NUTRITION 101

An In-Depth Primer to Help you Win with Food

By: Barbell Logic Online Coaching

 Table

of

Contents
Part One: pg. 3
Getting Started & Expectations

Part Two: pg. 6

Macros 101

Part Three: pg. 14

Micronutrients and Other Stuff on the Label

Part Four: pg. 18

Tips for Success

Part Five: pg. 27

Lose/ Gain/ Maintain

Part Six: pg. 31

FAQ
PART ONE:
Getting Started & Expectations

Nutrition and weight training are inextricably linked. No matter your reasons for
pursuing strength training, nutrition will play a major role in your success. Indeed,
a person cannot ensure optimal progress without prioritizing nutrition as much
as training. This is true whether your goals revolve around health, weight, quality
of life, or competition. That said, good nutrition ultimately comes from a healthy
relationship with food and with your own body-image. At BLOC, we focus on quality
of life first, and we treat aesthetics as the byproduct of what goes into an improved
quality of life: strength is the foundation, but we also promote general health and
conditioning through training and nutrition.

It’s important to start with the dominating truth about nutrition: there is no one-
size-fits-all solution for any typical goal. Nutrition is not just a numbers game—
calories in vs. calories out. What you eat comes from long-held habits, food
availability, culture, and individual variability. Knowing how much or what you
should eat is only part of an effective nutrition strategy, but if information alone
dictated human behaviors, change would be relatively easy. As often as not,
our food decisions are nearly automatic, affected by our learned behaviors or
environment, and not the result of conscious reflection. Long-term success is more
personal and has to be approached as such.

So, instead of providing general guidelines here, we are going to approach nutrition
from the concept of improving self-efficacy, arming you with knowledge, providing
practical tools and strategies that will help you along the way, and giving you a
foundation to practice the habits that will help you reach your goals.

Nutritional Habits = Knowledge + Confidence + Practice

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Start with the Right Data

The first step to get started is to capture some data. Here, our goal is to establish
some baselines: body measurements that you can track to track progress and
food measurements that you will adjust based on your goals.

The following steps will get you started optimizing your nutrition:
A. Record your body weight with a good digital scale in a journal or fitness
app.
B. Record the following body measurements: (Use a Myotape for consistent
measurements.)
• MALES: Take your waist measurement (at navel).
• FEMALES: Take your waist measurement (at navel), hips measurement
(widest), and chest measurement (at nipple line).
• Optional Step: Test your body fat percentage via a DEXA (or BodyPod)
scan. The easiest way to do this is to call your local university and ask
if they do DEXA (best method) or BodPod body fat testing on the public.
Repeat the measure every six months or so, if you can.
C. Take “Before” pictures. Visual progress is one of the best motivators for
continuing to refine your habits.
D. Download the “MyFitnessPal” app or another comparable app on your
smartphone in order to begin tracking your daily food intake.

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Week One

For the next seven days, record EVERYTHING you eat and drink (besides water) into
MyFitnessPal. Measure your food with a food scale or measuring cup whenever
possible. Do your best to “eyeball” serving sizes when weighing and measuring isn’t
possible (at restaurants). This ability will improve greatly with practice. (We go into
great detail about this very thing later in this document.) This includes a handful
of candy at work, a shot of liquor at the bar, and even a few chips while waiting on
dinner at your favorite restaurant.

Do your best to maintain your current eating habits during these seven days. This
first week is about measurement, not restriction. Of course, for most people, just
counting everything you eat will affect how much you eat, but you want to avoid
going into a severe deficit right now.

This process will give you an accurate count of what effect this first week’s food
and drink have on your body composition, energy levels, mindset, and training. This
will be the basis for future change. You will use this data, making small changes to
your diet to affect change.

At least twice per week, record and update your body weight and measurements
and continue logging your macros daily.

While we cannot tell you exactly what or how much you should be eating here,
below, we will provide you with the knowledge building blocks for putting together
your own plan or better understanding how different macronutrients affect your
body.

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PART TWO:
Macros 101

There are four macronutrients, or “Macros”:

1. Proteins
2. Fats
3. Carbohydrates
4. Alcohol

Most of the focus for nutrition seeks to balance proteins, fats, and carbohydrates,
but as we will discuss, alcohol can significantly affect both your macronutrient
balance and your habit-building efforts.

Let’s start by looking at each type of macronutrient and what it does for us.

Protein

What is its function?

Adequate protein helps to build muscle or to prevent muscle loss if you are in a
calorie deficit. Protein promotes muscle growth and cell repair. Protein regulates
appetite and curbs hunger more effectively than fats or carbohydrates because it
causes you to feel full longer.

Protein provides four calories per gram.

In addition, each type of macronutrient has a caloric cost to digest, known as

its thermic effect. Protein’s thermic effect is highest at twenty to thirty percent,
meaning your body uses more energy when you eat protein than it does to digest
and metabolize carbohydrates or fats. For purposes of body composition, protein
is less likely than either fat or carbohydrates to be stored as adipose tissue. Due
to its importance to other functions, protein will first be used in protein synthesis
and then for energy before the body decides to convert it to glucose or fat.

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Where do I get it?

Meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and whey protein are all good protein sources. There are
many commonly referred to as “high biological value (HBV)” and complete protein
sources. The biological value of a given protein depends on the essential amino
acid profile. Foods with a higher content of essential amino acids are classified as
HBV. Amino acids are biologically important organic compounds that combine to
form proteins.

There are essential and nonessential amino acids. Nonessential amino acids are
synthesized in the human body and include the following:

Alanine Glutamine

Asparagine Glycine

Aspartic acid Proline

Cysteine Serine

Glutamic acid Tyrosine

Essential amino acids cannot be synthesized in the body and must be obtained from
one’s diet:

Phenylalanine Tryptophan Isoleucine

Valine Methionine Lysine

Threonine Leucine Histidine

Leucine, isoleucine, and valine are referred to as Branched Chain Amino Acids
(BCAAs). Of the BCAAs, leucine is the most potent when it comes to stimulating
protein synthesis. Studies have shown we need 2.5-3g of leucine to initiate Muscle
Protein Synthesis (MPS).

The protein sources listed above (meats, fish, eggs, and dairy) are considered HBV
protein or “complete” proteins, which means that they contain all of the essential
amino acids. In contrast, protein sources, such as beans, grains, or vegetables, are
considered incomplete proteins because they do not contain all the essential amino
acids.

