guardianactual
MuscleChemistry Registered Member
Exercise is important, but nutrition is what will make you the happiest or most frustrated with your results. It's just that essential! For most of us, starting a new nutrition program is the most difficult part of getting back to fit. One of the reasons it's such a challenge is because our eating patterns are deeply engrained. When you look at how many years you've spent developing those patterns, it's easy to see why nutrition can be such a battle.
Those who don't get the results they want from a fitness program usually make one of two mistakes: they try to out-train a bad diet, or they try to starve themselves into shape. Neither of these tactics will provide you with the results you're looking for.
If you're constantly trying to burn off a cinnamon roll or a cupcake, you're not going to make the progress you want. It's just much faster and easier to put calories into your body than it is to burn them off.
An extreme diet won't work, either. If you eat much, much less than your body needs, you'll just become a smaller person with more body fat. You trade the health risks of being overweight for health risks that occur from malnutrition, like loss of muscle and bone density. You have to learn how to eat, not how to starve.
The number one thing that will make you successful in your transformation is planning. You have to plan and prepare to eat properly. If you make a plan the night before and prepare yourself to eat healthy the next day, you don't have any other choice than to do it. Make your plan and follow your plan. If you don't do that, you'll just fall back into your old habits.
You don't have to go to extremes to get results. If you get it right 80 percent of the time, you're going to love your results. Put all of your excuses aside and do your best. When you put yourself on a really good plan to eat for life, you'll gain time, clarity, and a healthier perspective.
BACK TO FIT NUTRITION PLAN
The common denominator for those who stay in shape is that they have learned how to eat for life. And that's what you're going to do. You're not going to diet, starve yourself, or try to "just get through" the next 12 weeks. You're going to learn how to eat for life. You don't have to do it perfectly, but you're going to relearn how to shop, how to prepare healthy food, and how to eat the right amounts.
You have to learn to like healthy eating more than unhealthy gorging. If you want to look good, feel good, lose fat, build muscle, and live longer, you have to love food for the taste, nutrition, and results it brings. I'll teach you how to do that.
For the next 12 weeks, you'll practice preparing your food and eating wholesome, nutrient-rich food 80 percent of the time. If you can eat healthy for six days out of the week, then you can use Sunday as a free day to eat whatever you want.
That includes cookies, pizza, and french fries! Yes, this may seem more relaxed than some other plans you've looked at, but that's what makes it sustainable for life.
GET THE "FACT"S
The bedrock for the nutrition plan you'll follow is created from what I call the "Right FACTs." If you can continuously adhere to these simple ideas, you will enjoy excellent results.
Foods: The most important nutrition decisions you'll make on a daily basis are what types of food to eat. For protein, eat eggs, chicken, salmon, lean beef, low-fat cottage cheese, and protein shakes. For carbs, eat baked potatoes, brown rice, oatmeal, apples, oranges, strawberries, and vegetables like broccoli, spinach, and green beans. You can get your healthy fats from extra virgin olive oil, avocados, and nuts.
Amounts: The next key to a solid lifetime nutrition plan is to eat the right amounts of food. There's no need to count calories; instead, keep track of your portion size. A good portion of protein is about the size of your palm. A portion of healthy carbs is about equal to the size of your fist.
If they're cooked without a lot of oil and butter, you can pretty much have as many vegetables as you want. To measure the amount of healthy fats you eat, use your thumb as a guide.
Combinations: I combine a portion of protein, healthy carbs, and fat in each meal. For breakfast, try having 2-3 scrambled eggs, 1/4 of an avocado, and some oatmeal. It's important that each meal has a balance of each macronutrient. The trouble comes when you eat carbs and fat by themselves.
Times: I've had great success eating about six meals each day. So, every 3 hours or so, I eat a meal. Usually, this works out to three full meals and three snacks. Eating often helps manage your appetite and ensure that your body has a constant supply of healthy nutrients. Eating frequently will also aid your digestion and increase your energy.
BACK TO FIT FOOD LIST
Learning how to eat for life requires that you relearn how to grocery shop, or possibly even start consciously thinking about it for the first time. When you're cruising the aisles at your local supermarket, try to stick to purchasing the foods outlined below. As you can see, your diet does not have to be built from the same boring foods. You can enjoy a lot of variety!
