Nutrition Basics

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.

Those are the first 26 words of defining world-class fitness in 100 words. The first 26 are about nutrition. They are first because they are the most important, and for most people, they are the hardest to follow.

I don’t usually receive pushback when I tell someone to do a workout. It may not be easy, or they may not like it, but they’ll do it. If I tell someone how they should eat, I get every excuse imaginable. This reinforces that, as a nation, we have an unhealthy relationship with our food.

Food is fuel, it exists to provide us with energy to survive. That’s all.

Proper nutrition is simple. Eating for health, low body fat percentage, and athletic performance are basically the same, and the quote at the top of the page says it all.

Eat Meat and Vegetables

These two groups of food should make up the majority of the foods you eat. They are put in the same sentence for a reason. They are most important. Animal protein is excellent for your body and supports muscle growth, repair, and body fat loss. Vegetables are full of vitamins and minerals that your body needs to run at optimal levels. Vegetables also support body fat loss.

Meat Examples: Beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs Vegetable Examples: Broccoli, spinach, asparagus, squash, onion, green pepper

Nuts and Seeds

These little guys are a fantastic source of dietary fat. Your body needs dietary fat for energy and proper function. It’s unfortunate that “dietary fat” and “body fat” both contain the word fat. Dietary fat does not make you fat. Do not avoid it.

Fat is more calorically dense than protein or carbohydrate, so we need to keep our portions in check here so that we don't consume too many calories.

Examples: Almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, avocado, olives, olive oil

Some Fruit

Fruit is more densely packed with carbohydrates than vegetables but you'll be hard-pressed to overeat fruit. We recommend a mixture of fruits and vegetables in your diet. This will ensure you're properly fueled for training sessions, getting enough fiber, and getting enough vitamins and minerals.

Examples: apples, strawberries, peaches, cherries, pineapple

Little Starch and No Sugar

While you can eat starch and sugar as part of a healthy diet, most people don't have the self-control to keep the portion sizes at appropriate amounts. Neither starches nor sugars are very satisfying, and we tend to overeat them to achieve the same sensation of being full that we might get from fruit and vegetables.

We recommend keeping these as "sometimes" foods eaten on special occasions and only after you've eaten a full, healthy meal. Then you'll be less likely to overeat them.

Starch Examples: Breads, grains, potatoes, corn, dry beans Sugar Examples: Table sugar, soda, juice, cake, syrups, candy

A Better Future

Eating this way for only 30 days will drastically change the way your body looks and how you feel throughout the day. Give it a shot, it’s only 30 days.

I’m not even going to mention portion sizes. Stick to this plan with three meals a day for 30 days. Then assess where you're at.

If you’re mainly eating meat and vegetables, then your body will let you know when you’re full.

Eat when you’re hungry. Stop when you’re not.

If you're trying to lose weight, and you have been, keep at it. If you're feeling so hungry that it's not sustainable, add more food. Test that for 30 days and see if you are still losing weight.