THE EATING REGIMEN - YOUR TEMPLATE
Below is a template for your meals, and a good start to your weekly grocery list (before filtering what you actually need for the week). Ideally you should not stray outside of these suggested foods (if you’re unsure of something, please ask). Note that these are all WHOLE FOODS. Above all, eat real whole foods with as little processing as possible (this means if it comes in a package, probably don’t eat it, and if it comes with a long list of ingredients you don’t recognize, definitely don’t eat it) - yes this means look at the ingredients! Above all we want to encourage you to eat real food.
In general, we want a high amount of overall good fats in our diet, moderate protein, and low carbohydrates timed at the right points of the day (at night to aid with sleep or after workouts to replenish glycogen stores). Note that we are concerned with net carbs, and thus you can subtract any fiber from the total carbohydrates if you’re concerned that you see a veggie with lots of carbs. Fiber does not count as a negative in the slightest, and in fact it’s highly encouraged in large amounts!
GENERAL GUIDELINES/RULES:
Vegetables should be different at each meal. Variety is key for getting diverse range of micronutrients and gut biota.
Any large amount of OTHERS and FRUIT/SIMPLE SUGARS is ideally saved for nights or after workouts ONLY (for instance every third night or so, after High Intensity Circuits, see workouts, and then feel free to load up on OTHERS on these nights)
A SHAKE may be taken after workout and before sleep.
As an example for ratios, use the following rules of thumb:
1 fat is about 4 tbsp of butter/oil, 1 avocado, 8 oz milk
1 protein is 2 eggs, 1 handful of nuts/seeds, 1 “palm” of meat
1 green is defined as 2 cups (by volume)
1 carbohydrate is a regular sweet potato or so
Avoid the following:
Grains (other than the rarities listed below) - this means no bread or pasta, and generally avoid white starches
Sugar (either through candies, drinks, etc. - note even most of the modern fruit is very high in sugar, so limit it to a handful of berries or so at night)
Industrial vegetable oils (this means anything deep fried is most likely a negative)
Using the food items listed below, here is the basic formula for a given day of meals:
BREAKFAST: Buttered coffee OR/and a meal with high fat, some protein, and potentially some veggies; try to build in plenty of spices and herbs, and some veggies from the onion family. Another acceptable alternative is a protein shake, but note that the higher the protein to fat ratio, the more likely you are to put yourself out of a fat-burning mode and become hungrier earlier. For the veggies, also note bell peppers and tomatoes are good veggies to include in diet but are sweet because of the sugar (carbohydrates) in them. Try to choose green, nonstarchy, nonsweet veggies in the morning.
LUNCH: Try to stick to the following ratio: 2 fats:1 protein. Build in lots of greens and herbs. Eat until your hearts content, focusing on the fats and proteins indicated below.
DINNER: 1-2 fats, 1 protein (optional), 2 greens, .5 onion fam, 1 other, spices/herbs to taste. Note if having dinner on workout days, carbs and protein can be consumed in higher quantities.
SHAKE: 6-12 oz almond milk and/or coconut milk and/or raw milk, 30 g whey, 1-2 tbsp almond butter, 1 tsp raw honey, 1 handful mixed berries, 1 pinch of cinnamon
And here are the following food items to choose from:
FAT
grass fed butter / ghee
coconut oil
coconut milk, NOT coconut water
almonds / other nuts (note peanuts are not nuts) (see additional options in protein list)
mct oil
(organic) avocado / avocado oil
almond butter
Olives / olive oil
PROTEIN
grass fed beef/lamb
pastured eggs (not pasteurized)
nitrate free (organic) bacon
pasture-raised chicken
almond butter
wild fish
whey protein
almonds
cashews
brazil nuts
walnuts
CARBS
OTHERS
squash
bell pepper
zucchini
sweet potato
white rice
quinoa
FRUIT/SIMPLE SUGARS
berries (black, rasp, blue)
cherries
raw honey
*Note that although greens and onion family are technically mostly carbohydrate in most cases, you should be aiming for as many greens in your diet as possible! (Aim for 9 cups or so a day.) They are listed later under carbs, but again non-starchy veggies tend to come with lots of fiber, so load them up at any time of the day!
GREENS
spinach
broccoli
cauliflower
kale
collard greens
bok choy
brussel sprouts
turnip greens
dandelion greens
swish chard
ONION FAM
(red) onion
shallot
garlic
chives
leek
scallions
SPICES/HERBS
salt
peppers (jalapenos, chiles, etc)
red pepper
turmeric
cinnamon
saffron
oregano
parsley
curry
paprika
MISC
cacao
coffee (by itself)
raw milk
hot tea (by itself)