#57: The Skinny on Sustainable Nutrition

When I am approached by someone interested in tweaking their physique (which happens a lot), the person usually has pen-in-hand readiness to hear what supplements I take, is excited to try out a workout I do, and listens a-little-less-willingly about my cardio recommendations. But nearly all cannot shout emphatically, fast enough that they will NOT (and cannot) eat the way I do (clean, minimally processed and weighed-out whole foods). Too bad, nutrition takes the lion share for what creates and maintains a quality physique. 

Nutrition (related to how much you eat and what you eat) is the most important factor in body composition. Most people grossly underestimate their caloric intake and over esteem their movement and workouts (“but I was SO SORE and broke a SWEAT”). This results in a body fat percentage above what they’d like to see and feel. My first question back upon being asked the common, “how are you so lean and muscular, what’s your secret?” is always “Do you track your caloric intake or macro needs… at all?” Take a guess at the universal response (it ain’t yes). 

Now, I have relied on intuitive eating to hold a body maintenance in the past; however, I made choices based on my physiological cues of being in deficit, maintenance, and in surplus to guide me and still often weighed portions of my meals to establish routine intake. Working with coaches in the past enabled me to understand those feelings and the wherewithal to do so. The average person has never worked with a coach or nutritionist to understand what those cues are. Most people struggle to distinguish between wanting to eat, needing to eat, and eating to soothe emotions. I get it, focusing on nutrition can feel… restrictive. But structure with nutrition actually affords freedom. I still eat cookies, pizza, on holidays, etc. Albeit not all the time or every holiday but I can tell you, I am not upset by that. Uncommon habits yield uncommon results. So, no: I do not eat like your “normal” American, that is also why I don’t look like one. And the best news is: you DO NOT need a perfectly dialed-in diet. Rather, any improvements you make will be seen and felt. In fact, I applaud those who focus on one or two variables at a time for a period of time over those who go balls-to-the-walls on a diet (I get it, KETO and carnivore are sexy but they aren’t sustainable and any progress you make you’ll likely yo-yo right out of when you end the diet phase). 

So, in this post I want to explain some foundational nutrition concepts and discuss the variables worth utilizing. First and foremost, understand that the BEST diet is one that is enjoyable, sustainable, and aligned to your goals. Also understand that a diet is built upon habituation. So do not be surprised if you are incredibly variable in your intake (type of food and quantity) that your weight and feelings in your body/emotions/mind do too. 

First, I want to overview what my diet consists of and how I hold that word. A diet is NOT a temporary eating pattern to lose weight. Instead, a diet is a regular way of eating. My diet consists of eating MOSTLY minimally processed, cooked-at-home whole food meals. The quantity of the foods I eat depends on the goals/phase I am in, i.e. caloric maintenance, cutting, or building. I eat a high protein diet (approximately 1.5 g per 1 lb. of bodyweight). Most people think “more protein the better!” But it would NOT help me to eat any more than that; your body can only use so much protein at once and I am well at my cap. The rest of my diet is rounded out by fats and carbs. A surprise to most is that carbs make up the majority of my caloric intake (44%). Most want to cut carbs, but from a performance, aesthetic, and mental/emotional place: I have had the best results with carbs in my diet. When I attempted to eat KETO I felt weak, looked worse, and was prone to binge and restriction. Fats make up 30% of my caloric intake, while 26% of my calories come from protein. 

I am a utilitarian when it comes to food. By that I mean I do not need pretty, elaborate, or put together meals with frills and thrills. I buy fresh fruit and use fresh and frozen veggies (fun fact: flash frozen veggies steamed afford you the best nutrient preservation). I bulk-prep variable protein sources (often chicken, ground turkey, ground sirloin, cod) and complex carbs (jasmine rice and sweet potatoes). And try to vary my fat intake (whole eggs, chia seeds, macadamia nuts, peanut butter, almond butter, olive oil, avocado). When I am in a cut, I am very rigid and don’t add sauces beyond yellow mustard and more minimally season things; but if I am maintaining or building, I will use low-calorie ketchup, low-calorie syrup, and more seasonings. I do use a whey isolate protein, but I abstain from “protein enriched” processed stuff like bars, shakes, chips (whatever else they make now). Digestively, my body prefers simple REAL food and while it might fit your macros, it may be harder to digest, lead to bloating, and fill you up less effectively. I prefer eating clean, whole foods that feel good in my body and when I get bored of something, I rotate it out. You can use chat GPT or an app like MyFitnessPal to help you with these swaps.

