Q: OK here is my dillema, i was born with a defficiancy called G6PD basiccly in lamens terms i cant eat legumes and am alergic to phenylinanine (hope i got that right) that is the main ingredient in artificial sweeteners and most diet drinks, i find it really hard to loose weight although i have been training for 3months now. would my defficiancy effect me in my weight lose are leguims an important aspect to loosing weight or can these be substitiuded with meats or anything else like certain veggies like broccoli? as for ur daily nutrition guide what can i substitute with where u have leguims or green peas in your plan? do i jump on a special diet? do i continue training 4 days a week, heavy weights, 30mins cardio 3 times a week? with the current diet plan that i follow thanx to this website? atm im substituting leguims with broccoli or other veggies like cauliflauer and capsicums ect.. please help, im so confused.

A: This is not at all a problem. While legumes are an excellent food, they're in no way irreplaceable. As you guessed, you can substitute legumes with a bit of lean meat/fish/poultry and some non-starchy vegetables like brocooli, cauliflower, etc.

As far as your allergy to the artificial sweeteners, that may even be a blessing in disguise -- all the 'diet' drinks are only a tiny step above their sugary cousins. They may not have sugar, but they do nothing good to your health and teeth and from what I've noticed they tend to bring on pretty bad food cravings in people.

So find some substitutes for legumes (you can just go with a ton of green veggies as a substitute if it's too much hassle to bother with extra meat) and continue what you're doing now. Remember that the best progress is the slow progress when it comes to weight loss. That's the kind that will stick and prevent fat from coming back in the future.