Tag: Diet Plans
Is the Hard Boiled Egg Diet the Weight Loss Breakthrough You’ve Been Looking For?
With the advent of social media, fad diets have taken on a life of their own, having the ability to go viral almost overnight. So, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing more and more fad diets gaining traction. Amongst the recent crop of diets, the hard-boiled egg diet has been heavily promoted as a way to lose weight fast.
Eggs are one of the most healthy foods. As a result, a diet built around the humble egg may sound like a good idea. Its advocates claim you can lose up to 20 pounds on the egg diet in two weeks. So, does it really work?
Read on for the most complete analysis of the hard-boiled egg diet you will ever need.
What is the Hard Boiled Egg Diet?
Hard Boiled Egg
The hard boiled egg diet is a short-term diet centered around consuming hard-boiled eggs. The diet has several variations:
Traditional:
The boiled egg diet’s traditional version is a variation of the Atkins diet. You do not have to limit yourself to eggs on this version, but most of your protein will come from this source. Carbohydrate intake is restricted. This version requires two or more eggs, a low-carb veggie, and fruit for breakfast. You may also consume lean protein in place of a low-carb veggie. Lunch might consist of a lean protein source or another serving of eggs.
Typically, chicken or fish are included. More eggs or lean proteins like fish or chicken will be served for dinner. You can have as many low-carb veggies and salads as you like on this diet. One or two portions of fruit are allowed daily, and carbohydrate intake is closely regulated, so you’ll eliminate foods like bread, pasta, and potatoes.
Read also: 14-Day Boiled Egg Diet: Should You Try It?
Egg and Grapefruit Diet:
The egg and grapefruit diet involves consuming half a grapefruit per meal. Apart from that, it is similar to the traditional boiled egg diet. Grapefruit is believed to accelerate weight loss. It is an extremely nutrient-dense fruit that is especially high in vitamins A and C, potassium, and folate. It is also very high in fiber and low in calories. Adding grapefruit will compensate for the low fiber content of the other versions of the boiled egg diet.
Egg Only Diet:
This is the most extreme version of the diet, requiring you to eat nothing but eggs and water (which may be infused with electrolytes). In this diet version, eggs may be boiled, scrambled, or poached. This diet does not represent a balanced form of eating, as it is very low in fiber. It is a very restrictive diet that can be maintained for a short period. Most people usually follow this diet for a week.
Egg Diet Pros
Here are the benefits of the egg diet:
Reduced Hunger: A high-protein, low-carb diet can suppress hunger, making you feel fuller even when dieting.
Faster Calorie Burn: You’ll burn calories more quickly due to the greater protein content.
Vitamins: Eggs are a rich source of vitamins in addition to being a wonderful source of protein.
Weight Loss: Eggs, particularly during breakfast, are proven to accelerate weight loss.
Egg Diet Cons
These are the disadvantages of adopting the egg diet:
Not a Balanced Diet: This is not a balanced way of eating because it cuts out whole food groups, including many vegetables.
Low Carbohydrate Intake: Lack of carbohydrates might make engaging in any intense activity challenging, especially at the beginning.
Nausea: Many dieters experience nausea and exhaustion for the first few days. This is because the body must adjust to reduced carbohydrate consumption.
Boring: Since you consume the same foods daily, you can easily become bored while on the diet, making it difficult to maintain.
Benefits of Eating Eggs
There are many health-related benefits of eating more eggs. Here are seven reasons to up your egg intake:
Eggs are Nutrient Rich
Vitamins A, D, B-6, and B-12 are some of the essential vitamins and minerals found in eggs. Iron, calcium, and magnesium are also present. 10% of the recommended daily intake of vitamins B-12, A, B-6, B-3, and D can be found in one boiled egg. It also has 2% of your daily iron and calcium requirements.
Eggs are a Superior Form of Protein
Chicken eggs contain more than six grams of protein per egg. The protein content of one egg is equal to around thirty grams of meat, making it a higher-quality protein option. Additionally, the protein content of eggs is considered greater than that of chicken or beef, and they are also considerably more affordable than those foods.
Eggs have one of the highest biological values of any protein source. That means they contain all the essential amino acids in the right proportions. This makes them more readily available for protein synthesis, leading to greater muscle gains and post-workout tissue repair.
The protein in eggs is easily digestible, so it can be quickly broken down and absorbed into the body. The body can use the amino acids more effectively thanks to this digestibility.
Improved Eyesight
Your eyesight will deteriorate with time, a condition known as macular degeneration. Lutein and zeaxanthin, two essential nutrients abundant in eggs, are present in the eyes and help protect them. If you’re concerned about your eyesight, eggs are a terrific addition to your diet as they can help to shield them from harmful light wavelengths.
Balanced Blood Sugar
Eggs’ combination of protein and fat will help maintain stable blood sugar levels. If you have diabetes, this may help avoid problems because such issues raise blood sugar levels. Remember that eggs won’t boost your cholesterol if you’re following a low-carb diet. Eggs can help gradually lower your total cholesterol when you follow a low-carb diet. As a result, especially when considering the advantages of weight loss, this can aid in lowering the risk of heart disease.
Brain Health
A nutrient called choline, abundant in eggs, is crucial for your mental well-being. It promotes brain development as well as memory activation. It’s also vital for pregnant women because a growing child will cause a mother’s choline levels to drop dangerously low. According to estimates, as many as 90% of people have low choline levels. Therefore, you are doing your brain a huge favor by giving it a nutrient it sorely needs by eating eggs.
Promotes a Feeling of Fullness
Eggs do a great job of filling you up, helping control your caloric intake. As we’ve already discovered, eggs are a fantastic source of high-quality protein. Protein can aid in lowering appetite and boosting feelings of fullness because it is more satiating than carbohydrates or lipids. The amino acids in eggs promote the release of hormones that signal to the brain that you are full.
The essential amino acids in eggs promote a feeling of fullness. The rich supply of nutrients in eggs also helps control appetite and advance general health. Eggs take longer to digest since they include more protein and fat. This gradual digestive process enables you to feel satisfied for extended periods and can minimize blood sugar spikes, which can cause cravings and increased hunger.
Hair, Nail, and Bone Health
Eggs are great for the health of your hair, bones, and nails, especially if you cannot consume dairy products. That’s because eggs will boost your calcium and vitamin D levels. Eggs are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which also support your hair, nail, and bone health.
Is It Best To Eat Scrambled Eggs or Hard Boiled?
The name of this diet is the hard-boiled egg diet, which leads to the question, ‘Why hard-boiled?’ After all, one of the benefits of eggs is that there are so many ways to cook them, helping to prevent eating monotony. So, is there a reason why you should stick to hard-boiling your eggs on this diet?
To answer that question, let’s consider the best way to cook an egg to preserve its nutritional goodness. We first need to appreciate that fats oxidize when heat is applied. This can potentially turn good fats into bad fats. Eggs contain a lot of good fats, so we don’t want to do anything that will take away from that goodness. Excessive heat can also damage the micronutrients contained in the egg.
So, with these points in mind, let’s look at the various way you can cook eggs:
Hard-Boiled
Hard-boiled eggs are the winner in terms of convenience. They require minimal work to cook and provide a convenient snack you can take with you when you’re away from home. Hard boiling also lets you leave the shell and the protective membrane on as you cook the egg. This will help to protect the nutrients and the fats from the heat that is applied.
Soft-Boiled
The difference between a soft-boiled and a hard-boiled egg comes down to timing. With a soft-boiled egg, you reduce the time under heat, so the yolk remains runny. As a result, you are applying less heat, which further protects the fats and micronutrients from damage. In fact, because you are not really cooking the yolk, its contents will not have a detrimental effect.
Poached
Poaching eggs well is a skill that takes time to acquire. It involves filling a saucepan with 2-3 inches of water and heating it to a gentle simmer. You then crack the egg into a small bowl and slide it into the simmering water. Cook the egg for 4-6 minutes for a soft yolk and 7-8 minutes for a hard yolk.
Poaching is an excellent way to cook your eggs, as it reduces the heat applied to the yolk.
Scrambled
Scrambling is probably the most popular way to eat eggs. However, from a nutrient point of view, it’s also the worst way. That’s because you are applying a lot of heat to the mixed-up egg from every angle. This can potentially destroy some micronutrients and convert good fats into bad.
Over Easy
Over-easy cooking involves putting the egg in a frying pan and cooking it on both sides. This method also applies a lot of heat to the egg, providing a greater chance of damaging the micronutrients within the yolk.
Sunny Side Up
Sunny side up involves only cooking the egg on one side. This is a healthier way to cook the egg as it means leaving the yolk in a close to raw state. Because you’re not applying a lot of heat to the yolk, you won’t destroy its micronutrients and fats.
Raw
Eating raw eggs ensures you’re not destroying any of the micronutrients or fats. However, you are missing out on the advantage of heat, which effectively eliminates bacteria such as salmonella. This risk, though, is minimal, especially if you store your eggs properly.
To summarize, we can list different ways of cooking eggs based on their nutritional value, ranking them from the most beneficial to the least.
Soft-boiled
Hard-boiled
Raw
Sunny side up
Over easy
Poached
Scrambled
When it comes to the hard-boiled egg diet, there is no particular benefit to hard boiling rather than soft boiling, apart from the convenience factor (it’s easier to eat a hard-boiled egg on the run than a soft-boiled one). Feel free to use either method to prepare your eggs.
Here’s how to boil an egg to ensure you end up with your preferred level of hardness:
Add enough water to a pot to cover an egg by about an inch
Place the egg in the pot and bring it to a boil
Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer
Cook for:
Four minutes if you want a runny yolk
Five minutes for a slightly firmer yolk
Six minutes for a yolk that is almost set
Transfer the eggs to a bowl of cold water until it is cool enough to handle
Why You Lose Weight on the Hard-Boiled Egg Diet
Proponents of the boiled egg diet do not claim that eggs have any magical weight loss properties. Still, many cases of extreme fat loss are reported online from following this diet. By extreme, I mean up to 20 pounds in two weeks.
Not all that weight loss, however, will be fat loss. Our bodies can store fats and carbohydrates. When we store carbohydrates, we also hold water. Those carbohydrates are used to fuel exercise and other daily activities. We can lose weight quickly when we cut back our carbohydrate intake. Much of that weight loss, though, will be water.
Here’s what a typical day of following the hard-boiled egg and diet might look like:
Meal One: Two hard-boiled eggs and a piece of fruit
Meal Two: Green vegetables and chicken salad
Meal Three: Chicken and salad
The first thing you’ll notice here is that this is not a lot of food. In fact, if you were to calculate the calorie content of the above three meals, it would come out at less than 1,000 calories for the entire day. That is an extremely low total, especially for active people.
The daily carbohydrate content is also extremely low on this diet. As a result, you will see quite a dramatic reduction in the amount of fluids held in your body if you follow this eating plan.
Most people following a weight loss diet will increase their activity levels. They may begin a workout program at the gym or simply start using the stairs rather than the elevator at work or parking their car a couple of blocks away from their work location. This will help with the calorie burn that ensures that they maintain a daily caloric deficit, which is the key to weight loss.
The hard-boiled egg diet’s effectiveness in quick weight loss is undeniable. However, the main reason for the weight loss is not that you’re eating eggs, even though they are extremely healthy, but that you are dramatically cutting back on your calorie intake. Most people require 2,000 or more calories daily to maintain functionality. The hard-boiled egg diet cuts that number in half. This creates a daily caloric deficit of over 1,000 calories, forcing your body to turn to stored body fat reserves to make up the energy difference.
The hard-boiled egg diet is meant to be a short-term intervention, with most people only sticking with it for a couple of weeks. And that is its biggest problem. It is not a sustainable diet because it involves such a dramatic calorie reduction. Most people will regain the lost weight, and then some, after going off the diet.
When you take in fewer calories and, at the same time, increase your energy levels, your metabolism adjusts so that it becomes more efficient at not burning calories. This is part of the body’s built-in survival mechanism. So, when you go on an ultra-low calorie diet, such as the hard-boiled egg diet, your metabolic rate will adapt, so you burn calories slower.
What do you think will happen when you go off the diet?
When you return to your pre-diet caloric intake, you will see rapid weight regain. Your slowed-down metabolism will not be able to cope with the high caloric intake that it is now experiencing. As a result, more and more calories will be stored as body fat, and you will end up heavier than when you began the diet.
Hard-Boiled Egg Diet vs. 36 Eggs a Day Diet
While the hard-boiled egg diet has gained traction over the past few years, another egg-based diet has been popular, especially among bodybuilders, for decades — the 36 eggs-a-day diet.
When I first heard of the hard-boiled egg diet, I thought it was a version of the 36 eggs-a-day diet. You may have thought the same thing. So, to avoid confusion, let’s see how the 36-eggs-a-day diet differs from the hard-boiled egg diet.
The 36 eggs-a-day diet was promoted in the 1970s by legendary bodybuilding trainer Vince Gironda. Known for his unconventional training methods (he banned squats from his gym) and nutrition advice, Vince reportedly said that eating 36 eggs daily was as beneficial in building muscle as going on a Dianabol cycle.
Vince referred to his diet as the hormone precursor diet. It was designed to do the following:
Get you in a state of positive nitrogen balance
Put 30-50 grams of protein into your body every three hours
Release the precursor hormones to put you in an anabolic state
Vince was aware that cholesterol, which eggs contain a lot of, is a precursor that is a building block for growth hormone and testosterone. The high-quality protein in eggs also helps put you in a positive nitrogen balance.
Vince believed that the best way to consume eggs was raw. So, rather than eating the eggs, he had his athletes drink them as a special shake. The shake contained 12 raw eggs and was consumed three times per day.
Here’s the full contents of the raw egg shake:
12 oz (360 ml) half-and-half milk
12 raw eggs
⅓ cup of milk and egg protein powder
1 banana
This shake is to be consumed for breakfast and then between your lunch and dinner meals. Lunch and dinner would consist of a palm-sized serving of meat and a salad.
Vince also advocated the use of the following supplements on this diet:
Zinc
Multivitamins
Kelp
HCL
Digestive enzymes
Liver tablets
Apart from the small amount in the banana and your lunch and dinner salads, this diet has no carbs.
There is some scientific backing for this diet. In a 1975 study, doctors put severe burn patients on a diet consisting of 35 eggs per day. None of the patients suffered negative side effects. They all experienced normal serum protein levels more quickly than patients in the control group. The researchers concluded that a high-protein diet is safe for treating severe burns. [1]
The 36-eggs-a-day diet should be followed for six to eight weeks. You then switch to a vegetarian detox diet for a week before resuming your normal eating pattern. While Vince advocated the diet for hard gainers, he also promoted it as a way for advanced bodybuilders to break out of a muscle plateau.
Key Differences Between the 36-eggs-a-day and Hard-Boiled Egg Diets
Here are the differences between the two egg diets:
36 eggs a day is primarily for muscle gain
The hard-boiled egg diet is mainly for weight loss
36 eggs a day diet has you drink raw eggs
The hard-boiled egg diet has you cook the eggs
The hard-boiled egg diet is shorter, usually lasting no longer than two weeks, compared with six to eights weeks on the 36 eggs-a-day diet
How to Succeed on the Hard-Boiled Egg Diet
As we’ve seen, the major problem with the hard-boiled egg diet is not the fact that you’re eating eggs but that your total daily caloric intake is simply too low. But it doesn’t have to be that way. By increasing your daily food intake, while still focusing on eggs, citrus fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins, you will be able to find success on this diet. While your weight loss will not be as dramatic as it would be if you were eating less than 1,000 calories a day, your weight loss will be far healthier and more sustainable.
You need to make the following two key adjustments for the hard-boiled diet to be successful:
Track your Calories
Your first step in planning a healthy hard-boiled egg diet should be calculating your current caloric maintenance level. This figure, also known as your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), tells you how many calories you must consume daily to meet your energy needs. There are several formulae that you can use to work this out. However, the easiest way is to use an online calculator such as this one.
Once you know your total daily energy expenditure, you should reduce that figure by 500 calories. This will ensure that you end each day with a caloric deficit. To meet your daily energy demands, your body will have to call on its stored fat energy reserves. Reducing your daily food intake by 500 calories is safe and sustainable.
Now that you know how many calories you need to consume each day, it is up to you to track those calories. Don’t just leave it to chance. You can use online food tracking apps like MyFitnessPal to track your calories and protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake.
Rebuild Your Caloric Intake
By reducing your daily caloric intake less dramatically, you can sustain the hard-boiled diet for longer. While most people only stay on this diet for 14 days, you should be able to do so for at least six to eight weeks when you reduce your intake by 500 calories per day.
Even though you are only reducing your daily caloric intake by 500 calories, your metabolism will still slow down. If you suddenly return to your maintenance calorie level when you finish the diet, you risk unwanted weight gain. That is why you should slowly return to your pre-diet calorie intake.
For example, if your daily maintenance caloric intake is 2,500, you should consume 2,000 calories daily on the hard-boiled egg diet. Rather than going straight back up to 2,500 calories, you should increase by 50-100 calories per day for the first week. Then, continue adding another 50 calories daily for each passing week. By doing this, after 10 weeks, you will have returned to your maintenance level. Slowly transitioning back up in this manner will give your body the time needed to readjust your metabolism. This strategy will help you avoid the rebound weight gain that plagues so many dieters.
What Type of Egg To Use on a Hard-Boiled Egg Diet
While most people use chicken eggs for the hard-boiled egg diet, other options exist. Here’s an overview of the various types of eggs available and their benefits:
Brown Chicken Eggs
You’ve probably seen brown eggs on the supermarket shelf. You may have also noticed that brown eggs are considerably more expensive than white ones. The difference between the two comes down to the breed of chicken producing the egg.
Brown eggs as produced by the Marans, Reds, Sussex, and Plymouth Rock breeds. All of these breeds have brown feathers and produce eggs with brown shells. White eggs are laid by chickens with white feathers, such as White Rocks and Leghorns.
Despite the price difference, Brown and white chicken eggs have no major nutrition differences. The macro and micro nutrient content does not change depending on the color of the eggshell.
Omega-3 Enriched Chicken Eggs
Eggs promoted as omega-3 enhanced have been laid by chickens fed a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are a type of polyunsaturated fatty acids that provide a wide range of health benefits, including controlling inflammation, improving brain power, and enhancing heart health.
Omega-3-enriched chickens are fed with foods like flaxseed, algae, and fish oil. This increases the omega-3 content of the eggs they lay. The eggs will be especially high in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
The amount of omega-3 fatty acids in these eggs can change according to how the chickens are fed. Check the nutritional label to identify the exact omega-3 content.
Vegetarian Chicken Eggs
If you notice the vegetarian label on an egg carton, it signifies that no animal protein was given to the hens who laid the eggs. This may sound good for you, but it’s not. A hen is naturally not vegetarian because its diet typically includes insects and worms.
Duck Eggs
Duck eggs tend to be bigger than chicken eggs in size. Compared to chicken eggs, their shells are a bit thicker and harder, which might make them stronger but harder to shatter.
