What do I eat?
It's nothing magical or scientific at all. Here's my criteria for selecting what foods I eat:
- It has to be 100% natural, found in nature, and whole. In the field, on a tree, and things that have parents.
- It cannot be processed or touched by a machine to change its state. Exceptions like yogurt and cheese are OK to me.
- It has to have 1-2 ingredients or less, if it has a label.
I like to think of my diet as what someone would've eaten 100+ years ago. The best list I've ever come across is located at The World's Healthiest Foods website.
Here's a typical lunch, consisting of chicken breast (grilled or baked), brown rice, and lots of steamed mixed veggies:
How I go about my diet.
I first must point out that I'm not 100% perfect. FAR from it. In fact, I would say I have a wonderful variety of foods, good and bad, in my home. The important thing is that I have the discipline to eat the bad stuff only for a meal or two one day out of the week.
I eat the same thing everyday, Monday - Friday. My M-F meals are 100% healthy and have no deviation. On Saturday or Sunday, well, let's just say I enjoy what I eat and don't care about eating completely healthy. I still make an effort, but I'm not going to stress out about it. You cannot diet your way through life. That is not normal... I like the rule of eating right 90% of the time and leaving the other 10% to freely consume what you want without guilt. One day of bad eating is not going to ruin your fitness/health goals.
Preparing my food.
On Sunday nights, I prepare all of my meals for the entire week. Here's the assembly line:
Preparing the foods for the entire week provides many benefits to my diet and healthy lifestyle.
- It keeps me on track. I know what I'm eating, how many calories (kcals) I am eating, and keeps me from snacking.
- It's convenient. I just pack all the containers in my lunch bag in the morning before I leave for work and I'm set. No worrying about what I'm going to eat during the day.
- Saves me money. Because I have all the food I need, there is no need to go out to lunch at a restaurant, which is a waste of money. And like above, it prevents me from buying snacks from the company vending machine (unhealthy).
My typical daily diet (quantity of each depends on my fitness goals):
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs,turkey bacon, slice of homemade wheat bread/toast. Small glass of OJ
AM Snack: Serving of fruit, handful of nuts (almonds or walnuts usually), hardboiled eggs.
Lunch: Chicken breast, large helping of steamed mixed veggies, yams (sweet potato) or brown rice.
PM Snack: Unlimited raw veggies with hummus, tuna.
Post-workout: Whey protein
Dinner: Homemade dish of whatever we want on Sunday (chili, pheasant dish, etc.). I make enough to last the whole week.
Pre-bed: Cottage cheese.
Meal timing is crucial as well. I've found that eating every 2-3 hours is ideal for me because I have lots of energy. Post workout, I consume my protein within 15 minutes of completion. I then eat dinner 1 hour after this. I must also note that I change up the foods every now and then to keep my interested in the foods I'm eating. Like anything, food gets boring after time. If I feel like yogurt instead of fruit for my AM snack, then fine.
I hope this helps to see the logic and reasoning behind my food decisions. Let me know if you have any questions.
[...] The thing here is that diet cannot be sloppy. Diet is 80% of your success. The other 20% is how you do your activity, like heavy weight lifting. I strive for 90% in my diet and the other 10% is a free for all (aka, junk food, beer, etc.). Basically, 100% clean diet Monday-Friday. Then on Saturday and/or Sunday, it’s my cheat meals, nights out with buddies, etc. I usually only make it 1-2 meals instead of the whole day, but that is just me. The foods you need to bring in have to be natural, non-processed, whole foods. Things with 1-2 ingredients. No more than this. See what I eat here. [...]
ReplyDeleteHey Tyler,
ReplyDeleteJust read your plan - sounds awesome. Brian and I have been on something similar since being back from the States, although, we don't eat the same thing everyday. But, the majority of our meals consist of protein (chicken, fish, or lean beef) and fresh (mostly green) veggies (salad, broccoli, green beans, etc.). Brian has lost 40 lbs so far and I have lost 22lbs. I am curious about the eggs you consume. Do you eat the whole egg or egg white only since most of the fat and calories are in the yolk? I cut out eating the yolk thinking it would be a big help in losing the weight. But, since my weight loss has been much slower than Brian's I'm wondering if it really makes that much of a difference. He doesn't eat the eggs here though, so it's not a very good comparison. Anyway, just curious how you do it. Hope life is treating you and Amy well with the little Bambino.
Mary
That is great Mary! Good for you guys on keeping the body healthy!!! You seem like you are doing all the right things with that weight loss.
ReplyDeleteAs for the eggs, there is nothing wrong with eating the whole egg. The egg yolk has most of the protein, vitamins and minerals (its what the baby chick eats). If you are concerned about cholesterol, no need to fret. Dietary cholesterol is NOT bound to blood cholesterol, unless you have family history cholesterol problems or some of your own. I eat the whole egg - about 8-10 whole eggs a day and have been for the last 2 years. My blood levels are always in the normal healthy ranges.
In addition, dietary fat does not cause fat gain in humans. Fat has more calories per gram (9) as opposed to protein and carbs (4), but that is it. Limiting the portion sizes of fattier foods is a good thing (ie. almonds to a handful, etc).
Hope this helps some Mary. Things are going well with us and the little guy. Hope you and your family are doing great! Hope to see you guys soon!