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General Guidelines
1. The range of 1.4–2.2 g protein/kg body weight/day (g/kg/d) is sufficient for
most exercising individuals.
2. Higher daily protein intake may help retain lean body mass while in a caloric
deficit.
3. While it is possible to get your daily protein with only whole foods, whey
protein, or other supplemental protein sources are a practical and legitimate
way to meet your target protein goal. (Read more here: How to Choose
Quality Protein Supplements, by Jeremy Partl, R.D.)

Carbohydrates

What does it do?

Carbohydrates provide four calories per gram. They are stored in the liver,
brain, blood, and muscles as glycogen. Carbohydrates are the brain’s preferred
energy source and have a linear relationship with the intensity of an activity. While
sedentary, a person burns roughly a 50/50 split of both fats and carbohydrates.
As exercise intensity increases, the reliance on carbohydrates also increases.

During resistance training or other anaerobic activities, the body’s primary fuel
is carbohydrates in their stored form of muscle glycogen—fats cannot be broken
down effectively in an anaerobic environment. Unlike fats, the more carbohydrates
you eat, the more carbohydrates you burn off. The thermic effect of carbohydrates
is five to ten percent.

For lifters, carbohydrates are generally more useful than fats. Progressive
overload is an increase in the stress and intensity of training over time. To
consistently lift the weights that make you stronger, your glycogen stores need
to be full, making adequate carbohydrate consumption as important as adequate
protein consumption. So, if your goal is to get stronger and gain muscle while
minimizing fat gain, the most effective way to do this is to keep carbohydrates high
while keeping fat intake moderate-to-low.

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Additionally, if you are in a negative energy balance, then the timing of
carbohydrate consumption becomes essential to maximize performance under
suboptimal conditions. As calories get lower to induce fat loss, carbohydrates
get lower, and thus the timing of carbohydrate intake to sufficiently fuel your
workouts becomes more important. Consumption of carbohydrates before and/
or during workouts becomes essential. Intra-workout carbohydrates should come
from concentrated sugars to provide the muscles with a rapidly absorbing fuel
source. Examples of this include dextrose powder, Gatorade, and carbohydrate
supplements.

Like protein, the body uses carbohydrates in several different ways.

Carbohydrates are first burned for energy, then stored as glycogen, then burned
off as heat, and finally stored as fat. Carbohydrates are stored as body fat at
around 75–85% efficiency, meaning it takes some energy to convert carbohydrates
to long-term storage.

Where do I get it?

Fruit, vegetables, grains, starchy vegetables, concentrated sweets, etc.

General guidelines

Papers examining healthy weight loss, gain, and performance often treat
carbohydrates as the filler in a person’s daily calories. Most recommendations
will set a target daily intake depending on a person’s baseline and goals. From
there, the person should plan to get adequate protein and will assign fifteen to
thirty percent of their caloric intake to fat grams, based on their goals (generally
a smaller percentage for those trying to lose weight). The rest of the daily caloric
intake will come from carbohydrates.

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Fats

What does it do?

Fat is an essential nutrient that our bodies require for survival. Fats are our main
source of stored energy and assist in vitamin absorption, hormone regulation,
brain function, and more. They contain more calories per gram than carbohydrates
and protein. And, fats have an inverse relationship with the intensity of the activity
performed. As intensity increases, the reliance on fat for energy decreases and
vice versa. Once again, when sedentary, a person burns roughly a 50/50 split
of fats and carbohydrates, but as intensity increases, the body prefers to burn
carbohydrates first.

Unlike carbohydrates, fats do not stimulate their own oxidation (eating more fat
does not lead to burning more fat). In contrast, the more fat you eat, the more fat
you will store. Fat provides nine calories per gram, and its thermic effect is zero
to three percent. Fats are the closest form to adipose tissue (they’re pretty much
the same molecules), making it relatively easy for the body to store excess dietary
fat as adipose. Unlike protein, which serves multiple important functions, fats are
either burned for energy or stored with a 90–95% efficiency rate. Therefore, if
your goal is to maintain your weight, you will want to keep your fat intake moderate
to avoid excess fat gain.

Where do I get it?

Meat, fatty fish, nuts, nut butters, oils, and countless other sources.

General recommendations

Recommendations for dietary fat vary widely, but most papers but the overall daily
fat grams at fifteen to thirty percent of one’s daily intake—lower for those trying to
lose weight and higher for those trying to gain.

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Alcohol

What does it do?

Alcohol (ethanol) is not an essential nutrient like protein, carbohydrates, and fats,
but it does contain calories, which is why it stands in as a fourth macro. At seven
calories per gram, it is nearly as energy-dense as fats. Whether you are trying to
lose weight or maximize training or your performance, it behooves you to take a
closer look at the many effects alcohol has beyond its caloric content.

We recommend the excellent article, The Pros and Cons of Alcohol for Training, by
Jeremy Partl, R.D., for more information, but we will quote some of the basics here:

• Protein Synthesis—Studies show that both acute and chronic alcohol

ingestion can have a detrimental effect on cell signaling and protein
synthesis in skeletal muscle. In other words, you may be risking the hard-
work that you are doing in the gym by drinking alcohol.

• Reduced Inhibitions—Alcohol changes the brain chemistry, which in turn

impacts moods, behaviors, thinking, memory, and physical movement and
bodily functions, which may have costly side effects. Many of us have tales
of doing stupid things and making poor choices when we consume alcohol. If
we are not careful, these poor decisions can be dangerous to our waistline
(among other things). How much easier is it to say yes to the high-calorie
appetizers and desserts at a party when you have had a drink or two?

• Recovery and Sleep—[A]lcohol . . . decreases overall sleep quality. The

downstream effects of reduced sleep include poorer decision making,
higher hunger levels, worsening performance, and more, over time,
impacting the physical results that you want from training.

Unlike the other macronutrients, alcohol cannot be stored as body fat. If you are
drinking alcohol and eating, your body will use the alcohol first, increasing the
priority for carbohydrates and fats to be stored as glycogen and adipose tissue.

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Where do I get it?

