Do you find that the more you read about nutrition and fitness, the more confused you get?

It's understandable. I mean, you read one article from one "expert" one week, then another the next week by another "expert" who seems to totally contradict the first! Can't the "experts" agree on anything?

Do the contradictory opinions of the "experts" leave you confused?

If confusion has you stuck in a rut, hesitating to take action because you can't decide what to believe, take heart. The experts do agree on quite a few things.

When It Comes To Diet, Experts Agree:

• Always eat breakfast

Research shows breakfast eaters lose more weight and are less likely to binge later in the day.

The word itself is a command. Break fast! Break your fast, and eat!

• Eat smaller, more frequent meals

I actually heard this on the news: "Experts are now saying that eating smaller, more frequent meals help dieters lose more weight." It's nice to know that the mainstream is coming around.

Eating every few hours refuels, replenishes, stabilizes blood sugar, prevents bingeing and over-eating, preserves muscle, and speeds up metabolism.

• Avoid white flour and sugar

Besides having zero nutrition, these foods cause our blood sugar to go a little crazy, making us store fat, act irritable, and feel lethargic.

• Have a plan

Follow either a food journal or a meal plan. Same goes for training: have a plan or a program. It really helps to have a plan laid out, that you know is effective. Nobody worth listening to will advise you to just "wing it."

• Drink plenty of water

Water is obviously important. People often confuse hunger for thirst, so drink up!

• Never eat fruit by itself

Fruit contains sugar, and sugar is quickly digested, often leaving you feeling hungry. It's best to eat fruit with a protein to slow its absorption into the blood stream.

• Eat most of your carbs in the morning and around your workout time

This is to fuel your body when it needs it most, and for recovery.

• Have a post workout shake, like Surge® Recovery

Recovery is just as important as training. Don't neglect it!

• Have a planned cheat meal once a week

This is to give your mind and body a slight break, and enjoy the food you love. Just don't go hog-wild. An unplanned cheat meal could destroy your progress for the week.

Experts agree that you should plan your cheat meals, so that you don't lose focus or control, or eat an entire box of Oreos.

It should be a well thought-out meal, kind of a mental break, where you get to look forward to having a slice of your favorite forbidden whatever, and then enjoy it, in a controlled, planned, healthy fashion.

• Consume fish oils and healthy fats

Foods like salmon, avocado, walnuts, olive oil, Flameout™, almonds, all natural peanut butter, flax, fish oil capsules. They are a must in any healthy fat loss nutrition plan.

Healthy fat: A must in any nutritional plan.

• Eat low-glycemic carbohydrates

Oats, sweet potatoes, fruits and veggies are all nutritious and keep our blood sugar stable and energy system going.

• Eat protein in every meal

Healing takes place after you rack the dumbbells. Therefore, your body relies on protein all through- out the day in order to recover properly.

Aside from that, protein is needed for growth, and also helps slow down the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream and helps maintain steady blood sugar levels.

• In a high carbohydrate meal, your fat intake should be minimal

This includes post-workout and breakfast

• Make sure your surroundings are supportive

Not only should you surround yourself with supportive, like-minded people, but you should also keep your favorite junk food out of your home, office, and car. Do not rely on willpower. It often doesn't show up!

• Real food beats supplement protein shakes

Supplement protein shakes, like Metabolic Drive®, can be a real tool in helping you reach your goals. They're convenient and obviously high in protein, and for this reason, they're on most of our shopping lists.

But when you're home and could make a nutritious meal, such as salmon and vegetables, no one would argue that a home cooked meal like that wasn't better for you, no matter what your goals are.

Convenient and high in protein, but eat your salmon and vegetables, too!

When It Comes To Training, Experts Agree:

• You can't out-train a bad diet

This one is definitely true. I've tried to do it, but it didn't work. Your diet definitely has to match your training, or you won't get very far.

• Lift mostly in the 3-12 rep range

This range gives you the most bang for your buck. The lower the reps, and the heavier the load, the more muscle fibers you activate. The higher end will recruit a little less, but allow you to get more reps in, more time under tension, etc.

Unless you're new to training or are in recovery, you should be somewhere in this range for most of your training.

• Change up your routine every 3-4 weeks

This prevents boredom (mind and body). Your body's goal is to adapt. The older your training age (the longer you've been training) the faster you'll adapt (and the sooner you'll have to change things up).

If you're a real beginner, you might be able to get 6 weeks out of a program, but for most people, seek change every 3-4 weeks.

• Cardiovascular activity is not a cure-all: 20-30 minutes, 2 to 5 times a week, is plenty

Cardio is a tool for fat loss and over-all health, but it has to be in the equation of eating right and lifting weights. It doesn't shape and "tone" your body, and it never will!

It's interesting that even the "experts" who are all about cardio are beginning to admit that lifting weights and eating right are pretty important, too. Heck, even Richard Simmons uses dumbbells these days.

Even the Cardio King knows that cardio alone isn't enough.

• Interval style cardio beats straight paced for calorie burning, muscle activation and preservation

Well, maybe not all the experts agree on this one, but the ones with decent muscles agree: Interval is the way to go. Some coaches don't even let their athletes do straight paced cardio at all, saying it puts their fast twitch fibers (needed for sport, power, and explosion) to sleep!

So if muscle activation and preservation is a goal of yours, as it should be, then interval is the way to go (unless you want to look like Richard Simmons above).

