Managing Your Weight with a Balanced Diet

San Diego Chargers offensive lineman Nick Hardwick retired from the NFL after the 2014 season. What’s the point? Within the first five months post retirement, he lost 85 pounds. How?  He changed his diet, specifically cutting back on his daily calorie intake which he revealed was over 3,000 while with the Chargers. As lineman, consuming a lot food and maintaining his weight was a part of his job.

No matter what your goals are, in order to keep your body healthy you should maintain a balanced diet which consists of the right types and right amounts of foods and drinks. To start, it’s helpful to know how many calories your body needs every day and what your fitness goals are. 



If you’re unsure, a dietitian would be able to help determine you caloric needs based on your age, gender, size and activity level.

In the meantime replace fried foods with baked, steamed and grilled foods while replacing candy and chips will healthier snacks such as carrots and bell peppers with hummus. Also, remember that good sources of lean protein are skinless, white turkey and chicken meat and that green vegetables should always take up half of your dinner plate.