Nutrition and body composition are always complicated subjects, especially among triathletes. How lean is too lean? What’s an ideal weight? What are the healthy ways to get there? What are the problems with going too far?

We asked the EC network to weigh in and share the best piece of advice they’ve been given on the topic.

Bob Albright, M.D.
Body composition is a tough issue to tackle as there may be hidden pathos in many psyches out there.

I guess indirectly to body composition, the best piece of advice that I use myself and now recommend to all my patients: Try to limit foods with an ingredient list consisting of words with three or more syllables.

Slater Fletcher, elite age-grouper
The best guidance I received was to focus on gaining muscle and to not think about cutting weight. Some support for that:

• If you want to lose weight (fat), then build muscle -- it burns more calories even when you are not working out.
• Muscle weighs more than fat so don’t look at the scale for progress
• If you are concerned about your appearance: you will look more tone at the same time once you’ve added muscle and as you lose fat from getting fitter. That holds true if you are already skinny too.
• Focus on fueling your muscle with high quality food. Doing so will change the way you look at what goes into your mouth.

Gordo Byrn
When it comes to nutrition, the best advice that I received was from Joe Friel: "Eat real food." Real food is food that comes without an ingredient list.

However, having worked directly with over 1,000 athletes, it's not about nutrition for most of us. Rather, the no. 1 goal is to get lean. For them: "Train below your sugar threshold" is the best advice. Any protocol that sets up a stress/reward cycle or triggers sugar cravings will not be successful in trimming fat. Moderate daily activity, below your sugar threshold, is fastest way to achieve permanent fat loss.

Kimberly Baldwin, multiple-time U.S. National Cycling Champion
Early in my career, I was told by Dave Scott that to improve your performance, it really is worth losing any few extra pounds you may be carrying around. But later I learned you can definitely take that too far and you can reach a point where the lower weight affects your strength and power. Those of us in-tune with our body know where that perfect set-point is and it's worth the better results to work to stay there.

Kevin Purcell, D.C.
My best advice: limit or stop drinking alcohol. Short, but not necessarily simple for everyone.

Sue Aquila, regular EC columnist
A few years ago, as my training ramped up, a friend pointed out to me how little protein I actually consumed. I used to tease this same friend that if she could, she would have a roasted chicken waiting for her in the transition area. Over time, I realized she excelled through fueling her body with what it needed and not always with what she wanted. Hence her terrific body composition. So if you smell a roasted chicken in transition, you know one of us is near...

The other great tip from Gordo was the importance of increasing fat in my diet. I now eat lots of avocados, nut butters and coconut oil. The additional calories and energy source has helped to fuel my workouts especially during some big training blocks. This small change in my diet continues to improve my body composition and I am able to do it while eating some of my favorite foods. A win/win.

Jonas Colting, elite triathlete
I can't recall a specific piece of advice that I´ve followed. I've heard a lot of talk on body composition, but I've always thought that this issue is being approached the wrong way. Getting thin, lean or ripped is not a goal in itself. It´s not something to strive for. Getting fit, on the other hand, is! Getting good is! And whatever body composition is ideal, that will follow as a consequence of having executed getting fit properly with performance as a goal, not a target weight.