Following my lead, a friend at work wants to lose some excess fat. I told him I'd help him out if he wanted and he accepted. Basically, I want to present him with a diet outline. I want to put down all the helpful tips that go into a successful diet and that will allow him to structure his meals and what he eats accordingly. I think this will work out better than tell him "eat this at this time" with little choice on his part.

So, I'm asking ya'll to help me out with the outline. Give me some good tips that I should put down for him. I've got a few to get me started.

1) Eat 5-6 smaller meals a day to keep the metabolic fires burning.
2) Avoid empty carbs. No white sugar or refined flour. Emphasize whole grains such as 100% whole wheat bread and brown rice.
3) As a general rule, the less processed the food, the better it is.

Read the sticky in the Nutrition Forum by Marcus.

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=1222

i'll paste my big file of links, this should keep him occupied for a while ;)

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/index.html - great articles, have a good look around!
http://www.johnstonefitness.com/ - amazing transformation, food + exercise logs
http://www.johnberardi.com/ - more great articles
http://www.fitday.com/ - great for counting calories, protein/carb/fat percentages too!
http://www.fatlosstips.com/ - more good fat loss tips

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/catcommand2.htm - good weight loss guidelines
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/david7.htm - basics on what protein, carbs and fats do (must read)
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/stella9.htm - healthy food sources
http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/172food.html - more healthy food sources
http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/anthony2.htm - more dieting tips

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/ - lots of great forums here, take a look around, esp under "losing fat" and "nutrition"
http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/ - more help here if you need it


http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=101841 - read under "cutting"
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=81315 - good food guidelines
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=167918 - holy shit!
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=272067 - pre/during/post workout bible

http://michaelandkendra.com/BMRCALC/bmrcalc.htm - Work out your BMR, cutting and bulking calories
http://www.bodyforlife.com/calcalc.shtml - Another BMR calc
http://www.hsiacfit.com/BMICalculator.aspx - Good BMI calculator
http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/items_index/1,1538,FO,00.html - Info on just about every food, how to store, cook, and choose

ok, without doing a lot of reading for him or for you here are a few other points to be made...

1- EAT BREAKFAST
2- When you tell him to eat 5-6 smaller meals, (trust me on this!) he's going to think you mean eat 3 small meals and 3 large snacks..emphasize that you actually mean MEALS!
3- Fat is your friend...tell him which fats are good, olive oil and etc.
4- EAT BREAKFAST :)

A. Keep track of everything that you eat - measure (weigh) EVERYTHING for at least the first month. You can't adjust what you don't understand.
B. Create (and write down) measurable goals related to your new way of eating and exercising. Assess progress toward these goals periodically and revise as needed.
C. Include aerobic and weight-bearing exercise as part of an overall, integrated plan.
D. Understand basic concepts like THR, BMR, TDEE, etc. and how these indicators can be used to help adjust exercise and food plans.
E. Remember to pat yourself on the back now and again for embarking on this journey and for reaching milestones along the road.

Dave
San Diego

1. Don't eat less than 1000 calories a day - to avoid starvation mode.
2. Eat 5-6 small meals and a small meal is less than 500 calories.
3. Drink a minimum of 120 oz of iced water a day.
4. Take a muti-vitamin a day.
5. Eat a minimum of 100 gms of protein a day
6. Eat 20 to 35% fat a day.

Do resistance training, a minimum of 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Building muscle is the way to lose fat.