Your Best Body - Your Diet
The only way to get your best body, aside from cardio and strength training, is to give it the balanced nutrition it needs to function at it's peak. What and how much you eat will depend on your goals.
If you want to build muscle, you should be eating more calories than you burn. The key is to add healthy calories to your diet so you can avoid heart disease, high cholesterol, etc. You need to be just as vigilant about your eating to gain weight as you do to lose it.
If you want to lose body fat, you need to eat less calories than you burn. The key is to safely reduce your calories so that your body can continue to function while still losing weight. Taking your calories too low can actually stall your weight loss, so take some time to determine how many calories you need.
Experts generally recommend losing no more than 1 to 2 pounds a week in order to preserve your muscle mass and keep the weight off permanently. Your job is simply to make better choices that will help you reduce your calorie intake from about 300 to 500 calories each day. About.com's Weight Loss Guide, Jennifer, has some great tips on cutting out calories.
