Fitness 360: Carl Roberts, Hard Corps Muscle Nutrition

The food we eat helps determine our physical success. Yes, that refers to muscle gains, fat loss, and also has long-term health implications. The better you eat, the healthier you will be. Fail to eat well, and you will never reach your physique goals. That's tough to write and tough to hear. But nutrition is that important!

Carl Roberts Fit 360
Watch The Video - 11:58

Carl's Nutrition Philosophy

Carl Roberts, a United States Marine, knows that you don't really grow in the gym. You grow out of the gym. He says his most important meal is his post-workout meal: a banana, a protein shake, and organic peanut butter. This simple meal provides carbs, protein, and healthy fats when his body needs it most.

"I base my diet off what my goals are: leaning out, gaining mass, or maintaining what I already have," Roberts says. "I stick with whole foods, which were a big part of my transformation."

Roberts won the Bodybuilding.com 2012 Military Transformation Challenge by doing due diligence. He read articles, did research, and investigated whole-food diets. He eats real food, with plenty of vegetables and lean meats. To avoid that deranged repetition so common in transformation diets, he changes meal plans weekly. He bakes, barbecues, broils, or even uses a slow cooker.

He eats the bodybuilding basic 6-8 meals each day. To control his food intake, he uses a calorie counter app for his phone. That way, even in restaurants, he can stick to his macros.

"You can scan barcodes of things you pick up in the store," Roberts says. "You can go to a restaurant and pull up all the items they have on a menu. I can check calories, carbs, sodium, etc., and still keep myself on my nutrition goals."

Still, even with his regulations, this former Marine indulges in the delicacies of the Sunday feast in his mother's house. It's soul food, rice, macaroni, fried chicken, etc. That's just once a week though; otherwise, his exercise efforts would be made null and void.