Q: HI MIKE, I AM LOOKING FOR SOME ADVICE FOR MY HUSBAND. HE IS 29 YEARS OLD AND 5ft 7in, RIGHT NOW HE WEIGHS 178. WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ( WHAT ARE THE BEST CARBS AND VEGGIES FOR PUTTING ON LEAN MUSCLE? MY HUSBAND WORKS OUT EVERYDAY ALMOST BUT IS NOT SURE WHAT TO EAT FOR THE BEST RESULTS. I KNOW HE REALLY WANTS TO PUT ON A LOT OF SIZE BUT ALL MUSCLE SO IF YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE WE WOULD APPRECIATE IT! THANKS, CRYSTAL

A: There are certainly healthy carb and veggie choices he should be eating, but they alone will not yield the results he is looking for. He needs a total nutrition plan, eating a variety of healthy foods, in right amounts. Start by reading my Nutrition article -- it covers everything you need to know about what to eat. Once you and he know what to eat you need to decide whether he is looking to bulk up or cut down because that will decide how much he eats. Bulking up means gaining weight and muscle. Cutting down means losing weight and fat. Unfortunately it is not practical to expect to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time -- he will reach his ultimate goal a lot faster if he focuses on one goal at a time (either lose fat or gain muscle) at a time and structures his nutrition plan accordingly (fewer calories for fat loss, more calories for muscle gain).

You say that he want to put on lean muscle, but if right now he is 178 pounds at 5ft 7in, chances are he has a lot of extra fat on him right now (unless he has been working out for many years). So my advice would be to first lose some of that extra fat, get down to somewhere between 140 and 160 pounds by losing around one pound per week and then change course, add calories and start on slow weight and muscle gain at a pace of around two pounds per month.

You can use my Fitness Guide to get starting meal plans both for cutting down and bulking up phases -- simply specify your goal as 'Losing Fat' or 'Gain Muscle' accordingly. But as I said, first make sure to read and understand the nutrition article I linked. Hope that helps and please feel free to post back with any follow-up questions.