My Fitness Journey, Part Two: Nutrition
As mentioned in my previous blog, I've always been reasonably fit, even when fat. Many of the rants in this post are the very mistakes I've made over the vast majority of my forty-eight years on this planet. Hopefully, some of my rather painful lessons learned will help you avoid making the same nutritional pitfalls!
With that in mind, let's dive in.
- Calories In vs Calories Out (CICO):
Let's get this out of the way. There is no magic pill, "special trick," or great secret that will cause one to lose or gain bodyfat. Any diet and exercise program works for one simple reason: you're burning more calories in a day than you're taking in. That's it. Period. Full Stop.
Coach Greg Doucette has a slew of videos on this very subject that I highly recommend. Below is one example you should watch now:
- Forget dieting:
To put it bluntly, diets are bullshit. Why is this? Because they are a temporary fix to a lifestyle problem. As stated in my previous blog, it's maddening when people say, "I need to lose fifty pounds in two months!" They have a wedding to go to or some other social event and just have to get lean now! So they crash diet, are thoroughly miserable, and while their clothes may fit a little better (for a short while), their body composition is actually worse because they lose more muscle and water weight than actual fat. And once the diet is over, they'll go right back to the same poor eating habits, with a net gain in weight and bodyfat from where they started. Sound familiar? It certainly does to me. I've done the "fat-to-fit-to-fat" roller coaster countless times.
Forget Keto, Paleo, or any of that other shit. Bottom line, health and fitness has to be a lifestyle change. Hence why I use the term "nutrition" instead of "diet."
Another video I recommend is from Maddy Raven, whose content is concise and to the point:
During a gaming session with one of my Dungeons & Dragons groups (yes, I'm an unabashed nerd), two of our players, who really struggle with weight, were trying Keto. They'd "let themselves go" for the weekend, and were lamenting that, come Monday, "It's back to suffering." My immediate response was, "Why?" Newsflash: It didn't work. I don't know how much weight, if any, they lost. Only that they looked the same, and made themselves utterly miserable for no reason.
Eating healthy and losing bodyfat doesn't have to hurt, especially if one is doing so gradually and safely. As mentioned in a previous post, it took me two years to drop around 75 pounds. I never starved myself nor did any "suffering." In the subsequent years after, I've kept it off, gotten rid of my "fat clothes," and haven't looked back. It's been a relief, because any other time I tried this, I'd be right back to where I started by now, usually even heavier.
- A bit of math:
There are 3,500 calories in a pound. If one is in a deficit of 500 calories per day, you'll drop an average of one pound per week. That may not sound like much, until you realise that adds up to 52 pounds in a year, without the need for suffering. If your calorie intake is currently at maintenance, i.e. you're neither gaining nor losing weight, reducing 300 calories of food consumption and going for an hour walk (which will burn roughly 200 calories) will sort this. And honestly, that's not much of an adjustment.
A good place to start determining what your maintenance calories are is this link to the Mayo Clinic's Calorie Calculator. Keep in mind, any sort of calorie counting is guesswork. Two people of the same height and weight will burn different amounts of calories based on their bodytype, muscle mass, etc.
- What works for me:
Now we get to the heart of it. As I stressed with my workout summary, this is simply what works for me. Your own fitness and nutrition plans may be very different. Example: I have one friend who does intermittent fasting, where he only consumes food within a certain six or eight-hour window each day. Personally, I am not a fan, and this would never work for me. However, it works for him, and that's all that matters. He's very fit, gets his needed protein and nutrients every day, so it is the right lifestyle for him. At the end of the day, so long as you're consuming fewer calories than you're burning, you'll reach your goals in a safe, healthy, and permanent fashion.
- Weighing and measuring:
Some think this is a huge inconvenience, but honestly, it has become such a habit that I scarcely notice. Whenever I'm in the kitchen, first things I grab are the measuring cup and kitchen scale. I weigh everything in grams, as that allows for the best precision. I also swear by the app, Cronometer (#notsponsored). It allows me to input all food in grams, create my own recipes, scan bar codes on most foods for ease of input, and it is far more accurate regarding estimating calories burned during exercise.
- Substitutions:
I realised I did not need to completely cut out the foods I love. And eating healthy does not have to be boring. You can consume the same volume, often more, just by making some minor changes. For example:
1 large egg (50 grams) = 78 calories vs 50 grams of egg whites = 26 calories, nearly all of which is protein
I consume a ton of egg whites, which you can buy in liquid cartons at your local grocer. No need to mess with de-yoking whole eggs! Sure, egg whites by themselves are rather plain. That's why I make omelettes or use them for cooking.
I also use zero-calorie butter spray instead of actual butter when having popcorn or on anything else needing butter. Butter is delicious, but it's also over 100 calories per tablespoon (and seriously, who ever uses just a tablespoon??). Is the spray as good? Not quite. Is it good enough? Yes.
