Nutrition, Pt. 1

At the moment, I'm not going to go crazy into detail on all of this. It's early and I can't get my thoughts in order, not until this coffee settles in at least.

Let me just start off with something simple: You cannot out train a bad diet. Let me say that again, in bold for emphasis...

You cannot out train a bad diet.

It's as simple as that. You can bust your ass in the gym everyday, but if you go home and mainline Root Beer, funnel Skittles, and inhale crap from This Is Why You're Fat, then your training will suffer and progress will be slow at best. Conversely, even if you think you eat pretty healthy, you could be wrong. You might not be eating enough, lack substantial protein intake, or drink way too much beer (I know, it's hard to believe "too much" is even possible).

Again, I'm not going to dive into too much detail at the moment, but here's a quick list of things to think about:

1) Fat doesn't make you fat, insulin does
2) Breads, grains, sugars, and processed foods cause a significant insulin spike
3) Coffee is awesome - in moderation
4) Meat is your best friend - chicken is fine, but red meat works better
5) Soda = Evil.
6) How you eat should depend on the goals of your training. Some of us want to trim down, others need to bulk up (Greg and HMS, especially - that's right, you two have been called out). Still, you will need to eat
7) Monounsaturated fats are best i.e. olive oil, avocados, macadamia nuts, almonds, and so on. Saturated fats are not as bad as people want you to believe. What does this mean? Bacon and coconut milk are AWESOME.
8) Protein and caffeine help release dopamine, the chemical responsible for feelings of "love, passion, sentimentality"... basically, coffee and bacon is like being in love.
9) If you need to gain weight/strength, you need to eat accordingly. If you weigh 160 and need to weigh 185, you need to eat like a 185lbs person. One way would be to eat 185 grams of protein per day. Easiest formula to pack on the pounds? Everyday eat 2g of protein per every pound of bodyweight. I dare you not to grow.
10) Avoid sugar as much as possible. This includes soda, artificial sweeteners, and a bunch of other crap.

That's a good starting point. I'll elaborate more on all of this soon. If you have any questions, please ask away. And a quick warning, Katie is going on a strict 30 Day Paleo Challenge. Kudos to her and try not to piss her off...