Basic Rules to Follow

Here are some very important things I've learned along the way:

1. Diets don't work. Diets make you fat. A diet implies that it's temporary and that the end of the diet you will go back to all the unhealthy eating you've been doing all along. Don't diet. Instead, make a commitment to make healthy choices and eliminate the word diet from your vocabulary, along with all the shakes, pills, crazy juice fasts, etc. None of it is good for you and none of it will teach you how to do anything except yo-yo.

2. Eat Clean, Train Dirty. This means you eat only healthy real foods and when you work out, you don't half ass it! Work your butt off and push yourself to the limits and beyond. That being said, if you eat a piece of cake or some chips, don't let that ruin your day or your week. We're all human, so if you eat something you shouldn't then get over it and get back on track immediately.

3. Processed foods have no place in your home or in your body. If the food you eat doesn't grow in the ground, on a tree or branch, or have a face, it doesn't belong in your body. If you have food that has ingredients you can't pronounce, don't eat it. It's not really food. It's chemicals and crap you don't need in your body.

4. Veggies are your friends. Eat at least 6-10 cups of veggies each and every day. Fresh is best but frozen is ok too as long as it's not covered in cheese or full of added sodium. Craving a crunchy snack like chips? Slice up a whole cucumber and eat that instead.

5. Healthy fats are good. Avocado, olive oil, and coconut oil are awesome. Coconut oil is really really awesome. I use it in everything I cook.

6. Artificial ANYTHING is bad. It's called artificial for a reason, it's not natural. Absolutely NO artificial sugars or sweeteners. If you use butter, use REAL butter NOT margarine, just don't use a ton.

7. Don't drink your calories. Soda is poison, plain and simple. Diet soda is worse. The only things I ever drink are water, plain iced tea with no sugar or sweetener, or coffee (NO COFFEEMATE!)

8. Drink half your body weight in water each day. If you're 200 lbs, you need to drink 100 oz of water a day. Water helps speed up your metabolism, helps you feel full, and of course keeps you hydrated.

9. You should be working out 6 times a week if you want to see good change. Strive for 6 cardio workouts and 3 weight training workouts per week. Start slow. Don't try to do crazy workouts right out the gate but keep moving. I'm not perfect by any means, but 6 workouts a week is my minimum.

10. Change your workouts often. Your body gets used to whatever routine you're doing. Plus, you're more likely to just ease your way through it instead of really push yourself if you're always doing the same thing. And, it's good for a mental break to try something new every now and then.