Here is a comparison of the nutritional content of chicken and duck eggs:
Chicken Egg:
Calories: 71
Total Fat: 5 Grams
Cholesterol: 211 mg
Carbs: 0 Grams
Sodium: 70 mg
Protein: 6 Grams
Duck Eggs:
Calories: 130
Fat: 10 Grams
Cholesterol: 619 Grams
Carbs: 1 Gram
Sodium: 102 mg
Protein: 9 grams
Duck eggs typically have larger yolks than chicken eggs. They also have around double the fat content and a third more protein. In addition, their levels of micronutrients like selenium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12 are higher. The cholesterol level in duck eggs is often higher than that of chicken eggs.
Although there are notable differences between chicken and duck eggs, they have comparable nutritional profiles.
Duck eggs have a distinctive flavor that is richer and creamier than chicken eggs. Duck eggs’ yolks have a deeper flavor and a slightly different texture since they are bigger and contain more fat. While some people prefer the taste of duck eggs, it may be too strong for others.
Duck and chicken eggs can be substituted in many dishes, but there are several key distinctions to remember. Duck eggs are frequently preferred in baking and pastry preparation because of their bigger size and higher fat content. Some baked foods can contribute to a richer texture and help produce a higher rise. Custards, puddings, and other desserts frequently use duck eggs as an ingredient. However, the availability and adaptability of chicken eggs make them more popular in regular cooking.
Some people may find that duck eggs are more tolerable for them than chicken eggs. Duck eggs can trigger allergies in some people, so those with egg allergies should proceed cautiously. Duck eggs are more expensive than chicken eggs because of limited supply and greater production costs.
You should give duck eggs another one to two minutes in hot water when boiling because they naturally have a thicker shell and are larger.
Organic Eggs
Organic eggs are promoted as being healthier than standard eggs. As a result, they command a significantly higher price. However, there are variations among organic labeling. You can’t just assume that since something is labeled organic, it is healthy. A few labels the USDA allows to describe an organic product are ‘one hundred percent organic,’ ‘ninety-five percent organic,’ and ‘created with organic ingredients.’
If a carton of eggs is marked organic, you know it was produced in an environment free of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers. However, “organic” won’t tell you anything about your hen’s living conditions or nutritional worth. In other words, just because you buy organic eggs doesn’t guarantee they are more nutrient-dense. All you can be sure of is that they won’t have any pesticide traces.
What is the Grade of an Egg?
Grading systems, which may differ between countries, are used to rate the appearance and quality of eggs. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) established the USA’s grading system. It is based on the following grades:
Grade AA:
Grade AA eggs are the best in terms of look and quality. The shell must be unscratched, intact, and without leaks or cracks. The air cell, or pocket of air, should be small and not deeper than 1/8 inch at the wide end of the egg. The egg white has to be crystal clear, solid, and barely spread. The yolk should be solid, spherical, and either slightly off-center. The egg should be neat and appealing in terms of aesthetics overall.
Grade A:
While Grade A eggs are still of great quality, they might not seem quite as flawless as Grade AA eggs. The shell must be undamaged and clean. Small imperfections or stains are acceptable but should be kept to a minimum. The air cell may be slightly bigger than in Grade AA eggs, but it shouldn’t be deeper than 3/16 inches. The egg white should be moderately distributed, transparent, and firm. The yolk should be solid and spherical, but it can be slightly off-center or flattened. The egg should have a respectably tidy and decent appearance overall.
Grade B:
Grade B eggs are generally not offered as table eggs in stores because of their poor quality. They are frequently employed in processed egg goods or industrial settings. The shell may be rough, have little fissures, or both. The air cell may be larger than Grade AA or Grade A eggs. The egg white may be more evenly distributed and thinner, and the yolk may be more delicate and flatter. Compared to Grade AA or Grade A eggs, Grade B eggs are less aesthetically pleasing.
It’s important to remember that the grading standards primarily evaluate the outside quality and do not point out variations in nutritional value or flavor. Eggs of all grades can be equally nutrient-dense and safe for ingestion. Check the carton when buying eggs for the grade, usually marked on the box. Before choosing, look for any indications of damage or abnormalities in each egg.
Freshness is another important factor to consider when buying eggs. Check the carton for the Julian date, which is the date the eggs were packed. The closer it is to that date, the fresher the eggs.
Where to Store Eggs
Should eggs be kept on the kitchen counter or in the refrigerator? While most individuals worldwide keep their eggs in their pantry or on the counter, most Americans keep them in the refrigerator. The main distinction is that Americans often wash their eggs and store them in refrigerators to prevent salmonella.
Salmonella can be transferred to eggs in one of two ways:
From a contaminated hen
From poop
To ensure there are no feces on their eggs, Americans have a habit of washing them after returning from the shop. By doing so, however, they unintentionally reduce the egg’s safety. The cuticle is a coating of proteins and other substances that protects eggs. Salmonella cannot enter the egg through the permeable shell because of this built-in defense mechanism. This barrier is removed by washing the egg.
In Europe, egg washing is avoided to prevent cuticle loss. In contrast to the USA, many European nations also immunize their hens against salmonella. Salmonella contamination in American eggs is, therefore, more likely.
Bacterial growth is slowed by refrigerating the eggs. According to research, eggs with salmonella contamination, whether on the outside or inside, will become dangerously contaminated after three weeks of storage at room temperature. However, even after six weeks of storage in the fridge, there won’t be much bacterial development. [2]
So, let’s return to our original query — should eggs be refrigerated?
Store eggs at room temperature if they have not been washed and have received a salmonella vaccination. Condensation may accumulate on the shell of an egg when you retrieve it from the refrigerator. The resulting wetness promotes the growth of bacteria, which may penetrate the porous shell.
You should keep your eggs in the refrigerator if you live in the United States or another country where you buy them from the grocery store’s refrigerated section.
Hard-Boiled Egg Diet Tips
I have personally tried the hard-boiled egg diet, both in its strictest form and in the more traditional version. This has given me insight into the practicalities of the diet and how it can be modified to make it more user-friendly. Here are half a dozen tips that I’ve come up with:
Don’t limit yourself to hard-boiled eggs. Include soft-boiled, poached, and raw eggs if you can handle them.
Only reduce your calories by 500 calories below your maintenance level.
Add vegetables to the diet, including cucumbers, tomatoes, and leafy greens. This will ensure that you’re getting a sufficient amount of fiber.
Count your calories with the help of an app like MyFitnessPal; don’t leave it to guesswork.
Use hard-boiled eggs as a snack when you are away from home.
Add chopped-up hard-boiled eggs to your salads
FAQs
Is the hard-boiled egg diet expensive?
No, the hard-boiled egg diet is not considered an expensive diet compared to other diet options. The bulk of your protein will come from eggs, which are relatively inexpensive. If you follow the eggs-only diet version, you will probably find that your shopping bill will be dramatically reduced. Yet, even the traditional version will reduce your food bill as the other foods you eat are relatively inexpensive (such as fruits and vegetables).
Should you eat fats on the boiled egg diet?
Yes, you should consume fats on the hard-boiled egg diet. Fortunately, eggs themselves are a healthy source of fat, especially omega-3 fatty acids. This source of fatty acids has been shown to positively impact heart health, reduce triglyceride levels, and lower blood pressure. They also have cognitive benefits. A type of omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a component of brain tissue and is vital for brain function and memory.
You can buy eggs that are omega-3 enriched. These are more expensive than standard eggs but will provide a higher amount of essential fatty acids.
If you are following the traditional version of the boiled egg diet, you can get extra fats by consuming avocados, nuts, olive oil, and fatty fish. You can also consume grass-fed butter and sugar-free mayonnaise.
Can I have any sweeteners on the hard-boiled egg diet?
No, you should not add sweeteners to any version of the hard-boiled egg diet. However, if you follow the traditional version, you will get natural sweeteners in the form of fructose in the fruits you consume. You should, though, limit your fruit intake to control fructose content. I recommend limiting your intake to three pieces of fruit per day.
Will I get constipation or diarrhea on the hard-boiled egg diet?
You might experience some digestive discomfort on the hard-boiled egg diet, including constipation or diarrhea. This is due to the diet’s high protein, low carbohydrate nature.
You increase the likelihood of constipation when you restrict your fiber intake and increase your protein intake, as you do on the hard-boiled egg diet. Fiber, which is abundant in whole grains, vegetables, and fruits, plays a big part in controlling your bowel movements. To avoid this, you should make sure that you are getting an adequate amount of fiber. You can do this by adding citrus fruits, vegetables, and nuts to your diet. You should also stay well hydrated, drinking at least half a gallon (around two liters) of water daily.
When you drastically change your food intake, especially one that involves increasing your protein intake, you may experience diarrhea. This should only last a day or two as your body adjusts to your new diet.
How long does the hard-boiled egg diet last?
The length of the hard-boiled egg diet will depend on the version of the diet you follow. If you follow the strict egg-only version, you should not go beyond one week on the diet. That’s because this version is nutritionally unbalanced, and doing it for longer than a week may be dangerous. The traditional version of the diet is usually followed for two weeks.
Summary
The hard-boiled egg diet can help you lose weight and keep it off, but only if you follow it smartly. By reducing your caloric intake by no more than 500 calories, adding leafy green vegetables to get the needed fiber, and gradually rebuilding your caloric intake as you come off the diet, you can avoid the metabolic reset that leads to weight regain.
Why not try the hard-boiled egg diet — you’ve got nothing to lose but those unwanted pounds!
Research
Hirshowitz B, Brook JG, Kaufman T, Titelman U, Mahler D. 35 eggs per day in the treatment of severe burns. Br J Plast Surg. 1975 Jul;28(3):185-8. doi: 10.1016/0007-1226(75)90127-7. PMID: 1191862.
Khan S, McWhorter AR, Moyle TS, Chousalkar KK. Refrigeration of eggs influences the virulence of Salmonella Typhimurium. Sci Rep. 2021 Sep 9;11(1):18026. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-97135-4. PMID: 34504138; PMCID: PMC8429434.
7-Day Carnivore Diet Meal Plan For Building Muscle and Strength
There are several extreme diets out there. They often involve eliminating an entire class of macronutrients or food types. Over the last few years, the carnivore (meat-only) diet has been trending worldwide. While many people swear by its ability to promote weight loss and improve digestion and brain power, others decry its avoidance of fruits and vegetables.
This article lays out a complete seven-day carnivore diet meal plan. We’ll also explore the diet’s benefits and potential drawbacks, along with meal planning strategies and tips for adjusting the carnivore diet for specific goals.
Understanding the Carnivore Diet
Carnivore Diet
The carnivore diet, sometimes referred to as the zero-carb diet, involves only eating animal products, such as meat, dairy, and eggs. The diet’s origins can be traced back to 1856 when Bernard Moncriff wrote a book about his experiences of eating only meat and drinking milk for a year. Three decades later, the Salisbury Diet, consisting of 12 weeks of eating nothing but meat and hot water, came into vogue.
In the 1960s, bodybuilding training guru Vince Gironda had his athletes use a steak and eggs diet. This diet was supposed to be the secret that got Vince’s athletes so ripped. Then, in 2018 orthopedic surgeon Shawn Baker wrote a book called The Carnivore Diet. The diet soon became a viral sensation. Several well-known figures, including Jordan Peterson, became vocal advocates of the diet.
Baker points out that a meat-only diet was the norm for humans for nearly two million years. Only in the last 10,000 years did we begin growing crops. When that change was introduced, according to The Carnivore Diet, humankind experienced an explosion in diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. These diseases did not exist when we were solely meat eaters.
The modern-day carnivore diet is designed to reset the metabolism and return to how we have evolved to eat.
Rules of the Carnivore Diet
The carnivore diet is pretty simple and is built upon the following rules:
Consume fatty meats, mainly from ruminant animals: These animals have a digestive system capable of digesting plant material. Fatty meats are extremely nutrient dense.
Fat should be your primary energy source: Get your fats from meats like ribeye steak, pork belly, chicken wings, and rack of lamb. You should also consume fatty fish such as mackerel, king salmon, and arctic char.
Cut out all plant foods: On this diet, you must eliminate all vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes. This runs counter to what we are told in mainstream information sources. Yet, research indicates that plant foods may introduce toxic doses of carbohydrates, bacteria, and toxins into the body. [1] [2] [3]
Remove nuts and seeds: That means no walnuts, almonds, pistachios, flax seeds, or peanuts. Nuts contain antinutrients such as phytic acid and lectins, which may interfere with nutrient absorption and lead to digestive problems.
No alcohol: Because alcohol is made from fermented fruits and grains, it is forbidden on the carnivore diet. Alcohol also hurts fat digestion and dehydrates the body.
Related: Find Your Daily Protein Intake
Carnivore Diet + Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting essentially boils down to timing your food intake so that you have an extended non-eating (or fasting) window each day. This promotes fat loss by depleting glycogen levels and forcing the body to turn to stored body fat for energy.
There are many ways to do intermittent fasting. One of the most popular is the 16/8 diet, where you fast for 16 out of every 24 hours. This is the version I follow. I stop eating at 7 pm and then fast until 11 am the following day. I then eat two meals during the eight hours between 11 am and 7 pm.
Intermittent fasting mimics how our ancestors would have eaten in the wild hundreds of thousands of years ago. They didn’t have access to food every couple of hours, so they went for long periods without food. And when they did find food, it was animal-based. As a result, intermittent fasting and the carnivore diet are a natural fit.
According to the 2020 Harvard Carnivore Diet Study, 83% of the 2029 carnivore dieters studied were following some type of intermittent fasting (IF) plan. For many, this was more because the fatty meat meals they ate were so filling than being a conscious decision to do IF. The health benefits reported in this study were nothing short of astounding.
Here are some highlights:
93% experienced significant weight loss
100% of people with diabetes came off their injectable medication
97% reported improvements with gastrointestinal problems [4]
The combination of intermittent fasting and the carnivore diet has also been shown to improve inflammation dramatically. Inflammation is associated with a high-carb diet, so the low to zero-carb nature of the carnivore diet makes it ideal for reducing inflammation. At the same time, intermittent fasting has been shown to reduce the markers of inflammation. [5]
Another benefit of combining the carnivore diet with intermittent fasting is improving gut health. The combination encourages the breakdown of fatty acids into ketones. These ketones help restore the intestine lining, promoting intestinal permeability. [6]
Related: Learn All About Intermittent Fasting
Benefits of the Carnivore Diet
The carnivore diet is a pretty radical departure from the conventional way of eating. Fortunately, there are some compelling reasons to follow it. Here are the top five:
1. Improved Digestion
At face value, the carnivore diet may appear terrible for your digestion. After all, we’ve been told that fiber is essential for digestive health, and the carnivore diet eliminates all fiber. Contrary to popular belief, though, fiber does not improve your digestion. It may help you go to the bathroom more frequently but can also cause bloating and stomach cramps.
A carnivore diet eliminates several trigger foods that can cause digestive issues, including grains, legumes, dairy, and certain vegetables. You will also be cutting out nutrients like lectins and phytates, which can irritate the gut lining. Instead, you will be filling up on animal-based proteins, which are far easier for the gut to digest than plant-based proteins.
The high levels of animal fats in the carnivore diet also stimulate the release of bile in the stomach. This improves the digestion of fat-soluble vitamins.
Improved Digestion
2. Helps Relieve Autoimmune Diseases
More than a hundred types of autoimmune disorders affect everything from the brain to the thyroid to the muscles. They are primarily caused by inflammatory foods that permeate the modern Western diet. These include soy, grains, and refined sugars. When you go on a carnivore diet, you cut these foods out, with immediate benefits to your autoimmune system.
The low carbohydrate intake on the carnivore diet also reduces inflammation levels, helping offset autoimmune problems. The nutrient density of the animal-based foods that are the focus of the carnivore diet also supports the immune system and improves autoimmune symptoms.
3. Improves Mental Health
The billions of neurotransmitters in our brains allow us to experience our memories, thoughts, and emotions. When they are out of balance, we can experience a wide range of issues, such as sadness and anxiety disorders. Eating meat frequently contributes to maintaining the equilibrium and health of your neurotransmitters, which elevates mood and enhances cognitive performance.
One study published in the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity found a correlation between eating meat less frequently than three times per week and a higher risk of mental health problems like anxiety and depression. [7]
Low-level meat eaters have been shown to produce lower levels of dopamine, the hormone that gives you a sensation of pleasure and well-being. Serotonin levels, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel calm and relaxed, are also reduced. Tyrosine and tryptophan, two amino acids abundant in meats, are used to make both hormones. According to a study in the Journal of Affective Disorders, meat eaters are 18% less likely to experience depression than vegetarians or vegans. [8]
4. Cardiovascular Health
Health organizations frequently advise people to decrease their meat intake to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. They draw attention to the fact that animal products generally include high levels of cholesterol and saturated fat, both of which have been linked to an increase in cardiovascular illness. According to conventional knowledge, eggs shouldn’t be consumed excessively because of their high cholesterol level. Similarly, excessive consumption of hamburgers and steaks has been advised against for the same reason.
Today, though, many medical professionals are changing their minds on this subject. We are discovering that meals high in cholesterol, such as eggs, red meat, and others, don’t necessarily lead to bad health. The real bad guys are trans fats, sugar, and carbs. The body needs cholesterol to function. It is a crucial part of cell membranes and is utilized to produce crucial compounds like hormones, fat-soluble vitamins, and bile acids that aid food digestion.
Additionally, considerably more cholesterol than you may consume through meat is naturally produced by the body. Therefore, eliminating foods high in cholesterol won’t significantly impact your blood cholesterol levels.
5. Weight Loss
Weight Loss
Weight management is among the most popular reasons for adopting a carnivore diet. It works for weight loss by limiting a person’s intake of carbohydrates, putting their body into ketosis, which is very similar to the ketogenic diet.
The body produces “ketones” while in ketosis, forcing it to use fat as fuel rather than glucose, which results in weight reduction. The carnivore diet is actually a stricter version of carb restriction than keto. It is more restrictive in terms of what foods are permitted. The carnivore diet involves consuming no carbohydrates, while the ketogenic diet permits a small amount.
Numerous studies have closely examined the effectiveness of the low-fat, restricted-calorie diet, the Mediterranean restricted-calorie diet, and the low-carb non-restricted-calorie diet. The outcomes were astounding. The low-carb non-restricted calorie diet produced the best benefits after two years in 95.4 percent of the study participants. [9]
Many theories exist as to why this is effective. According to one idea, meat tends to be more satiating, so even though you can consume more calories (non-restrictive), you inevitably eat less of it. In essence, you eat fewer calories because you feel full faster, which will help you manage your weight better.