• Compound movements rule

No matter what your goal is — whether it's fat loss, strength, or muscle size, compound movements beat isolation exercises. So stick to the basics, like presses, pulls, rows and squats.

• Machines suck

Some experts use machines more than others, but all agree that for overall muscle mass, activation, stability, fat loss, connective tissue, joint protection and proper range of motion, free weights win by a long shot over machine work.

• Make sure you rest, or have "off" or "light" training days

This is to ensure recovery. Let's face it, working out is stressful. You need to have a balance (and a life).

• Get enough sleep

Sleep is really needed for proper rest and recovery. Make it a priority!

• Use full range of motion, and don't sacrifice form for heavier weight

If you can't use the full range of motion, and control the speed of the weight you're lifting now, you're not ready to increase the weight (unless you're going to drop your reps of course).

• Don't obsess over the scale

Everyone knows the scale fluctuates. Don't obsess over it, but use it. Research shows that a person who weighs in often sees more results than one who doesn't, probably due to the accountability.

What and Why We Debate

Over the years, I've definitely noticed a few controversial topics that those worth listening to still debate, play around with, experiment with, or simply go both ways on (based on their current goals, moods, aches and pains, for varieties-sake, etc).

Here are a few topics still up for discussion.

Body part splits (whole body vs. split routines)

Years ago, it was all split routine, and you still see it in body building magazines today. A competitor's routine will always look like this:

Monday: chest and back
Wednesday: legs and abs
Friday: shoulders and arms.

That's very typical, especially for men. Men have an easier time building muscle, and often the heavy volume (along with some anabolic drugs) will allow them to see the results rather well.

Women, on the other-hand, do better on more of a whole body routine, where you work your whole body, a few sets each workout, 3 or 4 times a week.

Now, I usually prescribe whole body routines to my clients as well as do them myself, but we still do split routines every now and then.

There are good things about each, and there are also some things lacking in each. You know the saying, "The best program is the one you're not currently doing".

If you're looking for the "final answer" here, there isn't one — because there really is no final answer!

Macronutrient ratios

Protein seems to be pretty much figured out. Shoot for 1 to1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight, and stick to lean sources: chicken, fish, tuna, turkey, lean meats, egg whites, etc.

Fats are also pretty standard, although one expert may advise a slightly higher or lower intake than another. Everyone agrees to eat healthy fats like salmon, fish oils, flax, etc.

Carbohydrate intake is still up for debate. We all know to stick to the fruits and veggies, and low glycemic carbs such as oats and sweet potatoes. We also know to stay away from the bad carbs: white sugar, flour, and high glycemic carbs for the most part.

But your carb intake for the day is very individual and based on several factors such as tolerance level, activity level, recovery ability, hormones, and genetics.

No final answer here either, unfortunately. Most advise that carbs be cycled from day to day, having low, medium and higher carb days. I find this very tough to do with myself and my female clients.

Aside from being too much math, it seems we females already have a cycle controlling us: our menstrual cycle.. Hormonally, women need more carbs at certain times. I can't wait for the day we have this one figured out!

Fasted cardio

Fasted cardio refers to doing cardio first thing in the morning, prior to eating breakfast. Some experts say yes, some say no way.

I think most say "yes" with a huge "but" after it. And those "buts" usually include, ingesting some kind of protein (BCAA's, a scoop of protein, etc) and that your cardio be done low intensity (i.e. walking, stationary bike).

Personally, fasted cardio has always worked for me, but that could simply be because I do it, compared to getting caught up in the day and not doing it. I do take BCAA and HOT-ROX® though to preserve muscle mass.

I usually do 20-30 minutes on an upright bike. But to each their own. This topic continues to be debated.

If you're going to do fasted cardio, take your HOT-ROX and BCAA.

Good-Bye Confusion

Fitness is not black and white, and that's why some information and methods appear to contradict each other. If fitness were cut and dry, there would be one set training program and a diet to match. And everyone would just follow it to the T and look amazing.

Sounds good right? Maybe so, but that's just not the way it works.

We all have different lifestyles, genetics, eating habits, muscle mass, stress levels, sleep levels, recovery abilities, hormone levels, likes and dislikes, aches and pains, mental concentration, blood sugar levels, sugar tolerance levels, etc. So many factors go into what works for us, in a sense of the results we will see given a certain program.

When a training or diet article comes out here on Figure Athlete, you always end up tweaking it, right? You either have to change the time of one of your meals, or switch the protein source to suit your taste buds, or exchange one exercise for another for whatever reason.

Some of you may not even know you're doing this, but what you're doing is altering the program to fit you. That's what you're supposed to do!

Those topics that overlap or appear to contradict, as well as the differences in opinion from one expert to another, shouldn't confuse you. Instead, they should broaden your scope of training and increase your appetite and variety for your own training.

• Stick with the basics listed above
• Experiment with different options and methods that you read about
• Decide what works for you, while weeding out the things that don't
• Become an "expert" on what works for you!

I guarantee most of you know more than you realize. Don't let the options confuse you. Stick to the basics and enjoy the journey!

About the Author

Sandy Joyce is a personal trainer and nutrition specialist in the Boston area who specializes in helping women of all ages lose fat, and maintain better health. She has a reputation for getting women into great shape quickly, and helping them adopt lifelong healthy habits. For information on her online training services, visit her website or contact her by email.