An Example of My Day of Food:
(using the macros 180 P, 300 C, 90 F, 2740 calories)

• Meal 1 (breakfast): Egg Whites and 2 whole eggs scrambled with sea salt and cracked pepper; instant oatmeal (made with water), topped with blueberries and 5 g of honey or a serving of low-calorie syrup
• Pre-Workout Snack: Banana 
• Meal 2 (post workout): Cream of rice (made with water) with cinnamon and salt and after cooking add isolate whey protein, natural peanut butter and chia seeds 
• Meal 3 (Lunch): Ground Sirloin & jasmine rice bowl topped with jalapenos, low calorie ketchup and yellow mustard, and a side of some type of green veggie (zucchini, asparagus, or green beans typically), and macadamia nuts 
• Snack: Rice cakes OR sweet potatoes with almond butter, sea salt, and honey 
• Meal 4 (Dinner): Chicken, jasmine rice, avocado bowl with a side of green veggie 

Then I know common substitutes I can make like sweet potatoes for rice, ground turkey or cod to replace sirloin or chicken. These mild tweaks afford me variety and flexibility but most of the time these hit the spot and I’d prefer to not change a thing. I look forward to MY meals and stay full and fueled and digestively consistent. When you realize how GOOD you can feel when you eat well and routinely, it's valuable to maintain your habits and avoid whiplash. Don’t be surprised if you force your body on an over-eat/restrict roller coaster that it throws you on one with your hunger and satiability cues too. 

[The Basics] 
Your body composition ultimately comes down to energy balance–it’s science and simple math. Eat more calories than you burn and you gain weight. Eat fewer calories than you burn and you lose weight. If you eat roughly the same as you burn, your weight remains steady. Most diets begin with a goal in mind: gain, lose, maintain weight. Then you need to determine a caloric intake number. You can use a coach or app or chat GPT to help with this (give age, gender, activity level, goal weight) and you will get a number to work from. Keep in mind: this isn’t a perfect number and may need tweaking. For instance, I had been using intuitive practices when I linked with my coach. He gave me 1900 calories, and I dropped seven pounds in one week. We increased calories to maintain 128 lbs. to 2400 calories. So, the initial number wasn’t correct, but it was a starting point to build upon.

Reminder: there is no perfect diet and as your body and goals evolve, so will the need to adjust this diet. Similarly, copying someone else’s diet won’t help you because you are unique, different individuals. By all means, compare ideas. But like I tell most people, “This is what I am eating, don’t copy the quantities or you will gain weight (my caloric intake is pretty significant for a woman and someone my size).” Why if this person weighs more than me would eating the same amount cause them to gain weight but I am able to maintain? My basal metabolism and daily activity expenditure are higher, and I require more calories (energy) just to maintain. I caution the person who thinks “if it is a healthy food I can eat it, it’s good for me!” BIG, emphatic NO. I don’t care if it’s super expensive and organic, I don’t care if it’s from Trader Joe’s, I don’t care if it tops the list of healthy foods …if you don’t have room in your daily caloric intake: YOU. WILL. GAIN. WEIGHT.

Weighing your food allows you to know that you are eating the right number of calories and are on target with your goal. While it might be uncomfortable it is simply a byproduct of the process to feel hungry in a caloric deficit and too full in a caloric surplus. You have to eat in accordance with your goal (and this is why a slight and gradual surplus or deficit are beneficial to utilize over a huge disparity in either direction). Slow and steady enables you to avoid hormonal disruption, severe mood swings, or binge/restriction habits. If you want a simple starting point let it be awareness. Buy a food scale and weight your servings and compare that to your prescribed macros based on the goal you think you have. 

[Macros]
A balanced diet and a healthy body (except for very special cases) should rely on all three macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fats. As a bodybuilder, macro percentages for calories will vary depending on whether the focus is to gain, cut, or maintain. But typically speaking: 

• Protein accounts for 25-35% 
• Carbs account for 40-60%
• Fats account for 15-25%

Each macro serves a different, but valuable purpose in maintaining a healthy body composition and functioning mind/emotional ecosystem. Protein supports muscle growth and repair. Carbs provide energy for training and recovery. And fats support hormones, brain, and overall health. Most people shy away from carbs and when they do feel lethargic, battle food noise, and can have an aesthetic that has a flat, less volumized look. Quality complex carbs have afforded me my best physiques and dominate my diet. This is because carbs fuel your muscles, literally. Your body stores them as glycogen in the muscles (adding to volume and fullness). Glycogen is the primary fuel for workouts. If you don’t have them, you will likely feel flat, weak, and not be able to lift as much weight. Most people think carbs are bad because they eat ultra-processed carbs that are also high in fat without realizing it and that takes their caloric surplus well beyond what their metabolism has room for. Those things are easy to overeat and also spike blood sugar, so you want to eat even more (and sets you up to reduce insulin sensitivity and make your body more inclined to store fat and resist fat loss). However, maintaining a body fueled by complex carbs keeps your blood sugar more stabilized and allows your muscles to make the most of your carb intake. 

[Create for Yourself] 

Don’t look at what I am doing and create arguments for why you can’t eat this many times a day, don’t like those foods, etc. Instead, notice that I have found a system that fits the goals and desires I have and be curious about how you can do that for yourself–realistically–not from the body you wish you were in or in ideal circumstances but from accepting THIS version of yourself. Whether you like it or not, THIS is your baseline; you need to accept that and work with what you’ve got. 