Foods You Can Eat on the Carnivore Diet
Here are the foods you can eat on the meat-only diet:
Organ meats
Poultry
Fish
Meat
Eggs
Lard
Bone marrow
Butter
Salt and pepper
Milk
Yogurt
Cheese
Beverages You Can Drink on the Carnivore Diet
You must stick to the following liquids on the carnivore diet:
Water
Coffee (unsweetened and black)
Tea (unsweetened)
Foods That Are Not Allowed on the Carnivore Diet
Steer clear of these foods on a carnivore diet:
Vegetables
Fruit
Seeds
Nuts
Legumes
Bread
Pasta
Grains
Easing Into the Carnivore Diet
It is a good idea to transition gradually into the carnivore diet. A radical transition can be challenging, both nutritionally and psychologically. There is no need to give up all your favorite foods overnight.
Making one meal of the day a complete carnivore meal is an excellent place to start, and after you get used to it, you can move on to the next. Breakfast is one of the simplest meals to begin with. A quick and simple option would be some bacon or baked salmon. Replacing each element of a meal one at a time is an additional strategy for easing into the diet. For example, you can start by substituting more eggs for the toast in a meal of eggs, bacon, toast, cereal, and juice. The next day, you might have an extra slice of bacon in place of your cereal.
Then swap out the fruit the following day.
Nothing is wrong with completely giving up all non-meat foods, but just like quitting smoking, it is not something everyone can handle. Experiment to find a strategy that works best for you.
Sample Carnivore Diet Meal Plan
The following seven-day meal plan is designed for a person with a TDEE of 2,100 calories. To lose fat, reduce the daily calories by 210-315. To gain muscle, increase by the same amount.
Monday
Meal 1: 9 oz Ribeye Steak
Calories: 800
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 60g
Fat: 60g
Meal 2: Three Chicken Thighs
Calories: 600
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 50g
Fat: 45g
Meal 3: 9 oz Ground Beef
Calories: 700
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 60g
Fat: 50g
Total Daily Nutrition:
Calories: 2,100
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 170g
Fat: 155g
Tuesday
Meal 1: Bacon (2 rashers) and Eggs (3)
Calories: 600
Carbs: 1g
Protein: 20g
Fat: 55g
Meal 2: 9 oz Pork Chops
Calories: 700
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 55g
Fat: 50g
Meal 3: 9 oz Salmon Filet
Calories: 600
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 50g
Fat: 45g
Total Daily Nutrition:
Calories: 1,900
Carbs: 1g
Protein: 125g
Fat: 150g
Wednesday
Meal 1: 9 oz T-bone Steak
Calories: 900
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 70g
Fat: 70g
Meal 2: 9 oz Lamb Chops
Calories: 800
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 60g
Fat: 60g
Meal 3: 9 oz Shrimp
Calories: 400
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 80g
Fat: 8g
Total Daily Nutrition:
Calories: 2,100
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 210g
Fat: 138g
Thursday
Meal 1: 9 oz Beef Ribs
Calories: 900
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 60g
Fat: 70g
Meal 2: 9 oz Duck Breast
Calories: 600
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 45g
Fat: 45g
Meal 3: 9 oz Ground Turkey
Calories: 700
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 60g
Fat: 50g
Total Daily Nutrition:
Calories: 2,200
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 165g
Fat: 165g
Friday
Meal 1: 9 oz Sirloin Steak
Calories: 800
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 60g
Fat: 60g
Meal 2: Three Chicken Wings
Calories: 600
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 50g
Fat: 45g
Meal 3: 9 oz Bison Burger
Calories: 700
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 60g
Fat: 50g
Total Daily Nutrition:
Calories: 2,100
Carbs: 0
Protein: 170 g
Fat: 155 g
Saturday
Meal 1: 9 oz Ribeye Steak
Calories: 800
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 60g
Fat: 60g
Meal 2: 9 oz Ground Turkey
Calories: 700
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 60g
Fat: 50g
Meal 3: 9 oz Salmon Filet
Calories: 600
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 50g
Fat: 45g
Total Daily Nutrition:
Calories: 2,100
Carbs: 0
Protein: 170 g
Fat: 155 g
Sunday
Meal 1: 9 oz T-bone Steak
Calories: 900
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 70g
Fat: 70g
Meal 2: 9 oz Pork Chops
Calories: 700
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 55g
Fat: 50g
Meal 3: 9 oz Ground Beef
Calories: 700
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 60g
Fat: 50g
Total Daily Nutrition:
Calories: 2,300
Carbs: 0g
Protein: 185g
Fat: 170g
Carnivore Diet Calories and Macros
Regardless of what type of diet plan you are following, the basic principle of calorie equilibrium applies. If you eat more calories than your body burns off, you will gain weight; if you consume fewer calories, you will lose weight. To maintain weight, you should eat the same calories your body needs for daily energy.
The first step is determining how many calories your body needs daily. This is called your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). You can work out your TDEE with this online calculator.
My TDEE is 2,713. So, to maintain my current weight, I need to shoot for an average of 2,700 calories per day. I need to eat 10-15% fewer calories to lose weight. This will create a caloric deficit, forcing my body to turn to stored body fat to meet the extra energy demand. That means I should eat between 2,430-2,295 calories for weight loss.
Combine a 10-15% caloric surplus with strength training to gain lean muscle mass. For me, that would work out to be 2,970-3,105 calories per day.
When it comes to your macros, protein is the most important. That’s because your carbohydrate intake will be zero. Studies suggest that the ideal protein intake to maintain or build muscle is between .7 and 1 gram per pound of body weight. [10]
I weigh 200 pounds, so my daily protein intake should be between 150 and 200 grams. If my goal were to lose or maintain my weight, I’d keep it at the lower end of that range, and if I were in a bulking phase, I’d set my goal at around 200 grams of protein each day. The remainder of my daily calories will come from fats.
Addressing Potential Concerns and Criticisms
The idea of cutting fruits and vegetables from their diet is alarming to most people. So, let’s address some common concerns and criticisms surrounding the carnivore diet to see if we can set matters straight.
Increased Cholesterol Levels
There is no denying that meat has a high saturated fat and cholesterol content. This causes the liver to create more cholesterol than the body requires for normal function. For example, a 3-ounce serving of prime rib comprises roughly 75 milligrams of cholesterol and 14 grams of fat, six of which are just saturated fat. That’s more than the American Heart Association’s daily recommended cholesterol intake.
But is high cholesterol necessarily a bad thing? Recent research has been challenging long-held assumptions. In a 2017 meta-study that included 68,000 patients, academics and cardiologists from 17 nations examined 19 heart disease studies. They discovered no connection between high LDL cholesterol and heart disease; evidence suggests people with higher cholesterol levels lived longer. [11]
One of the authors of the study, cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra, commented: “The scientific evidence clearly reveals that we must stop fear-mongering when it comes to cholesterol and heart disease and focus instead on insulin resistance, the most important risk factor as a precursor to many chronic diseases.”
Insulin resistance is caused not by meat but by sugar and grains.
High Mercury Levels
There are some concerns about an unhealthy mercury intake resulting from eating a lot of fish on the carnivore diet. A healthy diet should include fish, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, high-quality protein, and other necessary nutrients. However, traces of mercury are present in practically every fish and shellfish. In general, eating fish does not provide a significant health risk for mercury poisoning. However, if consumed in large quantities, some fish and shellfish have greater mercury concentrations that could be harmful.
Avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish whenever possible. Instead, choose seafood that has been shown to contain the least mercury, such as shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.
High Nitrate Levels
Processed meats like bacon, ham, sausages, and hot dogs usually have added nitrates. They serve as preservatives, helping in the reduction of dangerous bacterial growth. However, there is some proof that nitrites can harm cells and change into cancer-causing chemicals. The simplest way to avoid this issue is to reduce your intake of foods like smoked bacon, sausages, cold cuts, salami, jerky, and hams. Replace them with fresh meat on the bone.
Carnivore Diet Supplements
A carnivore diet that includes dairy and eggs covers your nutritional needs well. However, you can plug a few potential gaps with supplementation. I recommend three supplements:
Magnesium
Magnesium, which is primarily sourced from vegetables, nuts, and legumes, is critical for many bodily functions. To ensure you’re getting an adequate magnesium supply on the carnivore diet, consider taking 450 mg of magnesium citrate daily.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is well known for its immunity-boosting properties. Because it is mainly found in citrus fruits, you will struggle to get enough of it on the carnivore diet. Therefore, we recommend supplementing with 500 mg of vitamin C daily.
Multivitamin
Taking a daily multivitamin is a smart insurance policy that will ensure that you’re getting adequate amounts of vitamins A, D, E, and K, all of which may be low when you’re only eating meat. Check that the multivitamin contains 100% of RDA’s essential vitamins and minerals.
FAQs
Is coffee allowed on a carnivore diet?
Technically. Coffee is not allowed on the carnivore diet. That’s because it is derived from plant-based products. However, many people on the carnivore diet make an exception in this case due to the proven health benefits that come with drinking coffee. Coffee is also low in carbohydrates and calories. Obviously, you cannot add sugar to your coffee on the carnivore diet. At the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference in terms of consuming coffee on the carnivore diet.
Do you have to eat organ meats on the carnivore diet?
No, eating organ meats is not mandatory on the carnivore diet. They are, however, encouraged due to their nutrient density and health benefits. Micronutrients are abundant in organ meats. They are especially plentiful in B vitamins, which promote energy. Including them in your diet will positively impact your overall health and give you more energy.
Organ meats also contain a lot of protein. Leucine, the most vital of the three branch-chain amino acids, is highly abundant in them. Leucine promotes protein synthesis, which is where muscle growth begins. The protein in organ meats is very bioavailable, meaning it will get into your muscle cells faster to promote protein synthesis.
Should I increase my electrolyte intake on the carnivore diet?
Yes, you should try to get extra electrolytes when on the carnivore diet. Electrolyte levels can run low on a low-carb diet like the carnivore diet. Low carbohydrate diets result in significantly less insulin release. Water leaves the body when insulin levels are low. You’ll lose electrolytes like magnesium, potassium, sodium, and water. This can leave you feeling lethargic.
I recommend salting your meats with Himalayan pink salt to prevent electrolyte loss while following the carnivore diet.
How strict should I be about cutting carbs when building muscle on a carnivore diet?
The keto diet is not the same as the carnivore diet. You will still be quite stringent about cutting carbs on a carnivore diet while trying to lose weight. However, you can relax some of your restrictions if you want to gain muscle bulk.
Carbs are necessary for muscular growth.
Your energy requirements on a carnivorous diet will be satisfied by fat. Your intake of carbohydrates will result in a favorable insulin response that will encourage protein synthesis. Additionally, it will improve your anabolic hormone response.
Eat a different amount of carbohydrates before and after working out. Consuming some carbohydrates before working out will also increase the intensity of your workouts. Consuming carbohydrates after exercise will refill glycogen reserves and hasten your recovery.
It will require some work to add extra carbohydrates to the carnivorous diet. Goat yogurt and honey are two carbohydrates that are suitable for carnivorous diets. Aim for about 100 grams of carbohydrates per day.
Conclusion
The carnivore diet isn’t for everybody. But the only way to know if it’s for you is to try it. The seven-day meal plan provided here gives you an excellent introduction to the diet. Simply repeat it for four weeks, then assess your results in terms of how you feel and how much you weigh. If you feel the need, reintroduce fruits and vegetables for a time before returning to a strict meat-only diet.
References
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7-Day Carb Cycling Meal Plan
Eating healthy and working out go hand in hand, or they should! What you eat can have a direct impact on your training results. A poor diet can undermine your progress and could even mean you make no progress at all.
Subsequently, most exercisers follow an eating plan designed to support their workouts, and that matches their training goal. Unfortunately, there are a lot of diets to choose from, and while some are safe, effective, and healthy, many others are not. Sadly, some people cannot tell the difference between the good and the bad and end up following unsuitable or unsustainable plans.
Carb cycling has proven popular with bodybuilders and is gaining traction within the general fitness community.
In this article, we discuss why and how to do carb cycling and provide you with a sample 7-day meal plan to try.
What is Carb Cycling?
Food can be divided into three macronutrient groups – protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Your body uses protein for muscle repair and growth, fat for slow-release energy and energy storage, and carbs for instant energy. All three macro groups are important, and diets that contain all three are generally the healthiest and easiest to stick to.
However, lower-carb diets can be effective for weight loss, and cutting carbs may increase fat burning.
Unfortunately, low-carb diets can be hard to stick to and often lead to hunger and cravings. In addition, cutting carbs can also hurt your workouts, reducing intensity and duration. That’s because carbs are converted to and stored as glycogen, which is your body’s preferred fuel source during intense exercise. Fewer carbs mean less glycogen, and less energy, too.
With carb cycling, you consume more carbs on training days and fewer carbs when you are less active. This ensures you have the fuel you need to power through your workouts but are less likely to store fat on rest days.
Carb cycling means you can enjoy many of the benefits of a low-carb diet while still providing your body with the fuel it needs for intense exercise.
Related: Can Carbohydrates Improve Athletic Performance?
Sample carb cycling/training plan:
Monday – intense strength training/high-carb diet
Tuesday – low-intensity cardio/low-carb diet
Wednesday – intense strength training/high-carb diet
Thursday – intense strength training/high-carb diet
Friday – low-intensity cardio/low-carb diet
Saturday – intense strength training/high-carb diet
Sunday – rest/low-carb diet
Carb Cycling Meal Plan Benefits
Not sure if carb cycling is for you? Consider these benefits and then decide!
Less hunger and fewer cravings compared to a standard low-carb diet
Low-carb diets invariably lead to low blood glucose, which can trigger hunger and cravings. While you may be able to ignore these sensations for a couple of days, eventually, they’ll wear away your willpower, and you’ll break your diet.
With carb cycling, a carb-rich meal is never more than a day or two away, so you should experience fewer cravings and less hunger, and you won’t need to rely on your willpower as much. This should make a carb cycling meal plan easier to stick to than a standard low-carb diet.
Glycogen replenishment for better workouts
High-carb diets are commonly associated with improved athletic performance (1). As mentioned above, your body converts carbs into glycogen, which is your body’s preferred source of fuel during high-intensity exercise. Intense training depletes your glycogen stores, and lost glycogen must be replaced before you can repeat a similarly demanding workout.
Standard low-carb diets do not replenish muscle glycogen, and, as a result, once your stores are depleted, you’ll find it hard to train very hard or for long. Your muscles will basically be running on empty.
However, with carb cycling, glycogen-depleting workouts are accompanied by plenty of dietary carbs, ensuring your glycogen stores are restocked regularly. This ensures that you always have the energy you need to work out.
Increased fat burning
Low-carb diets have long been associated with fat burning and weight loss (2). When you cut carbs from your diet, your body has no choice but to start burning fat for fuel. Also, consuming a lot of carbs, especially during periods of sedentarism, can cause fat storage and weight gain.
Carb cycling could help you lose fat faster by eliminating the competition for fuel and making fat your primary energy source on your low-carb days.
Variety
Following the same diet day after day can soon become boring. Carb cycling is essentially two diets combined (low-carb and high-carb), so you should find it more varied and interesting.
Depending on your carb cycling plan, you probably won’t eat the same way for more than two days in a row. This variety can make carb cycling more appealing than a standard low-carb diet, especially for long-term use.
Carb Cycling Meal Plan Drawbacks
While carb cycling is popular and works, there are also a few of drawbacks to consider:
Macro tracking can be time-consuming and inconvenient
Needless to say, if you are going to manipulate your carbohydrate intake from one day to the next, you’ll need to count and track your macros. After all, if you don’t know how many grams of carbs, protein, and fat you are consuming, you won’t be able to adjust your intake.
While macro tracking is not as challenging or time-consuming as it used to be, you’ll still need to use an app or website to record your food intake.
Macro tracking does get easier the longer you do it, but initially, it can be a hassle. Some people also find it stressful. However, macro tracking is part and parcel of the carb-cycling diet.
It can take some of the enjoyment out of eating
Any diet, even a flexible one like carb cycling, can take some of the enjoyment out of eating. Food should be one of life’s pleasures, but carb cycling means you’ll need to be much more aware of what you eat. You may even have to turn down certain foods as they may not fit your diet, e.g., a slice of a colleague’s birthday cake on a designated low-carb day.
Eating out can be difficult
The carb cycling diet is quite prescriptive, and on high and low-carb days, you’ll have both macro and calorie goals to hit. This can make eating out very challenging, if not impossible. While some eateries publish nutritional breakdowns for the meals on their menu, there is no guarantee they will match your needs.
In most cases, carb cycling means you’ll have to prepare all your own meals, and eating out will have to be limited to the occasional cheat meal.
If you change your workouts, you’ll need to change your eating plan, too
With carb cycling, your meals should match your workouts. You eat fewer carbs on the days you are less active and more on the days you train. So, if you change your training, e.g., skip a workout or do an extra session, you’ll also need to alter your diet.
Not suitable for everyone
While carb cycling has the potential to be a safe diet and is not as restrictive as many other eating plans, it is not suitable for everyone. People who should not try carb cycling include those with diabetes, anorexia or other eating disorders, or nutritional deficiencies. If in doubt, speak to your doctor before trying carb cycling.
Sample 7-Day Carb Cycling Meal Plan
Carb Meal Plan
You can enjoy many of the benefits of carb cycling simply by eating more carbs (grains, potatoes, rice, fruit, legumes, pasta, etc.) on training days and minimizing your intake of those foods on rest or active recovery days.
However, to help take the guesswork out of carb cycling, here is a sample meal plan to try.
Adjust portion sizes and your caloric and macro intakes based on your nutritional needs and exercise goals. Use this handy Carb Cycling Calculator to determine your requirements.