The most common sources of alcohol are beer, wine, and hard liquor. Since
alcoholic beverages do not provide nutrition facts, we will provide you with a cheat
sheet to refer to.
• 1 oz of unflavored spirits based on proof:
• 80 proof = 85 calories, 7 grams of alcohol, 0 grams of fat (F),
0 grams of carbs (CHO), 0 grams of protein (P)
• 90 proof = 95 calories, 14 grams of alcohol, 0 F/CHO/P
• 100 proof = 105 calories, 15 grams of alcohol, 0 F/CHO/P
• 110 proof = 115 calories, 17 grams of alcohol, 0 F/CHO/P
• 120 proof = 125 calories, 18 grams of alcohol, 0 F/CHO/P
• 130 proof = 135 calories, 19 grams of alcohol 0 F/CHO/P
• 140 proof = 147 calories, 21 grams of alcohol, 0 F/CHO/P

If you are interested in calculating alcohol intake manually, follow the steps below.
Conversions: 1 oz = 30 mL; 1 mL = 1 gram.
1. Determine the percentage of alcohol by volume. If the proof is listed, then:
• Alcohol % = Proof/2
2. Then multiply the Alcohol% x mL = grams of alcohol
3. Grams of alcohol x 7 = total calories from alcohol

General guidelines

You should include counting alcohol in your data tracking. The easiest way is to
count alcohol as part of your carbohydrate and fat grams to match your added
caloric intake. If you are trying to meet a daily count for macros, then alcohol
should reduce the number of fats and carbs you can consume. Again, this shows
the disruptive effect of alcohol consumption on daily planning, but it will help to
minimize the effect of moderate alcohol intake on your training and goals.

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Key Takeaways

Each macronutrient yields a certain number of calories and has an order of priority in
which it is processed by the body.
• One gram of protein yields four calories.
• One gram of carbohydrate yields four calories.
• One gram of fat yields nine calories.
• One gram of alcohol yields seven calories.

Counting Macronutrients

Using the nutrition label below on the left, we uncover the relationship between
macronutrients and calories.

• Protein = 13 * 4 = 52
• Carbohydrates: 36 * 4 = 144
• Fat: 1 * 9 = 9
• 144+52+9 = 205 calories (Close, outside of the unavoidable rounding error.)

Keep in mind that many products contain 2-3+ servings in a package, meaning you will
have to calculate your macros based on how many services you have.

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PART THREE:
Micronutrients and
Other Stuff on the Label

As we discussed earlier, all calories come from proteins, fats, carbs, or alcohol.
Micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) do not contain calories.

Should I count it?

Young females should keep track of their iron and calcium, being at greater risk for
anemia and osteoporosis. Iron and calcium supplements or a multivitamin containing
the requisite amount are easy insurance against deficiencies.

Other supplements to consider for training are discussed here: Simple Supplementation

Saturated Fat:

Saturated fat has been painted as the leading villain to heart disease and obesity for
the past few decades. This is turning out to be not so true. While an excessive intake
of saturated fats can lead to the development of these diseases, saturated fat in
moderate-to-low amounts does not.

Saturated fat has been shown to have some benefits. It is a precursor to testosterone
production. It also improves brain functioning, nerve signaling, and immunity.

Should I count it?

Saturated (sat) fat, along with unsaturated fats (including trans fats), make up the total
fat column. There is no need to count sat fat specifically.

Cholesterol:

Cholesterol, like saturated fat, is produced naturally in the human body. Also, like
saturated fat, it has been vilified for years, but doctors and researchers alike seem to
be coming around to the idea that it “isn’t so bad.”

Should I count it? Nope.

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Sodium:

Sodium is a mineral, so it does not contain any calories. Sodium gets a bad
reputation, and low-sodium diets have become increasingly popular. This is very
faddish. Sodium intake is irrelevant to long term body-weight maintenance. If
you suddenly increase your sodium intake, you will retain more water, and your
body weight will increase due to the retention of water. However, it is important to
understand that this is water weight and has no impact whatsoever on your body fat.

The bottom line is that the human body needs sodium to function. Unless you have
high blood pressure (and are salt sensitive), heart failure, or any disease that
requires a low sodium diet, don’t stress too much about this micronutrient.

Should I count it?

Only if you have high blood pressure (and it has been established that you are salt
sensitive) or another relevant disease.

Dietary Fiber:

Fiber is a non-digestible carbohydrate with many benefits: it slows digestion,

decreases blood cholesterol, and increases satiety/fullness. Coming mostly from
plant foods, fiber comes in two major types: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber
dissolves readily in water and forms a gel in the colon, slowing down digestion and
the release of other nutrients into the blood. Soluble fiber sources include oats, nuts,
seeds, beans, legumes, and apples, strawberries, peas, and potatoes. Insoluble fiber
doesn’t dissolve in water. It helps to keep food moving through your digestive system.
Insoluble fiber sources include the skins and peels of most fruits and vegetables,
legumes, and whole grains, such as wheat bran, whole wheat bread, whole grain
couscous, and brown rice.

Fiber promotes fullness, insulin resistance, beneficial bacteria, longevity, and bowel
regulation. Read more about the benefits of fiber here: “Why Fiber?”

Should I count it?

Yes! Standard recommendations are to eat 14 grams of fiber per 1000 calories
consumed per day. We prefer to err on the side of a higher-fiber diet, recommending,
generally, 30-40 grams per day.

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Sugar:

We are going to skirt the endless is sugar bad and how much can you eat debate.

Sugar is a carbohydrate. With regard to intake, moderation is best. All of your

carbohydrates should not come from sugar, but you certainly don’t need to ditch it
completely. There comes a point where, if you are consuming too much fiber, you
may very well be living in the toilet. This isn’t necessarily bad for you, but it can be
uncomfortable. So, to get enough carbohydrates comfortably, you are going to be
eating some lower fiber sources, which could include some concentrated sweets.
The best time to eat these is before, during, or after your workout because that is
when you need a rapidly absorbing carbohydrate such as sugar. Just don’t consume
100% of your carbohydrate intake from sweets, which will also be difficult to
accomplish with 40 grams of fiber. So, in short, include a lot of fruits, veggies, whole
grains, and starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn, rice, etc.) in your diet, and feel free to
mix in some treats as well to reach your total macros.

Should I count it? Only as part of your carbohydrates.

Fluid:

Fluid consumption is equally as important as food consumption. Fluid includes all

beverages, with the exception of alcohol. Although the food that you eat, especially
fruits and vegetables, will provide you with some water, it is important to stay
hydrated with actual water.

Water helps preserve bodily functions and prevent negative physiological effects
associated with dehydration. More is not better, ad infinitum, but neither is more
harmful in normal circumstances. You don’t need to panic if you feel thirsty. Just
drink. While there’s no real benefit to waiting until you get thirsty to drink, there are
some physiologic effects of dehydration that can occur asymptomatically. Start with
a moderate water intake, adjusted up or down for your needs by paying attention to
when you are thirsty. If you crave specificity, start with 1 mL per kcal consumed per
day and adjust from there.

