Here are some basic rules for how to improve your eating habits:
Get used to the taste of food without dressings, sweeteners, etc. Ultimately you'll grow to like the natural taste of foods you once though tasted bland.
Try to eat more like a true vegetarian (i.e. the bulk of the diet should come from fruits, veggies, unprocessed and unbleached food). But don't get me wrong; I don't want you swearing off meat.
"Supplement" your unprocessed vegetarian-like diet with the high-protein foods discussed above.
Add unheated healthy oils to your foods.
Drink only calorie-free beverages (green tea, water, etc.).
Unfortunately the worst foods usually are the most convenient and the most processed foods. Avoid eating for convenience alone.
Avoid any easy-to-prepare breakfast foods (waffles, french toast, etc) as they're loaded with fattening trans-fatty acids.
Avoid products containing the ingredients or words "partially hydrogenated," "high fructose corn syrup," etc.
Avoid fast/fried food.
Avoid foods or meals that are high in both fat and carbohydrate.
In addition to these rules, here's the list of food choices that I give to many of my clients. These foods should make up about 80% of your daily diet and, as indicated above, you should be eating many of these foods each day, not simply picking one or two selections to eat all the time.
Protein:
Fish: Salmon, Tuna, Cod
Eggs
Chicken breasts
Cottage cheese
Milk protien isolates
Whey-casein blends
Lean Red Meat
Carbohydrates:
Vegetables
Mixed beans
Low-GI fruits
Oatmeal/Oat bran
Mixed-grain bread
Small amounts of protein-enriched pasta
Fats:
Flax oil
EPA/DHA
Olive oil
Mixed nuts (no peanuts)
Fish oil
For active individuals, the other 20% of your daily calories should come from the following sources (in order to enhance your recovery from intense exercise). The liquid meal should come during and after exercise while the second high-carb meal should come about 1-2 hours later.
Liquid meal (during exercise and immediately post exercise):
Protein: Whey hydrosylates/Isolates
Carbohydrates: High-GI liquid, Glucose (dextrose), Maltodextrin
Solid meal (2 hours post exercise):
Protein: Plain yogurt
Carbohydrate: High GI, solid-fiber cereal
These are foods to avoid at all costs:
Proteins:
Fatty meats
Fatty dairy
Most lunch meat
Large amounts of milk
Large amounts of soy
Carbohydrates:
Regular bread
Added sugar
Most cereals
Soda
Fruit juice
Bagels
Fruit bars
Candy
Fats:
Margarine
Vegetable oil
Corn oil
Heated/fried oil
the great debate among nutritionists has been whether the low insulin response is enough to outweigh the inevitable formation of some triglycerides. In my opinion, the best answer is that it all depends on how much fructose you ingest. With a very high daily consumption of fructose (from lots of fruit, but even from the more lipogenic high fructose corn syrup and from sucrose, which is in fact, a glucose and a fructose joined together), the lipogenic effects should probably be considered.
However, a moderate daily intake of fructose, especially from fruits, is encouraged. Just be sure not to consume fructose around exercise time. It has been shown time and time again to cause GI distress, increase ratings of exertion, and cause higher serum cortisol levels when consumed in conjunction with exercise. Fructose is found naturally in many fruits, berries and honey (foods that I highly encourage consumption of) as well as some dietary supplements, but in Western society most people get fructose from processed foods containing high fructose corn syrup.
