- Vegetables
can't go wrong with veggies, but the ones that are best for you are leafy and dark green, or beans of any kind (high in fiber). corn & carrots, though quite yummy, are generally less helpful, though by no means bad by themselves.
- Fruits
fruit juice has all the sugar & none of the fiber, so yes, it's bad.
more fiber = better, both for the fiber itself and b/c it slows sugar absorption and helps you feel full.
- Meat (Fish, lean red meat and white meat like turkey or chicken)
fatty fish are best (salmon, tuna). white meat is always good. lean red meats are also good, and don't fear some fat in your beef, pork or steak, just recognize that you need some saturated fat, but in moderation.
- Water
most of us don't get enough. it is in fact possible to get too much, but you have to try pretty hard. start with a gallon a day, and work towards two. but try to space it through the day.
- Eggs?
can't go wrong there.
- Peanut Butter
look for low sugar or no sugar added.
Bad Foods:
- Diary Products? (heard it was bad but WHY?)
dairy products, it really depends. some are high in fat, some are high in carbs, but they're all high in protein. you need to be selective here.
- Food with large amounts of carbohydrates!? like pasta?
go for whole grain products: whole wheat bread; whole wheat pasta. and moderate your portions. and watch out for dark "wheat" products that don't list whole wheat as their first ingredient, or have white flour, sugar, or high fructose corn syrup high on the ingredient list.
- Milk? (I've heard you couldn't digest the nutrients but I'm not sure!)
this depends. if you're lactose intolerant, just steer completely away from it. there's some debate around here about this. I highly recommend that you go fat free (skim), and moderate your portions, especially if you are watching your carbs. the protein in it is good stuff (where do you think they get whey and casein?), but it comes with a fair bit of simple sugar.
- Obviously fast foods (MacD and BK)
depends on your goals. I once lost a lot of body fat by eating at McDs 3x weekly but only eating one sandwich, no fries, and getting diet soda. But think of all the micronutrients I was missing, while still piling up the saturated fat & simple starchy white bread. if you're super skinny and on a "see food" diet, it's one way to get lots of calories.
- Junk Foods like Pizza
pizza has its place, but it mixes protein, carbs, and fat, especially if you like the kind I do: extra cheese & pepperoni. veggie pizzas aren't exactly healthy, but can represent a step in the right direction.
- Soda
sugar soda is right out. if you love soda, and aren't worried about artificial sweeteners (I'm not) then diet soda isn't terrible. but it has no nutritional value, I find the caffeine to be addictive, and there are better sources of caffeine anyway (Green & white teas have antioxidants & positive metabolic benefits).
- ALL CANDY and CHOCOLATES[/QUOTE]
if you take this to be deprivation, you'll never last. falling off the train is worse than cheating from time to time. and moderate intake of dark chocolate, for example, has some positive benefits. BUT it's all carb and no protein, which is a problem if it's crowding out the protein that you really need for muscle growth.
Definitely there are some ingredients you could avoid entirely and benefit enormously:
high fructose corn syrup and sugar
refined and/or "enriched" white flour
partially or fully hydrogenated oils (in the US, 0 trans fat on the label does NOT equal no trans fat, check the ingredients!)