For general recommendations:

Males: 3-4 liters of water per day (~ 100-130 oz or ¾-1 gallon per day)

Females: 2-3 liters of water per day (~66-100 oz per day or ½ to ¾ gallons per day)

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During training: Aim to drink 8 oz (1 cup) of fluid for every 15 minutes of training.
If you are exercising in high temperatures, you should increase your fluid
consumption by 5-10oz.

Read more here:

Recovery from Training and Water
Coping with Heat for Training
Water for Weight Loss

Dehydration:

Dehydration is a serious consequence of inadequate fluid consumption. An easy

way to determine your hydration status is to monitor the color of your urine. In
general, the clearer your urine looks, the more hydrated you are and vice versa.
However, “crystal clear” urine is not desirable either as that may reflect potential
electrolyte imbalances (specifically sodium and potassium), which can negatively
impact your health and performance.

Signs and symptoms of dehydration include:

Headaches
Irritability
Cognitive impairments
Reduction in reaction time
Reduction in physical performance
(strength, speed, power, coordination, stamina)

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PART FOUR:
Tips for Success

Measuring Food Without Nutrition Facts

MyFitnessPal is your friend

MyFitnessPal should be one of your main nutritional resources. Its database
contains just about anything you’d ever eat. The vast majority of foods are also
verified to be correct. To know if a food is verified, it will have a little green check
mark badge next to it: When you choose an item with a green check, then as long as
you have weighed your food correctly, you can be pretty sure the macronutrient
breakdown is accurate.

Other resources
Counting macros in food with a nutrition label is straightforward, but there will be
many situations in which the macros are not printed nicely on the package. Here
are some general suggestions for navigating this territory:

Fruits/Veggies

For produce, look up the nutrition facts online via these sources:
• Google
• Nutrition Data
• Calorie Count

You may see a small amount of variance, but in general, each of these sites will give
you accurate numbers.

Notice that you can adjust the serving size as follows:

• Generic: One medium apple
• Metric: 100 grams
• US: 1 cup

While you can eyeball the size of fruits/vegetables to get a decent estimate—small,
medium, or large for a more accurate number, you should use a food scale and
weigh it in grams. You might be surprised what qualifies as “small” or “large” when
eyeballing.

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Meat

When it comes to meat, the nutrition label is representative of raw meat. So, weigh
your meat raw for the most accurate measure. The meat’s weight will decrease
when cooked.

A general guideline for determining the macronutrient composition of meats is

listed below:

Very Lean Meats

1 oz = 1 gram fat, 0 carbohydrates, 7 grams of protein

Examples:
• Beef: 96/4 ground beef
• Poultry: Chicken or turkey (white meat no skin), Cornish Hen (no skin)
• Fish: Fresh or frozen cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, trout, tuna (fresh or
canned in water)
• Shellfish: Clams, crab, lobster, scallops, shrimp, imitation shellfish
• Game: Duck or pheasant (no skin), venison, buffalo, ostrich
• Cheese with 1 gram or less fat per ounce: Nonfat or low-fat cottage cheese,
Fat-free cheese
• Other: Egg whites, processed sandwich meats with 1 gram or less fat per
ounce, such as deli thin, shaved meats, chipped beef, turkey ham

Lean Meats
1 oz = 3 grams of fat, 0 carbohydrate, 7 grams of protein

Examples:
• Beef: USDA Select or Choice grades of trimmed lean round, sirloin, and
flank steak; tenderloin; roast (rib, chuck, rump); steak (t-bone, porterhouse,
cubed); and ground round, 90% lean ground beef
• Pork: Lean pork such as fresh ham; canned, cured, or boiled ham; Canadian
bacon; tenderloin; center loin chop

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Lean Meats, continued
• Lamb: Roast, chop, leg
• Veal: Lean chop, roast
• Poultry: Chicken (white meat with skin), chicken (dark meat, no skin), turkey
(dark meat, no skin),
• Fish: Oysters, Tuna (canned in oil, drained), Herring, Salmon (fresh or
canned), catfish, sardines (canned)
• Wild Game: Goose (without skin), domestic duck or goose (well-drained off
fat, no skin), rabbit
• Cheese: Cottage cheese (4.5% fat), grated parmesan, diet cheeses (3 grams
fat or less)
• Other: Hotdogs with 3 grams or less, luncheon meat with 3 grams or less fat
per oz

Medium-Fat Meats
1 oz = 5 grams of fat, 0 grams of carbohydrate, and 7 grams of protein

Examples:
• Beef: 80/20 Ground beef, meatloaf, corned beef, short ribs, prime grades of
meat with fat trimmed off, such as prime rib (most beef products fall into this
category)
• Pork: Chops, top loin, Boston butt, cutlets.
• Lamb: Rib, roast, ground
• Veal: Cutlet (unbreaded)
• Poultry: Chicken (dark meat with skin), 80/20 ground turkey or ground
chicken, fried chicken (with skin)
• Fish: Any fried fish product
• Cheese: With 5 grams of fat or less fat per ounce, Ricotta (2oz),
Mozzarella(1oz), Feta (1oz)
• Other: Egg (1 large), Tofu (4 oz), Sausage with 5 grams or less fat per ounce,
Soy milk (8 oz)

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High-Fat Meats
1 oz = 8 grams of fat, 0 grams of carbohydrate, and 7 grams of protein

Examples:
• Pork: Spareribs (<70/30 ground pork or beef), sausage
• Cheese: All regular cheeses, such as American, Cheddar, Swiss, Monterey
Jack
• Other: Luncheon meat with 8 grams or less fat per ounce, such as bologna,
pimento loaf, salami, sausage (such as Polish, Italian, Frankfurter), turkey or
chicken Bacon (3 slices)

Fats

Fats include foods that are primarily composed of fats with no carbs. Some
common sources of fats are the following:
• Nuts & Nut spreads
• Butter
• Bacon
• Cheese
• Heavy Cream
• Oils
• Avocados (although technically a fruit, they are mostly comprised of fat)

Fats should always be measured on a scale. Fats are calorically dense, meaning
that a small volume of food will contain a high number of calories. The best
example of this is peanut butter. One serving of peanut butter weighs 32 grams
and contains 16 grams of fat: a very small portion of food contains ~200 calories,
which is not marginal.

