Q: Why is fruit not a good alternative (to veggies let's say) when in the fat-burning stage??? Do they carry too many calories?? What do you think of the high calorie fruits (like bananas and avocados)?? Is it better to fuel up on these before, after, or before-and-after a workout?? Thanks in advance.

A: Fruits have a lot of carbs that your body digests fairly quickly which is what you want to avoid. They are actually very healthy foods, but when your goal is cutting fat you should be looking for foods that provide slow-digesting carbs and green veggies are a perfect example of that. Avocados specifically are a bit different -- they have a lot of fat in addition to some carbs and some protein. They are also very healthy and actually more appropriate than things like bananas as long as you keep track of overall calories -- remember that one avocado can easily have 200 calories in it!

For your second question, you want to fuel up both before and after the workouts. Those two meals along with your breakfast should be your biggest and most important meals of the day.