On the subject of health and fitness, nutrition plays a primary role. Health and nutrition simply go hand in hand. You can do all the exercise you want, but if you can’t control what you eat, you’re fighting a losing battle.

I can hear some of you now…”Easy for you to say. You’re like a buck twenty and change. You must just starve yourself all day long!” On the contrary, I eat. And I eat A LOT! In fact, I’d be willing to bet that I eat more than most of you on any given day. How is that possible? That’s easy. It’s WHAT I eat that makes all the difference. And no, I’m not talking about a diet of rabbit food, although veggies certainly are a part of it.

Clean foods (ie. foods that are not processed all to hell and have an ingredients label a mile long with things you can’t pronounce), are by nature much lower in calories. Therefore, in order for me to consume my minimum daily caloric needs, I must eat more. Think about it… You go through a drive-thru and order a value meal. That’s 1/3-1/2 of your daily calories in one sitting. To get the same calories eating clean foods, I would have to eat 2-3 meals.

In addition, clean foods are more likely to be utilized as energy and less likely to be stored as fat. Think of it this way… In the same way that an oyster coats the grain of sand (which doesn’t belong within its shell), so too does your body deal with ingredients it can’t identify, coating them in layers of fat in order to insulate the rest of your organs from those toxins.

Also, it is important to keep in mind that not all calories are equal. In processed foods, calories are very nearly void of any usable nutrition. Perhaps you’ve heard of the term, “empty calories”. Simply put, that means you’re getting the calories with little to no nutrition that your body can use as energy or otherwise, such as keeping your body running optimally. With so little nutrition, your body quickly sends the signal that it’s hungry…again. You can see how this type of snacking can be a dangerous slippery slope. The constant grazing from one snack to the next quickly adds up.

Then, I must not eat any fat, right? Wrong. If you want to lose fat, you must eat fat. Wait…what?? It’s true. 20-35% of your daily caloric intake should be from fats. Again though, it’s the type of fat that’s important. Healthy fats, such as avocados, raw nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, flax seed oil, etc. are all wonderful and healthy sources of fat that your body absolutely needs in order to maintain a healthy balance. Why are fats so important? They provide a highly concentrated form of energy. They enable your body to transport, store, and absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. It provides insulation and protection for your vital organs. And essential fatty acids Omegas 3 and 6 cannot be made by the body and therefore must be supplied through diet. Dull, lifeless skin and hair is one sign you’re not getting enough of these.

Lastly, people assume that I’m a vegetarian. I’m not. I absolutely LOVE meat, fish, chicken, turkey, bison, etc. etc. Meat is a fantastic source of protein, as are eggs and dairy products, such as Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and in moderation, some regular cheese. And you can bet your last dollar that with every healthy carb (fruits and veggies) that I eat, I’m also eating a serving of protein with it. As for those of you who are considering a vegetarian lifestyle, some research into non-animal proteins is in order. All too often I see people swear off all animal products only to suffer the consequences of protein deprivation.

The fact of the matter is, your body needs carbs, proteins, and fats…healthy ones! Does that mean you have to swear off all junk food forever? No. Not at all. Simply make it an occasional treat, not a daily occurrence.