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The same concept applies to all fats. When compared to carbs, fats always provide
a fraction of the amount of food volume provided by carbs.

Restaurants

Restaurants are getting better at publishing their nutrition data online. Fast food
restaurants usually have a pdf on their website. Some companies, like Chipotle,
have macro calculators where you can build your own meal. Not all restaurants
have reached this level, and it poses a problem if you are counting your macros.

Knowledge of common practices can help give you better estimates of your
restaurant dining. On average, a serving of rice, starch, or vegetables will be ½
cup. Most restaurants add fat to their cooking, and this is where it gets sticky. We
suggest adding 1-2 tablespoons of oil to your meal to account for this.

Restaurants are also notoriously stingy with their meat portions. Most
steakhouses will list how much the meat weighs, and if they don’t, you can bet the
cook or server will know. A general rule of thumb for determining meat macros is
that a 4-ounce serving of meat is approximately the size of a deck of cards, and a
6-oz serving of fish is approximately the size of a checkbook. One ounce of meat
contains about 7 grams of protein. The amount of fat and calories vary, depending
on the choice. The list is divided into very lean meat, lean meat, medium-fat meat,
and high-fat meat.

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Measuring Food

Now that we have all the theory down let’s put this into practice.

Food scale
Beyond the most basic guidelines, the more you know about what you are eating,
the better. For this, a food scale is the gold standard for your kitchen. They are
cheap, simple to use, and a great tool for your kitchen. Measuring food may seem
intrusive at the outset, but it’s one of the quickest habits to build. And measuring
food on a scale quickly teaches you what calories and macros look like in the real
world. Most people are really, really bad at eyeballing food. People who use food
scales get very good at it.

Whether you invest in a food scale may also depend on your goals. Food scales
are especially useful during fat loss phases because the priority is to remain in a
negative energy balance. During a period of weight maintenance or gain, however,
the degree of precision necessary isn’t quite so high.

Counting Macros versus Counting Calories

If you focus solely on calories and consume fewer calories than you burn, and
if you want to gain weight, you must consume more calories than you burn.
Thermodynamics is real, and science rules!

But, as we said at the beginning of this discussion, there is more to what we eat
than what it’s made of. Certain things are satisfying for no more reason than it’s
what we grew up eating or what we crave right now, while other (arguably better)
options have no appeal. In economic terms, the opportunity cost of forgoing the
emotionally satisfying foods may be much higher than disparate caloric contents.

And, as we discussed earlier, a calorie is not just a calorie. Your body does
different things with each of the macronutrients that may affect your energy level,
satiety, training, and progress.

So, while calories are an important consideration, the quality of your weight loss/
gain will suffer if you ignore the macronutrients and the composition of what is on
your plate.

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For example, inadequate protein during a caloric deficit will cause you to lose
more muscle and strength than you would otherwise. During a caloric surplus,
inadequate protein will impede your progress. Similarly, inadequate carbohydrate
intake will negatively impact training performance.

In other words, you cannot simply scale a typical Western diet (high-fat/high
carb/low protein) up or down depending on whether you are trying to lose, gain,
or maintain body weight. Your results will skew toward fat mass, and you will not
optimize your progress in the weight room. Similarly, low-calorie/low protein diets
sacrifice muscular body weight for pounds on the scale.

Meal timing
Meal timing refers to how you divide your meals throughout the day and accounts
for a small part of the big picture. Ideally, you want to eat at least 3-4 meals per
day (excluding what you consume intra-workout), with additional meals providing
minimal additional benefit. As a general rule, try and avoid going longer than five
hours without food.

Another simple rule of thumb is to try and eat within the first hour of waking. This
does not mean that you need a full course breakfast. Rather you just need to get
some calories into your system to stimulate your metabolism. The thermic effect
of food, which refers to the metabolic contribution of food, means that eating and
digesting food burns calories. This accounts for 10-15% of your total daily energy
expenditure. So, if you just woke up from an overnight fast, the easiest way to
stimulate your metabolism is to eat something, even if it’s something as small as a
banana, apple, smoothie, yogurt, or even a protein shake. Additionally, if you are in
a fat loss phase, an overnight fast can result in waking up in a catabolic state, and
thus eating immediately is the best thing you can do to mitigate the negative effects
of this.

Strategies for Macro Success

We very much want to make the majority of our food choices “healthy” single-
ingredient foods. However, because we have a macro prescription, occasionally
having something like a donut or a slice of pizza or a beer is allowable, so long as
it fits in your macros. There is a tremendous psychological benefit to knowing that
you can eat “what you want” as long as it fits inside the macro prescription.

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This is essentially nothing more than a food budget and is responsibly navigated the
same way we’d navigate a financial budget. We all have a finite amount of money. If
we spend all that money on entertainment, then we won’t have money for things like
food, clothing, and shelter. The same is true for nutrition—we all will have a finite
amount of macros each day. If we spend them all on junk food, or by 11 am, we won’t
get anything to eat the rest of the day—or we will go over our macros, which is like
going into financial debt.

Meal timing is beneficial for daily success. Eating smaller low-calorie meals
throughout the morning and early afternoon hours allows us to save our macros for
later in the day—like a nice dinner. This often will help negate the negative effect of
night snacking. This strategy also tends to work really well for those of you who train
in the late afternoons/early evenings because your post-workout-meal (dinner) can
be the biggest meal of the day.

We also want to make sure we have carbs to eat around training (before, during,
and immediately after), and often we will eat 30% or more of our daily carbohydrate
intake in the window around training.

Here are some specific tips for people converting from a high-fat or keto-type diet:

• Breakfast is the biggest change—as fried eggs, bacon, and cheese, are now
replaced by egg whites, low-fat breakfast meat, veggies, and oatmeal.

• Heavy cream in your coffee should probably be replaced by half & half or
milk...or just drink coffee black, if possible.

• Veggies cooked in butter or bacon fat are now replaced by steamed or grilled
veggies.

• Fatty meats like ribeye, hamburger, and chicken thighs are now replaced by
lean meats like chicken breast, fish, and sirloin or round steak.

• BUT, if you’ve never been able to eat rice, beans, potatoes, tortillas, and
occasionally pasta and bread—it’s a really nice change of pace.

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• Whole milk is usually replaced by skim milk/almond milk, and protein shakes
can be made in 1c almond milk + 1 cup of egg whites—you won’t even know it’s
not made with whole milk this way.

• Begin ordering salads with dressing on the side, and ask for veggies, eggs, and
meat to not be cooked in butter but grilled or to use cooking spray instead.