Considerations to ask yourself: 

• How many times a day should I eat (full meals, snacks)? When can I regularly try to fit these meals in (time or rhythm of day)?
• What lean proteins do I want to incorporate (white fish, chicken, whey protein, egg whites, pork tenderloin, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, ground turkey)? 
• What fattier proteins do I want to interject (lean ground beef, salmon, steak, whole eggs)?
• What complex carb sources could I use (oats, cream of rice, sourdough bread, Ezekiel bread, English muffins, rice (jasmine, basmati, brown), sweet potatoes, russet potatoes (or other potatoes), rice cakes)?
• What vegetables can I add to lunch and dinner or snacks (cucumbers, green beans, asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, bell peppers, carrots, lettuce (spring mix, romaine, spinach, etc.)?
• What fruits can I eat (blueberries–quintessential–, banana, dates, pineapple, strawberries (other berries), grapefruit, etc.)? I would add honey here– careful though, in a diet/cut you probably won’t have much room for an abundance of fruit. 
• What quality fat sources might I rely on (natural nut butters (peanut, almond, sunflower seed), nuts (walnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews), whole eggs, chia seeds, avocado, olive oil)? *I always account for cooking oil by allocating 10 grams of olive oil to my day of food … under-allocating cooking oil is a sure way to think you’re in a deficit without actually hitting your target. 

Once you can sort out when and what you want to eat, you can craft meals that you enjoy eating. I recommend making the process as easy as possible by prepping food ahead of time, reheating, and keeping the same or similar meals multiple days in a row. If you get tired of it, swap out a protein, fat source, add a sauce, or tweak the meal however you see fit (hell, swap it out for something else entirely). But I promise, you don’t need willpower when you can rest in routine. The food also ends up being more satisfying because it fuels you adequately. 

I am a morning lifter, so that being said I have a large breakfast ahead of training, a snack (banana) right before lifting, and eat 50 g of protein and 50 g of complex carbs immediately after my workout (my cream of rice goop is the best meal of my day). As my day progresses, my meals get lighter and add in more fats. Think to situate fats and fiber in recovery and protein and carbs before and immediately after your workout. If you’re a night lifter, this would look different, but you’d still sandwich your workout with high protein and complex carb meals. Please, don’t workout fasted. You might think this is helping you, it isn’t. Train your body to fuel pre and post and your body will learn to be hungry at the right times. This may be uncomfortable as you’re establishing the habit, but you will adapt. 

I like to think of meal planning as a formula. How much of each item (or sometimes its presence at all) will depend upon your goal and caloric/macro allotment. If you can rely on minimally processed food (by you or purchased) all the better. 

MEAL FORMULA: 
Protein source (mostly lean, occasional fattier source) + Complex Carb + Veggie and/or fruit (usually veggie afternoon and fruit with breakfast) + Fat Source = Rounded, satisfying meal 

If you can configure a diet that is in alignment with your goals and needs, that is enjoyable, predictable, and sustainable you will make progress. But I caution you to understand that your sustained progress will rely on maintaining the habits and systems you are now applying. There is no “I lost the weight and now I can go back to what I was doing…” If you do this, your body will reflect those habits (and the yo-yo resumes). Now, if you’re in a diet phase, there’s nuances to reversing out of that into a maintenance body (see my previous post #56 on reverse dieting for more info on that process). But if you want to be in a lean, fit, and healthful body and mind: you must maintain the habits that afford you that body–at least most of the time. If you eat well and within your daily needs most of the time, an off meal, day, or holiday won’t derail your progress or physique (in fact, it can benefit your progress). What you do in the kitchen most days matters far more than what you do sometimes. And if it feels clunky, cumbersome, and your cravings make it hard… give it two weeks. You’ll gain efficiency and flow and your cravings will subside. Your body will catch up with the new rhythm and flow, and you’ll look forward to your meals and how you feel in your body (and about your progress). 

People often want a perfectly prescriptive plan and diet, while at the same time feel absolutely encumbered and frustrated by a rigid, constricting diet. I think it’s much more helpful to consider nutrition as a skill to learn. I am not a prescriptive diet kind of person. Your body, goals, preferences, and life phase are all variables to consider when designing a diet. But keep in mind: the goals and desires you have for your body should fall in line with the habits you’re willingly choosing to adhere to. Restriction is not the answer, overindulgence is also not the answer.

Don’t be too mean or too kind to yourself–I like to say hold yourself lovingly accountable. Slow, steady progress with baby steps to better nutritional boundaries will afford you a healthier mind and body. Your diet doesn’t need to be perfect, learn as you go, and fuel your body most of the time and treat it occasionally. Most people need to come to terms with how often they rely on food for entertainment, fulfillment, or to calm emotions. Notice, don’t judge these things and be curious about how you can either give permission to these desires occasionally, handle them without food, or interject an incompatible replacement behavior. You’ll mess up, make mistakes, contend with a busy season or injury. But you’re not beginning from scratch: just begin again. Work with this now new baseline and continue to hold yourself lovingly accountable with the fuel that sustains you.     ​