Q: Mike I have recently started a fat loss program and had a question about my diet. Along with recommended cardio and weight training from your site, I am consuming 4 protein shakes a day ( shakes consist of 46 grams of whey protein with limited fat and carbs, skim milk, a banana and a few fresh strawberries per shake) and either grilled chicken or a lean steak for dinner. I drink a good amount of water per day (80-100oz), but otherwise am a pretty finicky eater. I know you suggested vegetables, but I usually detest vegetables (unless a salad is smothered in dressing, bacon bits and croutons...which I know is a NO-NO). Will the limited repertoire of food be condusive to fat loss? I appreciate any input.

A: Yes, that's a very limited diet and I have to advise against it. Though you'll certainly be consuming plenty of protein and probably will be in the right ballpark for total calories, following a diet like that for a long time is certain to produce deficiencies in some vitamins and minerals which sooner or later will have adverse affect both on your health and on your fat loss. I do not believe that synthetic vitamins are a substitute for real food, so taking vitamin pills is not a good answer.

Good news is that it's quite easy to transform this into an excellent fat loss diet! What you'll need to do is to replace 2 of the 4 shakes with green salads with olive oil and have just whey in water (without any fruits or milk) on the side. So your goal is to learn to like salad with olive oil instead of commercial dressings. Use 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, the same amount of whey you'd normally use for the shake, and all the veggies and herb you want.

Your day would then look like this:

Meal 1. Shake. Feel free to add extra fruit here.

Meal 2. Salad. 1-2 tbsp of olive oil and a ton of veggies and herbs to taste, 46g whey protein in water.

Meal 3. Shake.

Meal 4. Dinner. Chicken/steak. Hopefully some veggies here too.

Meal 5. Salad, repeat of Meal 2.

Shuffle these around as you like. I would recommend keeping the shake + extra fruit for breakfast and make sure the last meal of the day is either your regular dinner or the salad. Hope that gives you some ideas. If you can pull this off, you would have a diet I would 100% endorse :)