Tips for eating 30-40g of fiber:

• Mission “Carb Control” tortillas have 13g of fiber per tortilla.

• Eating a big helping of veggies at every meal is both satiating and helps add
to our daily fiber intake.

• Adding a high-fiber cereal to Greek Yogurt dramatically improves fiber

intake.

• Berries also have very high fiber. Add raspberries, blackberries, and
blueberries to your greek yogurt and protein shakes.

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PART FIVE:
Lose/ Gain/ Maintain

1. Why is my weight increasing/decreasing in a 24-hour period?

Body weight fluctuations are normal and should be expected. Fluid shifts take
place day-to-day and can happen as a result of training, menstrual cycles, sodium
and fluid intake, and carbohydrate intake. From a dietary standpoint, if you eat
more sodium, you will retain more fluid the following day. This is not fat weight,
and changes in body fluid do not affect changes in body fat. If you are cutting
and remain in a negative energy balance, then you will continue losing body fat
regardless of sodium intake. Furthermore, if you eat more sodium than usual and
continue to do so, your body adjusts to this, and your body weight will come back
down. Fluid changes do not affect changes in body fat. This is why we suggest
weighing only twice per week and staying away from the scale for the remainder
of the week. Weighing too frequently can contribute to mental health issues
associated with weight and is therefore not recommended.

2. Will I gain weight during my menstrual cycle? (Females)

If you are female and having a menstrual cycle, then your body weight will almost
certainly increase due to fluid retention. Completely normal and expected.

3. If I don’t lose weight one week, does that mean I messed up?
No. Weight loss is rarely linear. In a perfect world, on a 12-week cut, you’d lose 1%
of your body weight every week for twelve consecutive weeks without interruption.
In reality, life happens and tends to interrupt our best-laid plans. The most
successful weight loss happens in a nonlinear fashion. Unless you are a paid actor,
bodybuilder, or physique competitor, linear progress on the scale rarely happens,
nor is it expected.

4. How much weight should I gain if I am trying to gain muscle?

This will depend on your training history, genetics, and body composition
preferences. Progressive strength training is the stimulus for muscle growth. In
the absence of recovery from a wasting disease or malnutrition, no diet is going to
add muscular body weight in the absence of progressive strength training.

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If you are training and eating to gain weight, know that regardless of training
advancement, during periods of muscle gain, fat gain will take place too. We can skew
those gains in favor of muscle by partitioning your macronutrients and putting the
brakes on weight gain before too much fat accumulates. In general, less advanced
lifters gain muscular body weight at a faster rate than more advanced lifters. A novice
male lifter may gain 15-30 lb. of body weight in six months and have half of that body
weight made up of muscle mass and half of its fat mass. In contrast, a highly advanced
lifter may gain six pounds and have one to two pounds of that weight gain comprise
of muscle mass. Cut these numbers in half for female lifters, older lifters, or other
populations with lower muscle building capabilities.

5. What should I know and understand about Body Fat/ Body Fat Percentage?
There is no standard optimal level of body fat. Responses to any intervention are going
to vary across different humans (biological variability). While one male may rise to an
elite level of training while maintaining 9% body fat, another may perform poorly at
9% and excel at 18% body fat. Also, as body fat decreases, fat loss gets more difficult
and requires additional calorie restriction that may reach extreme levels. This isn’t
an issue for paid actors, models, bodybuilders, and physique competitors because
their priority is achieving a specific “look,” but our priority is to get strong, and such
measures undercut our primary goal.

We don’t want excess levels of body fat, either. Most professionals agree that a body
fat percentage of >25% for males and > 35% for females is on the high side. Body
fat distribution is another factor to consider since the location of fat stores is also
associated with cardiometabolic diseases, specifically, abdominal fat. Typically, a waist
circumference >102 cm (40 in) in males and >88 (35 in) in females is considered large
and associated with cardiometabolic diseases.

A waist-to-hip ratio of >1.0 in males and >0.85 in females is considered high and
associated with cardiometabolic diseases.

Negative body image issues with weight gain are no secret. If your body-fat percentage
is too high, then fat loss can positively improve both your physical and mental health to
a point. You don’t need to get ready for a bodybuilding show, but getting down to a level
that allows you to perform well and feel good is the obvious goal.
that will work for you will be determined based on your response to diet, training, and

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Neither extremely high nor extremely low body fats are recommended. The number
that will work for you will be determined based on your response to diet, training,
and lifestyle variables.

Weight Cycling

Weight cycling refers to periods of weight loss, followed by periods of weight gain.
In general, during periods of weight gain, both muscle and fat are deposited at
the same time, and the two are inextricably related. In contrast, during periods of
weight loss, both fat and muscle are reduced. Our goal is to skew the weight gain
towards muscle and skew the weight loss toward fat through effective training
and diet. Mild weight cycling maximizes muscle gain while avoiding excess fat gain.
Extreme weight cycling can negatively impact your health. There is no set guideline
for acceptable vs. non-acceptable weight cycling. Research has shown that
weight cycling is associated with a higher risk of cardiometabolic diseases. Other
harmful effects of weight cycling include hypothyroidism and a reduction in satiety
hormones (your hormones responsible for feelings of fullness), and a reduction
in resting metabolic rate. These negative consequences typically occur when the
weight gain happens unintentionally and due to a poor diet without exercise and
then followed by a dramatic reduction in calories (aka crash diet) coupled with
extreme exercise (long duration cardio, high volume lifting, etc.) and then followed
by a regression to previous behaviors (poor diet/sedentary lifestyle). This is not
the same as weight cycling advocated for strength trainees interested in optimizing
body composition: planned periods of weight gain designed to skew the weight gain
toward muscular body weight.

To provide a general example of a successful weight cycle

(remember all results will vary):
• Male: 160 lbs @ 15% body fat
• Lean Body Mass: 136 lb.
• Fat Mass: 24 lb.

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He gains 30 lb. and runs a novice LP for six months without any hiccup. 15 lb. of his
gain is muscle mass and 15 lb. of it being fat mass (remember, this is a theoretical
example). His stats are now:
• Weight: 190 lb. @ 20.5% body fat
• Lean Body Mass: 151 lb.
• Fat Mass: 41 lb.

So now he is an intermediate and needs to lose some of that fat he gained. Let’s say he
loses 15 lbs and preserves all of his lean body mass (remember, this is a theoretical
example). That places him at:
• Weight: 175 lb. @ 14.8% body fat
• Lean Body Mass: 151 lb.
• Fat Mass: 26 lb.