PROTEIN
Chicken breast
Turkey breast
Orange roughy
Swordfish
Halibut
Salmon
Tuna
Crab
Lobster
Shrimp
Lobster
Buffalo
Top round steak
Top sirloin steak
Lean ground beef
Eggs or egg substitute
Low-fat cottage cheese
CARBS
Potato
Sweet potato
Squash
Brown rice
Wild rice
Quinoa
Whole-wheat pasta
Oatmeal
Barley
Beans
Corn
Strawberries
Blueberries
Raspberries
Fat-free yogurt
Whole-wheat bread
VEGETABLES
Broccoli
Green beans
Peppers
Mushrooms
Spinach
Tomato
Artichoke
Zucchini
Cucumber
Celery
Brussels sprouts
Asparagus
Lettuce
Cabbage
Eggplant
HEALTHY FATS
Extra-virgin olive oil
Chia seed
Flaxseed
Avocado
Virgin coconut oil
Raw almond butter
Natural peanut butter
Nuts
LIQUIDS
Water
Tea
Coffee
Milk
Almond milk
TAKE THE LIST WITH YOU!
YOUR BACK TO FIT FOOD AND FLUID LIST
(PDF 98 KB)
SAMPLE MEAL PLAN
This sample meal plan, and the guidelines noted earlier, will get you started on the right path. Make adjustments to this plan according to your goals, weight, and sex. Don't eat the same thing every day. Stick to the preferred food list, and do your best to prepare your meals at home. If you can't make it home for lunch, pack it with you to work.
I'm not going to include the total calories or macronutrient breakdown for this meal plan. While those numbers can be helpful, it's far more important to nail the principles I've outlined above before playing the numbers game. Instead of stressing about the numbers, start your fitness journey by sticking to the foods listed, using the appropriate portion sizes, and eating a combination of macronutrients in each of your main meals.
Meal 1
Eggs
2
Whole-wheat toast
1 slice
Grapefruit
1/2 large
Coffee
1 cup
Water
8 oz
Meal 2
Vanilla protein powder
1 scoop
Water
8 oz
Fresh blueberries
1/2 cup
Meal 3
Whole-wheat bread
2 slices
Deli turkey
4 slices
Lettuce
Tomato
Pickles
Mustard
2 tbsp
Water
12 oz
Meal 4
Protein powder
1 scoop
Water
8 oz
Meal 5
Baked salmon
4 oz
Cooked quinoa
1 cup
Steamed broccoli
1-1/2 cups
Water or iced tea
12 oz
Meal 6
Greek yogurt
3/4 cup
Water
8 oz
Those who don't get the results they want from a fitness program usually make one of two mistakes: they try to out-train a bad diet, or they try to starve themselves into shape. Neither of these tactics will provide you with the results you're looking for.
If you're constantly trying to burn off a cinnamon roll or a cupcake, you're not going to make the progress you want. It's just much faster and easier to put calories into your body than it is to burn them off.
An extreme diet won't work, either. If you eat much, much less than your body needs, you'll just become a smaller person with more body fat. You trade the health risks of being overweight for health risks that occur from malnutrition, like loss of muscle and bone density. You have to learn how to eat, not how to starve.
The number one thing that will make you successful in your transformation is planning. You have to plan and prepare to eat properly. If you make a plan the night before and prepare yourself to eat healthy the next day, you don't have any other choice than to do it. Make your plan and follow your plan. If you don't do that, you'll just fall back into your old habits.
You don't have to go to extremes to get results. If you get it right 80 percent of the time, you're going to love your results. Put all of your excuses aside and do your best. When you put yourself on a really good plan to eat for life, you'll gain time, clarity, and a healthier perspective.
BACK TO FIT NUTRITION PLAN
The common denominator for those who stay in shape is that they have learned how to eat for life. And that's what you're going to do. You're not going to diet, starve yourself, or try to "just get through" the next 12 weeks. You're going to learn how to eat for life. You don't have to do it perfectly, but you're going to relearn how to shop, how to prepare healthy food, and how to eat the right amounts.
You have to learn to like healthy eating more than unhealthy gorging. If you want to look good, feel good, lose fat, build muscle, and live longer, you have to love food for the taste, nutrition, and results it brings. I'll teach you how to do that.
For the next 12 weeks, you'll practice preparing your food and eating wholesome, nutrient-rich food 80 percent of the time. If you can eat healthy for six days out of the week, then you can use Sunday as a free day to eat whatever you want.
That includes cookies, pizza, and french fries! Yes, this may seem more relaxed than some other plans you've looked at, but that's what makes it sustainable for life.
