The first step is to go out and get yourself a journal. In the journal you’ll keep a daily log of everything you eat, along with how many calories have been consumed in each meal. It’s important to know exactly what is going into your body if you hope to change it. You’ll also record, once per week, your weight (in lbs) on the same day of each week at the same time of day under the same conditions. You may also want to record some other things in your journal; a waist measurement, for example.

Many times, when trying to lose weight, there will be no reduction in actual body weight, but there will be a reduction in body fat. A decreased waistline is an easy way to judge a reduction in body fat. For those attempting to gain muscle, you may want to record measurements such as chest, neck, arms, and legs and update the measurements monthly.

 Now that you have your journal, how much should you be eating? A very simple calculation is BW x A = DCI where BW is body weight (in lbs), A is your body composition factor and DCI is daily caloric intake. There are 3 basic body composition factors: 10, 15, and 20. Use 10 for weight loss, 15 for weight maintenance, and 20 for weight gain. So, if you currently weigh 180 lbs and would like to lose weight; 180 x 10 = 1800 calories per day. And if you weigh 150 and would like to gain weight; 150 x 20 = 3000 calories per day.

Keep in mind that these numbers are only to be used as a guideline. You must keep track of your weight on a weekly basis. Using these numbers, the loss or gain should be close to 1 lb per week. If it is much more or less than this, you should increase or decrease your daily caloric intake accordingly. Typically, I would alter the intake by no more than 200 calories per day until you are close to 1 lb per week.

Why 1 lb per week? Why can’t you drop the daily calories by another 500 a day and lose more weight? Simply, it will not work. When your body is under-nourished, it begins to store calories. If you need 2000 calories a day and you’re only getting 1000, your body is going to hold onto everything you give it and it will begin to store fat. In many cases, the daily intake of calories drops to such a low level that you will begin to lose weight.

Unfortunately, the majority of this weight will be muscle tissue. Have you seen Jared from the Subway commercials? He lost all that weight, but somehow he still looks like a fatty. You shouldn’t try to live on 2 sandwiches a day when you weigh 500 lbs. End of story.

So now you know how much to eat, and that you should write it down. Easy, right? So what the hell do you eat; Twinkies and potato chips? Well, no, not exactly. Following the basic rules, you can eat anything you want and still have success. However, by eating the right foods, you can also improve your health and make it much easier to get where you want to be.

So what are the right foods? I was once told, if it breathes, eat it. The best foods to eat are fish, poultry, lean cuts of beef, any kind of fruit, vegetable, nuts, and seeds and whole grains. Try to avoid foods high in starch and refined sugar such as white potatoes, white rice, pasta, any product made with white flour and any kind of candy or soda. Also, you should avoid foods that are deep-fried. This isn’t to say you can never have these foods, but try to keep them to a minimum.

The most important thing to put into your body is clean, pure water. Half a gallon per day should be a minimum. This will keep your system clean and happy, and will also keep your skin very healthy. Incidentally, I once invented the “Twinkie Diet” in an attempt to prove that you can lose weight while eating nothing but Twinkies. I was successful, but it was not a good time.

But what about alcohol? Can’t I still party and drink until I’m nose deep in a public toilet? Well, no. Not if you’re looking for maximum results. Sure, you can go out and have a few drinks on the weekend, and it won’t kill you. Have some fun, that’s what life is all about. But drinking to excess on a regular basis won’t get you in the shape you want to be. Honestly, I like to go out and get stupid just like most of you, but I try to keep it to one or two days. Does it hurt my performance? Yes, sometimes it does. Is it worth it? For now it is, because I like to have fun. So I guess what I’m saying is, if you can justify it, go ahead and do it. But don’t make it an every day thing.

OK, got it? Great. So how about exercise? Well, that’s the easy part. Just go out and do something! You should do some kind of resistance training (lift weights) and some cardiovascular training (run around). Weight lifting will help you with balance, flexibility, strength, and overall good health. Cardiovascular work will improve your heart rate, increase lung capacity and has been shown to increase the levels of HDL (good cholesterol) in your blood. So lift some weights, do some running, go out and play sports and have fun!