Day 1 – High Carb
Suggested workout: Lower body strength training
Breakfast
1 cup of oatmeal
2 slices of wholemeal toast
2-3 eggs, cooked to taste
1 cup of orange juice
Snack
1 cup of natural yogurt
1 banana
¼ cup of mixed chopped walnuts
Lunch
8 oz. grilled chicken breast
2 cups of pasta with tomato sauce
Large mixed side salad
Snack
Protein shake
½ cup of granola with 1% milk (or non-dairy alternative)
Dinner
8 oz. grilled steak
1 medium-sized baked potato
1 cup of green beans
1 cup of fresh fruit salad
Day 2 – High Carb
Suggested workout: Upper body strength training
Breakfast
2-3 scrambled eggs
2 slices of wholemeal toast with butter
1 cup of cereal with 1% milk (or non-dairy alternative)
Snack
1 tuna pouch in oil
4-6 wholegrain crackers
Lunch
1 large turkey sandwich
2-3 plain rice cakes
1 apple
Snack
4 oz. of beef jerky
1 banana
Dinner
1 cup of beef chili
1 cup of cooked brown rice
Large mixed side salad
Day 3 – Low Carb
Suggested workout: Low-intensity cardio or rest day
Breakfast
3-egg omelet
4 oz. of grilled bacon
¼ cup of grated cheese
Snack
½ cup of mixed nuts
Lunch
1 large tuna salad
½ cup of cooked quinoa
Snack
2 oz. of string cheese
1 salmon pouch in oil
Dinner
8 oz. grilled fish fillet
Mixed oven-roast vegetables
Sugar-free Jell-O with heavy cream
Day 4 – High Carb
Suggested workout: Lower body strength training
Breakfast
2-3 pancakes with maple syrup
1 banana
Protein shake
Snack
1 apple
2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter
Lunch
Large bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich
1 oz. potato chips
1 cup 1% milk (or non-dairy alternative)
Snack
1 cup of fruit-flavored yogurt
1 oz. of raisins
Dinner
1 homemade 6 oz. grilled hamburger/cheeseburger
3 oz. potato wedges
2 cups of broccoli
Day 5 – Low Carb
Suggested workout: Low-intensity cardio or rest day
Breakfast
2-3 eggs cooked to taste
½ avocado
2 oz. of ham
Snack
6-8 carrot sticks
2 oz. of hummus
Lunch
6 oz. grilled chicken breast
Large mixed Greek salad
Snack
1 low-carb protein bar
Dinner
8 oz. grilled salmon fillet
1 cup of green beans
2 cups of cauliflower
½ cup of corn kernels
Day 6 – High Carb
Suggested workout: Upper body strength training
Breakfast
2-3 waffles with maple syrup
4 oz. of grilled bacon
½ cup of blueberries
Snack
2-3 hardboiled eggs
1 banana
Lunch
2 cups of chicken and noodle soup
4-6 wholegrain crackers
1 apple
Snack
4 oz. of mini pretzels
2 oz. of low-fat cream cheese
Dinner
1 homemade pizza with protein and vegetable topping, e.g., tuna and peppers
Large side salad
Day 7 – Low Carb
Suggested workout: Rest day
Breakfast
2-3 eggs, scrambled
1 oz. of American cheese
2 oz. of grilled bacon
Snack
1 cup of cottage cheese
¼ cup of mixed nuts
Lunch
1 large low-carb roast beef and vegetable wrap
1 cup 1% milk (or non-dairy alternative)
Snack
Berry and protein powder smoothie
Dinner
Chicken stir-fry with mixed vegetables
Zucchini noodles
7-Day Carb Cycling – FAQs
Do you have a question about our carb cycling meal plan or this type of diet in general? No problem, because we’ve got the answers!
1. Is carb cycling the same as keto?
Carb cycling involves both high-carb and low-carb days. In contrast, the ketogenic diet or keto is low carb all the time. Not eating more than 50 grams of carbs per day puts you into a state of ketosis, where your body has to make and use ketones for energy.
As even small amounts of carbohydrates can disrupt ketosis, it’s safe to say that carb cycling is not a type of ketogenic diet, and carb cycling and keto are not the same.
2. Is carb cycling safe?
Providing you eat healthy, natural foods during your carb cycling diet, this eating plan should be safe for most people. However, if you eat a lot of junk food, even if it fits your macros, you could be deficient in vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which is not good for your health.
That said, if you have difficulty stabilizing your blood glucose, suffer from diabetes, or have a history of eating disorders, you should speak to your doctor before starting a carb-cycling diet.
3. Will I lose weight by carb cycling?
The main factor that will determine whether or not you lose weight is the number of calories you consume relative to your TDEE or total daily energy expenditure.
For example, if you need to eat 2,000 calories to maintain your weight but only consume 1,500, your body will burn fat to compensate for the energy shortfall. In contrast, if you eat 2,500 calories but only need 2,000, you’ll gain weight instead.
Carb cycling makes it a little easier to lose weight and avoid weight gain, but your caloric intake is the most crucial factor to consider.
Related: Bulking vs. Cutting: The Best Methods to Accelerate Gains!
4. Is carb cycling good for building muscle mass?
Carb cycling comes from the world of bodybuilding, so it’s safe to say it can help you build muscle when combined with an appropriate training plan. The high-carb days provide your muscles with the energy they need for training, while carb intakes are lower on rest days, which should help minimize fat gain.
Carb and calorie cycling feature heavily in many diets, including Lean Gains, which is one of the most popular body recomposition training and eating plans.
5. How many high and low-carb days should I have in my carb cycling meal plan?
High-carb days should coincide with your most intense workouts. So, if you hit the gym three days a week, you should have three high-carb eating days. The remaining four days, where your activity levels are lower, should be paired with low-carb days.
This means you must sync your workout program with your eating plan. Failure to do so, e.g., an intense workout on a low-carb day, could compromise your workout and results.
6. What should my calories and macros be on the high and low-carb days?
Your calories and macros depend on several factors, including your weight, activity levels, carb tolerance, and training goals. As such, we can’t tell you what your calories and macros be on the high and low-carb days.
However, if you check out this calculator and enter all the requested information, you’ll receive all the details you need regarding both calories and macros.
7. How long can I stay on the carb-cycling meal plan?
Theoretically, you can continue carb cycling for as long as you like. It’s less a diet and more a sustainable style of eating and training. That said, you should not follow our 7-day plan for more than a couple of weeks as you’ll probably get bored with our food recommendations.
Use our plan to get you started, but then, as you get a feel for the high and low-carb days, start creating your own meals. However, make sure you track your macros to ensure you’re hitting all your nutrient targets.
Closing Thoughts
In a world where crazy diets and bad nutritional advice are all too common, carb cycling is like a breath of fresh air. The concept is simple – eat more carbs on training days and less when you are not so active.
This creates the ideal nutritional environment for building muscle and losing fat.
However, while carb cycling is straightforward in theory, it may be somewhat more complicated in practice. You’ll need to get into the habit of measuring and tracking your food intake, changing your diet from one day to the next, and synching your meals to your workout. Some people will this difficult and even stressful.
As such, carb cycling is not for everyone.
But, if you want to gain muscle while losing or avoiding unnecessary fat gain, carb cycling could be the approach you’ve been looking for. Give it a try, and let us know how you get on!
References:
Henselmans M, Bjørnsen T, Hedderman R, Vårvik FT. The Effect of Carbohydrate Intake on Strength and Resistance Training Performance: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2022 Feb 18;14(4):856. doi: 10.3390/nu14040856. PMID: 35215506; PMCID: PMC8878406. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35215506/
Barber TM, Hanson P, Kabisch S, Pfeiffer AFH, Weickert MO. The Low-Carbohydrate Diet: Short-Term Metabolic Efficacy Versus Longer-Term Limitations. Nutrients. 2021 Apr 3;13(4):1187. doi: 10.3390/nu13041187. PMID: 33916669; PMCID: PMC8066770. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33916669/
A Comprehensive 5-Day Menopause Diet Plan to Ignite Healthy Weight Loss
Menopause commences when a woman goes 12 consecutive months without menstruating. Menopause represents the final stage in a woman’s reproductive journey, marking the conclusion of her fertility and the ability to conceive. This transitional phase affects each woman differently.
During menopause, the body undergoes several changes, such as weight gain, reduced muscle and bone mass, sagging of the breasts, thinning of the hair, dry skin, eyes, and mouth. Besides, menopausal women might suffer from psychological and emotional factors like irritability, tiredness, palpitations, sleeplessness, depression, anxiety, anger issues, stress, and nervousness.
During the menopause transition phase, the two primary female hormones, estrogen, and progesterone, gradually tend to decrease. A low level of estrogen results in a slower metabolism. When your metabolism is slow, burning calories becomes challenging, leading to reduced muscle mass and increased fat stores, eventually causing weight gain. [1][2]
Why is it Important to Eat a Healthy Diet During Menopause?
Eating healthy is essential during menopause for various reasons. It provides proper nutrients and helps you prevent hormonal imbalances. It also boosts your metabolism and prevents weight gain.
A nutritious diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, low-fat dairy, lean meat, and legumes helps prevent unnecessary calorie intake, manages appetite, and promotes satiety, thereby aiding in weight management.
A diet rich in fiber, prebiotics, and probiotics improves gut health, thereby alleviating digestive issues like indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, irritable bowel syndrome, etc.
Dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt, which are rich in vitamin D, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and vitamin K, are extremely helpful for bone health. Consuming these foods can help alleviate osteoporosis symptoms. [3]
Fish such as salmon, anchovies, and mackerel, and seeds like hemp, chia, and flaxseeds are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Consuming these foods may lessen the symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats that occur during menopause. It also improves heart health by managing cholesterol and triglyceride levels. [4]
If you are undergoing menopause, you must include more protein in your diet to increase your muscle mass and improve bone health. Studies recommend that women over 50 take 20 to 25 grams of protein daily. [5]
Healthy Foods to Eat
Consuming lesser calories than usual and changing your regular diet pattern can be beneficial to lose weight after menopause. A nutritious diet like the Mediterranean diet is optimal for women going through menopause [6][7]. A Mediterranean diet involves:
Different varieties of fruits and vegetables
Lean protein such as poultry without skin, Greek yogurt, lentils, tofu, low-fat dairy products, and white fishes like cod, bass, and haddock
Whole grains, such as millet, quinoa, barley, brown rice, bulgur wheat, etc.
Healthy fats like mackerel, tuna, sardine, herring, and salmon
Nuts and seeds, and olive oil
Foods to Avoid
For menopausal women, weight gain becomes a major concern due to unhealthy and unmindful eating habits. Hence, to avoid gaining those extra pounds, you must deliberately avoid certain foods filled with trans fat and high calories. A few examples of these foods include:
Fast foods
Oily foods
Excessively fried foods
Sugary foods like cookies, doughnuts, and cakes
Foods loaded with added sugar
Salty foods
Processed meats
Sweetened beverages
Alcohol
5-Day Menopause Diet Plan to Lose Weight
Following a diet plan with working out makes it easier to lose weight. The recommended and prohibited food items should be kept in mind while designing such a diet plan. You must adhere to what is advised and exclude unwarranted foods from your plan. Here is a sample five-day menopause diet plan for weight loss.
Day 1
Breakfast
Two portions of omelet containing egg white, onion, bell peppers, mushroom, and spinach, and a pair of apples.
Carbohydrate: 63 gm
Protein: 57 gm
Fat: 2 gm
Calories: 490 kcal
Lunch
One portion of grilled chicken breast, avocado salad, and one serving of carrot with hummus.
Carbohydrate: 33 gm
Protein: 41 gm
Fat: 32 gm
Calories: 575 kcal
Dinner
Two portions of zucchini pasta having lemon cream sauce with one serving of fried broccoli.
Carbohydrate: 41 gm
Protein: 20 gm
Fat: 50 gm
Calories: 633 kcal
Total Calories: 1,701
Day 2
Breakfast
One serving of egg white frittata and one serving of honey grapefruit with banana.
Carbohydrate: 44 gm
Protein: 24 gm
Fat: 23 gm
Calories: 456 kcal
Lunch
One serving of tuna-avocado sandwich with two servings of arugula salad.
Carbohydrate: 51 gm
Protein: 28 gm
Fat: 34 gm
Calories: 604 kcal
Dinner
8 oz of herb and lemon fish and two servings of Lebanese fresh thyme tomato salad.
Carbohydrate: 56 gm
Protein: 54 gm
Fat: 28 gm
Calories: 645 kcal
Total Calories: 1,705
Day 3
Breakfast
One serving of almond raspberry smoothie with four slices of cantaloupe.
Carbohydrate: 45 gm
Protein: 22 gm
Fat: 29 gm
Calories: 509 kcal
Lunch
One serving of chicken and avocado salad and one serving of kiwi berry smoothie.
Carbohydrate: 49 gm
Protein: 37 gm
Fat: 26 gm
Calories: 551 kcal
Dinner
One serving of baby kale and blackberry salad and one serving of zucchini spears.
Carbohydrate: 46 gm
Protein: 22 gm
Fat: 46 gm
Calories: 638 kcal
Total Calories: 1,699
Day 4
Breakfast
One serving of sticky bun chia seed pudding and one serving of papaya flaxseed shake.
Carbohydrate: 38 gm
Protein: 14 gm
Fat: 28 gm
Calories: 446 kcal
Lunch
One serving of tomato and cheese wrap and one serving of cauliflower and tahini.
Carbohydrate: 39 gm
Protein: 20 gm
Fat: 33 gm
Calories: 509 kcal
Dinner
One serving of green bean and kidney bean salad with two servings of cucumber avocado soup.
Carbohydrate: 57 gm
Protein: 54 gm
Fat: 35 gm
Calories: 739 kcal
Total Calories: 1,694
Day 5
Breakfast
One serving of paleo tomato and egg scramble and two servings of apple toast.
Carbohydrate: 47 gm
Protein: 30 gm
Fat: 31 gm
Calories: 575 kcal
Lunch
One serving of quick avocado tuna sandwich and one serving of strawberry and walnut spinach salad.
Carbohydrate: 48 gm
Protein: 44 gm
Fat: 25 gm
Calories: 565 kcal
Dinner
One serving of smoked salmon and broccoli soup and one serving of avocado, strawberry, spinach salad.
Carbohydrate: 48 gm
Protein: 23 gm
Fat: 34 gm
Calories: 556 kcal
Total Calories: 1,696
Tips to Lose Weight During Menopause
Here are some more tips that to lose weight during menopause:
1. Exercise
As you age, your muscle mass decreases while your body fat increases. Regular exercise is the best way to preserve your muscle tone and get rid of extra weight. As per research, aerobics helps reduce extra weight post-menopause [8][9]. It was also found that strength training can improve fat loss in women after menopause [10].
If you find exercising difficult, start with low to moderate activities to help you get used to being physically active and increase the intensity gradually. Some simple ways to get yourself active throughout the day include gardening, short walks, and taking stairs instead of the lift.
2. Prioritize Sleep
It is essential to sleep well to maintain a healthy weight. As per a study, lack of sleep may be associated with altered metabolism in women going through menopause [11]. Sleep deprivation may greatly impact your appetite and body weight.
3. Plan your Meal & Practice Mindful Eating
Planning your meals helps you understand your food’s nutritional quality. Meal planning can limit your unhealthy food consumption and allow you better control over your portion sizes.
Women undergoing menopause tend to eat unhealthily and mindlessly, which eventually results in weight gain. Hence, if you want to stay healthy, stock your pantry with nutritious foods. Avoid snacking on junk food and, instead, adopt mindful eating practices. Mindful eating allows you to recognize your body’s internal cues and needs rather than being influenced by external triggers that lead to unhealthy eating. Mindful eating can also keep you from binge eating and emotional eating episodes.
4. Stop Late Night Snacking
Late-night snacking and binging on unhealthy food can lead to weight gain. Keep healthy snacks handy for such late-night cravings. According to a study, maintaining food logs, regular weight measurements, and exercise can result in substantial weight loss [12].
5. Exercise Portion Control
Maintaining portion control is a valuable strategy for managing your weight, enabling you to carefully determine the right serving sizes to incorporate into your meals.
Sitting at a table instead of eating in front of the TV and measuring your snacks instead eating them directly from the packet can also help control your food intake.
6. Drink Enough Water
Drinking water is essential for general well-being. It is also important for women encountering menopause. Research indicates that drinking enough water helps lose weight because it suppresses appetite. It also helps lose fat deposits by inducing lipolysis, a process of breaking down stored fats. [13][14]
7. Manage Stress
Women often experience stress while undergoing menopause. According to research, stress is linked to weight gain due to increased appetite and slower metabolism [15]. Incorporating stress-busting techniques like meditation, yoga, Tai-chi, deep breathing, and aromatherapy may help alleviate symptoms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fastest way to lose weight during menopause?
Here are some tips that, when followed, can help you lose weight quickly during menopause:
Mindful eating
Regular exercise
Drinking enough water
Curbing your sweet tooth
Including enough fiber into your diet
Limiting your alcohol consumption
Portion control
Reducing your stress levels
Getting enough sleep
What foods should you eat during menopause to lose weight?
You should eat the following foods while wanting to lose weight during menopause.
Calcium and vitamin D-rich foods: Greek yogurt, low-fat milk, cheese, eggs, sardine, salmon, broccoli
Omega 3 fatty acids: Flax seeds, chia seeds, tuna, mackerel
Lean proteins: Poultry, lean beef, tuna, turkey, lentils, tofu, beans,
Green vegetables: Spinach, kale, bok choy, arugula, cabbage, watercress, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower
Whole grains: Millet, barley, quinoa, bulgur wheat, brown rice, red rice
Healthy fats: Avocado, sardine, mackerel, sardine, tuna, and salmon, different nuts and seeds, and olive oil
Phytoestrogen foods: barley, grapes, green tea, black tea, soybeans, peanuts, flax seeds, plums, berries.
What are four foods to manage menopause?
The four primary foods to manage menopausal symptoms are green vegetables and fruits, lean proteins, whole grains, and dairy products. Besides, food rich in phytoestrogen and healthy fats are also helpful.
Final Words
You should prioritize weight loss during menopause as it can lead to numerous health issues like heart disease, impaired metabolism, reduced bone density, etc. Losing weight during menopause may seem challenging, but a strong mindset can make it happen.
Eating nutritious food, exercising regularly, improving your sleep pattern, yoga, meditation, deep breathing techniques, and reducing stress levels can help promote overall health and well-being throughout menopause and beyond.
Note: The content on Fitness Volt is for informative purposes only. Do not take it as medical advice to diagnose, prevent, or treat health problems. If you’re suffering from a health issue, are pregnant, or are under 18 years old, you should consult your physician before starting any new supplement, nutrition, or fitness routine.
References
Changes in muscle mass and strength after menopause – PubMed. (2009, December 1). PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19949277/
Silva, T. R., Oppermann, K., Reis, F. M., & Spritzer, P. M. (2021, June 23). Nutrition in Menopausal Women: A Narrative Review. PubMed Central (PMC). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072149
Dairy products, yogurts, and bone health – PubMed. (2014, May 1). PubMed. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.113.073056
Flaxseed reduces total and LDL cholesterol concentrations in Native American postmenopausal women – PubMed. (2008, April 1). PubMed. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2007.0359
The role of dietary protein and vitamin D in maintaining musculoskeletal health in postmenopausal women: a consensus statement from the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO) – PubMed. (2014, September 1). PubMed. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2014.07.005
Adherence to Mediterranean dietary pattern and menopausal symptoms in relation to overweight/obesity in Spanish perimenopausal and postmenopausal women – PubMed. (2015, July 1). PubMed. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000000378
Systematic Review of the Mediterranean Diet for Long-Term Weight Loss – PubMed. (2016, April 1). PubMed. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.11.028
Mediterranean Diet Plan – Much, Inc., E. T. (n.d.). Eat This Much, your personal diet assistant. Eat This Much. https://www.eatthismuch.com/diet-plan/mediterranean/
Friedenreich, C. M., Neilson, H. K., O’Reilly, R., Duha, A., Yasui, Y., Morielli, A. R., Adams, S. C., & Courneya, K. S. (2015, September 1). Volume of Aerobic Exercise and Adiposity in Postmenopausal Women. Effects of a High Vs Moderate Volume of Aerobic Exercise on Adiposity Outcomes in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial | Breast Cancer | JAMA Oncology | JAMA Network. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.2239
Earnest, C. P., Johannsen, N. M., Swift, D. L., Lavie, C. J., Blair, S. N., & Church, T. S. (2013, April 8). Dose Effect of Cardiorespiratory Exercise on Metabolic Syndrome in Postmenopausal Women. PubMed Central (PMC). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard.2013.02.037
Conceição, M. S., Bonganha, V., Vechin, F. C., de Barros Berton, R. P., Lixandrão, M. E., Damas Nogueira, F. R., de Souza, G. V., Traina Chacon-Mikahil, M. P., & Libardi, C. A. (2013, September 16). Sixteen weeks of resistance training can decrease the risk of metabolic syndrome in healthy postmenopausal women. PubMed Central (PMC). https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S44245
Sleep, Health, and Metabolism in Midlife Women and Menopause: Food for Thought – PubMed. (2018, December 1). PubMed. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ogc.2018.07.008
Painter, S. L., Ahmed, R., Hill, J. O., Kushner, R. F., Lindquist, R., Brunning, S., & Margulies, A. (2017, May 12). What Matters in Weight Loss? An In-Depth Analysis of Self-Monitoring. PubMed Central (PMC). https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7457
Thornton, S. N. (2016, June 10). Increased Hydration Can Be Associated with Weight Loss. PubMed Central (PMC). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2016.00018
Effect of excessive water intake on body weight, body mass index, body fat, and appetite of overweight female participants – PubMed. (2014, July 1). PubMed. https://doi.org/10.4103/0976-9668.136180
van der Valk, E. S., Savas, M., & C. van Rossum, E. F. (2018, April 16). Stress and Obesity: Are There More Susceptible Individuals? PubMed Central (PMC). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-018-0306-y
The Ultimate Guide To Pegan Diet (Meal Plan Included)
Never heard of the pegan diet before? Don’t worry; you are not alone. The pegan diet combines key principles from paleo and vegan diets. Paleo + vegan = pegan. If you are a fan of Brangelina (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) and Bennifer (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez), you probably got this in the first go.