Since he is an early intermediate, he’ll need to gain more muscle, but now this is going
to take longer. So now, a 30 lb. weight cycle is no longer appropriate for this trainee.
Instead, he’ll gain 15 lb. over the course of 3-6 months, and let’s assume 50% of that
will be muscle mass:
• Weight: 190 lbs @ 17.6% body fat
• Lean Body Mass: 158.5 lbs
• Fat Mass: 33.5 lbs

This process will continue with ~10 lbs of weight cycling over the remainder of this
trainee’s career. The thing to pay attention to here is that his body fat percentage is
dropping at the high end of his weight range. Whereas post-LP, he was 190 @ 20% body
fat, he is now 17% body fat at the same body weight. The amount of weight gain was
appropriate for his level of advancement and did not push his body fat percentage to
very high levels. In contrast, a weight gain of 60-80 lb. with 15 lb. of muscle will only
result in a long period of weight loss, which, if repeated several times, could lead to the
negative consequences listed above. The muscle was gained while keeping body fat
percentage within reasonably healthy levels.

Keep in mind this is a hypothetical example to illustrate how weight cycling works.
This is not a recommendation and should not be taken as medical or nutritional advice.

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PART SIX:
FAQ

1. Do I have to eat the same foods every day?

No. You can eat the same foods every day if you like, but this is not the expectation.
The expectation is that you eat the same amounts of food most days of the week
(unless otherwise indicated), with the exact combinations and food choices subject
to your own preferences. Research and the experience of practitioners have
shown that the further a human is displaced from his/her natural diet, the greater
the likelihood that he/she will return to it. The idea is to develop a meal plan for
yourself that includes foods that are staples in your traditional diet.

2. Do I have to count and log everything?

Yes, if your goal is fat loss. Fat loss depends on maintaining a negative energy
balance (calories in < calories out), and anytime that this is interrupted, fat loss
cannot take place. This is because fat loss requires a high degree of precision,
and more importantly, consistency. If you are a “hard-gainer” and looking to gain
weight, then you absolutely need to track as well. Eating to gain weight, for a hard-
gainer, is like a full-time job, and it is easy to skip meals when your calorie needs
are 4000-6000 calories.

In general, the longer you have been tracking/logging/self-monitoring, the better

you get at eyeballing, and tracking becomes less important during a period of
weight maintenance or even weight gain. Tracking and logging are analogous to
training wheels. Essential in the beginning, less essential as you become more
experienced and successful.

3. Will protein make me fat?

No. A diet high in protein will not make you fat. Converting protein into fat stores is
metabolically inefficient. The human body does not do a very good job at using or
storing protein for energy and avoids doing so at all costs. It prefers to convert fat
into fat stores and will do so before resorting to other macronutrients for energy
storage.

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4. Will carbs make me fat?
The short answer is no. Similar to protein, the human body does not like to store
carbohydrates as body fat because it is a metabolically inefficient process.
Additionally, carbohydrate consumption stimulates its own oxidation. The more
carbs you eat, the more carbs you burn. This also means the less dietary fat you
burn, meaning that the fat you consume from food is more likely to get stored as
body fat in a period of excess calorie intake. If you are consuming more calories
than you are burning and the excess is from carbohydrates, your body will burn
off the carbohydrates and store the fat. Similar to protein, the human body can
convert carbohydrates into stored body fat via de novo lipogenesis. But this
requires a carbohydrate intake in excess of total daily calorie needs. So, if you
need 2000 calories per day to maintain your weight and 2500 calories to gain
weight, you would have to eat at least 2500 calories from carbohydrates per day,
which comes out to 625 carbohydrates per day. If you are eating fats with those
carbs, you will store the fat first before converting the carbohydrates.

5. Will eating more fat make me a better fat burner?

Although carbohydrates stimulate their own oxidation, fat does not share this
characteristic. Any excess fat consumed gets stored as body fat. The only time
fat oxidation increases is during periods of ketosis. If you are on a very low-
carb, high-fat diet, then your body’s ability to burn carbohydrates decreases
(carbohydrate oxidation decreases), and its ability to burn fat increases regardless
of whether you are in maintenance, surplus, or deficit. It’s true that you become a
“better fat burner” on a ketogenic diet. However, this reflects your ability to burn
dietary fat and does not necessarily mean that you will burn more stored fat. This
means that you use more of the fat you are eating for bodily functions normally
fueled by carbohydrates. This does not mean that you will lose more stored body
fat on a low-carb/high-fat diet.

6. Doesn’t a high carb diet just make me a better “sugar burner” and worse fat
burner? Doesn’t this mean that I won’t be able to lose fat?
No. A diet high in protein will not make you fat. Converting protein into fat stores is
metabolically inefficient. The human body does not do a very good job at using or
storing protein for energy and avoids doing so at all costs. It prefers to convert fat
into fat stores and will do so before resorting to other macronutrients for energy
storage.

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7. Do you need to eat low-calorie to lose fat?
Yes. 100%. Now the reason that we don’t count total calories is that total calories
are the sum of calories provided by each macronutrient (calories from fats +
calories from carbohydrates + calories from protein + calories from alcohol). As
macronutrients go up or down, your body weight should go up or down.

8. Is low-carb better than low fat for fat loss or vice versa?
When you consume fewer calories than you are expending, both low-carb and low-
fat diets work equally well. If calories get low enough, both carbs and fat get low
because fat loss depends on a negative energy balance (calories in < calories out).
However, we are interested in staying strong or possibly getting stronger during
periods of fat loss. For this, higher protein intakes during periods of negative
energy balance have been shown to preserve and/or increase lean body mass.
Since muscle mass and strength have a positive relationship (as muscle mass
increases, strength increases), preserving muscle mass is of utmost importance.
And because we are strength training, carbs have an advantage over fats. Lifting
weights is an anaerobic activity and primarily uses muscle glycogen, which is then
stored form of carbohydrates, for energy during training. Since overload leads to
gains in muscle mass and glycogen provides the necessary energy to overload,
then it is in our best interest to keep carbohydrates as high as possible for as
long as possible during periods of fat loss. Eventually, they will get low, and high-
intensity sets cannot be effectively performed.