GET THE "FACT"S
The bedrock for the nutrition plan you'll follow is created from what I call the "Right FACTs." If you can continuously adhere to these simple ideas, you will enjoy excellent results.
Foods: The most important nutrition decisions you'll make on a daily basis are what types of food to eat. For protein, eat eggs, chicken, salmon, lean beef, low-fat cottage cheese, and protein shakes. For carbs, eat baked potatoes, brown rice, oatmeal, apples, oranges, strawberries, and vegetables like broccoli, spinach, and green beans. You can get your healthy fats from extra virgin olive oil, avocados, and nuts.
Amounts: The next key to a solid lifetime nutrition plan is to eat the right amounts of food. There's no need to count calories; instead, keep track of your portion size. A good portion of protein is about the size of your palm. A portion of healthy carbs is about equal to the size of your fist.
If they're cooked without a lot of oil and butter, you can pretty much have as many vegetables as you want. To measure the amount of healthy fats you eat, use your thumb as a guide.
Combinations: I combine a portion of protein, healthy carbs, and fat in each meal. For breakfast, try having 2-3 scrambled eggs, 1/4 of an avocado, and some oatmeal. It's important that each meal has a balance of each macronutrient. The trouble comes when you eat carbs and fat by themselves.
Times: I've had great success eating about six meals each day. So, every 3 hours or so, I eat a meal. Usually, this works out to three full meals and three snacks. Eating often helps manage your appetite and ensure that your body has a constant supply of healthy nutrients. Eating frequently will also aid your digestion and increase your energy.
BACK TO FIT FOOD LIST
Learning how to eat for life requires that you relearn how to grocery shop, or possibly even start consciously thinking about it for the first time. When you're cruising the aisles at your local supermarket, try to stick to purchasing the foods outlined below. As you can see, your diet does not have to be built from the same boring foods. You can enjoy a lot of variety!
PROTEIN
Chicken breast
Turkey breast
Orange roughy
Swordfish
Halibut
Salmon
Tuna
Crab
Lobster
Shrimp
Lobster
Buffalo
Top round steak
Top sirloin steak
Lean ground beef
Eggs or egg substitute
Low-fat cottage cheese
CARBS
Potato
Sweet potato
Squash
Brown rice
Wild rice
Quinoa
Whole-wheat pasta
Oatmeal
Barley
Beans
Corn
Strawberries
Blueberries
Raspberries
Fat-free yogurt
Whole-wheat bread
VEGETABLES
Broccoli
Green beans
Peppers
Mushrooms
Spinach
Tomato
Artichoke
Zucchini
Cucumber
Celery
Brussels sprouts
Asparagus
Lettuce
Cabbage
Eggplant
HEALTHY FATS
Extra-virgin olive oil
Chia seed
Flaxseed
Avocado
Virgin coconut oil
Raw almond butter
Natural peanut butter
Nuts
LIQUIDS
Water
Tea
Coffee
Milk
Almond milk
TAKE THE LIST WITH YOU!
YOUR BACK TO FIT FOOD AND FLUID LIST
(PDF 98 KB)
SAMPLE MEAL PLAN
This sample meal plan, and the guidelines noted earlier, will get you started on the right path. Make adjustments to this plan according to your goals, weight, and sex. Don't eat the same thing every day. Stick to the preferred food list, and do your best to prepare your meals at home. If you can't make it home for lunch, pack it with you to work.
I'm not going to include the total calories or macronutrient breakdown for this meal plan. While those numbers can be helpful, it's far more important to nail the principles I've outlined above before playing the numbers game. Instead of stressing about the numbers, start your fitness journey by sticking to the foods listed, using the appropriate portion sizes, and eating a combination of macronutrients in each of your main meals.
Meal 1
Eggs
2
Whole-wheat toast
1 slice
Grapefruit
1/2 large
Coffee
1 cup
Water
8 oz
Meal 2
Vanilla protein powder
1 scoop
Water
8 oz
Fresh blueberries
1/2 cup
Meal 3
Whole-wheat bread
2 slices
Deli turkey
4 slices
Lettuce
Tomato
Pickles
Mustard
2 tbsp
Water
12 oz
Meal 4
Protein powder
1 scoop
Water
8 oz
Meal 5
Baked salmon
4 oz
Cooked quinoa
1 cup
Steamed broccoli
1-1/2 cups
Water or iced tea
12 oz
Meal 6
Greek yogurt
3/4 cup
Water
8 oz
