You are what you eat.
Eat right! Eat Clean! Eat to live, don’t live to eat!
We love food. It provides essential physical, emotional and social benefit. But it can also do equal harm.
Diet comes from the Greek word diaita, meaning “a way of life“. So every change to our diet should be permanent, enjoyable and healthy.
The number one question we get is “what do I eat?” The second question is “how much should I eat?”
You can always meet with a nutritionist for a specific meal plan geared to your weight, health, dietary and athletic goals. These are general principles and guidelines to get you started. Generally speaking, eat all the vegetables you want in any given day. They are rich in vitamins and minerals and are usually low in calories. Eat 3-5 servings of fresh fruit each day. This will provide energy, nutrients, and antioxidants to promote health. Consume lean protein and whole grains 3-4 times a day. Try to eliminate all processed foods from your diet that have white flour and sugar–basically anything you would purchase from a convenience store. 
How much you should eat depends on your size and activity level:
- Sedentary (mostly sitting, working on a computer, watching TV–most Americans are in this category): multiply your current weight by 12 for calories per day.
- Moderate (walking, light house or yard work, regular exercise): multiply your current weight by 14 for calories per day.
- Extremely Active (strenuous physical work, intense exercise or endurance training 2+ hours per day): multiply your current weight by 16 for calories per day.
Never eat fewer than 1200 calories per day. Your metabolism will suffer, you will likely be nutrient deficient and your ability to maintain a healthy weight in the future will be compromised.
If you want to lose weight, subtract 500-1000 calories per day from the above calculation to lose 1-2 pounds per week.
A word of caution: Many of us use food as a medication or coping mechanism. Try to replace food with an activity that is healthy and burns calories, like cycling or hiking. My comfort food is ice cream. When I’m stressed or discouraged, I can eat an entire carton! But if I tell myself, “Man, I’m stressed. I need to ride my bike”, then I’m actively programming my brain that cycling is my new personal therapy.
A second word of caution: Beware of the negative psychological influence of exercise. Most of us overestimate how many calories we burn on a treadmill and grossly underestimate how many calories are in that piece of chocolate cake we “reward” ourselves with for working out today. Many people wonder why they aren’t losing weight in spite of their new exercise program. Burning 300 calories in their morning workout is lost in their 900 calorie dessert.
Check out our blog for specific meal plans, recipes and our favorite foods!