Mark Hyman, MD, first wrote about the pegan diet in 2014 and outlined the details of the new diet in his book ‘Food: What the Heck Should I Eat?’ published in 2018.
If you know a thing or two about paleo and vegan diets, you’d know they are very restrictive. The list of foods you cannot eat is always longer than the list of foods you can eat. When people realize that the pegan diet combines paleo and vegan diets, they instantly think it will be more restrictive than the two. However, this is not the case.
What are Paleo and Vegan Diets?
Pegan Diet
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the pegan diet, here is a brush-up on the paleo and vegan diets.
Paleo diets focus on types of foods presumed to be eaten by our ancestors and their ancestors. The paleo diet mainly consists of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit. In this diet, you avoid dairy or cereal products and processed food. Think of the paleo diet as going back to the basics and eating like a hunter-gatherer.
On a vegan diet, you must avoid meat, dairy, and all other animal products. This plant-based diet mainly includes eating vegetables, grains, nuts, and fruits. A vegan diet aims to improve your overall health while curbing animal exploitation.
What is a Pegan Diet?
Paleo and vegan diets are very restrictive. Furthermore, these can be contradicting; while one promotes eating meat, the other diet wants to end animal cruelty.
Now, you might think that a combination of paleo and vegan diets will be very restrictive. However, the pegan diet doesn’t blatantly combine the two diets but combines their best principles and has its unique set of guidelines.
According to Dr. Hyman, the pegan diet can help balance blood sugar levels, reduce inflammation, and promote overall health. Furthermore, the pegan diet is less restrictive than the paleo and vegan diets.
The pegan diet largely relies on vegetables and fruit to meet your daily caloric needs. Nonetheless, you can also eat lean, sustainably raised meats on this diet. You can also eat legumes to meet your daily nutrition needs.
On a pegan diet, 75% of your plate should consist of vegetables and fruits; the remaining 25% can be meats (preferably grass-fed, organic, or sustainably raised).
The pegan diet is gaining popularity among people who agree with the benefits of veggies and fruits in promoting overall health but also don’t want to give up high-protein food sources, such as meat, fish, and milk.
Unlike several short-term diets aimed at weight loss, the pegan diet promotes holistic health and well-being, and you can follow it indefinitely. This diet does not preach anything you cannot follow for the long term.
Notably, the pegan diet excludes dairy, grains, and beans from the grocery list. Although many nutrition experts appreciate this diet’s focus on nutrient-rich veggies, unprocessed, whole foods, and sustainably sourced meats, the three exclusions make it a no-go for many people.
Summary
The pegan diet is a hybrid of the paleo and vegan diet that promotes eating real, whole, sustainably raised fresh food. This diet aims to help dieters lose weight and boost longevity by reducing inflammation, boosting detoxification, improving gut microbiome, and controlling blood sugar and insulin levels.
Foods To Eat on the Pegan Diet
In contrast to many restrictive diets, the pegan diet doesn’t dictate how much you can eat in a day, nor does it provide a meal timetable. You are in total control of your meal sizes and timing on this diet.
The pegan diet favors foods with a low glycemic load, meaning you must eat foods that don’t spike your blood sugar levels. The glycaemic index (GI) ranks carb-containing foods. Focus on foods that have a GI value of 55 or less.
Although the pegan diet does not restrict sugar intake, you must considerably scale back on your sugar consumption, as it has minimal nutritional value but adds to your calorie bottom line. High-sugar foods can also cause blood sugar spikes, which is not ideal on the pegan diet.
A Brief on How To Design Your Diet
Most beginners feel like a deer caught in headlights when designing their diet. If you are one such individual, don’t worry — we have you covered. Here is an oversimplified step-by-step process of creating your diet:
Determine your daily calorie intake goal. Use this total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) calculator to get a suitable calorie target that fits your lifestyle.
Break the calorie target into a reasonable macronutrient split. Tip: Use a high-protein diet to build muscle while losing fat.
Divide the macro split into three to five daily meals that include nutrient-dense whole foods and fit the pegan diet principles.
If you are still having trouble figuring out where to start, I have a seven-day pegan diet plan for you later in this article.
Pegan Diet Foods
Here are the foods that should be a part of your pegan diet plan:
Vegetables and Fruits
Three-fourths of the calories in a pegan diet must come from veggies and fruits. Since this is the main food source, you should get comfortable cooking (and eating) vegetables. Some vegetables and fruits can have a significant amount of carbs. You must only choose foods with a low GI value. Dr. Hyman recommends berries and watermelons because of their low glycemic values.
Minimally Processed Fats
The pegan diet encourages eating a decent amount of healthy fats daily for optimal body functioning. Nuts and seeds are packed with high-quality fats and are rich in protein and fiber. If you’re not a fan of snacking on nuts and seeds, you can substitute them with nut butter. However, ensure that the nut butter does not have added sugar. Opt for organic products when possible.
Cold-pressed olive and avocado oil are another healthy fat source, as are coconuts and unrefined coconut oils. Omega-3s can also boost your overall health. You must avoid peanuts and processed seed oils.
Sustainably Raised Meats
Unlike the vegan diet that requires you to shun animal food sources, the pegan diet involves getting 25% of your daily calories through meat. Dr. Hyman recommends beef, chicken, lamb, and also ostrich or bison on the pegan diet. However, you must only eat sustainably and responsibly raised meats.
Think of meats as a side dish on the pegan diet. Furthermore, you must limit your meat intake to 4 to 6 ounces per meal. Avoid conventionally farmed meats and only opt for grass-fed, pasture-raised meat sources.
Eggs
Eggs are allowed on the pegan diet. This protein-rich food source is a breakfast staple in many pegan diet plans. It also has a high vitamin B12 content, ensuring pegans don’t run a B-complex deficiency.
Fish
Along with meats, fish intake is also allowed on the pegan diet plan. Dr. Hyman recommends sardines and wild salmon as these have low mercury content. Mercury is toxic, and exposure to it can lead to serious health problems.
Generally, larger and longer-lived fish contain the most mercury, including shark, swordfish, fresh tuna, marlin, and king mackerel. [1]
A Few Whole Grains and Legumes
Grains and legumes can cause a sharp rise in blood sugar levels and hence are not allowed on the pegan diet — a characteristic it shares with the paleo diet. However, a few gluten-free grains, such as quinoa, buckwheat, and black rice, are allowed on the pegan diet plan and offer several health benefits. [2]
A maximum of one cup of beans (or, preferably, lentils) is permitted daily on the pegan plan. On the other hand, you must limit your grain intake to 1/2 cup (125 grams) per meal.
Here are a few grains and legumes allowed on the pegan diet:
Grains: Black rice, quinoa, amaranth, millet, teff, oats
Legumes: Lentils, chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans
Summary
The pegan diet is more flexible than the paleo and vegan diets and comprises 75% fruits and vegetables and 25% meats, significantly expanding your food choices. You must follow a personalized pegan diet based on your calorie goals for the best results.
Foods To Avoid on the Pegan Diet
Most diets designed to help you control your blood sugar levels and lose weight involve food cuts; the pegan diet is no different. Here is the list of restricted foods on the pegan diet:
Dairy Products
Dairy products are a big no on the pegan diet. However, you can switch to dairy alternatives, such as nut milk or coconut yogurt. Ensure that you only get the unsweetened versions. Get in the habit of reading food labels and only pick the foods that meet your daily caloric and macronutrient requirements.
Furthermore, Dr. Hyman recommends goat or sheep dairy for folks that cannot give up cow products, as these are easier to digest than other forms. However, you might need some time to adjust to goat and sheep milk and cheese. [3]
Gluten
The pegan diet restricts gluten intake to limit its potential damage to your stomach. You must limit gluten intake on the pegan diet even if you are not gluten intolerant or have Celiac disease. Although this diet allows gluten-free whole grains, you must use them sparingly. You must get most of your carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables.
Legumes
Most legumes can spike your blood sugar levels and are not allowed on the pegan diet. However, you can eat the four legumes mentioned above in limited quantities occasionally to add variety to your meals.
Refined Oils and Additives
You must exclude refined or processed oils from your cooking, as these can lower good HDL cholesterol and raise insulin levels, triglycerides, and harmful LDL cholesterol. Keep your cupboard clear of canola, soybean, sunflower, and corn oil.
Furthermore, preservatives, artificial flavors, colors, and other additives are banned on the pegan diet, as these can spike blood sugar levels. Remember, the pegan meal plan is part paleo, meaning you must keep your meals as basic as possible.
Sugar
Although the pegan diet doesn’t ban sugar intake, you must restrict it as it can spike your blood sugar levels without adding to your macro or micronutrient bottom line. You can use its alternatives, such as stevia, to flavor your foods or beverages.
Summary
Sugar or sugary foods and beverages, flavorings, colors, refined oils, dairy products, gluten, and legumes are banned on the pegan diet. As a rule of thumb, if you are not sure if something is allowed on the pegan diet, chances are, it isn’t.
Now that you know about the food sources that you should include in a pegan diet plan, here is a list of food items to add to your cart in your next grocery shopping trip:
Vegetables:
Spinach
Mixed greens
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Brussels sprouts
Mushrooms
Bell peppers
Asparagus
Avocado
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumbers
Proteins:
Chicken breast
Salmon fillets
Shrimp
Tofu
Lentils
Fruits:
Mixed berries (such as blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries)
Oranges
Apples
Pears
Bananas
Grains and Legumes:
Quinoa
Brown rice
Chia seeds
Healthy Fats:
Almond butter
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Nuts and Seeds:
Almonds
Cashews
Other:
Almond milk (unsweetened)
Coconut aminos (a soy sauce alternative)
Balsamic vinegar
Herbs and spices (such as garlic, ginger, turmeric, basil, oregano, etc.)
Summary
The pegan diet mainly excludes foods that can spike your blood sugar levels or cause inflammation in your body. This diverse sample grocery shopping list will ensure you’re not bored with your diet plan.
Benefits of the Pegan Diet
Switching to the pegan diet entails the following benefits:
Can Lead To Weight Loss and Improve Heart Health
The pegan diet includes nutrition-dense whole foods and cuts out sugar-laden and processed foods, which can help you lose weight. A pegan diet will also keep you feeling full for longer, reducing your risk of binging on junk food.
Furthermore, pegan diet-approved foods are packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and unsaturated fats, which can improve your heart health.
Won’t Cause Blood Sugar Spikes
This diet revolves around eating low-GI foods, which helps avoid blood sugar spikes and can be incredibly useful for people with diabetes, pre-diabetes, and other insulin-related conditions. Low-GI foods can also help you lose weight and keep it off. [4]
Limits Inflammation
The pegan diet restricts gluten and legume intake and limits your meat consumption to 25% of your total daily calories, which can help lower your muscle, tendon, and ligament inflammation. Lower inflammation can help athletes recover faster between their workouts.
Improves Gut Health
Some non-starchy vegetables, like asparagus, are rich in prebiotics, which can improve your gut health. A healthy gut microbiome can help prevent chronic health conditions, such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.
Less Restrictive
The pegan diet is less restrictive than most other popular diets, including paleo and vegan. It allows you to include a variety of food sources in your diet, which keep your meals exciting and ensure you meet your daily macro and micronutrient needs.
Make Better Food Choices
Since the pegan diet restricts gluten, legumes, oils, preservatives, and flavorings, you must read nutrition labels before adding something to your cart. Being mindful of your dietary choices can improve your overall health and well-being.
Summary
A pegan diet plan can improve your heart and gut health, lower inflammation, and limit blood sugar level spikes. This diet is more accommodating than the vegan and paleo diets but is just as effective at weight loss. It will also make you more mindful of your food choices.
Drawbacks of the Pegan Diet
Here are the disadvantages of following the pegan diet:
Lack of Scientific Evidence
The pegan diet revolves around the idea that dairy, gluten, and legumes can cause inflammation and blood sugar spikes, and limiting these foods can fix these issues. However, there is conflicting evidence about these outcomes, which undermines some of the benefits of the pegan diet. [5]
Can Lead To Nutritional Deficiencies
Limiting dairy, gluten, and legume intake can lead to nutritional deficiencies if you don’t follow a balanced diet. Furthermore, sticking to this diet for an extended period can trigger eating disorders if taken to extremes or followed by people with existing health conditions.
Makes Eating Out Challenging
The pegan diet requires you to control your portion sizes (75% vegies and 25% meat) and avoid dairy, gluten, and legumes. However, sticking to these parameters can be challenging while eating out with friends or family.
Expensive & Lack of Accessibility
The pegan diet promotes eating organic foods and sustainably and ethically raised meats. These products are often more expensive than regular products and might not fit everyone’s budget. Further, everyone might not have access to organic vegetables, fruits, and grass-fed meats.
Remember, you must always follow a diet plan that you can stick to for the long term. Following a strict diet regimen for a short time might help you lose weight, but the weight will come back as soon as you return to your old ways.
Improving longevity, health, and overall wellness requires lifestyle changes. Playing the short-term game will only get you so far.
Summary
Like every other diet, the pegan diet has its fair share of cons. Following this diet for an extended period can lead to nutritional deficiencies in some cases. Plus, buying organic foods can burn a hole in your pocket and make dining out challenging.
Risks of the Pegan Diet
Since this diet program restricts dairy, legumes, and grains, many people are concerned that it can lead to nutrient deficiencies. For example, not drinking milk can lead to calcium, protein, potassium, and vitamin D deficiencies. On the other hand, shunning whole grains can cause fiber and essential vitamins, and mineral deficiencies.
That said, the pegan diet has no known or scientifically-proven health risks. Following a balanced diet program will ensure you don’t run into any nutrient deficiencies and hit all your health markers. You must also personalize your pegan diet plan to achieve your health goals.
Use meal-tracking apps, such as MyFitnessPal, to ensure you meet your macro and micronutrient needs. You could also use supplements to fill nutrition voids. Consult your healthcare provider before starting a diet program, especially if you are dealing with medical issues.
Summary
The biggest risk associated with the pegan diet is that it can lead to nutritional deficiencies. Consult a registered dietician or your healthcare provider before starting any new diet program to ensure safety. Use calorie-tracking apps to ensure you are hitting your macro and micronutrient goals.
7-Day Pegan Diet Meal Plan
Given below is a sample seven-day pegan diet plan. Feel free to change the foods in this diet to meet your dietary preferences.
Day 1
Meal 1: Breakfast
Scrambled tofu with vegetables
1 cup of mixed berries
Total: Calories: 370; carbs: 32g; protein: 21g; fats: 21g
Meal 2: Lunch
Mixed greens salad with grilled chicken breast, avocado, and olive oil dressing
1 small apple
Total: Calories: 480; carbs: 32g; protein: 30g; fats: 25g
Meal 3: Dinner
Baked salmon with roasted vegetables
1/2 cup quinoa
Total: Calories: 560; carbs: 35g; protein: 39g; fats: 27g
Day 2
Meal 1: Breakfast
Omelet with veggies
1 apple
Total: Calories: 360; carbs: 25g; protein: 21g; fats: 20g
Meal 2: Lunch
Lentil soup with mixed vegetables
1 small pear
Total: calories: 410; carbs: 75g; protein: 21g; fats: 2g
Meal 3: Dinner
Grilled chicken breast with steamed broccoli and cauliflower rice
1/2 medium-sized sweet potato
Total: Calories: 490; carbs: 31g; protein: 42g; fats: 15g
Day 3
Meal 1: Breakfast
Almond milk pudding
Berries
1 small banana
Total: Calories: 340; carbs: 43g; protein: 9g; fats: 15g
Meal 2: Lunch
1 serving of shrimps and mixed greens salad
1 small orange
Total: Calories: 430; carbs: 32g; protein: 30g; fats: 20g
Meal 3: Dinner
Stir-fried tofu with mixed vegetables in coconut aminos sauce
1/2 cup brown rice
Total: Calories: 460; carbs: 49g; protein: 17g; fats: 21g
Day 4
Meal 1: Breakfast
Almond butter and banana smoothie made with almond milk and spinach
1 small orange
Total: Calories: 360; carbs: 45g; protein: 11g; fats: 15g
Meal 2: Lunch
Grilled chicken salad with mixed greens, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and olive oil dressing
1 small pear
Total: Calories: 460; carbs: 25g; protein: 31g; fats: 25g
Meal 3: Dinner
Baked cod with roasted asparagus and quinoa
1/2 medium-sized sweet potato
Total: Calories: 490; carbs: 51g; protein: 37g; fats: 15g
Day 5
Meal 1: Breakfast
Quinoa porridge with almond milk, topped with mixed berries and chopped almonds
1 small banana
Total: Calories: 390; carbs: 63g; protein: 11g; fats: 8g
Meal 2: Lunch
Vegetable stir-fry with tofu, broccoli, bell peppers, and cashews
1 small apple
Total: Calories: 430; carbs: 42g; protein: 20g; fats: 15g
Meal 3: Dinner
Grilled salmon with steamed Brussels sprouts and cauliflower mash
1/2 cup quinoa
Total: Calories: 560; carbs: 35g; protein: 39g; fats: 27g
Day 6
Meal 1: Breakfast
Spinach and mushroom omelet cooked in coconut oil
1 cup of mixed berries
Total: Calories: 370; carbs: 27g; protein: 21g; fats: 21g
Meal 2: Lunch
Lentil soup with mixed vegetables
1 small orange
Total: Calories: 410; carbs: 75g; protein: 21g; fats: 2g
Meal 3: Dinner
Grilled chicken breast with roasted vegetables
1/2 cup brown rice
Total: Calories: 510; carbs: 34g; protein: 42g; fats: 16g
Day 7
Meal 1: Breakfast
Chia seed pudding made with almond milk and topped with mixed berries
1 small pear
Total: Calories: 310; carbs: 35g; protein: 9g; fats: 15g
Meal 2: Lunch
Mixed greens salad with grilled shrimp, avocado, and olive oil dressing
1 small apple
Total: Calories: 430; carbs: 32g; protein: 30g; fats: 20g
Meal 3: Dinner
Baked tofu with roasted Brussels sprouts and cauliflower rice
1/2 medium-sized sweet potato
Total: Calories: 440; carbs: 46g; protein: 17g; fats: 20g
Summary
The pegan diet relies mainly on vegetables to meet your daily caloric needs. Meats and fish are treated as sides in pegan meals and constitute much smaller portion sizes. Selected grains and legumes are allowed occasionally on a pegan diet.
