis – including (and perhaps, especially) how many calories are in the foods you eat when you dine at restaurants.

The law of calorie balance says:

To maintain your weight, you must consume the same number of calories you burn. To gain weight, you must consume more calories than you burn. To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you burn.

If you only count portions or if you haven’t the slightest idea how many calories you’re eating, it’s a lot more likely that you’ll eat more than you realize. (Or you might take in fewer calories than you should, which triggers your body’s “starvation mode” and causes your metabolism to shut down).

So how do you balance practicality and realistic expectations with a nutrition program that gets results? Here’s a solution that’s a happy medium between strict calorie counting and just guessing:

Create a menu using an EXCEL spreadsheet or your favorite nutrition software. Crunch all the numbers including calories, protein, carbs and fats. Once you have your daily menu, print it, stick it on your refrigerator (and/or in your daily planner) and you now have an eating “goal” for the day, including a caloric target.

Rather than writing down every calorie one by one from every morsel of food you eat for the rest of your life, create a menu plan you can use as a daily goal and guideline. If you’re really ambitious, keeping a nutrition journal at least one time in your life for at least 4-12 weeks is a great idea and an incredible learning experience, but all you really need to get started on the road to a better body is one good menu on paper. If you get bored eating the same thing every day, you can create multiple menus, or just exchange foods using your primary menu as a template.

Using this meal planning method, you really only need to “count calories” once when you create your menus, not every day, ad infinitum. After you’ve got a knack for calories from this initial discipline of menu planning, then you can estimate portions in the future and get a pretty good (and more educated) ballpark figure.

So what’s the bottom line? Is it really necessary to count every calorie to lose weight? No. But it IS necessary to eat fewer calories then you burn. Whether you count calories and eat less than you burn, or you don’t count calories and eat less than you burn, the end result is the same – you lose weight. Which would you rather do: Take a wild guess, or increase your chance for success with some simple menu planning? I think the right choice is obvious.

Exact quantities and menus are not listed, just the individual foods, and of course my food intake does vary. I aim to get as many different varieties of fruits and vegetables as possible over the course of every week and there are a lot of substitutions made, so you are not seeing the full list of everything I eat, only what foods I eat most of the time.

I also want to point out that while I don’t believe that extreme low carbs are necessary or most effective when you look at the long term, research has shown that there are some definite advantages to a low to moderate carb and higher protein diet for fat loss purposes. These include reduced appetite, higher thermic effect of food and “automatic” calorie control.

Personally, I reduce my carb intake moderately and temporarily prior to bodybuilding competitions. Specifically, it’s the foods that are on the starchy carbs and grains list that go down during the brief pre-competition period when I’m working on that really “ripped” look. I keep the green and fibrous veggie intake very high however, along with large amounts of lean protein, small amounts of fruit, and adequate amounts of essential fats.

This list reflects my personal preferences, so this is not a prescription to all readers to eat as I do. It’s very important for compliance to choose foods you enjoy and to have the option for a wide variety of choices. In the past several years, nutrition and obesity research – in studying ALL types of diets – has continued to conclude that almost any hypocaloric diet that is not completely “moronic” can work, at least in the short term.

It’s not so much about the high carb – low carb argument or any other debate as much as it is about calorie control and compliance. The trouble is, restricted diets and staying in a calorie deficit is difficult, so most people can’t stick with any program and they fall off the wagon, whichever wagon that may be.

I believe that a lot of our attention needs to shift away from pointless debates (for example, low carb vs. high carb is getting really old… so like… get over it everyone, its a calorie deficit that makes you lose weight, not the amount of carbs).

Instead, our focus should shift towards these questions:

* How can we build an eating program that we can enjoy while still getting us leaner and healthier?

* How can we build an eating program that helps us control calories?

* How can we build an eating program that improves compliance?

Here’s one good answer: Eat a wide variety of high nutrient density, low calorie density foods that you enjoy which still fit within healthy, fat-burning, muscle-building guidelines!

Here are the lists of foods I choose to achieve these three outcomes. This eating plan is not difficult to stick with at all, by the way. I enjoy eating like this and it feels almost weird not to eat like this after doing it for so long.

Remember, habits work in both directions, and as motivational speaker Jim Rohn has said, “Bad habits are easy to form and hard to live with and good habits are hard to form but easy to live with.”

These are listed in the order I frequently consume them. So for example, if oatmeal is on the top of the list, it means that is the food I am most likely to eat every single day.

My 10 top natural starchy carb and whole grains

1. Oatmeal (old fashioned)
2. Yams
3. Brown rice (a favorite is basmati, a long grain aromatic rice)
4. Sweet potatoes (almost same as yams)
5. Multi grain hot cereal (mix or barley, oats, rye. titricale and a few others)
6. White potatoes
7. 100% whole wheat bread
8. 100% whole wheat pasta
9. Beans (great for healthy chili recipes)
10. Cream of rice hot cereal

My Top 10 top vegetables

1. Broccoli
2. Asparagus
3. Spinach
4. Salad greens
5. Tomatoes
6. Peppers (green, red or yellow)
7. Onions
8. Mushrooms
9. Cucumbers
10. Zucchini

My top 10 lean proteins

1. Egg whites (whole eggs in limited quantities)
2. Whey or Casein protein (protein powder supplements)
3. Chicken Breast
4. Salmon (wild Alaskan)
5. Turkey Breast
6. Top round steak (grass fed beef)
7. Flank Steak (grass fed beef)
8. Lean Ground Turkey
9. Bison/Buffalo
10. Trout

My top 10 fruits

1. Grapefruit
2. Apples
3. Blueberries
4. Canteloupe
5. Oranges
6. Bananas
7. Peaches
8. Grapes
9. Strawberries
10. Pineapple

Note: I DO include healthy fats as well, such as walnuts, almonds, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseeds, flaxseed oil (supplement – not to cook with), avocado and a few others.

Also, I do eat dairy products and have nothing against them, nor am I lactose intolerant. I simply don’t eat as much dairy as the rest of the stuff on my lists. When I eat dairy, its usually skim milk, low or non fat cottage cheese, low or non fat yogurt and low or non fat cheese (great for omelettes).

Last but not least, I usually follow a compliance rate of about 95%, which means I take two or three meals per week of whatever I want (stuff that is NOT on these lists – like pizza, sushi, big fatty restaurant steaks, etc)

I hope you found this helpful and interesting. Keep in mind, this is MY food list, and although you probably couldn’t go wrong to emulate it, you need to choose natural foods you enjoy in order to develop habits you can stick with long term. In the fruits and vegetables categories alone, there are hundreds of other choices out there, so enjoy them all!

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