All bodybuilders know that the first key to gaining muscle and losing fat is eating correctly. When I say eating correctly I mean not only the correct amount of calories, but the correct amount of protein, fat and carbohydrates taken at the correct times. In the past, I would just skip over this part. It seemed too difficult to grasp. That was a mistake. Your diet is the single most important element of a successful fat loss program. It should be geared to maximize fat loss, while minimizing any muscle loss. Here are a few key points to remember:

EAT MORE OFTEN

To lose fat you have to eat! DO NOT starve yourself. Your body is designed for survival, and part of it's survival mechanism involves storing and holding onto body fat to be used in times of food shortages. If you make it a habit of not eating, or eating only a small amount of calories each day, eventually your body will think that you are in a time of famine a begin to slow your metabolism. Your body is just trying to conserve energy (calories) because it is getting so little nourishment.

Your metabolism determines the rate at which your body burns calories, so if you have a fast metabolism, you will burn a lot of calories without much effort. If you have a slow metabolism, it will be very difficult to burn calories — especially fat calories. Your body will always slow your metabolism in response to low calorie dieting.

To avoid this, you simply must eat. Unfortunately, eating three meals per day will not cut it! It does not provide your body with the constant flow of nutrients and energy it needs increase your metabolism and burn fat. Ideally, you should strive to eat 5-6 meals evenly spaced throughout the day.

Here is an example of a fat loss diet schedule:

Your diet should create a mild caloric deficit. In other words, your body should burn off more calories than you take in. After your body has used all the food calories for energy, it should (in theory) turn to using your fat cells for energy. However, as I stated earlier regarding fad diets, this is not always the case. Without resistance training to stimulate muscle growth, and diet manipulation to prevent muscle loss, your body will turn to using muscle cells for energy instead of fat cells!

Anyone interested in losing body fat, should begin by eating around 10-12x their bodyweight in calories.

Eating six meals each day, weight training and cardio will help to increase your metabolism. Because of this, everyone will have an initial loss of weight, and then the results will begin to taper off after a couple of months. What you must do it stick with the diet and be consistent. The fat will begin to come off again if you do not quit.

After about 6-8 weeks you will have to change your program since your body will have adjusted itself to the calorie levels and it will have also made the diet much less effective by slowing your metabolism. This is where cycling your diet will be beneficial.

EAT MORE PROTEIN

The ideal fat loss diet contains moderate amounts of fats, moderate amounts of carbohydrates and large amounts of protein. Protein helps to build and repair muscle, and it also aids in increasing your metabolism and enhancing your immune system.

To promote maximum muscle growth and repair, you should try to eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Some good sources of protein are lean meats, egg whites, whey protein and soy protein isolate.

I recommend starting with a diet that is around 40% protein.

Many of you may worry that this amount of protein is too much or harmful. And I understand your concerns. However, since everyone is different (size, weight, metabolism, physical stresses, lifestyle, etc.) it is almost impossible to have a standard number. I believe that any amount over 2x your bodyweight is too much, however, that is a matter of opinion, and so are all of the answers you will get to this question.

Most doctors will also say that you are eating too much protein. "All that protein is not necessary", they say. They are however assuming that you are an average (sedentary) individual. They do not take into account demanding physical activities like weight training, which put strains and stresses on your body that the average person does not have to deal with.

It is true that large amounts of protein can put a strain on your kidneys. Ammonia and urea (waste produced by protein assimilation) are removed from the bloodstream by the kidneys and liver and excreted in the urine. When you have a lot of these waste products in your system, your kidneys will have to work harder to keep your system clean.

There has been no major study on the effects of a high protein diet on individuals or athletes with healthy kidneys. There was however, a study done in 1982 with patients who already had kidney problems. The high protein intake, did of course further degrade their kidney functions.

Those with a history of kidney or liver problems should probably not be on a high protein diet. If your kidneys cannot efficiently remove any excess production of ketones from your bloodstream it will increase your blood acidity, which can lead to other problems. Because your liver is also involved in the process of metabolizing protein, if it is not functioning properly, high protein diets can cause further problems due to the added strain.

EAT MORE FAT

Yes, that's right, fat! I know what you are going to say -- "My doctor said that my cholesterol level is too high and I should eat a low fat. . ." Sound familiar?

You have to understand where your doctor is coming from. Most people in the medical profession tend to be on the overcautious side. If it's not a fact among their peers, it will be dismissed by them.

However, many techniques that bodybuilders, weightlifters and athletes use to gain strength and weight have not been proven the medical community, so they consider them ineffective. For example, most physicians still argue that steroids and hormone supplementation does not increase lean body mass, because there has been no study on this level--but bodybuilders know differently.

Saturated fats (found in all animal flesh, eggs, some vegetable oils) will raise your LDL (bad cholesterol) level. This is the stuff that clogs arteries, but impossible to cut out of your diet completely.

Saturated fats are the cause of many illnesses like heart disease, and cancer, so beware. However, Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) are unsaturated fats that are necessary for thousands of biological functions throughout the body. Since they cannot be manufactured by the body, the must be provided by your diet.

Essentially, these are the only fats you will ever need. There are two types of EFA's, they are linoleic acid (omega-6) and linolenic acid (omega-3). Linoleic acid is primarily found in oils like canola, sunflower and safflower. Linolenic acid is found in cold water fish. It is also found in linseed oil. Oils that contain both fats include evening primrose, borage and my favorite, flaxseed oil.

These fatty acids not only help increase testosterone production, they aid in the prevention of muscle breakdown, help to increase your HDL level (good cholesterol) and assist in hormone production.

Having high cholesterol levels does not mean that you will have coronary or heart problems in the future. About half the U.S. adult population has total cholesterol levels less than 200, which is considered desirable. But it is a fact that just as many heart attacks occur among people with total cholesterol levels less than 200 mg/dL as occur among individuals with total cholesterol greater than 300 mg/dL.

To avoid heart or blood vessel problems in the future, it is recommended that you concentrate on RAISING YOUR HDL levels instead of concentrating on lowering your total cholesterol.

USE NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

There is a lot of hype in this industry. Some supplements are a complete waste of money, but there are also a few great products out there that can really help you — if you have the correct diet and training program in place.

The key word here is "supplement". They supplement your existing diet and training program. If you are not training and eating correctly then they will not help you. You will be wasting your money! Supplements are not a substitute for proper nutrition and training.

The supplement that has helped  to lose the most fat has to be whey protein powder. This product helps me to get my required daily protein amount without having to eat a lot of animal products like beef or chicken (though I do eat a lot of chicken). It is also very quick to drink and can be mixed with a variety of foods or liquids. In this respect, it is much better than meat or poultry; not to mention far more convenient.

Two other supplements that I advise everyone to use in their program are Vitamin C and the amino acid L-Glutamine. The vitamin C aids in connective tissue repair, while the glutamine helped to strengthen my immune system, maintain cell hydration and protect against muscle breakdown.