In January, you became addicted to exercise; in February, you continued to find the time for your addiction; in March, you are going to learn to feed your addiction.

Most people naturally begin to change their eating habits once they have started to exercise regularly. On the positive side, maybe you are avoiding heavy meals before a workout or choosing foods that will help you with your workout. But it is also easy to fall into bad eating habits because of a new exercise program. Feelings of, "I've earned that chocolate cake," or "I can't eat before I work out," or "Caffeine before I work out helps me really push myself" are all detrimental to the cause.

Where do we begin? Even with my historically horrible eating habits (I'm a former dancer) I wince when clients tell me about their highly-restrictive diets. The nutritional value of liquid, high-protein and highly-processed food diets concern me. I've also been in the fitness industry long enough to tell you that these types of programs set their clients up for failure.

A diet that you will be able to stick to and that your body will respond to long term will balance proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Proteins are essential for cell maintenance and repair, as well as regulating a wide range of bodily functions. Too much protein will dehydrate you and proteins don't convey nutrients as well as carbs.

Carbs provide essential energy for the brain, red blood cells and even a growing fetus. Carbohydrates are also the principal fuel source for muscular activity; your body will most easily use carbs when you are working out. Carbohydrates are more easily converted into glucose than either protein or fat and glucose is your body's preferred fuel source. Too many carbs will spike your energy like a big cup of coffee and you'll come down for the fall within a short period of time.

Yes, fats are essential. Fats provide the body with linoleic and linolenic acids which are needed for normal cell reproduction and growth. Fats are also needed in the production of prostoglandin. Prostoglandins help regulate blood pressure, blood clotting and inflammation. On a practical level, fat cushions bones and vital organs, protects the body from extreme temperatures, carries fat-soluble nutrients and serves as an important energy reserve. No need to tell you what happens when we eat a diet too high in fat, but a no-fat to a very-low-fat diet is not going to be balanced or good for you.

Now that you know that proteins, carbs and fats are essential, steer clear of diets that promote eating from just one of these three groups. Your body will not function without all three and cravings and consequent bingeing will result.

There are cookbooks out there that can help with your new balanced eating habits. I like all of the Cooking Light cookbooks. You have your choice of everything from their super easy and fast selections to what I call "Labor Intensive/Prior Experience Required" cookbooks. The nice thing about these cookbooks is that you can tell what you are eating. The protein, carbohydrates and fat are lined up for you at the end of each recipe. Look for recipes where the percentages of each are as close to being equal as possible, or balance them out by adding the component that is missing.

If you are on a path to making small but permanent changes to your eating habits you will succeed. Initially, eating better will take more time or thought to prepare the right foods for your day, but within a very short period of time you will have your new system down. So measure, journal and plan the first couple of weeks and after you have the concept down, you'll be living better - for life.


Karena Lineback is the author of "OsteoPilates: Reduce Risk, Increase Bone Density, Look and Feel Great," contributing author to "Cancer Wellness" and the president of Pilates Teck. E-mail her at livebetter@insidescv.com.