10 Things I Now Know About Nutrition and Fitness that I Wish I'd Known Sooner

Since beginning my weight loss quest a little over a year ago, I've since become very passionate about gaining fitness and nutrition knowledge. So here is a condensed list of some of the best tips, facts, and tidbits that I've come across.

1. Strength training (weight lifting) is one of the best exercises you can do because while building muscle, it also keeps your metabolism raised for hours after you finish your workout as well. (When dieting you're going to lose muscle as well as fat, so it's important to maintain or grow you muscle mass.)

2. It takes 3500 calories to make a pound of fat and you burn 50 more calories per day for every pound of muscle gained.

3. Push-ups just might be the best strength training exercise you can do with no extra equipment. (I do 4 sets of 25 along with some ab crunches on days that I don't have time to do a full-blown workout.) A simple jump rope can make for a great cardio workout too.

4. You really can't go wrong with fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, low fat dairy products, and lots of water.

5. Spinach, tomatoes, blueberries, oatmeal, yogurt (if not loaded with sugar and fat), nuts, eggs, and legumes are some of the best foods for you on the planet.

6. Never skip breakfast. It's important to kick-start your metabolism in the morning. Furthermore, studies have shown that people who eat a hearty breakfast with protein and/or whole grains consume fewer calories throughout the course of the day. I ran across this saying once: "Eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch, and a peasant at supper."

7. Eating smaller portions more frequently keeps you metabolism up and can help keep your blood sugar more constant. (Spicy foods can help to stimulate your metabolism too!)

8. Using a smaller plate helps to create the perception of larger food portions.

9. The only two cooking oils you need are olive and canola.

10. Read the labels! Eating products that use whole wheat flour instead of refined white flour, and that have less sugars than similar products are the best bets. It's amazing what these small substitutions can do for you. (By the way, the Eat This, Not That! books are loaded with this kind of information to help guide your choices.)

With proper knowledge and the right mindset losing weight really isn't that difficult, or at least that was the case for me.