FOOD LOG OR FLOG

I talk to players each week that say yes to everything you ask them. Unfortunately if you immediately ask them to explain what you said, you will find a majority who don't know what you said. Unfortunately, that is not the only example of hearing without listening, but this article is on nutrition, not relationships between men and women. I wish I had a penny for every time someone asked me "I would like to put on some muscle, could you help me?" My answer has always been "write down everything you eat for the next 5 to 7 days". This would include the protein (P), carbohydrates (C), fats (F), and calories (CAL) in each item. Here is an example of what a meal might look like:

8 oz beef (93% lean) P-50, C-0, F-12 CAL-300

1 cup of veggies C-10, CAL-40

1 tablespoon olive oil F-14, CAL-125

3 fish oil capsules F-2, CAL-20

TOTAL P-50, C-10, F-28, CAL-485

Most athletes have no idea what amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and calories they need to get to their goal. This entails reading a lot of labels, weighing things, and being pretty damn anal. But this must be done. Why spend all that time weight training, running, jumping, and practicing when your body will be unable to fully recover from all of that activity. You may need a small scale, a measuring cup, and a paperback that tells you the number of calories in an apple and other foods. This will eliminate guessing what you ate, realizing some of the things you need to eliminate, avoid overeating and undereating, improve your willpower, reduce constant plateauing, and clearly defining your goals. Down the road you will end up creating flash cards with your favorite meals and their caloric breakdown. Rule #1 is to keep a food log of absolutely (Rocky Balboa) everything you eat for a period of five to seven days. Weigh yourself at the beginning and the end of the measuring period. You can divide the total calories by the number of days it took to consume them.

Hey if a web log is called a BLOG, why not call a food log a FLOG!!!

Honestly, if you can't do this step, I wonder about your commitment. And you should to. Thanks for the questions at acudave@yahoo.com