A Progressive Approach to Proper Eating

One of my biggest frustrations as a coach comes from talking with people about optimal nutrition. People will be misinformed by books, magazine or newspaper articles (like this one), and even dietitians. There is so much conflicting information out there that people can get so confused that they can't even make the first step eating a more healthful diet. Thing is it should not be confusing at all. People simply need to eat lean meats, vegetables, and fruits...that's it. Cut everything else out. The thing is, I completely understand that adhering to a strict diet of lean meat, veggies, and fruits is easier said than done...especially for someone with a horrible diet consisting mainly of grains. Then I need to remember that it took me nearly eight years and constant adjustments to get to the diet I now find easy to stick with. So I am here now to share the adjustments I made to my diet over the years in my quest for the "Optimal Diet" and offer a progressive approach to achieving great health through proper eating.

1. About 8 years ago my diet consisted of tons of pasta. I ate a big container of it for lunch and often for dinner as well. I ordered out often as well...I love a good grinder. Breakfast was typically cereal. I didn't snack during the day, I only ate three very large meals per day. I worked out everyday at a gym in Worcester. I never thought of myself as out of shape or overweight but I was weighing in at about 175 pounds (I'm 5 foot 5 inches tall.)
   
2. Then I read Core Performance by Mark Verstegen. This was the beginning of it all. Not only did I learn about proper exercise and the awesomeness of interval training, I also learned how to eat. More importantly I learned about proper meal intervals. I immediately went from 3 large meals per day to 6 smaller meals per day. I was also introduced to Whey Protein. I started taking a couple scoops of Whey pre-workout (I get my workout in in the morning) and a shake right before bed. The rest of my diet consisted of cereal in the morning, a snack of black beans (that's right, black beans), lunch was a turkey sandwich on wheat bread, I honestly don't remember what my afternoon snack was, and dinner was some lean meat (flank steak, fish, chicken) with some rice or pasta. There's not a whole lot of good stuff in there. No fruit. No veggies. Still tons of grains.
3. I stuck with that diet for about one year. So I didn't change much. My training program changed but I was working out previously. I still ate crap but I simply spread my meals out throughout the day as opposed to three large meals. A year later I stepped on the scale at my grandparents house, looked down, then told gram that her scale was all out of whack. I didn't think I had lost weight. I didn't even think I had weight to lose. But the scale read 145 lbs...down from 175 lbs a year earlier. The scale was right. Then I realized I was a ton leaner and just plain felt better from simply changing my meal intervals.
4. Over the next 6 years or so I kept making incremental improvements in the quality of food I bought and ate (sort of.) I replaced the turkey sandwich on wheat with tuna on a wrap. I replaced the mayonnaise I put on the tuna with hummus (not bad.) I replaced the hummus with olive oil (OUTSTANDING!) I replaced the tuna sandwich with salmon steak. I replaced farm raised salmon with wild caught salmon. I started eating protein bars. I think I tried everything on the shelf. I ate a big bowl of Cheerios for breakfast (not good, no matter what the ads say.) Dinner was still some lean meat but I started adding some veggies. I also included a piece of fruit or two...typically a banana and apple. My evening snack was a couple pieces of toast with Smuckers peanut butter. I experimented quite often, always trying to find healthful, tasty, and easy to prepare meals. I also drank a lot of Gatorade and other foods/beverages without really understanding what I was reading on the label. Throughout these years I would get sick 2 - 3 times per year. I thought that was normal and didn't think much of it.
   
5. Then, in October 2008 I enrolled in a Personal Trainers class to change careers. There I learned all about High Fructose Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated Oils (very bad stuff.) Out went Gatorade. And no more Smuckers. I learned what I was looking for on the labels. I kept eating a very similar diet but I did cut out those two things.
6. In April '09 I read The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain. This was the beginning of my quest for an all natural diet. I learned stuff I had never even heard of. Grains are an anit-nutrient, meaning they block the absorption of vitamins and minerals in our bodies. Corn isn't even a vegetable, it's a grain. Asthma is diet related (I had horrible asthma as a kid.) Allergies are due to poor diet (I have summer allergies.) There is no relationship between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol. Egg yolks are great for you. Eggs are the worlds most perfect food. Heart disease is often due to the lack of dietary fats. Humans are not genetically built to process a diet high in grains. And it wasn't just this book. I also read The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth by Jonny Bowden (best nutrition reference guide in my opinion), The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price (wicked dorky), and Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. I started to understand the importance of food quality. Not only are we what we eat, we are what we eat eats.
   
7. That brings me to my current diet. In the morning I now have some organic berries with three organic, free range eggs, and some organic whole milk yogurt in a smoothy. For snack I have some more organic whole milk yogurt with some raw sunflower seeds, raw pumkin seeds, peanuts, organic avocado, organic berries, and flax seed. Lunch is generally a piece free range and vegetarian fed chicken with sweet potato and other organic veggies. afternoon snack is some more seeds and nuts with organic steel cut oats, dried unsulfured and unsweetened fruit, and more yogurt. Dinner is grass fed beef and more veggies. Before bed is some fresh fruit (kiwi, grapefruit) with some quinoa and maybe a hard boiled egg. That's it. Not perfect. I'm still experimenting. I haven't been sick sick since at least April so that's a good run. I have tons of energy to keep me coaching from 6 AM to 7 PM.
   

So what's the point of this rambling rant? The secret to optimal health is really no secret at all. Eat as much lean meat (properly raised and fed), organic fruit and veggies. Having said that don't expect to go from eating a horrible diet to eating a perfect diet in one day or one week or even one month. It takes time. Don't let perfect get in the way of better. Start with eating breakfast. Then take your three meals and turn it into 6 smaller meals. Experiment with food combinations and recipes. Prepare your food on the weekend so you always have something healthful ready for you when you get home late and are most likely to grap some crap from a window. Strive to make one food quality upgrade per month. I would love to hear what changes people are making to their own diets and the strides you have made. Please post below in the comments section if you have any tips to share. Also use that space to post any questions. If you have lasted this long reading this I appreciate your time and hope this was helpful. Good luck in your quest for a great and healthful diet!

Mike

PS...here's yet another reason why I LOVE the fitness industry...