9. Isn’t sugar bad for me?

The chemical name for sugar is sucrose. Overconsumption of sucrose can lead
to high insulin levels, which can lead to pre-diabetes and, eventually, the full
onset of diabetes. However, overconsumption is the keyword here. In moderation,
sucrose is not harmful to your health. Concentrated sugars such as glucose or
maltodextrins are advantageous before, during, or after workout times. This is
especially true when calories are low and stores of muscle glycogen are low.
Concentrated sweets provide a rapidly absorbed source of sugar that can be
easily accessible during training. Consuming these post-workout has been
repeatedly shown to reduce markers of muscle damage and contribute to building
muscle.

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10. Do I count total or net carbs?
Always count total carbs. Net carbs subtract non-digestible carbohydrates from
the total carbs (fiber, sugar alcohols) under the assumption that these aren’t
released as energy. However, this is variable and depends on the individual, so for
simplicity, count total carbs.

11. Do I need to weigh and count vegetables?

Yes. Vegetables contain calories and thus should be counted and weighed.

12. Is grass-fed protein healthier/better?

Grass-fed protein offers a marginal nutritional benefit. It contains more omega-3
fatty acids and conjugated linolenic acid (CLA). An omega-3 supplement can provide
you with the same benefit, and there is no current evidence that non-grass-fed
beef is harmful to your health.

13. Can I eat frozen or canned vegetables, or do they have to be fresh?

You can eat all of the above. Fresh, raw vegetables are the gold standard for
optimizing micronutrient (vitamins and minerals) intake, but if eating them becomes
burdensome, or you prefer canned or frozen, that is perfectly acceptable too.

14. Should I be eating organic or non-GMO foods?

There is no conclusive evidence that organic or non-GMO foods are more
beneficial to your health. The nutritional content is exactly the same. What we also
know is that it will not harm you to eat organic or non-GMO foods, so the choice is
entirely up to you.

Read more here: Organic vs. Nonorganic Foods

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15. Should I avoid gluten?
In most cases, no. If you have been diagnosed with celiac disease, then you should
absolutely avoid gluten and work with a Registered Dietitian on your meal plan.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that causes an allergic reaction to
gluten, which is a group of proteins found in various grains. If you have not been
diagnosed with celiac disease and/or allergies to gluten-containing foods, then you
need not avoid gluten.

16. Is caffeine good/bad?

Caffeine has been reported to be both bad and good, depending on who you ask.
In moderate doses, caffeine is not harmful to your health. An 8 oz cup of coffee
contains approximately 125 milligrams (mg) of caffeine. According to Mayo Clinic,
up to 400 mg of caffeine per day appears to be safe for most healthy adults. That’s
approximately the amount of caffeine in four 8 oz cups of brewed coffee, ten
cans of soda, or two “energy shot” drinks. Although caffeine is a mild diuretic, it is
unlikely to dehydrate you in moderate quantities and can even count toward your
fluid intake. Just make sure to consume other fluids throughout the day. Insomnia
can be a side effect of excessive caffeine intake and/or caffeine intake close to
bedtime, so be mindful of this when consuming caffeinated beverages.

Read more here: Caffeine for Training

17. Should I avoid artificial sweeteners?

No. Artificial sweeteners are safe for human consumption in the amounts provided
by common foods. There is plenty of research available on the safety of artificial
sweeteners, and the current evidence suggests that artificial sweeteners are safe
for human consumption. However, there is evidence to suggest that excessive
consumption of artificial sweeteners can negatively affect your healthy gut
bacteria, depending on the amount consumed and individual variability.

18. Can I use herbs and spices?

Yes: no restrictions here.

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19. Do I need to measure and track condiments?
Yes.

20. Do I need to track cream and sugar in my coffee?

Yes.

21. Can I have a “cheat meal?”

A cheat meal implies that you are cheating on your diet and thus deviating from
the diet prescription. Planning and counting mean that you do not have to limit
food sources. That being said, if your calorie needs are low or you are in a period
of fat loss, some foods may not be feasible or may account for >50% of your total
daily calories. If you want an item of food that provides more than 50% of your
macronutrient needs, then try to plan for it by limiting fats and carbs during other
times in the day so that you have a sufficient amount leftover for that meal. The
best way to approach this is like a budget. You have so much to play with, and you’ll
want to partition out what you have to stay within your budget.

Read more here: Cheat vs. Treat—A Paradigm Shift

22. What do I do when I travel/ vacation?

Success on the road is all about location, location, location. The two most important
steps to take while on the road are:
1. Scout out all grocery stores in the area.
2. Assess your cooking facilities. (Microwave vs. no microwave; Refrigerator
vs. no refrigerator; etc.)

Once you have answered those questions, you can begin to think about the
following tips below:

Protein
• If a microwave is available, find the nearest grocery store and purchase a
carton of egg whites, pre-cut veggies, and some spray butter. Mix together,
throw in the microwave for a few minutes, and you have yourself an omelet.

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Protein, continued:
• You may also purchase beef jerky, tuna cans, milk, halo top, and Greek or
Icelandic yogurt for some easy ready-to-go sources of protein.
• Most gas stations have ready-to-go protein drinks.
• Subway salads work really well on the road. Double up the meat, and you get
plenty of protein and veggies.

Consider getting a good travel cooler with compartments for separate meals. With
a little effort before you travel, you can load the cooler with macro-friendly food
and withstand the food temptations of the road.

Vacation vs. Travel

It is important to set some standards for what you consider to be business/
general travel and what you consider to be a vacation. If travel is part of your job,
or you have to travel between cities to see friends and relatives quite often, you
may want to consider this non-vacation travel. A vacation indicates that you want
to kick back from your routine, and under these conditions, you want to do just
that. If you travel quite often in your daily life, then you will want to form a “travel
routine” in addition to your home routine. The goal is to develop lifestyle habits, and
that will include habits formed on the road.

Things to Avoid While Traveling

French fries, potato chips, fatty meat treats, buffets, and excess drinking. Travel
food is designed to taste good and get you to buy it, and it appeals to our cravings
for high-fat food. It doesn’t take much to blow your macros for the day. Choose
the lower-fat options on the menu, not because fat is bad in itself, but because the
tasty fatty food will screw up your energy balance for the day.

The Sample Platter Method

Avoiding the above is not always feasible, and sometimes we just want to eat tasty
foods. If you are in a situation where various high-calorie/high-fat foods are
available, and you want to enjoy yourself with the food more, this method works
quite well: create a sample platter for yourself with “grocery store” sample size
portions so that you can get a small taste of everything. After a few of these, you’ll
be full, and the craving should be satisfied. Drink plenty of water to help increase
the fullness and avoid overeating.

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