PREFACE NOTE - This article was written as a more formal article in response to the thread titled
not getting my dietEating Right: How to Get Started
One thing that I want to reiterate from Steve's article,
How to construct your own workout routine, is that diet itself will *NOT* put on any muscle mass, for most people, anyway. While a small amount of weight loss is possible with purely dietary changes, proper diet must be coupled with an appropriate training regimen for your body composition goals in order to achieve optimal results.
I am attempting to keep this short so that most people will be able to fix their diet without going into too much detail.
This article will not address the dozens of ideologies and schemes that exist in mainstream dieting (high carb, low carb, etc.) nor will it address things like why breads/grains are poor dietary choices. Rather, it will address a structured, simple methodology to increase the "quality" of your food. This is what most credible nutritional sources will say is the first step to proper nutrition.
I. High Quality Food CategoriesWithout going into much detail we can boil high quality nutrition down to 7 basic categories:
1)
Vegetables - Source of carb
2)
Fruits - Source of carb
3)
Beans - Source of carb
4)
Meats - Source of protein
5)
Fish - Source of protein
6)
Nuts - Source of fat
7)
Seeds - Source of fat
Additionally, there are some high quality foods that are rather ambiguous and need to be addressed individually:
A)
Olives - Source of fat.
B)
Avocados - Source of fat.
C)
Coconuts - Source of fat.
D)
Eggs - Excellent source of protein. Interchangeable with meat sources. (1 Whole egg = 1 Oz meat...or... 2 Egg Whites = 1 Oz Meat)
E)
Dairy- Milk - Whole Milk is good if you are trying to gain weight. Skim milk is good if you are trying to lose.
- Cheese - Only recommended to those who want to gain weight. Avoid if trying to lose.
- Cottage Cheese - 3% Milkfat is fine if trying to gain weight. Low/Non-fat if trying to lose. Low calorie fruits spruce up flavor.
F)
Oatmeal - Eat this once daily, if possible, as part of a balanced meal (which means you need to include protein and fat.)
G)
Olive Oil - Source of fat. If trying to gain weight, pour it on everything including ice cream. Well...maybe not ice cream, but you get the point.
H)
Quinoa - Source of carb.
II. Menu Creation
With these categories, you can make a comprehensive menu of foods. On your own, personal menu, you should list any and all foods in these categories that you not only enjoy, but that you can just tolerate. As you get more used to eating better, the foods you can barely stand now will start to taste better, as well. Remember, it takes 21 days on any regimen, whether its exercise, diet, or even a new job, before the whole ordeal becomes routine in your brain. Keep this in mind as you transition into your new diet that you will need three weeks to acclimate psychologically and physiologically.
For clarity, an example of a good starting menu is shown below:
When you make your own menu, I suggest that you carry it around with you everywhere you go. The goal is to constantly expand the menu as you learn new food items that you enjoy that fit into these categories.
III. 5 Simple RulesThese categories come with a basic set of 5 simple rules for each meal:
1)
Many Veggies - At least 2 cups (total) of veggies with every meal. These can be spruced up by cooking with Onions, Garlic, Spices and Olive Oil.
2)
Always Meat - At least 4-6 oz (palm sized portion or larger) or LEAN meat or fish. LEAN meat is poultry (chicken, turkey, hen) and lean cuts of beef. Pork is not lean. Avoid beef all together when you are first starting since it is hard to identify the lean cuts when you are new. Some people eat over a pound of meat/fish each sitting, depending on their goals. 4-6 oz minimum is a good place to start.
3)
Fruits Vary - Some fruits like bananas, pears, peaches and apples are loaded with sugars. Limit the intake of such fruits to 1 per meal. Other fruits like berries and melon can be eaten with virtually no limit. Berries should be a staple in all diets due to their high concentration of anti-oxidants. More information on the amount of calories in these fruits can be found by searching
www.nutritiondata.com4)
Replacing Veggies - If you aren't in the mood for veggies, you can replace 1 cup beans for every 2 cups veggies. You can also eat beans with your vegetables, if you like. Try not to put veggies off but its okay to do so sometimes. Veggies can also be replaced by fruit. High quantities of the low calorie fruits (berries, melons, etc.) or low quantities (1-2 pieces) of the high calorie items (bananas, dates, peaches, pears, etc.)
5)
Eat Fat - Eat nuts, seeds, olives, avocado, coconut or olive oil with every meal. For weight loss, you want around 6-10 nuts, half an ounce of seeds, a 4-6 olives, 1/4 of an avocado, 25g coconut or 1 tsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) . For weight gain, eat significantly more than these quantities...you will know when you had enough if you are trying to gain. As you lose fat and your goals change, realize that the amount of fat that you need will change as well!
IV. SnackingSnacking is acceptable when you are just focusing on improving the quality of your food. Snacking is encouraged by some methodologies and discouraged by others. Both have good reason for these recommendations and it usually depends on your goals. However, for those just starting, make sure your snacks only come from foods on your menu. If possible, make snacks contain a source of fat, carb and protein so that they are "balanced".
V. SupplementationOne final note is that supplementation is something that should be done only when one knows what they are doing. Most times, supplements will be a waste of your time and money. The best way to get everything you need is through whole foods. However, I suggest three supplements below that I believe everyone should make part of their daily routine. Supplementing as specified below is relatively inexpensive when compared to the benefits MOST HUMAN BEINGS experience from this supplementation.
A) Supplement with 3-5g of fish oil daily. At a bare minimum, take in 2 grams. Every day.
B) Drink Green Tea. Every day. If you are concerned about caffeine, brew one cup with a green tea bag, discard the water, then use the same tea bag with fresh, boiling water. This eliminates most of the caffeine while maintaining most of the anti-oxiants for which we are drinking the tea.
C) 2 multivitamin pills daily, with food. Every day. Centrum brand is cheap and should be just fine.
Happy dieting, and feel free to post your menus below for critique!
