Are you working your ass off and not seeing results?

If you are sick of spending all your time complaining about not seeing results,

you need to make a change. If you are already committed to your workouts, then it is your diet that needs a reality check.

That workout did NOT earn you an extra beer or a piece of cake and NO you cannot justify ordering a greasy pizza because you did 10 extra minutes of cardio.

Sorry but it does not work like that.

Losing weight, building muscle or maintaining your hard earned body all require you watching what you put in your body. Things you should consider when trying to monitor your consumption:

1. number of calories

2. amount of protein in grams

3. amount of carbs in grams

4. amount of fat in grams

These are your micronutrients and are vital in supporting your fitness goals and maintaining a healthy active lifestyle. While counting these things can be time consuming and frustrating it will be helpful for making corrections as it will put your numbers into perspective and the results in the mirror will make it worth while. For just one week WRITE IT DOWN! Keep track of everything you eat. You can do this in a notebook or use all of the online tools available such as Livestrong.com or the Daily Burn Tracker app for iphones. And don't cheat yourself- include everything( those french fries off of your friends plate count too) and consider how much of it you ate.

Example: Oatmeal breakfast

1/3 c oatmeal

1/4 c blueberries

1 scoop protein powder

1 tbsp flax seed

Quick Oats: Cal:93.8, Fat: 1.7, Carbs:18.8, Protein:2

Blueberries: Cal:20, Fat:0, Carbs:4.8, protein:0.3

Protein powder: Cal:97.5, Fat:0, Carbs:1.5, Protein:22.5

Flax seed: Cal: 50, Fat:3.5, Carbs:3.5, Protein:2

Total Macro breakdown: Cal: 261.3, Fat:5.18, Carbs: 27.76, Protein:28.1

(I generated this on livestrong.com/myplate get an account NOW. It has an inventory of food and its nutrient breakdown)
Once you know what your daily needs are you can divide that number over how many meals or snacks you eat. I recommend eating 5-6 times per day to keep your metabolism firing but you may have something that works better for you, there are multiple practices based on your activity.

You should find out what your calorie and nutrient requirements based on your goals, activity level and size. There are so many online tools to help you with this-there is no reason why you should not know. Knowing this number will help you gauge how much you should eat during a day and hopefully keep you from blowing your entire calorie allowance in one sitting.

Keep track for one week and you will give yourself the tools to go forward making better choices and fuelling your body more efficiently.
 

Did you have wings for wing Wednesday last night?
You probably met your daily allowance with one order ..and don't forget the beer.