FAQs
Can the pegan diet plan help me lose weight?
Weight loss ultimately boils down to calories in versus calories out. You must be in a calorie deficit to lose weight, meaning you need to burn more calories in a day than you consume. According to the CDC, sustaining a 500-calorie deficit for a week can help you shed one-pound weekly. [6]
Considering this, any diet, including pegan, can help you lose weight if you can maintain a calorie deficit for the required duration.
What are the prerequisites for starting a pegan diet?
The pegan diet is pretty straightforward and can be followed by healthy individuals without any specific requirements. You must, however, consult a registered nutritionist to ensure you meet your daily macro and micronutrient needs while following the pegan diet. Furthermore, people dealing with health issues should get a medical clearance before starting a new training or diet program.
How many meals a day can I eat on a pegan diet?
The pegan diet doesn’t concern itself with your calorie intake, meal frequency, or timing. It gives you a list of food sources you can and cannot eat. It is up to you to determine your daily caloric goal and break it down into a suitable macro split and meal frequency.
Ensure that your meal frequency fits your lifestyle. Folks that have never eaten more than three meals shouldn’t suddenly switch to a six-meal-a-day diet plan. Stick to a meal plan that you can follow for the long term.
How long should a pegan diet last?
Dr. Hyman designed the pegan diet to be followed for the long term. Ensure that you are meeting your daily macro and micronutrient needs, and you can follow this diet program indefinitely.
Can I meet my daily protein requirements for building muscle on the pegan diet plan?
Since the pegan diet limits your meat intake to 25% of your total daily calories and restricts dairy, many people show concerns about meeting their daily protein requirements for building muscle.
Although your meat intake is limited to one-fourth of your daily calorie intake, you can still easily get one gram of protein per pound of body weight on this diet, which is sufficient for building and maintaining muscle mass by eating lentils, chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, nuts and seeds, and goat and sheep dairy.
Note: The content on Fitness Volt is for informative purposes only. Do not take it as medical advice to diagnose, prevent, or treat health problems. If you’re suffering from a health issue, are pregnant, or are under 18 years old, you should consult your physician before starting any new supplement, nutrition, or fitness routine.
Wrapping Up
Starting a new diet plan can be intimidating. Furthermore, most diet plans are restrictive, which makes following them a hassle and a constant struggle. The pegan diet plan takes the best of the paleo and vegan diets and adds more unique characteristics to the mix to help you achieve better overall health.
This article covers the benefits and drawbacks of the pegan diet and gives you an exhaustive list of foods you can and cannot eat, making it easy to determine if this diet is right for you. I’ve also included a seven-day pegan diet plan to help you get started. Best of luck!
References
Storelli MM, Marcotrigiano GO. Fish for human consumption: risk of contamination by mercury. Food Addit Contam. 2000 Dec;17(12):1007-11. doi: 10.1080/02652030050207792. PMID: 11271834.
Della Pepa G, Vetrani C, Vitale M, Riccardi G. Wholegrain Intake and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: Evidence from Epidemiological and Intervention Studies. Nutrients. 2018; 10(9):1288. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10091288
Shrestha A, Samuelsson LM, Sharma P, Day L, Cameron-Smith D, Milan AM. Comparing Response of Sheep and Cow Milk on Acute Digestive Comfort and Lactose Malabsorption: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Female Dairy Avoiders. Front Nutr. 2021 Feb 15;8:603816. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.603816. PMID: 33659266; PMCID: PMC7917135.
Rizkalla SW, Bellisle F, Slama G. Health benefits of low glycaemic index foods, such as pulses, in diabetic patients and healthy individuals. Br J Nutr. 2002 Dec;88 Suppl 3:S255-62. doi: 10.1079/BJN2002715. PMID: 12498625.
Jones JM, Engleson J. Whole grains: benefits and challenges. Annu Rev Food Sci Technol. 2010;1:19-40. doi:10.1146/annurev.food.112408.132746
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Losing Weight. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html
7-Day High-Protein Diet Plan for Weight Loss
You probably know that protein is the go-to macronutrient for building muscle and getting strong. But did you know it is just as vital for anyone trying to strip body fat?
Protein is, in fact, the key to winning the weight loss war. In this article, we discover what lies behind protein’s fat-fighting power and find out how you can optimize your diet to benefit from this amazing macronutrient. We’ve also included a complete seven-day protein diet plan for weight loss.
Protein and Weight Loss
The word protein is derived from the Greek word proteios, meaning ‘most important.’ It is one of the three macronutrients, along with carbohydrates and fats.
There are three ways protein helps us lose body fat:
It helps us build lean muscle tissue. Once you remove the water, muscle tissue is almost exclusively made of protein.
Protein has a higher thermic effect than carbohydrates and fat. Around 25% of protein calories are used during digestion, compared to just 6-8% for carbs and 2-3% for fat.
Protein fills you up, which helps you go longer between meals without feeling hungry.
A large number of studies have shown that the combination of these three factors is effective for fat loss. People that eat more protein lose more fat, retain more muscle tissue, and are satiated for longer throughout the day.
In contrast, studies have shown that lower protein intake leads to overeating, fat gain, and muscle loss. Such results have led some researchers to propound the protein leverage hypothesis, stating that humans should prioritize protein consumption over other dietary components. We eat more food when we have less protein in our meals and vice-versa. [1]
The protein leverage hypothesis seems to gel with what we see in society. Researchers have been scratching their heads for decades at the statistics which show that the wealthiest people in society are also the leanest, while the poorest people are the fattest. Of the three macronutrients, protein is the most expensive. So, if all you eat is low-quality, mass-produced food, you’ll need a lot more to reach your daily protein target.
The bottom line is that you will get bigger and fatter if you eat cheap, low-protein foods.
Not All Proteins Are Created Equal
Protein is a lot like a train engine, with many cars adjoined to it. Each of those cars is an amino acid. You may know that 60% of your body is water. Well, the balance of 40% is mostly taken up with protein. That is because protein is the building mortar of every single part of us. Our skin, hair, toes, muscle cells, and organs are all made of protein.
Animal Protein Sources
There are twenty amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. Of these, nine are essential, meaning the human body cannot manufacture them, and they must come from the foods we eat. The nine essential amino acids are:
Phenylalanine
Valine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Methionine
Leucine
Isoleucine
Lysine
Histidine
When it comes to building muscle, leucine is the most important. Muscle is crucial to fat loss. That’s because muscle tissue takes five times more energy to maintain itself than fat tissue! So, every extra pound of muscle on your body will help you burn more calories throughout the day — even while sleeping.
As a result, a higher amount of muscle mass will give you a higher resting metabolic rate. You will also burn more calories during digestion.
Maximum protein synthesis happens when you have 1.5 grams of leucine in your muscle tissue. Leucine-rich foods include:
Chicken breast
Cottage cheese
Soybeans
Whey protein
How Much Protein Do You Need?
Researchers have tried to figure out the ideal protein intake in terms of protein leverage. They believe that 30% of total calories is about right.
In a meta-study, researchers examined 24 weight-loss studies that compared higher protein diets (25 to 35% of total calories) with standard protein calories (12 to 18%); study participants ate the same amount of fat and total calories. On average, individuals who ate more protein lost one pound more over various durations, from a month to a year. [2]
Now, you may think that one pound isn’t much. However, the subjects ate the same amount of food. Those eating more protein not only lost slightly more weight but also improved their body composition by gaining a small amount of muscle and eating more fat than those who ate less protein.
So, if you eat 2,000 calories daily, you must consume 750 protein calories daily. To find out how many grams that is, we need to divide that figure by four (because there are 4 calories in every gram of protein).
750 / 4 = 187.5 grams of protein
The most effective way to get this protein into your body is to spread it over the course of your day. Researchers have published several studies in which consuming six meals per day has proven more effective at weight loss than three larger meals. This generally works out to eating every three hours. In the case above, you consume 31.25 grams of protein at each of your six meals. [3]
As I mentioned at the start of this section, the most common belief about protein is that it builds muscle, which can improve your physique aesthetics and make you look like an athlete. But muscle also helps you stay lean by increasing your metabolic rate, enabling you to burn more calories throughout the day.
So, with every added gram of muscle tissue to your body, you transform your system into a fat-churning machine.
Protein for Weight Loss — The Research
Let’s look at some exciting research that has ramped up protein’s fat loss profile in recent years.
A 2014 study investigated the effects of protein intake on between-meal snacking and resultant weight loss. A group that was given dairy protein every four hours was compared to a control group that only ate protein once per day but was also fed every four hours. Not only did the protein group resist the urge to graze between meals, but their average weight loss after 28 days was also 17% greater than the control group. [4]
A 2011 study of overweight and obese men revealed that increasing your protein intake while reducing carbs at every meal resulted in greater body fat loss than only eating protein in the evening. [5]
In 2011, a study was undertaken that showed that eating an ample amount of protein for breakfast significantly reduced food cravings throughout the remainder of the day. The test subjects were teenagers who usually skipped breakfast. They were exposed to visual food responses after being given a normal versus a high-protein breakfast. Those given the high-protein breakfast exhibited significantly greater neural resistance to the temptations. [6]
Many studies have shown that eating protein throughout the day preserves lean muscle mass when a person is losing body fat. This was recently seen in a 2008 study published in the “Journal of the American Dietetic Association.” [7]
A 2002 study specifically showed that eating more protein leads to an increase in fat loss. [8]
Another major advantage of protein? Unlike carbohydrates or fats, eating more protein does not affect your insulin levels!
Several diets promise rapid weight loss. That is never what you want. You should only ever be interested in body fat loss. Why? Because weight loss usually means getting rid of a tiny bit of fat and a whole lot of muscle.
Your 7-Day High-Protein Meal Plan For Weight Loss
Your protein fat loss plan has three aspects:
Eating a quality protein source at every meal.
Eat five times daily (three meals and two snacks).
Your portions will be based on your hand size as follows:
Main meal: The size of your whole hand
Snack meal: The size of two thumbs
Day One
Breakfast:
1 whole hand-sized portion of scrambled eggs (2-3 eggs)
1 slice of whole-grain toast
1 small avocado
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 25 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portions of Greek yogurt (plain, unsweetened)
1 small handful of almonds
Calorie count: 200-250 calories
Total protein: 23 grams
Lunch:
1 whole hand-sized portion of grilled chicken breast
1 cup of mixed green salad (with vegetables of your choice)
1 tablespoon of olive oil and vinegar dressing
Calorie count: 350-400 calories
Total protein: 28 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portion of cottage cheese
1 small apple
Calorie count: 150-200 calories
Total protein: 22 grams
Dinner:
1 whole hand-sized portion of baked salmon
1 cup of steamed broccoli
1/2 cup of quinoa
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 23 grams
Day Two
Breakfast:
1 whole hand-sized portion of omelet made with 3 eggs, spinach, and feta cheese
1 slice of whole-grain toast
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 23 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portions of almond butter
1 small banana
Calorie count: 200-250 calories
Total protein: 25 grams
Lunch:
1 whole hand-sized portion of grilled chicken breast
1 cup of quinoa
1 cup of roasted vegetables (such as broccoli, bell peppers, and zucchini)
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 33 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portion of hummus
A handful of baby carrots
Calorie count: 150-200 calories
Total protein: 26 grams
Dinner:
1 whole hand-sized portion of lean beef steak
1 cup of sweet potato fries (baked)
1 cup of steamed asparagus
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 31 grams
Day Three
Breakfast:
1 whole hand-sized portion of Greek yogurt (plain, unsweetened)
1/2 cup of mixed berries
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
Calorie count: 300-350 calories
Total protein: 23 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portions of cashews
1 small orange
Calorie count: 200-250 calories
Total protein: 22 grams
Lunch:
1 whole hand-sized portion of grilled shrimp
1 cup of quinoa
1 cup of mixed green salad with cherry tomatoes and cucumber
Calorie count: 350-400 calories
Total protein: 27 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portions of turkey jerky
1 small pear
Calorie count: 150-200 calories
Total protein: 23 grams
Dinner:
1 whole hand-sized portion of baked cod
1/2 cup of brown rice
1 cup of stir-fried mixed vegetables (broccoli, snap peas, bell peppers)
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 33 grams
Day Four
Breakfast:
1 whole hand-sized portion of smoked salmon
1 whole-grain bagel
2 tablespoons of cream cheese
Sliced tomatoes and red onions
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 27 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portions of mixed nuts
1 small orange
Calorie count: 200-250 calories
Total protein: 23 grams
Lunch:
1 whole hand-sized portion of grilled tofu
1 cup of quinoa
1 cup of stir-fried vegetables (broccoli, bell peppers, carrots)
Calorie count: 350-400 calories
Total protein: 28 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portions of edamame
1 small apple
Calorie count: 150-200 calories
Total protein: 23 grams
Dinner:
1 whole hand-sized portion of roasted chicken breast
1/2 cup of whole-wheat pasta
1 cup of roasted Brussels sprouts
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 35 grams
Day Five
Breakfast:
1 whole hand-sized portion of egg white omelet with spinach, mushrooms, and low-fat feta cheese
1 slice of whole-grain toast
Calorie count: 300-350 calories
Total protein: 23 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portion of sunflower seeds
1 small banana
Calorie count: 200-250 calories
Total protein: 22 grams
Lunch:
1 whole hand-sized portion of grilled lean pork tenderloin
1/2 cup of quinoa
1 cup of mixed green salad with cherry tomatoes and cucumber
Calorie count: 350-400 calories
Total protein: 28 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portions of sliced turkey breast
1 small pear
Calorie count: 150-200 calories
Total protein: 23 grams
Dinner:
1 whole hand-sized portion of baked halibut
1/2 cup of wild rice
1 cup of steamed asparagus
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 35 grams
Day Six
Breakfast:
1 whole hand-sized portion of cottage cheese
1/2 cup of sliced strawberries
1 tablespoon of honey
Calorie count: 300-350 calories
Total protein: 23 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portions of almonds
1 small orange
Calorie count: 200-250 calories
Total protein: 21 grams
Lunch:
1 whole hand-sized portion of grilled salmon
1 cup of quinoa
1 cup of roasted vegetables (such as broccoli, bell peppers, and carrots)
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 27 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portions of guacamole
A handful of baby carrots
Calorie count: 150-200 calories
Total protein: 27 grams
Dinner:
1 whole hand-sized portion of lean ground turkey
Lettuce wraps with turkey, topped with diced tomatoes, onions, and avocado
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 33 grams
Day Seven
Breakfast:
1 whole hand-sized portion of spinach and mushroom omelet (made with 3 egg whites and 1 whole egg)
1 slice of whole-grain toast
Calorie count: 300-350 calories
Total protein: 23 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portions of trail mix (almonds, cashews, dried cranberries)
1 small banana
Calorie count: 200-250 calories
Total protein: 27 grams
Lunch:
1 whole hand-sized portion of grilled shrimp
1/2 cup of quinoa
1 cup of mixed green salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and feta cheese
Calorie count: 350-400 calories
Total protein: 26 grams
Snack:
2 thumbs-sized portions of hummus
A handful of baby carrots and sliced bell peppers
Calorie count: 150-200 calories
Total protein: 24 grams
Dinner:
1 whole hand-sized portion of baked chicken breast
1 small baked sweet potato
1 cup of roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic glaze
Calorie count: 400-450 calories
Total protein: 35 grams
Wrap Up
This seven-day high-protein weight loss diet plan can be a template for your long-term nutritional plan. Feel free to switch foods in this diet with your favorite protein sources and recipes. Just make sure to maintain similar calorie and protein counts in each meal.
Combine this diet plan with cardio and strength training to burn more calories, speed up your metabolism, and build lean muscle tissue. Do these things consistently, and you will be well on your way to achieving your weight loss goals.
References
Saner C, Senior AM, Zhang H, Eloranta AM, Magnussen CG, Sabin MA, Juonala M, Janner M, Burgner DP, Schwab U, Haapala EA, Heitmann BL, Simpson SJ, Raubenheimer D, Lakka TA. Evidence for protein leverage in a general population sample of children and adolescents. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2023 Jun;77(6):652-659. doi: 10.1038/s41430-023-01276-w. Epub 2023 Feb 16. PMID: 36797489; PMCID: PMC10247372.
Moon J, Koh G. Clinical Evidence and Mechanisms of High-Protein Diet-Induced Weight Loss. J Obes Metab Syndr. 2020 Sep 30;29(3):166-173. doi: 10.7570/jomes20028. PMID: 32699189; PMCID: PMC7539343.
Yasuda J, Tomita T, Arimitsu T, Fujita S. Evenly Distributed Protein Intake over 3 Meals Augments Resistance Exercise-Induced Muscle Hypertrophy in Healthy Young Men. J Nutr. 2020 Jul 1;150(7):1845-1851. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxaa101. PMID: 32321161; PMCID: PMC7330467.
Paddon-Jones, D., and Leidy, H. 2014. Dietary protein and muscle in older persons. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care 17(1): 5–11.
Leidy et al. 2011. The effects of consuming frequent, higher-protein meals on appetite and satiety during weight loss in overweight/obese men. Obesity (Silver Spring) 19(4): 818–24.”
Leidy et al. 2011. Neural responses to visual food stimuli after a normal vs higher protein breakfast in breakfast-skipping teens: A pilot fMRI study. Obesity (Silver Spring) 19(10): 2019–25.
Bopp et al. 2008. Lean mass loss is associated with low protein intake during dietary-induced weight loss in postmenopausal women. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 108(7): 1216–20.
Parker et al. 2002. Effect of a high-protein, high–monounsaturated fat weight-loss diet on glycemic control and lipid levels in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 25(3): 425–30.
What Is the Mediterranean Diet?
The diet industry has a problem – many of their eating plans are impossible to maintain for more than a few weeks. They’re too restrictive, unpleasant, costly, or complicated for long-term use.
