I cannot seem to get my eating under control to lose weight. Suggestions?
—Tyler, Culver City

    As a fitness trainer and nutrition junkie, all of my clients not only lose weight fast and safely, but they are replacing fat with lean muscle. A lack of education and understanding about how the body works can put anyone into a spiral state of despair and hopelessness.
    What we consume ultimately results in 80 percent of how our body is going to look. The other 20 percent is what we do on the physical level—weight training, cardio, cycling, swimming, etc. If you’re one of the many that has tried every diet in the book, listen up. First and foremost, I want you to scratch the word “diet” and replace it with “nutritional plan.” When we think diet,
we have a tendency to think of starvation and eating very little. A nutritional plan is eating clean, wholesome foods—lean meats, vegetables, grains and healthy fats (almonds, flaxseed oil and olive oil).
    The minute we wake up, we want to make sure we fuel our body within 30 minutes of starting our day. Skipping breakfast will not only make us sluggish and tired, but our metabolism will slow down, holding on to every calorie, resulting in increased body fat.
    I suggest having 20-30 grams of protein in the morning. Whether it’s eggs or a protein shake, the protein will start to activate your metabolism. When we want to lose weight, we have a tendency not to eat carbohydrates. But carbohydrates are not the enemy—sugars, saturated fats and sodium are what we need to be cautious of. When we decrease consumption of carbohydrates, our bodies’ energy (glucose) levels drop, resulting in sluggishness and lack of energy, and our clear thinking diminishes.
    With that said, I suggest carbing up early, leaving the latter part of the day to consume only protein and vegetables. We want to make sure that throughout the day we are eating small-portion-sized meals every three hours. This will keep our metabolism active and allow our body to burn calories at an accelerated rate. I would use 3 or 4 p.m. as a cut-off point for consuming carbs.
    Now, some carbohydrates are better than others. I suggest consuming a sweet potato over a baked potato, and brown rice over white rice. Oatmeal is also a great carbohydrate. When we fuel our bodies with healthy carbs in the early part of the day, we’re igniting our metabolism, we have the energy to get us through our workday and we’ll have the energy to do our workout, whether it’s first thing in the morning or in the evening. There is no need to carb-load in the evening.
    I promise if you apply this principle, not only will you notice a drop in body fat, but you’ll notice an increase in your energy level. As a fitness trainer, I highly recommend taking a minimum of three to four days a week to engage in some sort of physical exercise. Five days is even better!
    In closing, I want to stress that our bodies are mostly made up of protein and water. We want to fuel our body with an even balance of protein, carbohydrates, vegetables, healthy fats and water! Water is not only a diuretic, but more importantly is the lifeline in allowing our body to live and function. I suggest consuming no less than two liters of water per day. For more active people, I suggest consuming a gallon of water throughout the day.