On my nutrition permalink

During my teens, twenties, and early thirties, I wish I had a better understanding of nutrition and its impact on well-being. I believe the general population often underestimates or is unaware of the significance of nutrition on overall health. This document outlines my theory on nutrition, details how I incorporate it into my daily routine, and includes a bit of ranting.

Welcome to part one of a three-part series on physical well-being, where I codify my approach to the three most influential factors on my physical well-being: nutrition, sleep, and exercise.

This document might already be outdated as soon as I publish it because I constantly incorporate new information into my theory and practice. Feel free to contact me for questions or updated thoughts.

My Nutritional Tenets

• Prioritize fueling your body over having a good eating experience. I apply the Pareto principle to eating: 80% of the time, it’s about fueling my body, and 20% of the time, it’s about the experience. However, a meal can certainly be both nutritious and enjoyable.
• Know and track your required calories for your weight goals. Caloric intake and expenditure drive weight gain or loss. It’s that simple. You can further optimize by tracking your macronutrients.
• Get your protein. Macronutrients —protein, carbohydrates, and fat— are processed differently by your body and can impact the type of weight you gain or lose. I prioritize protein intake, aiming for at least 1g of protein per pound of desired body weight per day. I treat fat and carbs mostly equally, except when considering tier 3 factors (see below). My balance ranges from a 45p/25c/25f to a 40p/40c/20f split, depending on my goals.
• Know and track your tier 3 goals. Different people have different tier 3 factors for fat and carb types and micronutrients to pay attention to. For instance, I avoid saturated fats and added sugar. I also ensure I get sufficient fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
• Make healthy eating convenient. I meal prep to make sure I always have healthy food ready to go. This helps me avoid unhealthy choices when I’m short on time or energy.
• Timing of food matters. I eat protein heavy in the morning to kick start my metabolism. I eat fast processing carbs just before a workout. I consume high protein just after a workout. And I try not to eat 2 hours before bed because it effects sleep and decreases the body’s natural overnight fat burning. The meals change around my life and I schedule my life around my meals.

Daily Nutritional Practice

My daily diet revolves around consistent, frequent, manageable (size-wise) meals and snacks that meet my nutritional goals.

All in, I’m currently eating about 3000 calories per day and maintaining my lifts and bodyweight. When I was trying to gain weight, I ate this same meal plan with the adjustments and was consuming about 4000-4500 calories per day which reached and maintained a bodyweight about 25lbs (12%) higher.

Here’s a typical day:

Meal 1

• 3 whole eggs
• 3 egg whites
• 140g (or more) of lean (93/7 or better) ground turkey with taco
• 1 tbsp of olive oil

(Approx 524 calories w/65g protein and 7.6g saturated fat)

I scramble all of this in a pan over high heat. I leave the eggs - the yolks, in particular - a little runny because cooking things destroys some of the nutritional value. (But I can’t eat raw eggs and meat.)

I choose lean ground turkey because it comes with lower amounts of fat overall which includes decreased amounts of saturated fat. I add olive oil to mix calories from good fats back in. I change how many whole eggs vs egg-whites based on my calorie goals also - but I always get my protein for this meal. Eating egg whites contain less overall fat (including saturated fats), but also contain less protein (3.6g vs 6g).

I could add more to this meal by eating some oatmeal. Oats is a good source for carbs and fiber - better than wheat even if you’re not gluten-sensitive.

Meal 2

• 180-200g of non-fat greek yogurt
• 30-50g of granola
• 50g of frozen berries
• 1 tbsp honey (sometimes)
• 1 protein bar

(Approx 429 calories with 42g protein and 5.5g saturated fat)

I eat this just before working out. The honey, berries, and oat-based granola helps give me energy, especially if my workout trends past an hour. Book-ending my workout with high doses of protein helps the body start repairing and growing muscle right away. I could pack more calories in this by switching from non-fat greek yogurt to whole milk-based greek yogurt. But with that comes added saturated fats. So I’d probably just add more non-fat greek yogurt first. I prefer Quest protein bars because the macros check out.

Meal 3

• 2 scoops protein powder
• 10 oz skim milk
• 12g metamucil

Approx 340 calories with 58g protein and 1g saturated fat.

I consume this within 30m of finishing my workout. I could pack more calories into this meal by switching from skim to whole milk or by mixing in nut (almond) butter, but that adds saturated fats. Alternatively I could look at adding in Cream of Rice or something similar. Don’t buy weight gain supplements. It’s just rebranded and marked up Cream of Rice. The fiber helps keep me regular - especially when I’m cutting weight and eating less carbs.

Meal 4

• 250g of lean chicken breast, grilled or roasted
• 250g of rice
• some sauce poured over them

Approx 1184 calories with 90g protein and 3g saturated fat

Watch the sauces you use to minimize “bad” ingredients. It’s helpful to cook the chicken breast in bulk in advance. Some people prefer ground bison or lean ground beef in place of chicken breast. You can also choose less lean versions of bison/beef to increase calories from fat. This meal is usually hardest to eat given my schedule and how sick of eating I am by this point in the day. If I miss this meal, it pretty much guarantees I eat Meal 5 as a stop-gap in the late afternoon and I often eat Meal 4 back-to-back with Meal 6.

Meal 5

• 30g dry roasted almonds, unsalted
• 28g pistachios, salted
• 28g granola
• 40g raisins

Approx 313 calories w/9g protein and 3.5g saturated fat

This is a snack. I often miss this meal or eat it later.

Meal 6

• whatever amazing meal my amazing wife cooks.

She does a great job of focusing on whole foods and getting me more veggies. The carbs are usually oat or rice based. The meal tends not to prioritize as much protein as my other meals. But that’s ok because I’ve probably hit my protein goal for the day and it’s more about getting in whatever other calories I need.

Other thoughts

I take a multivitamin and creatine in the morning with breakfast. These, plus high quality protein powder, are the only supplements I take.

I limit my coffee intake to one cup with skim milk at 10 AM. Drinking more coffee or consuming it later than 11 AM affects my sleep quality. Outside of that, I primarily drink water.

I rarely consume alcohol because it negatively impacts sleep, metabolism, recovery, and cognition. There are other ways to achieve the social and emotional benefits of alcohol without the downsides.

Eating enough takes a lot of work! One of the biggest issues is that there’s not enough room in the fridge and freezer for a whole week’s worth of food - chicken, ground turkey and eggs in particular. I want to look into ways to better meal prep like making frozen burritos for breakfast and as fillers. I just haven’t found the right recipes.

Soapbox

Why isn’t this better understood by people? It’s hard to blame previous generations because they didn’t have access to the same research, and the foods they grew up eating were generally less processed. It’s easy to blame capitalism for promoting cheaper, faster, less nutritious food, but changing that system is a daunting task. There’s also an argument to be made that doctors are at fault for focusing only on treating acute symptoms rather than practicing holistically.

But the question I really struggle with is Why isn’t this taught in schools?

Pairing nutritional education with education about exercise (part two to come soon!), financial literacy, and computer systems are basic necessities missing from elementary school through college curriculums. Teaching concepts like calories, macro- and micronutrients, and the differences between types of carbohydrates and fats would help our youth maintain a healthy lifestyle throughout their lives. This could decrease health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and even some cancers, benefiting both individuals and society. It would also reduce the strain on our already struggling healthcare system, leading to improvements in overall quality of life.

I wrote this because my nephew is getting interested in exercise and nutrition—probably as a means to “getting jacked.” He’s out there discovering all of this for the first time. I hope this helps him or others trying to navigate the overwhelming amount of nutritional information available. Conor, if you’re reading this, sup?