As such, even if they work, most people quit them long before reaching their target weight or body fat percentage, regaining whatever weight they’ve lost soon after. This gives rise to the term yo-yo dieting, where your weight goes down but soon comes back up again.
Switching diets won’t help, as while the “flavor” may change, most share the same faults. Feelings of hunger and deprivation mean that no diet works for long. Some people become serial dieters, hopping from one restrictive plan to another, doomed to fail over and over again.
Dieters are often blamed for their inability to lose weight, with lack of willpower being the most common accusation. However, when a diet is so bad that you hate every (tiny, bland) meal you eat, only a sadist would stick with it for more than a few days! After all, food should be one of life’s pleasures, not a source of stress and unhappiness.
In most cases, it’s the diet and not the dieter that’s the problem.
The good news is there is a diet that’s much easier to stick to. It’s not as radical as keto or restrictive as intermittent fasting, but that’s what makes it different – and better.
So, in this article, we take a look at the Mediterranean diet. It could be the last eating plan you ever need!
What is the Mediterranean Diet?
The Mediterranean diet is based on the foods traditionally eaten in the countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, including Portugal, coastal France, southern Spain, southern Italy, Crete, and much of Greece.
The populations in these countries have lower incidences of heart disease and other common illnesses and diseases, and the Mediterranean diet is often promoted as one of the best in the world. People who eat a Mediterranean diet generally live longer and are healthier than people who eat a standard American or Western diet (1).
While there is no set Mediterranean diet menu to follow, it typically promotes the consumption of:
Fruits
Vegetables
Whole grains
Legumes
Nuts and seeds
Unprocessed dairy
Lean proteins, especially fish and chicken
Heart-healthy fats and oils
Herbs and spices
In contrast, foods that should be eaten rarely or in small amounts include:
Processed foods
Refined grains, e.g., white bread, white pasta, white rice, etc.
Red meat
Added sugars
Alcohol
There is also an emphasis on preparing food yourself, using fresh seasonal ingredients, and eating mindfully rather than rushing your meals or eating on the go. Like life in a Mediterranean country, this is a lifestyle and not just another restrictive diet.
The Potential Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet
Changing your eating takes time, energy, and effort, so you’ll want to know the benefits before you start; is the Mediterranean diet worth following?
Here are the main potential benefits of the Mediterranean diet:
Protection against heart disease
Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in developed countries. It is characterized by the narrowing of cardiac arteries and poor blood supply to the heart. Linked to diet and lifestyle factors, heart disease can cause heart attacks, strokes, hypertension, and premature death.
The grains, vegetables, and healthy oils in the Mediterranean diet are believed to offer a lot of protection against heart disease and other conditions of the circulatory system (2). Olive oil, a Mediterranean diet staple, is considered to be especially heart-healthy.
Reduced risk of diabetes
Diabetes is a disease where the body cannot metabolize carbohydrates and sugar properly. This causes a rise in blood glucose levels which can cause damage to almost everywhere blood flows, including the heart, kidneys, extremities, eyes, and sensory nerves. People with diabetes risk dying prematurely, even if the condition is well managed.
There are two types of diabetes – type one and type two. Type one diabetes is an idiopathic autoimmune disease of the pancreas that causes too little insulin to be produced. It is often inherited but can develop when type two diabetes is mismanaged.
In contrast, type two diabetes is usually caused by a poor diet and sedentary lifestyle. In type two diabetes, the cells become insulin resistant, so blood glucose levels remain dangerously high.
While type one diabetes is currently incurable, the low-sugar Mediterranean diet will make it easier to manage. It could also help prevent type two diabetes from developing (3).
Reduced risk of cancer
Cancer incidence is statistically lower in people living within the Mediterranean region. The rate of cancer survival is also significantly higher. Studies have shown a strong link between the Mediterranean diet and a lower risk of death from many types of cancer (4).
Protection against cognitive decline
Age-related cognitive decline is a growing problem, and rates of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are on the rise. Symptoms are developing earlier and are becoming more severe in many countries.
That said, the Mediterranean diet looks promising for minimizing and even preventing age-related cognitive decline and is as brain-friendly as it is heart-friendly (5). This is due to the high nutrient value of the core foods plus the anti-inflammatory effect of ingredients such as olive oil.
Weight loss and weight control
While any diet that creates a caloric deficit will result in weight loss, studies suggest that the Mediterranean diet could be one of the best long-term weight management diets around (6). This is because it’s not overly restrictive, meals are filling and tasty, and many of the foods are low in calories.
In short, the Mediterranean diet takes the pain out of dieting, and you’re more likely to want to follow it and stick to it for extended periods.
A longer life
With all its known health benefits, it should be no surprise that the Mediterranean diet could help you live longer (7). Numerous studies have shown that people in rural Mediterranean countries live longer, healthier lives than their American counterparts.
Of course, other factors also influence longevity, such as exercise, medical history, health care, stress, etc., but it seems that if you want to live a long, healthy life, the Mediterranean diet could help. The Mediterranean region contains several so-called “Blue Zones,” where people have the longest lifespans, including Sardinia in Italy and Ikaria in Greece.
How to Follow the Mediterranean Diet
There is no set plan to follow for the Mediterranean diet, but this table offers some guidelines:
1
Eat more:
Vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, potatoes, whole grains, herbs, spices, fish, seafood, and extra virgin olive oil
2
Consume in moderation:
Poultry, eggs, cheese, yogurt, red wine*
3
Eat less or avoid:
Red meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, added sugars, processed meat, refined grains, other highly processed foods, beers, and liquors
* Drinking red wine is optional, and you don’t have to start drinking it if you don’t want to.
Base your meals on the following foods and ingredients, adjusting portion sizes as required:
Dairy: cheese, yogurt, milk
Eggs: chicken, quail, and duck eggs
Fish and seafood: salmon, sardines, trout, tuna, mackerel, shrimp, oysters, clams, crab, mussels
Fruits: apples, bananas, oranges, pears, strawberries, grapes, dates, figs, melons, peaches
Healthy fats: extra virgin olive oil, olives, avocados, and avocado oil
Herbs and spices: garlic, basil, mint, rosemary, sage, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper
Legumes: beans, peas, lentils, pulses, peanuts, chickpeas
Nuts, seeds, and nut butters: almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almond butter, peanut butter
Poultry: chicken, duck, turkey
Vegetables: tomatoes, broccoli, kale, spinach, onions, cauliflower, carrots, Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips
Whole grains: oats, brown rice, rye, barley, corn, buckwheat, whole wheat bread, and pasta
Meanwhile, you should avoid the following while on the Mediterranean diet:
Added sugar: added sugar, candies, ice cream, table sugar, syrup, and baked goods
Highly processed foods: fast food, convenience meals, microwave popcorn, granola bars
Processed meat: processed sausages, hot dogs, deli meats, beef jerky
Refined grains: white bread, pasta, tortillas, chips, crackers
Trans fats: found in margarine, fried foods, and other processed foods
Drinks to include:
Water
Coffee and tea, but with limited sugar or cream
Small to moderate amounts of red wine, and only to complement a meal
Fresh fruit juices without added sugar
Drinks to limit or avoid:
Beer and hard liquor
Sugar-sweetened beverages, such as sodas, which contain a lot of added sugar
Fruit juices with added sugar
High-sugar coffee or tea-based drinks
Armed with all this information, you should have no problem creating delicious, nutritious, healthy Mediterranean meals. But, to get you started and maybe give you some ideas and inspiration, here is a sample one-day menu. Adjust the portion sizes to meet your nutritional needs.
Breakfast: Natural Greek yogurt and diced fresh strawberries, topped with chopped walnuts and raw honey.
Lunch: Wholegrain tuna sandwich with hummus and raw vegetables, e.g., carrot sticks, cucumber, sliced tomato, etc.
Dinner: Grilled chicken breast with a large green salad, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mixed seeds, and wholegrain pitta bread.
Snacks: Fresh fruit, e.g., apples and bananas, tuna or salmon pouches, raw nuts, peanut butter and celery sticks, or mixed raw nuts and seeds.
Mediterranean Diet FAQs
Do you have a question about the Mediterranean diet or healthy eating in general? No problem, because we’ve got all the answers!
1. Is the Mediterranean diet a weight loss diet?
The Mediterranean diet is not specifically a weight loss diet. Instead, it’s more of a healthy way of eating. That said, you can use it for weight loss, and it’ll probably be very effective for this purpose.
To lose weight with the Mediterranean diet, you must ensure you have a calorie deficit and combine your diet with some regular workouts to speed up fat loss. Most people will lose 1-2 pounds a week with a 500-1000 calorie daily deficit.
The foods in the Mediterranean diet tend to be tasty, nutritious, and filling, so the eating plan lends itself well to weight loss.
2. Does the Mediterranean diet contain enough protein to support muscle building?
While protein is NOT a staple of the Mediterranean diet, that doesn’t mean you can’t get enough to support muscle building. It’s generally accepted that most exercisers need about 0.7 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Consuming more fish, chicken, eggs, nuts, beans, and dairy will ensure you get enough of what you need.
Tip: Determine your protein requirements with this easy-to-use calculator.
3. How long does the Mediterranean diet supposed to last?
Unlike many diets, which are designed for a week or a month, the Mediterranean diet can be used for as long as you want – even forever. After all, entire populations follow variations of the Mediterranean diet every day of their lives. To them, it’s just food!
So, don’t think of the Mediterranean diet as a short-term health fix or weight loss plan. Instead, adopt it as your new way of eating for the foreseeable future. The longer you stay on the Mediterranean diet, the more significant its effects will be.
4. Am I allowed cheat days on the Mediterranean diet?
The Mediterranean diet is not overly structured or restrictive. It’s more like a list of sensible and sustainable nutritional principles and guidelines, so no food is actually banned. Instead, just build most of your meals around the nutritious foods available in the Mediterranean region.
Does that mean you can’t have the occasional cheat meal or sweet dessert? Of course not!
However, if you want to be healthy and maintain or lose weight, you should keep your cheats to a minimum, eating healthily 90% of the time.
So, assuming you eat 28 meals and snacks a week (three meals and one snack per day), you can safely allow yourself 2-3 modest-size cheats without derailing your diet.
5. Is there a workout to go with the Mediterranean diet?
While there is no official Mediterranean workout, one of the countries in the Mediterranean region, Greece, gave us calisthenics. So, while any workout will multiply the effects of the Mediterranean diet, bodyweight training could be the most authentic workout to combine with this healthy eating plan.
People in the rural Mediterranean region also walk a lot, so clocking up 10,000 steps or more per day will also be beneficial.
Related: How to Walk For Fitness and Fat Loss
Mediterranean Diet – Closing Thoughts
There is no single, official Mediterranean diet. Instead, it’s a set of general nutritional guidelines based on how people living in the Mediterranean region eat. High in seasonal vegetables and fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats and oils, it’s one of the most heart-friendly diets in the world and is strongly linked to increased longevity.
The Mediterranean diet is not prescriptive or restrictive, and the foods are filling and nutritious. Eating like a Mediterranean resident probably won’t feel like a diet at all!
That said, if you want to lose weight with the Mediterranean diet, you’ll still need to control your portion sizes and watch your calorie intake. A calorie deficit is a must for any successful weight loss plan. However, Mediterranean diet meals tend to be satisfying and filling, so hunger shouldn’t be such a problem.
So, if you want to eat for better health and weight loss and don’t want an eating plan you’ll probably quit in a week, give the Mediterranean diet a try. Unlike almost every other diet, it’s designed for long-term use.
References:
Lăcătușu CM, Grigorescu ED, Floria M, Onofriescu A, Mihai BM. The Mediterranean Diet: From an Environment-Driven Food Culture to an Emerging Medical Prescription. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Mar 15;16(6):942. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16060942. PMID: 30875998; PMCID: PMC6466433. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6466433/
Huedo-Medina TB, Garcia M, Bihuniak JD, Kenny A, Kerstetter J. Methodologic quality of meta-analyses and systematic reviews on the Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular disease outcomes: a review. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Mar;103(3):841-50. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.115.112771. Epub 2016 Feb 10. PMID: 26864357. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26864357/
Dinu M, Pagliai G, Casini A, Sofi F. Mediterranean diet and multiple health outcomes: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studies and randomized trials. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2018 Jan;72(1):30-43. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2017.58. Epub 2017 May 10. PMID: 28488692. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28488692/
Morze J, Danielewicz A, Przybyłowicz K, Zeng H, Hoffmann G, Schwingshackl L. An updated systematic review and meta-analysis on adherence to Mediterranean diet and risk of cancer. Eur J Nutr. 2021 Apr;60(3):1561-1586. doi: 10.1007/s00394-020-02346-6. Epub 2020 Aug 8. PMID: 32770356; PMCID: PMC7987633. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7987633/
Petersson SD, Philippou E. Mediterranean diet, cognitive function, and dementia: a systematic review of the evidence. Adv Nutr. 2016 Sep 15;7(5):889-904. doi: 10.3945/an.116.012138. PMID: 27633105; PMCID: PMC5015034. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5015034/
Poulimeneas D, Anastasiou CA, Santos I, Hill JO, Panagiotakos DB, Yannakoulia M. Exploring the relationship between the Mediterranean diet and weight loss maintenance: the MedWeight study. Br J Nutr. 2020 Oct 28;124(8):874-880. doi: 10.1017/S0007114520001798. Epub 2020 May 21. PMID: 32436489; PMCID: PMC9105806. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32436489/
Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Martin-Calvo N. Mediterranean diet and life expectancy; beyond olive oil, fruits, and vegetables. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2016 Nov;19(6):401-407. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0000000000000316. PMID: 27552476; PMCID: PMC5902736.
4 Foods to Suppress Your Appetite
These four foods will help suppress your appetite on a daily basis!
Summer is approaching so your diet is taking a metamorphosis. Bulking season is over and lifters are now eating foods in a deficit to reveal their muscle shreds.
But with most fat loss pursuits, you deal with the repercussions of an energy deficit, primarily hunger. In fact, if you think about it, anyone can get knuckle skin shredded if hunger didn’t exist.
So if you manage hunger, you can dominate fat loss like a king. Here are some foods that are extremely helpful in suppressing your appetite, delaying hunger, and causing fat loss.
1 – Salmon
Salmon is packed with protein which is a critical nutrient whether you’re bulking or cutting. It will suppress your appetite and keep you full at your meals.
One study compared fish vs beef protein on satiety markers in men (1). They gave 2 groups calorie and protein matched breakfasts differing in the source of protein. After 4 hours, rating of hunger, satiety, and prospective consumption were all lower in the fish group.
Most importantly, in the subsequent meal, the fish group ate about 300 fewer calories as well.
The mechanism is likely due to the differing fat composition. Salmon contains far more unsaturated fat which has been shown to be more filling and better for body composition.
Particularly, you get omega-3 fatty acids which are great for your health, but can also contribute to muscle growth signaling.
With fat loss related goals though, appetite and cravings are the enemy. Fortunately, salmon is tasty, moist, and easy to cook for even the most culinary challenged bro. It can be seared, steamed, baked, or air fryed.
In a pinch, smoked salmon is a gamechanger as well providing you nutritious and filling snack that can easily replace chips or cookies or any of the more calorically dense foods that don’t really keep you full.
2 – Egg Whites
First off, can we take a moment to appreciate the technology we have to separate egg whites from egg yolks. The ability to do so did not exist for our caveman ancestors. They didn’t have the ability to eat such a high volume, protein dense version of eggs to stay full and get shredded. They had to rely on other methods like walking for miles and hunting mammoths to burn off calories.
We’re deeply privileged to have access to egg whites and before I talk further on it, I also want to be clear that egg yolks aren’t bad for you. However, most of the calories/fat from an egg is primarily in the yolk. You can drastically reduce caloric intake while retaining nearly all the protein and volume by removing the yolk aka eating egg whites.
Egg whites are easy to cook and can be added to any smoothie/shake for more protein. They also come convenient in inexpensive cartons from wholesale stores or really any grocery stores.
The volume they bring to your stomach is great. This expands the size and viscosity of your meals which signals to your brain to stay full. If you’re going to cook them, be mindful not to overcook them. They’ll taste like rubber and lose water which reduces it’s appetite suppressing effect.
3 – Potatoes
Apparently, we still have dorks who thinks potatoes are bad for you. This likely has to do with the carbs make you fat bs still going around. But anyone who understands basic nutrition knows potatoes are by far one of the top fat loss foods. And to clarify, I’m talking about potatoes, like whole potatoes that you cook, not potato chips or French fries. I’m also not talking about hash brown patties or tater tots.
Despite being super tasty and containing potatoes, those foods are barely potatoes. They contain far more calories from fat.
However, whole potatoes that you bake, air fry, steam, boil, or microwave are the secret weight loss weapon you need. And yes, they all work. Sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, and every type of white potatoes.
Root vegetables like potatoes contain lots of valuable vitamins/minerals along with plenty of water, volume, and fiber making them great for satiety. They are what us nutrition nerds call low in energy density. This simply means they have a lot of volume for fewer calories.
And yes, you probably didn’t know potatoes were low in calories because again, when the average American think of potatoes, they’re thinking of calorie bombs like chili cheese fries or potato salad.
But make your own potatoes without deep frying them. Add a tiny bit of butter if you’d like, but they will be one of the most filling starches you can have alongside any meal or as a snack.
For convenience, cook them in batch for the week and microwave when needed.
4 – Cucumbers
Cucumbers are actually a fruit in case anybody cared, but they are a stable in every successful dieters kitchen. I like to keep frozen cucumber slices as well for the impromptu spa day, but I digress.
One cucumber has about 2 grams of both protein and fiber along with vitamin C, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, and potassium. They’re also packed with water, 96% to be exact. High water foods like cucumbers are great to suppress your appetite because the water adds volume to the food. This expands the bulk of your meals and stomach stretch receptors.
Cucumbers are also natural antioxidants which fight free radicals in your body and act as a natural anti-inflammatory. They also promote hydration and are stupid low in calories which certainly aids in fat loss.
Some of the most successful dieters and even stage lean competitors I know rely heavily on cucumbers to get them through dieting phases. The volume is hardly ever matched by other foods.
They’re also a green plant that is easy to eat. Picky eaters can still usually tolerate them. You can eat them with nearly anything or toss them in any salad. I like to have them as a snack with tajin salt which reduces your cravings for both sweet/salty foods.
Just be sure to eat the skin as well. Taking that out reduces the fiber and nutrient content of the cucumber making them less filling.
Is Your Fridge Ready?
Appetite suppression and fat loss comes down to being prepared. Most people would love to stay fuller longer and lose fat, but they often go through the motions of life without staying on top of their nutrition.
Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be rocket science. While the science of fat loss comes down to being in a caloric deficit, the practice of it comes down to eating filling foods so you don’t stuff your face with a billion calories by the end of the week.
To do so, prepare your environment with the following foods. Have salmon throughout the week. Load up your fridge with egg white cartons and cucumbers. Finally, always have a sack of potatoes on hand with some prepped however you like for the week.
