As a figure athlete, its important to monitor your macronutrients closely to achieve a lean, defined physique.

But one of the hardest parts is learning when to cut certain foods out of your diet and why. The biggest question I get from figure newbies is “can I eat fruit and still get lean?”

In a normal healthy diet, fruit is important to provide fiber and antioxidants to your body. Unfortunately, fruit is loaded with natural sugar – which for a figure competitor needs to monitored and limited to a certain amount of grams each day. That can and will change throughout the different phases of your prep.

Learn more about figure competition dieting here.

Here is a good guideline on fruit and sugar:

1. If you are 16 weeks out or more, in the building phase, your can consume 25g or less a day from all sources (vegetables, fruit, natural and artificial sweeteners, etc.)

2. Some of the best fruit options during prep are apples, peaches, blueberries/berries, or grapefruit.

3. Fruit or other carbohydrates are best eaten BEFORE a workout. This will allow the body to burn off the excess sugar as energy.

4. If you are having trouble getting leaner, sugar could be keeping you from goal. Try cutting your sugar grams each week to the stage and see how it affects your results. Typically, I consume less than 15g (from ALL sources) a day, 8 weeks out or less.

Learn how to get your macros right here.