Personal training and reading up on research articles based around nutrition and exercise is not what I do a lot of nowadays. When people ask me if I could train them I usually respond back with, “I’m sorry but I only take referrals.” Really what I’m telling them is “No, I will not train you.” It’s not that I don’t want to get back into it, it’s just there was always one thing that really took a lot out of the relationship I had with my clients and that was their psychology around nutrition.
What I’m going to post is what has always worked for me and my most successful clients. One thing that I want everybody to keep into mind is this is just a diet/nutrition/lifestyle plan. I put “diet/nutrition/lifestyle” because most people will see this as a “diet” because it strays away from what they’re used to or have seen on Dr. Oz. It’s a nutrition plan because most food items contain components that your body needs to keep healthy. This is somewhat of a lifestyle change as well. I’m not telling you to just start this cold turkey or say that you have to give up EVERYTHING. The only way for you to stay on any “dieting” plan is to actually enjoy it. Now to cut to what you actually WANT to read about.
^ This is the chart I usually use. Of course this is just a sample. You can find tons of calorie excel sheets out there that will help you on your journey.
To sum this chart up I try to just pay attention to 3 components that will equal out to your total calories that you take in. Those 3 components are protein, carbohydrates, and fat. This is where all the hate mail and comments are going to pour in. Yes you should pay attention to your essential vitamins and minerals and some how include it when you’re “dieting” but this plan is all about the Big Picture mindset.
Now to explain what I mean by each component:
Protein: Lean meats or if you’re vegan or what a plant-based source anywhere else you can get your protein (beans, nuts, etc).
Carbohydrates: This can be pasta, sweet potatoes, vegetables, etc.
Fat: Avocados, Oils, I think you’re starting to get it.
Now how do you pair all that up? You want to pay attention to ratios and your goals. For example do you want to gain weight? Then your ratio of protein/carbs/fat needs to lean more towards carbohydrates. Are you lifting really heavy weights and quite often? You should might also have to increase your fat content. Taking that into mind your ratio may look something like this 30/60/10. That means 30% of your total caloric intake needs to consist of protein, 60% of protein, and 10% of essential fats.
That means to measure all of this you need a food scale, a notebook or easily accessible chart (hint: smartphone), and some cooking skills. YouTube is a great educational tool when you want to learn how to cook. You also have to have a lot of patience. This is a trial and error type of plan. It took me a few errors to finally find what works best for me for my activity level.
I hope this helps give everybody a small glimpse of my nutrition plan and what I give clients. Please ask me questions if you have any or if you have nothing constructive to say, go take a walk.
The Active Bacon Nut 