- A couple of personal examples:
I'm very fortunate, in that I can eat pretty much the same things every day. Below are two favourite recipes:
Banana Protein Pancakes
I pretty much start off every day with these. They are easy to make, and pretty damn tasty!
Ingredients:
1 cup liquid egg whites
1/2 cup whole oats
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 banana
One of my best investments for the "Anabolic Kitchen" has been an air fryer. Seriously, those things are awesome. A simple recipe for sliced potato chips:
1 large potato
zero calorie butter spray
salt
garlic powder
Italian seasoning
Slice up the potatoes, spray with butter, season to taste. Cook in air fryer at 370 degrees for around 22 to 25 minutes, depending on how thick you slice the potato. They also go great with air-fried chicken breast, which still stays moist and doesn't dry out.
Total calories, approx. 275
One last recipe is a tasty and convenient means of getting my fruit and green veggies.
Nutrition Shake
Ingredients:
2 cups water
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (optional) - 18 calories
1 scoop vanilla protein powder - 130 calories
150 grams spinach - 35 calories
250 grams frozen strawberries - 80 calories
200 grams frozen pineapple - 100 calories
1 banana - 105 calories
You may have to play with the ingredients a bit to get a liquid to fruit ratio that blends easily. One may think adding spinach is gross (and 150 grams is quite a bit), but honestly, you don't taste it. Also, I usually don't use those exact weights. I just toss in an approximate amount and plug that into my app.
As written, the total calories is just under 470. It is also quite voluminous and will likely fill your blender to the top, so you may want to tweak it a bit. The strawberries and spinach are also a great source of fibre, making it rather filling. I tend to have one of these in the early evening, usually as my last meal of the day. I have to be careful not to have this too late, or else I go to bed very full, which messes with my sleep!
A favourite snack I have most days is 2% cottage cheese, which has around 180 calories per cup and 23 grams of protein. I also stock up on Mission Carb Balance tortilla shells, which are around 45 to 70 calories, as opposed to 130 per regular tortilla. These are great for making breakfast burritos, or on those days when I'm craving tacos. When making taco meat, I use a mix of lean ground turkey and beef. Even using the 93% lean, this is still pretty calorie dense, so I make certain I'm honest when measuring.
- My overall daily intake:
I've found that a net caloric intake of around 2,400 to 2,600 per day will help me maintain my current weight. That's at 5'8", 205 pounds, with a fair amount of muscle. Yours will likely be very different. However, to lose bodyfat, we all follow the same guidelines: Increase calorie burn and decrease calorie consumption. A slight tweak to both will often be all that's needed. It doesn't have to hurt!
I should also mention, my fitness and nutrition regime is constantly evolving. Like everyone, I have good days and bad days. It's okay to "cheat" occasionally, so long as it's the exception and not the rule. Some days, I just want to slam a whole pizza or indulge in a triple cheeseburger. Since I only do so once or twice a month, it's perfectly fine. I accept it, don't beat myself up over it, nor do I think I need to work extra hard at the gym or starve myself the next day to "make up for it." Because we can't.
As a short aside, I also avoid alcohol and completely gave up drinking several years ago. This was for mental health reasons, but hey, it doesn't hurt avoiding the 150 calories per can of beer, same for a single rum and Coke, 130 per glass of red wine (and I used to really enjoy a good Cabernet or malbec), or 275 to 300 in a margarita! And if you're a fan of pretentious craft beers, you're looking at up to 350 calories per 12 oz glass.
Also, I hate to burst your bubble, but the whole, "Red wine is good for your heart," is a myth started by the French, and is utter bullshit! There is no correlation between a glass of red wine and better heart health. The Japanese drink a lot of beer and have one of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world, yet you don't hear them claiming beer is good for the heart. This study from 2020 puts the myth to bed. There is a more recent one, which Arnold Schwarzenegger mentioned in his newsletter. If I can find it, I'll post an update. It involved 40,000 participants over twenty years and found that, not only did red wine not aid in heart health, any alcohol consumption was actually detrimental, even just a glass of red wine. It's okay to enjoy a glass of red. Heck, I used to, and may again some day. Just don't kid yourself and say, "Oh, it's good for the heart." It's not. Get over it.
I'm not saying completely avoid alcohol, just be mindful. A few mixed drinks can equal a third to half the daily caloric consumption of most individuals, with absolutely zero nutritional value. I'd advise making it the exception, much like my triple cheeseburger or pizza ... or sushi. Sushi is healthy, but dash it all, most rolls are calorie dense, and I can seriously gorge!
I didn't mention supplements, because that is really its own topic. Next week, I'll discuss what I actually use, including prescriptions (all legally prescribed, though #notnatural). I may also mention some mental self-care that has helped me get the most out of, and actually enjoy the journey of health and fitness.
(Next week will be the last of this series, unless readers wish to hear more specifically about my current health and fitness regime. After this, we'll return to health and fitness across history)
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