So here it is, a lot of you guys have asked about diets and what you should eat so I decided to log my food intake for an average day and lay it all out there. There is no "label" to assign to the way I eat, I don't think of myself as being on a diet. It's not Low Carb, Paleo, Atkins, and certainly not a Low Fat diet. It's basically a low shitty food diet, I try to avoid processed sugar of any kind which includes high fructose corn syrup and every kind of chemically produced sugar that's tough to avoid nowadays like maltodextrin, ascorbic acid, dextrose and so on, it's all the same, and does nothing for your except store as body fat. I also try to make sure that the majority of foods I eat are real food not something made in a factory, this means plants and animals. The way we should look at food is to ask ourselves why we are eating it, if it is for any other reason but to fuel your body for the activities you perform in your day, it's probably junk food and hurting your mood, body composition, health and performance in and out of the gym. I'm sure anyone could find holes in the way I eat but it works for me and I have tweaked foods in and out over the years to gain or lose weight. Overall eating this way consistently has allowed me to maintain strength and easily control my weight while maintaining roughly 6-13% body fat at weights from 152-175lbs depending on whichever particular goal I am working on. Currently I consider myself as very active so I make sure to get enough food (calories) to remain that way without losing strength, weight or peace of mind. I do supplement my food intake with a few different types of protein shakes throughout the day because it allows me to recover from workouts faster and maintain the strength demands that I place on myself. I don't recommend this for someone less active or for anyone looking to lose weight. This is just how I eat on a daily basis and what I feel has allowed me to continue to gain strength and not over tax my body as I age. I am a 34 year old male, 170lbs, with 11% bodyfat and I am not trying to lose or gain weight. I eat these same foods pretty much everyday at almost the same times daily. I believe this keeps my metabolism and glycemic levels consistent as well as makes things easier as a lot of my meals are eaten quickly because my days are pretty full and I don't have a lot of time to prepare or eat.
5:20AM - Preworkout snack - Banana with 1/2 a serving of Natural Skippy Peanut butter and a Raw Tea preworkout drink. I eat this because I don't like working out on an empty stomach. The banana seems to keep me full enough to get through and I eat the peanut butter to take in some fats to keep my body used to burning fat for fuel throughout the day. I also take 3 grams of fish oil with this for the same reason and because I've found that it helps with soreness in my joints especially in my hands and wrists. The raw tea preworkout is pretty much because its 5:20am and I need a little caffeine to get going before the gym, I use this one because most of the typical pre workout drinks are just full of sugar, chemicals and stimulants. This one is all natural and just enough for me.
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7:20 AM Post workout/Breakfast- 2 Servings of Glutenfreeda instant Oatmeal and a Hydrobuilder protein shake. I always like to have oatmeal after I workout because it helps replenish my carbohydrates and also makes me feel full. I use instant oatmeal because its easy to pack and bring to the gym but that is where you have to be careful, a lot of instant oatmeal is full of added sugar and junk but this brand seems to be fairly decent so I've stuck with it. As for the shake, this is not exactly clean eating but it is the fastest way to get protein into your system to begin recovery quickly. The reason I go with this protein is because the macro nutrients are balanced well and it has a healthy dose of amino acids and creatine all in one so I feel like its just easier than taking a bunch of different supplements throughout the day. This just works for me.
11:30 am- Lunch This sometimes varies day to day but not by much, yesterday I had a 3 egg Omelet with broccoli, mushrooms, onions and peppers with sweet potato and sliced tomato. (Fran from the connector cafe) I'll get this a lot of times when I'm in a rush for lunch but on days that I get to go home for lunch I'll either have leftover dinner from the night before or roast beef sandwich on whole wheat sliced with avocado on it. Either way this is usually my biggest meal of the day but I always try to keep my macro nutrients balanced with 40% carbs, 30% fat and 30% protein. Whether it is this meal or the sandwich it usually balances out that way. I also refilled my water here
2:00PM - Refilled my water and had a banana
3:00PM Chocolate chip Larabar, I wanted a snack - I eat these a lot they are typically pretty basic ingredient wise but you do have to read them I think they may have taken on a different line of products recently so some of them are adding processed sugar and syrups now. This one isn't the best thing but its certainly better than junk food.
5:00PM -Universal Whey protein shake and 3 more grams of fish oil - I take this shake on days that I know I won't be eating dinner until later, it keeps my protein levels high enough or my daily intake and helps me stay full until dinner. Refilled water here also
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9:30 PM - A cup and a half of whole milk with Casein Protein and ZMA. I take in this slow digesting shake before bed to feed my muscles so they can recover while I sleep. I also take the zma for the recovery benefits and I feel like I get a sounder sleep when I do.
And that's my average day of eating. Below you can see where everything ended up. I used the website fitday to enter all of these foods in and calculate the macros. It ends up balancing out pretty right on to what I consider a healthy well rounded balance of 30% fat, 30% protein and 40% carbohydrate. The calories for me come in just over 3000 a day and that is right about where I want to be based on the fact that I'm very active throughout the day and most days in a state of recovery. Like I said before, I am not trying to gain or lose weight so this is where I stay to maintain my body weight and strength. If you are looking to lose weight your calorie intake (portion sizes) would be lower but I believe you should aim to keep the same macro nutrient balance of 30/30/40.
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