In the last installment I asked the question, “If I could go back in time and tell my ‘beginner self’ a few things about training, nutrition, cardio and supplements…what would I want to know?” I discussed what training tips I had learned over the last several years that have contributed most to improvements made in my physique, my performance and my overall health. Having thought about this a lot, I've come up with 26 golden nuggets of information, split into several parts, that will help you reach your goals more quickly, whatever they may be. Keep in mind that these are in no particular order and that I try to get to the point and present you with the “takeaway” information, which is what most of us are concerned about to begin with, right? I hope you enjoy!

1. Err on the high side when determining your calorie level! You can call me crazy all you want, but when a client is starting with me for the first time (and not prepping for a show, and doesn’t have a good idea of their maintenance calorie level) I always, always, always start them higher than I assume their maintenance level to be. Think about it. If you start at a calorie level that is too low, there is a good chance your metabolism will stall and instead of losing body fat, your body will begin to hold onto body fat with a death grip! Then, you are forced to bump your calories up to get your metabolism going again. So you are raising calories with a depressed metabolism! Does that sound like a good idea or a bad idea? Yeah, that’s what I thought. On the other hand, if you start with higher calories, and you are not losing body fat, you can pretty much rule out (in most cases) the idea that your calories might be too low, so you realize that you need to lower them. That’s fine. In this case you are lowering your calories with an elevated metabolism. Now is this a good idea or a bad idea? A good idea - of course! So don’t be afraid to start on the high side, especially if you're new to clean eating since you'll probably get great results just from making better food choices. Also, if you've been under-eating for long periods of time, slowly bump up your calories by 100 to 200 every week or two until you reach maintenance or slightly above. Your body will thank you!

2. Get your healthy fats! You want them to make up at least 20 percent of your total calorie intake, otherwise testosterone and other important hormones that keep us lean, sexy and functioning properly, can be adversely affected. Remember, you should be consuming a good balance of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and avoiding man-made trans fats at all costs! Also note that many nutritionists are now suggesting that we avoid polyunsaturated fats as they get stored as fat more easily and they tend to be extremely high in omega-6 fatty acids, which are already overly prevalent in the modern American diet. In my opinion, as long as you get your fat from a variety of sources and also ensure that your fat sources are fresh and minimally processed, there is no need to avoid polyunsaturated fats altogether. Some good fat sources include olive oil, avocado, egg yolks, walnuts, almonds, coconut oil, sesame oil, macadamia nut oil, real butter, some hard cheeses and red meat.

3. Understand that many people are not carb tolerant! If you aren't carb tolerant, eating lots of carbohydrates on a daily basis will likely lead to inflammation and unwanted fat gain. So how do you know if you're carbohydrate intolerant? Pay attention to how you feel after eating high carb meals. If you are sluggish and tired, you are likely carb intolerant. If you feel lively and energetic, you probably tolerate carbs just fine. Another quick-and-dirty way to gauge your carb tolerance is to note whether you carry excess fat in your upper back area or not (for ladies that would be the “back fat” that hangs over your bra). If you seem to carry more fat in that subscapular area in relation to other areas of your body, you are probably not carb tolerant. And if you want a good idea of whether you are eating too many carbs for your tolerance level or not, look at your suprailiac, or the area right above your hip bone.  If you don’t carry much fat there, you are probably eating at or below the amount of carbs your body will tolerate, but if you are carrying a lot of fat there in relation to other areas of the body, you probably need to back down the carb consumption. These conclusions come from Poliquin’s Biosignature Modulation skinfold test. If you can get tested by someone who is certified in Biosignature Modulation, awesome. If not, you should be able to come to a pretty good conclusion on your own.

