A few weeks back I wrote a post about if it was OK for one to diet. I explained that you need a solid foundational diet in order to “diet”, meaning to change your regular eating habits to achieve a different result. You can read it here:
This week I want to spend some time looking at what a strong foundational diet consists of.
This is also a continuation of my “Building a Foundation” series I did a while back on Aerobic Base (Read Here) and Strength (Read Here).
Ok, I am done plugging my old posts.
Let’s talk about the most overly-complicated, most misunderstood, and something that most people think they have a great grasp and understanding of.
Your diet.
Where to start? Well, for those of you who don’t fall into the know-it-all category, let’s begin with you.
If you follow these flexible guidelines, I can assure you that you will be on the right track to healthy eating.
Rule #1 – You Must Know Yourself
This sounds like some line from Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid, right?
Before you can get on the right track to healthier eating you must first know your weaknesses and also your preferences when it comes to nutrition.
Do you struggle with sugary coffee drinks, eat lots of cereals for breakfast, or snack more often than you ought to?. A great way to know what your weaknesses are is to keep a food log for a week. Be honest, try really hard to judge actual portion size, measure if you have to and at the end of the week, look it over. Write down what you need to tweak, what you did well and adjust accordingly. If the thought of carrying around pen and paper to keep your diary is daunting, there are TONS of apps out there that can help. You can scan barcodes, take pictures of your food, and so on. And they give you reports on where things are working and where you need to try harder.
So that covers weaknesses. Now let’s look at preferences. Some people don’t eat meat (gasp, I know so if that’s you, you need to factor in where you’ll get your protein. Some people like eating only one or two meals a day. I don’t personally know any of these people but I’m told they are out there.
Bottom line when coming up with your foundational diet, if it doesn’t fit with your basic preferences, there’s no way you’re going to be able to stick with it, period.
Next up – How Willing Are You to Change?
If the answer to this is not very willing, then don’t expect to see your diet become any better. You have to be willing to make changes to your diet. If not then you will be where you are now.
If you are open and willing to change, then that is a good start.
How Committed Are You?
Another question that needs to be asked is how committed to these new changes are you? If your answer is “kind of”” or “what will I do if?” then you are not committed. Say yes and mean it, commit to it and you will reap the rewards, I promise!
Eat Food
The quickest fix you can do to your diet is to start eating real food.
What is a “Real Food”?
Real Foods are your meats, vegetables, grains, fruits and nuts, all of which coming to you in as close as possible to their original state. If it comes in a box and has ingredients that you can’t pronounce or are colors not seen in nature, then they are not real. Make this one change and you will be on the right track immediately to a strong foundational diet.
To read more on this, check out: Fed Up With Food: A Simplified Look at What You Should Be Eating
Protein, Fat, and Carbs: They’re All Good
It used to be that carbs were good and fats were bad.. An old version of the Food Pyramid actually showed preference for sugary cereals over cuts of meat with fat in it.
Recently we have seen a complete 180. Carbs are the devil and meats and cheeses are kick ass. Think paleo caveman diets..
If carbs are the goodie two shoes turned bad boy/girl (Say Marcia Brady) and fats the hated misunderstood loner (Say Hawthorne Heights), that makes proteins the once talked about but now forgotten about (Say Amelia Earhart of macronutrients).
The truth is that all are good in moderation and all are important to a healthy diet.
Carbs:
Are a great source of fuel and energy, you should get the majority of them through vegetables, nuts, fruit and grains. You should limit carbs from sweets, desserts, and sugars.
Fats:
Are also of great use and fuel the body (did you know they are the body’s primary energy source?). The fat you eat in real food sources is not the fat that will be added to your body fat. Trust me on this! People often thing fat will make me fat. This is not true. Overeating any food will result in making you fat but fat in food on its own will not.
Good sources are meats, cheeses, butter, oils, and nuts. You should limit sweets, fried food, and oils cooked in high heat. And this is not to say that you throw reasonable portions out the window. No one really needs to eat a two pound cheeseburger!
Proteins:
Are primarily us to rebuild muscle but are also an energy source as a last resort. Protein is often forgotten about. All the media talks about are carbs and fats. Protein has always been a star in the eyes of bodybuilders, power lifters, and athletes; for the general population, it is only an afterthought.
Good sources are lean meats, cheeses, plain yogurt, nuts, etc.
As stated above, everything is important in moderation and all play a role in making up a healthy diet.
Limit These 4 Things
- Sugars
- Alcohol
- Processed Foods
- Sodas and Fruit Juices
I am not saying don’t have any of these things ever, but you should watch how much of them you ingest. If you stick to eating real foods then having these occasionally will not be a problem.
How Much To Eat
He clearly did’t use the hand rule
When it comes to knowing how much to eat, I like to use my hands to figure that out.
So for protein I will use the size of my palm to determine how much meat to eat, for vegetables I will use the size of my fist, for carbs, what will fit in my cupped palm, and for fat my thumb.
I will use this at each meal. As I’m a guy, I will have two of each so two palms of meat, two fists of vegetables, 2 cupped palms of carbs, and 2 thumbs of fat.
Ladies, use just one hand/serving.
To read more on this, I recommend reading these two quick articles.
Be Consistent
The last thing I can tell you to do is be consistent with your changes. Make small changes, track your progress. If it works keep it up, if not make another small change. If you follow these guidelines then you will have a strong nutritional foundation.
Best
JW
