Below I've typed up some of the thoughts that I've had since we spoke this morning.
One thing that makes a huge difference is keeping a Food Journal. This is a link to a free one online. I have a link to mine on the far right side of this page. I don't think it's necessary to keep one forever but maybe for a couple of weeks to get an idea of the breakdown of Protein, Carb and Fat in your diet.
Fat
You have to be de-programmed to the notion that fat will make you fat. Even if you just read the first couple of chapters of Good Calories, Bad Calories (Mark has my copy but I'm sure you can get if from the library) you will get an idea of how metabolism works and why insulin is the real culprit in most of the diseases that they blame fat for. One problem, however, is that most fat in the American diet is tied to sugar, like donuts, cakes, muffins, candy-bars, etc.
Natural fats, in the form of avocados, nuts, seeds, nut-butters, grass-fed meats, coconut oil, olive oil, coconut, eggs, are quite healthy and necessary in the human diet. (note:I just had my blood work done last month and the nutritionist drew a happy face on my results because I had the highest HDL that she had ever seen and my HDL/LDL ratio is better than my last blood work-up when I was a vegetarian. She thought I was joking when I told her that I eat a ton of fat.)
Don't be afraid of breathing heavy:
A lot of people initially ask "what do you do for biceps?" or "what about cardio?" The body is one piece and these exercises work them all. To get work done with the body at high intensity you will be breathing a lot heavier than anyone you see on the elliptical trainer. The idea of "spot" conditioning is for bodybuilders, not for people interested in getting truly fit for real life.
Hi-intensity exercise will ramp-up your metabolism. You might hate it while you are doing it, but this kind of exercise tells your body that you need to improve (ie, get stronger, store less energy). You will quickly realize that most of the other people in the gym aren't doing much. It will feel like they are moving in slow motion, like when they demonstrate the theory of relativity. The good news is you will usually be in and out of the gym w/in 45 minutes.
Other reference points more related to food quality:
The site that first got me interested in biologically appropriate eating was BeyondVeg.com. It lists all kinds of arguments that just made sense to me.
Most questions about so-called Paleo eating and athletic performance are answered very thoroughly by Robb Wolf:here and more discussion of traditional societies and their avoidance of disease can be found at the Weston Price foundation:here.
A selection of free recipes can be found here.
Another great site to look at for "Paleo" lifestyle (eating and exercise) is evfit.com. He has a ton of great essays about the whys and wherefors of living the way our ancestors did, or as closely as possible for modern folk.
Some great books on the topic include:
(You don't have to actually buy these books, you can probably get them at the library)
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