For a while I have tried to maintain a reasonably balanced food regimen, but have some difficulty following guidelines layed out in various fitness articles I have read. This week my roommate and I were discussing nutrition (she just went to a nutritionist) and it inspired me to really get my diet in line.

My biggest problems have always been with too many grams protein and carbs and not enough fat (healthy fat that is). I have always been under the impression that to get your body fat percentage down you need to eat less fat, seems simple right?!? I realize now that the body uses a good deal of fat for energy, and likely if you aren't eating enough fat then the body will actually burn less of it to protect and store what you do have (i.e. a starvation effect).

Another problem is that my daily caloric intake has always been a little biased towards eating later in the day. So my new and improved program looks like this:

• 2100 Total Daily Caloric Intake

• 3 Meals - (500 kCal Breakfast, 500 kCal Lunch, 600 kCal Dinner)

• 2 Snacks - 250 kCal each

A typical daily meal plan will look something like this

• Breakfast - 1.5 Cups Kashi Go Lean Cereal, 1 Cup Soy Milk, .25 Cup Raisins, .5 Oz Almonds

• Calories: 479 - 13 g Fat (24%), 80 g Carbs (51%), 30 g Protein (25%)

• Snack - Trio Bar

• Calories: 230 - 16 g Fat (56%), 20 g Carbs (31%), 6 g Protein (12%)

• Lunch - 2 Slices Milton Wheat Bread, 5 oz Carrots, 1 Large Apple, 1 Serving Lunch Meat, .75 Tablespoon Peanut Butter, Spinach

• Calories: 488 - 9 g Fat (20%), 80 g Carbs (58%), 23 g Protein (22%)

• Snack - Clif Bar

• Calories: 260, 6 g Fat (20%), 42 g Carbs (63%), 11 g Protein (17%)

• Dinner - 4 oz Chicken Breast, 2 oz Brown Rice, 2 Cup Broccoli, 1 serving Fruit

• Calories: 597 - 12 g Fat (19%), 80 g Carbs (47%), 47 g Protein (34%)

Surprisingly enough that all adds up to right around 2100 calories, and 25% Fat and Protein with 50% Carbohydrate!! I am going to continue to work with the numbers and see if I can get each meal a little more balanced, but for now I like it.

The most difficult part for me is going to be dinner. 4 oz of chicken is about half to a third of what I normally eat. I am also combining my late snack with dinner, so hopefully I won't get hungry late in the evening.

I hope this works because I seem to be stuck at my current weight and body fat percentage. I will try to remember to post progress in a few weeks. Cheers!!