Besides the salmon, all of these foods are stupid inexpensive and quite convenient. Once your environment is optimized, your habits will change. You’ll likely feel fuller and not even realize you’re taking in fewer calories from these foods. Stay patient and the scale will also go down.
References
Borzoei. “A Comparison of Effects of Fish and Beef Protein on Satiety in Normal Weight Men.” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16482079/.
The Total-Body Transformation Program To Carve Your Dream Physique
Here is a way to carve out the perfect physique!
Since most new years’ transformation programs are geared towards beginners, they can make the intermediate and advanced lifters feel left out.
But this article is different.
We have designed a total-body transformation program for seasoned lifters. Individuals who are well-versed with the basics of bodybuilding (exercises and equipment).
12-Week Total-Body Transformation Program Principles
To make the most of your transformation program, you should abide by the following principles:
1. Follow Military Discipline
Physique transformation requires determination and discipline. You should not expect to see any meaningful progress if you cannot follow a program for three months.
You need to ensure that you never skip a workout or meal throughout the 12-weeks. On top of that, you should be eating and training at the same time for 12-weeks.
So, shut down your over-analytical brain and focus on developing muscle memory. After the first few weeks, training and eating right will become second nature.
2. Progressive Overload
Progressive overload advocates gradually increasing the stress placed upon the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. In this method, you will gradually increase the weight, frequency, or number of repetitions in your strength training routine.
By putting additional tension on your muscles, you can avoid hitting a plateau. Most pro bodybuilders use the progressive overload technique in their training.
Studies have shown that the progressive overload method can help build muscle mass and improve strength.
3. Pyramind Training
Building strength or muscle mass requires you to routinely switch up your workout regimen. Pyramid training is one of the most effective ways of achieving this objective.
There are three types of pyramid training:
Standard pyramid: Increase the weight and decrease reps with each set.
Reverse pyramid: Decrease the weight and increase reps with each set.
Diamond pyramid: Increase then decrease weight in an extended 5-set muscle blast. Eg:
20 lbs x 12 reps: Set 1
25 lbs x 10 reps: Set 2
30 lbs x 8 reps: Set 3
25 lbs x 10 reps: Set 4
20 lbs x 12 reps: Set 5
Pro tip: You could take pyramid training to the next level by alternating between the three types of pyramids in the same workout.
Related: 3 Recovery Basics For Hard Lifters
4. Use Advanced Training Principles
Advanced training principles can help you avoid and break muscle plateaus. They are some of the best ways of igniting muscle growth and building strength.
Include the following advanced training principles in your workouts:
Superset
Dropset
Intraset stretching
Giant-set
Triset
Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) Training
Forced reps
Negatives
5. Muscle Hypertrophy
Hypertrophy is an increase and growth of muscle cells. It refers to an increase in muscle size achieved through exercise. To achieve muscular hypertrophy, you want to work to the point of fatigue (muscle failure).
Focus on keeping the intensity of your workouts high by keeping your rest duration between sets short.
You should also focus on mind-muscle connection and muscle contractions with every rep.
Remember: You should target muscle annihilation with every workout.
6. Instinctive Training
This is one of the Weider training principles. Pro lifters develop an instinct as to what works best for them. Similarly, you need to figure out what works the best for you and double down on it.
Use your training results along with past experiences to constantly fine-tune your program. Do not be afraid to go around your training program and try new things.
For example, if you want to do an extra set on the bicep curls, you do not need anyone’s permission. Want to push your leg day from Monday to Tuesday? Go for it.
Next Read: Advanced Training Techniques To Take Your Gains To The Next Level
12-Week Total-Body Transformation Program Diet Regimen
The diet plan laid out in the 12-week total-body transformation program will help you bulk up and put on lean muscle mass.
The diet program will have you eating nutrient-dense whole foods. Not only will it help you achieve your body transformation goal, but it will also ensure optimal health and functionality.
12-Week Bulking Diet
The total-body transformation diet program is designed for a 180-pound individual. You can follow this program without making any adjustments if you are between 160-200 pounds.
In this diet plan, we will be changing your diet every four weeks so that you can maximize your gains and avoid hitting a plateau.
Week 1-4 Bulking Diet Program
In the first month, you will consume more carbs and protein as compared to the following weeks. This will help kick start your bulking journey and give you ample time for course correction down the road, if necessary.
You will be eating 20-21 calories per pound of bodyweight and targeting 3,700 calories per day. In the first four weeks, you will be eating 2 grams of protein and carbs per pound of bodyweight (360 gms each). On the other hand, your fat intake will be 0.5 grams per pound of bodyweight (90 gms).
Related: Dear Beginner, Please Stop Making These 10 Fatal Mistakes
Month 1 Total-Body Transformation Diet Program
Meal 1:
1 scoop whey protein (mix in water)
1 medium banana
Meal 2:
3 whole eggs + 3 egg whites
2 cups cooked oatmeal
Meal 3:
8 oz. low-fat cottage cheese + 1 cup sliced pineapple
6 whole-wheat crackers + 1 Tbsp. peanut butter
Meal 4:
8 oz. turkey deli meat
4 slices whole-wheat bread (make sandwiches; feel free to add low-fat mayo and/or mustard)
2 cups green salad + 2 Tbsp. low-fat balsamic vinaigrette
Meal 5:
1 scoop whey protein (mix in water)
1 large apple
Meal 6:
2 scoops whey protein +
1 scoop casein protein (mix in water)
1 medium plain bagel + 2 Tbsp. jelly
Meal 7:
8 oz. top sirloin
1 large sweet potato
1 cup chopped broccoli
2 cups green salad +2 Tbsp. salad dressing (olive oil and vinegar)
Meal 8:
1 oz. English walnuts
2 scoops of casein protein (mix in water)
Totals: 3,731 calories, 359 g protein, 380 g carbs, 86 g fat
Must Read: 10 Myths Most Fitness Beginners Believe
Week 5-8 Bulking Diet Program
In the second month of the total-body transformation program, you will be increasing your caloric intake to 4,000 kcal per day. You will also be bumping up your protein intake to 2 gms per pound of bodyweight and 2.25 gms and 0.5 gms of carbs and fats per pound, respectively.
Meal 1:
2 scoops of whey protein (mix in water)
1 medium banana
Meal 2:
3 whole eggs + 3 egg whites
2 cups cooked oatmeal
Meal 3:
8 oz. low-fat cottage cheese + 1 cup sliced pineapple
9 whole-wheat crackers + 1 Tbsp. peanut butter
Meal 4:
8 oz. turkey deli meat
4 slices whole-wheat bread(make sandwiches; feel free to add low-fat mayo and/or mustard)
2 cups green salad + 2 Tbsp. low-fat balsamic vinaigrette
Meal 5:
1 scoop whey protein (mix in water)
1 large apple
Meal 6:
2 scoops whey protein + 1 scoop casein protein (mix in water)
1 medium plain bagel + 2 Tbsp. jelly
Meal 7:
8 oz. top sirloin
1 large sweet potato
1 cup chopped broccoli
2 cups green salad + 2 Tbsp. salad dressing (olive oil and vinegar)
Meal 8:
1 oz. English walnuts
1 cup cooked oatmeal
2 scoops of casein protein (mix in water)
Totals: 4,017 calories, 386 g protein, 415 g carbs, 90 g fat
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Week 9-12 Bulking Diet Program
The final month of the total-body transformation program is meant to help you fine-tune your physique. If you are experiencing a slightly higher body fat percentage, you could follow this diet program to shed a few kilos or otherwise stick with the previous month’s diet program if you want to add a little more muscle mass.
Meal 1:
1 scoop whey protein (mix in water)
1 medium banana
Meal 2:
3 whole eggs + 3 egg whites
2 cups cooked oatmeal
Meal 3:
8 oz. low-fat cottage cheese + 1 cup sliced pineapple
6 whole-wheat crackers +1 Tbsp. peanut butter
Meal 4:
8 oz. turkey deli meat
2 slices whole-wheat bread (make a sandwich; feel free to add low-fat mayo and/or mustard)
2 cups green salad + 2 Tbsp. low-fat balsamic vinaigrette
Meal 5:
1 scoop whey protein (mix in water)
1 large apple
Meal 6:
2 scoops whey protein + 1 scoop casein protein (mix in water)
1 medium plain bagel + 2 Tbsp. jelly
Meal 7:
8 oz. top sirloin
1 cup chopped broccoli
2 cups green salad + 2 Tbsp. salad dressing (olive oil and vinegar)
Meal 8:
2 scoops of casein protein (mix in water)
Totals: 3,246 calories, 345 g protein, 313 g carbs, 66 g fat
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12-Week Total-Body Transformation Program Workout Regimen
To build optimal muscle mass, you will have to be constantly shocking your muscles by performing different exercises. It will also help you avoid hitting a plateau.
While switching up your workout is important to ignite new muscle growth, some people overdo it by changing their workouts every week. By performing new lifts every week, these lifters are not giving their body enough time to make the most of the movements and are in the process, leaving gains on the table.
12-Week Transformation Workout Program
Like the diet program, you will be performing the same training program for a month before switching to a new routine. As you progress, you will be ramping up the volume and intensity of your workouts.
This is the 12-week transformation training regimen:
Related: This Is How Your Training Should Change as You Get Advanced
Week 1-4
The first month of the transformation program is a primer for the mayhem that is to follow. Focus on your form and contract your muscles with every rep. You will be hitting the gym four days a week in the first month.
Day 1: Chest and Back
Bench Press: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Bent-Over Barbell Row: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Flat Bench Dumbbell Fly: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Lat Pull-down: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Cable Crossover: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Straight Arm Cable Pulldown: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Day 2: Legs and Abs
Squat: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Stiff-Legged Deadlift: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Leg Extension: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Hamstring Curl: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Crunch: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Plank: 3 sets of 30-sec – 60-sec rest
Day 3: Biceps and Triceps
Underhand Lat Pull-down: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Triceps Dips: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Dumbbell Bicep Curl: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Cable Overhead Tricep Extension: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Preacher Curl: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Cable Tricep Press-down: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Day 4: Shoulders and Abs
Barbell Military Press: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
EZ-bar Upright Row: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Hanging Knee Raise: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Weighted Crunch: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Reverse Crunch: 3 sets of 10 reps – 60-sec rest
Related: How To Know If You’re Getting Stronger In The Gym
Week 5-8
In the second month, you will be employing advanced training principles, increasing the number of reps and shortening rest duration between sets. You will be hitting the gym five days a week in weeks 5-8.
Day 1: Chest
Barbell Bench Press: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Superset:
Incline Bench Press: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 0-sec rest
Incline Dumbbell Fly: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Decline Bench Press: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Pec Deck Fly: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Superset:
Machine Chest Press: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 0-sec rest
Push-up: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Reverse Crunch: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Day 2: Back
Pull-up: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Superset:
Deadlift: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 0-sec rest
GHD Hyperextension: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Bent-Over Barbell Row: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Cable Row: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Dropset
Dumbbell Pull-over: 4 sets of 12 reps – 45-sec rest
Day 3: Shoulders & Abs
Arnold Press: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Superset:
Side Lateral Raise: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 0-sec rest
Front Dumbbell Raise: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Bent-over Rear Delt Fly: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Behind-the-neck Smith Machine Press: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Intraset stretching:
Barbell Shrug: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Hanging Leg Raise: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Reverse Crunch: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Day 4: Arms & Calves
Barbell Curl: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Superset:
Cable Bicep Curl: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 0-sec rest
Preacher Curl: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Dumbbell Hammer Curl: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Underhand Grip Pull-up: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Cable Tricep Extension: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Superset:
Dumbbell Kickback: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 0-sec rest
Single-Arm Overhead Tricep Extension: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
EZ-Bar Skull Crusher: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Diamond Push-up: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Superset:
Standing Calf Raise: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 0-sec rest
Seated Calf Raise: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Day 5: Legs
Squat: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Superset:
Leg Extension: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 0-sec rest
Leg Curl: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Romanian Deadlift: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Lunge: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Dumbbell Sumo Squat: 4 sets of 10-12 reps – 45-sec rest
Next Read: 6 Ways To Build Shoulder Strength, Size, and Conditioning
Week 9-12
In the final month, you will be going full throttle. Make sure you are giving your workouts all you have. You should have nothing left in the tank by the time you are done with your training session. You will be training six days a week in the third month.
Day 1: Chest & Triceps
Dumbbell Bench Press: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Decline Bench Dumbbell Fly: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Intraset Stretching
Incline Bench Press: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Superset:
Cable Tricep Extension: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 0-sec rest
Overhead Dumbbell Extension: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Dumbbell Skull Crusher: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Tricep Dips: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Day 2: Back, Biceps & Abs
Deadlift: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Superset
Dumbbell Row: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 0-sec rest
Dumbbell Pullover: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Lat Pulldown: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Dumbbell Curl: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Overhead Bicep Cable Curl: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Concentration Curl: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Cable Crunch: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Planks: 5 sets of 1-minute – 30-sec rest
Day 3: Legs & Shoulders
Leg Press: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Superset:
Leg Extension: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 0-sec rest
Leg Curl: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Sissy Squat: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Stiff-Legged Deadlift: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Dumbbell Press: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Cable Side Lateral Raise: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Pec Deck Rear Delt Fly: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Dumbbell Shrug: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Day 4: Arms & Calves
Superset:
Barbell Curl: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 0-sec rest
Cable Press-down: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Superset:
Preacher Curl: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 0-sec rest
Overhead Dumbbell Extension: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Superset:
Dumbbell Hammer Curl: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 0-sec rest
Barbell Skull Crusher: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Superset:
Standing Calf Raise: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 0-sec rest
Seated Calf Raise: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Day 5: Chest, Back & Abs
Superset:
Barbell Bench Press: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 0-sec rest
Bent-Over Barbell Row: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Superset:
Cable Cross-over: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 0-sec rest
Lat Pull-down: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Superset:
Machine Chest Press: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 0-sec rest
Dumbbell Pull-over: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Superset:
Cable Crunch: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 0-sec rest
Lying Leg Raise: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Day 6: Legs & Shoulders
Military Press: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Barbell Front Raise: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Barbell Shrug: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Squat: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Leg Curl: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Leg Extension: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift: 5 sets of 8-10 reps – 30-sec rest
Check Out: 5 Ways To Boost Your Pump in the Gym
Wrapping It Up
You do not need to wait for a new year to make a fitness resolution. Put the transformation program laid out in the article to work, and you will be on your way to achieving your dream physique.
Do not forget to click pictures and track your progress throughout your transformation journey. Photos are perfect for setting goals, tracking progress, and keeping yourself accountable. God speed!
What is your current and goal weight? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
What Is The DASH Diet & Why Lowering Your Blood Pressure Matters?
Is the DASH diet right for you?
We often hear of so many diets that it makes our heads spin but add one more in the DASH diet to the list. With so many out there, it is hard to imagine that they all work. However, what is important to note with diets is that not all of them work for everyone and that you need to find the right one for you. With options galore, the choice to decide on how best to tackle dieting may seem daunting, but with guides like this below, you will have a better sense of if this diet really is for you. The DASH diet is definitely an interesting one and one worth exploring.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is debilitating and can lead to serious issues down the line. The DASH diet, which we will get into, is meant to help treat and prevent hypertension in a natural way that also has plenty of healthy benefits. We all want a diet that is flexible and allows a little wiggle room, which doesn’t necessarily entail sugar or sweets. All we mean is one where you can enjoy what you eat without feeling like you are starving yourself or missing out on anything fun.
Let’s take a look at the DASH diet and see what this is all about. With more explanation for you to absorb, you may find this is one to look into further for what it can do for all your dietary wants and needs. Or, you will get to the end and say not for me. At least you know now of just one more option that is out there to help you see whatever kinds of gains you are looking for.
What Is The Dash Diet?
The DASH diet stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension and is a great approach to dieting for those looking to eat healthy, see changes to body composition, and treat or prevent high blood pressure (hypertension) (1). By eating foods that are rich in things like potassium and calcium, and restricting foods high in sodium, sugar, and saturated fat, you better protect yourself against hypertension and work to lower your blood pressure (2).
Very similar to the Mediterranean diet, this will focus on plant-based foods, nuts, low fat dairy products, and lean meats and fish. You do get a well-rounded diet with the DASH diet and many of these foods are consistent with what bodybuilders and other strength athletes eat on a regular basis. Perfect for preventing hypertension, while also aiding in weight loss and your physique goals, the DASH diet is certainly one to look into further.
Benefits Of It
As mentioned before, the benefits of the DASH diet are to help lower your blood pressure and improve your overall quality of life. By giving you a healthy diet to choose from and the right foods to amplify your health goals, what you will find is that changes to body composition with weight loss, as well as more energy and feeling better, are nice bonuses as a result of taking your nutrition into your own hands.
What To Eat On The DASH Diet
When it comes to foods on the DASH diet, many of them will look similar to what you as a bodybuilder or athlete eat normally. Grains, vegetables (cooked or raw), fruits, and nuts and seeds are great options and are of course staples in most diets. For protein sources, you will look towards more lean meats, poultry and fish as these are clean sources of protein and nice bases for a meal.
What you will look to avoid are foods high in sodium, sugar, and saturated fat for these will cause hypertension and limit the effects of the diet (3). While we all love those foods, sometimes we have to give up a little in order to see a lot of gains to our health and fitness.
Why Lowering Your Blood Pressure Matters
Lowering your blood pressure is very important and doctors everywhere will say the exact same thing. Hypertension is sometimes referred to as the silent killer because it can have detrimental effects on your body and will yield devastating results including things like heart attack, stroke, and kidney problems, among others (4). However, by working to reduce your blood pressure and optimize your health in the best way possible, you will limit the risks associated with high blood pressure and give yourself a chance to live longer and see a healthier lifestyle overall.
Bodybuilding & The DASH Diet
The DASH diet may be something to look into as a bodybuilder for the benefits towards better health are clearly evident. The foods of this diet are very similar to those eaten by a bodybuilder or strength athlete so you aren’t necessarily cutting out something imperative to a bodybuilders average diet. With benefits towards weight loss and the ability to provide great protein sources, what you will find is that this diet may be something to consider for those looking to especially beef up their gains and optimize their health as well. Without definitively saying that this diet is perfect your goals, it does have some pros that are definitely worth looking into further to see if this diet is right for bodybuilders.
Wrap Up
Our health matters and something like the DASH diet is perfect for seeing effective gains when it comes to optimizing our health. Lowering your blood pressure is important, athlete or not, and with a diet that focuses on this specifically, your chances to see that happen are great. While this may work for bodybuilders, it is safe to say that more research could be done to see just how effective it is towards muscle growth and overall gains. But what you will find is that this does help with weight loss, changes in body composition, and contains similar foods that bodybuilders eat on the whole. So, the Dash diet is out there and its benefits are now known.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
Challa, H.; et al. (2021). “DASH Diet To Stop Hypertension”. (source)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2021). “The Science Behind the DASH Eating Plan”. (source)
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Diet Review: DASH”. (source)
Oparil, S.; et al. (2018). “Hypertension”. (source)
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