4. Never underestimate the important of peri-workout nutrition! While overall calories and nutrients consumed throughout the day are of the utmost importance, think of the peri-workout nutrition as the icing on the cake.  Figuring out specifically what works for you here is very important.  In general, about 30-60 minutes before training, I would recommend eating a small to moderate size meal or drinking a shake. If you cannot handle food or a shake this close to training, then experiment with eating/drinking 1.5-2 hours before training. This meal should fit in your daily macros and if carbs give you energy, by all means include them in this meal, with protein of course. If carbs make you sluggish then you may be better off with a meal of protein and a little bit of fat. I also like to start drinking around 5 grams of BCAAs at this time as well. During the workout I continue drinking BCAAs and finally, after my workout I like to mix a scoop of whey with a scoop of Surge for the perfect post workout meal. You can also substitute Waxy Maize Starch or another fast-acting carb for the Surge. Then, I like to eat a solid meal 1-2 hours after consuming my PWO shake. Sometimes this meal contains carbs, sometimes it doesn’t. This depends on my current diet. So, a quick example of my peri-workout nutrition might be:

  • 30-60 min prior: 5 g BCAAs, 1 scoop Metabolic Drive, 10 almonds, start sipping Surge Workout Fuel.
  • During Training: 5 g BCAAs, continue sipping Surge Workout Fuel
  • Immediately after Training: 1 scoop whey + 1 scoop Surge or 1 scoop whey + 1 scoop waxy maize starch
  • 1-2 Hours after PWO Meal: 5 oz grilled chicken, 2 cups broccoli, 6 oz sweet potato (optional) 2 tsp olive oil

5. Have structured re-feeds! Don't stay in a caloric deficit for longer than 16 weeks without a structured re-feed, even if you have so much weight to lose that it seems impossible to lose it all in 16 weeks or less. It is still vital that you take some time off and bump your calories back up to maintenance or a little above maintenance for 2-4 weeks. Chronically staying a calorie deficit will depress your metabolism and screw up your hormone levels. Not to mention it’s not very fun to stay in a deficit that long. Re-feeding will give you a much needed mental break, boost your metabolism and hopefully get your hormones back up to optimal levels. Now this is not a free for all. Eating whatever you’d like will just cause you to gain back the weight you have lost (and maybe more)! But this is a time to increase overall calories (and carbs, if you tolerate them well) slowly, by adding back a couple hundred a week for a few weeks until you reach maintenance levels or slightly above. Another way to know that’s it’s time for a re-feed is to use this little trick I picked from my friend Wesley Silveira, aka Iron Addict. Here is his recommendation:

“Take your morning body temperate first thing in the morning for 4 days in a row before starting a fat loss diet. This means before eating and before any activity. Morning temp should be 97.5-98.1. If it is a bit lower that is fine. If it is consistently 96.5 or below, you should either postpone the diet until you get it back up by eating a bit more and if at all possible having your thyroid checked. Trying to start a diet with a severely slowed metabolism will make the diet a very difficult task. At 96.1, your metabolism is already slowed 15-25% for most people and to get at a number well below maintenance with your metabolism that  dampened already will require a very low caloric and nutritional profile for your body. Please take into mind that some people have a naturally lower basal body temperature, so what will appear as low for a normal person will be the norm for a person with the low body temperature type metabolism. These people are not the rule, but the exception. Trying to diet with an already crippled metabolism rarely works and the calories and nutrients end up having to be so low that muscle is usually sacrificed. Continue to monitor temperature while dieting. If your body temperature plummets, you can bet your metabolic rate has also plummeted. Careful measurement can tell an experienced person when to either drop calories, or discontinue the diet for a short time to get metabolism back up and running correctly.”

6. Stay Alkaline! This is another often ignored and yet very important thing to keep in mind. Every food that we ingest has either an alkaline or an acidic effect on our body. In general, foods such as meats and grains are acidic and foods such as fruits and vegetables are alkaline. Some quick reasons why being acidic is bad: it causes us to excrete high concentrations of calcium through our urine (typically leached from our bones) and increases bone degrading activity while decreasing bone building activity. It can also cause muscle breakdown, decreased IGF-1 activity, growth hormone resistance and mild hypothyroidism…yikes! Now if you eat plenty of green veggies and some fruits throughout the day, you're well on your way to keeping your body in an alkaline state. But another cool and seemingly counter-intuitive thing you can do is to add fresh lemon or lime juice to your water. This has an incredible alkalinizing effect on your body and makes water much more fun to drink! Keep in mind that limes are more alkalinizing than lemons, but whichever one you prefer is fine.  Also, please note that raisins and spinach are both alkaline all-stars. So spice up your water with a little lemon or lime every day and eat your green veggies!  Your body will thank you with strong bones and sexy muscles.

I hope you have enjoyed these nutrition tips and maybe even learned some new tricks along the way.