To lose fat the bottom line is we have to expend more calories than we consume. The basal metabolic rate for an adult male weighing #180 is requires about 1800 calories. For an adult female weighing #120 it’s about 1300 calories. No, that doesn’t mean we can polish off a pint of Ben and Jerry’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and expect to feel and look good. The dietary pot of gold is found at the end of rainbow foods. The sage advice of shopping the perimeter of the grocery store applies in most cases. This is where you’ll find fresh fruits and vegetables of all colors of the rainbow, grains, and dairy and meat sources. Whole grains and hard beans are usually exceptions, hidden in a middle aisle.

There are six macronutrients – water, carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals. The importance of water, especially for endurance athletes, can’t be understated. Our bodies are 70% water. If we lose just 2% of our body weight in water (3 pints for a #150 athlete), performance is hindered. This is easy to do in an hour ride, even on a cool day. Lose 6% and all sorts of really bad things happen, possibly including death. While we always burn a little fat and protein, carbohydrates supply most of our energy for anything other than sedate activities (caveat for endurance athletes: training for 2+ hours at low intensity increases the body's metabolism of fat). Fat is essential for many bodily processes and comprises much of our body tissue, including the mitochondria, which regulate muscle function. Vitamins and minerals are vital for performing all body processes including rebuilding cells, maintaining cellular chemistry, fighting disease and infection, and performing all bodily functions.

But what is the ratio or balance of macronutrients we need to look, feel, and perform well? With regards to water, just drink a lot of it. Two liters per day is not too much. It is possible to become hyponatremic or water toxic, but this usually only occurs under extreme aerobic exercise conditions where cell chemistry comes out of balance due to excessive water intake and sweating away of Sodium, Potassium, and other electrolytes. It’s easy to avoid this by drinking sports drinks when exercising more than 2 hours.

There are all sorts of “Balance” and “Zone” diets and food items out there that espouse certain ratios of carbohydrate, protein, and fat. Perhaps the most common is 40/30/30. Keep in mind that this is a ratio of calories. Fat has nearly 2.5 times more calories/gram than carbs and protein (9 vs. 4) so fat portions need to be 2.5 times smaller. 40/30/30 is a pretty good rule of thumb for an inactive individual. What to consume during exercise to optimize performance is not well understood, but studies point to consuming maltodextrin drinks for exercise greater than an hour and immediately following exercise. Serious endurance athletes (>3 hrs exercise/day) should consider skewing the ratio to 60/15/25 to meet caloric needs above basal metabolic rate and optimize carbohydrate metabolism and burning of fat.

What type of carbs should we eat and why? Carbs supply energy and stimulate production of serotonin, which makes us feel calm, relaxed, and generally happy. So eat lots of refined sugar and white flour, maybe a donut, right? Wrong. Except during exercise, the body treats white flour, rice, and most cereals like table sugar. Too much too fast causes a spike that invokes an insulin response and most of the donut is converted quickly to fat. Choose whole grains and beans high in fiber instead. Whole grain crackers and bean dip make for a good mood enhancing snack that will last until the next meal and not make you feel drowsy. Other serotonin boosters: Light, sleep, stress reduction, anti-depressant drugs.

Hormones, antibodies, enzymes, and tissues are made from proteins produced or ingested by the body. The proteins the body can not produce are called essential amino acids. There are 9 of them and they must be obtained from the diet. Most animal protein, such as meat, fish, and poultry contains all the essential amino acids while combinations of foods derived from plants, such as corn tortillas and pinto beans, wild rice and kidney beans, and whole grains and garbanzo bean dip, round out your protein requirements. The other 11 amino acids the body produces itself.

There is another important benefit to protein. The amino acid tyrosine, produces dopamine, a neurotransmitter that stimulates mental energy, vigilance, and alertness. This is the perfect complement to the calming effect of carbohydrate-induced serotonin production. Soybeans, skim mozzarella cheese, and meat are good sources of tyrosine. Protein powder drinks are also good protein supplements. Whey and soy for men and women, respectively, complement hormone synthesis. Another great dopamine booster: Sex – “Reach for your mate, not your plate.”

Proteins heavy in transfatty acids (hydrogenated fats) such as beef fat and egg yolks should be avoided due to their production of bad prostaglandin hormones resulting in elevated insulin levels, carbohydrate cravings, weight gain, and depression. Good prostoglandins increase the effects of brain serotonin, dampen pain, and promote immune response. Saltwater fish increase the production of good prostaglandins as well as Omega 3 fatty acids, which also make the brain feel great.

We need fat. It is our most abundant energy source. Most of us store enough to bike from Seattle to LA without ingesting a single calorie. The drawback is that it takes an enormous amount of oxygen to break it down into fatty acids for energy so the trip would be a   r e a l l y  slow, painful one. The “bonk” you feel on a long ride is your body running out of muscle and liver glycogen stores (carbs) and using fat (and even a little protein) almost exclusively for energy. Fat is also a constituent of almost all cells and cell processes. Choose olive oil, canola oil, fish oil, and poly- or monounsaturated fats over hydrogenated and saturated fats. Save fat/sugar combinations for special occasions.

Vitamins and minerals are necessary for all bodily functions. Eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains will help you obtain most of what you need, but supplementation provides a cheap insurance policy for general health, mood, energy, and immune system prosperity, particularly for athletes who sweat a lot of them away, have high energy and recovery needs, and produce free radicals through exercise.

In summary, drink lots of water all day. Take a multivitamin, multimineral supplement daily. Eat a wide variety of multi-colored fruits and vegetables and protein at each meal and snack. Eat protein first to stimulate your brain, then eat carbs high in fiber to make you feel full and relaxed with a consistent energy level until the next meal. Breakfast and lunch should be higher in protein, lunch and dinner should be higher in carbs, lunch should be the biggest meal of the day, and healthy snacks can help us feel satiated and prevent binging. Do everything to moderation. Show the sidebar to Mom, the office manager, and your favorite restaurant chef so they can plan healthier meals. Keep in mind that your gastro-intestinal tract, taste buds, and stomach are accustomed to your current diet. Many things will not taste as good and they won’t agree with you if you start too quickly. Change your habits progressively.

See the Library for the references to the above material. Send email if you would like help in turning fat into fit.