Let’s face it.
Understanding what to do regarding fat loss nutrition is hard.
There is so much information out there.
There are so many so called ‘best’ diets – guaranteed to get results
No wonder people don’t know which way to turn…
Hence why people try something for a week or 2 before they are convinced that something else is better.
I am here to tell you that there are very few rules involved with fat loss nutrition and if you were to stick to these over a prolonged period of time, you would see amazing results for a very long time.
The best bit of it being that you could allow yourself to go off track for a short time period, KNOWING you could get back again should you wish.
And that is the key!
Basic is beautiful.
Basic allows you to follow a plan time and time again.
You know how you got your results.
You know what to do should things not go right all the time.
You know it will work.
So what are these basics?
In a nutshell it is this:
Eat real whole foods in the right quantities…..most of the time!
Sounds like a bit of a cop out, but that is it.
Obviously this can be broken down further to make it more understandable….because keeping it simple seems to confuse most people.
What is a whole food? What is the right quantities and what is MOST of the time??
I will break each one down……
Please bear in mind that I will keep this basic and simple for a reason….
It is exactly that.
People who try and over complicate things are either selling you something or trying to stop you from achieving long term and sustainable fat loss.
So here goes:
Whole foods:
Meats, eggs, fish, poultry, seafood, legumes, pulses, vegetables, fruits, fats (animal, oils, and the list goes on.
You can also supplement this with other foods such as dairy, rice, oats, protein powder, fish oils etc for convenience.
People will argue that some of these things are technically not whole foods, which is fine. But for the average punter like me who wishes to be simply lean then this list is effective.
Right quantities
So what are the right quantities?
This will differ from person to person and the amount of activity done per person.
However, for the average gym person who has a desk job who goes to the gym 3 times a week the following is a good place to start.
- Protein (meats, eggs, dairy, etc) – palm of your hand size
- Fruits and veg – hand fist size
- Fats – thumb size
- Carbs – cupped hand size
Your typical plate may look a little something like this:
- 1 quarter protein
- 1 quarter carb and fat
- 2 quarters veg/fruit
keep most of your meals like this and you will be fine.
But this is dull I hear you say…
- Where is the booze?
- Where is the take-away?
- Where is the chocolate?
This is where the term ‘MOST of the time’ comes in.
Never try and be 100%.
Try and you will fail.
So what should you do?
MOST OF THE TIME
Ideally, you want to aim for around 80% of the time.
The remaining 20%, you can get away with the wine, Chinese and dairy milk.
So long as you don’t go mad with it.
Don’t binge and eat this stuff in moderation and you will be ok.
What most people do is that when these foods are consumed, the diet goes out of the window and a binge ensues.
The trick is to not let this happen.
If you use the following as a guide, you will have a key strategy that works a treat.
“Example”
- If you eat 3 times a day over 7 days that works out at 21 meals
- 80% of 21 is roughly 17-18 meals that should follow the rules above.
- This allows you 3 or 4 meals during the week where you can eat/drink the stuff you want ‘in moderation’ and still be happy in the knowledge that you will see progress.
- This you can do without the need to feel guilty about your fat loss.
The real key is to be honest with yourself and admit when you have strayed from the guidelines above and when you do then pull back on future meals to compensate.
It really is a balancing act.
The issue we have is that we go too far on one side or the other.
On starting a diet, we go too far into the ‘good’ food side.
When we ‘cheat’ we delve too deep into the ‘bad’ side.
It is a world of extremes and this is what sells.
Everyone wants a quick fix.
Results have to be instantaneous in this fast paced world.
The problem is that the body still works in a very similar way to what it did thousands of years ago.
And this is why basics work great!
Eat whole foods – non-processed stuff basically.
Eat them in the right portions – use your hand and your eye as a measurement.
Eat this way most of the time – around 80%.
That’s it!
There are no extremes.
Just solid basics that leave you room to manoeuvre.
This really is the basics of nutrition.
Nutrition that will work for 95% of the population.
People have been doing this well for thousands of years without the need for the internet, books and other sources of garbage information.
Why can’t you?
Speak soon, Gaz
