What I Eat !

The question I am asked the most is “what do you eat?” So below you will see the “Top 10 Lists” of what I eat every day or almost every day. Exact quantities and menus are not listed, just the foods. And remember I do not eat for fat loss. I eat to maintain my weight, stay strong and healthy. Of course my food intake varies. I aim to get as many different varieties of fruits and vegetables as possible over the course of every week and there are a lot of substitutions made, so you are not seeing my full list here. This is just what I eat the most of every day. I also want to point out that while I don’t believe that extreme low carbs are necessary or most effective when you look at the long term.

This is not a prescription to all readers to eat as I do. It’s very important for compliance to choose foods YOU enjoy and to have the option for a wide variety of choices.  The trouble is, restricted diets and staying in a calorie deficit is HARD in general, so most people can’t stick with any program and they fall off the wagon, whichever wagon that may be. I believe that a lot of our attention needs to shift away from pointless debates (low carb vs. high carb, high fat vs. low fat, is getting really old… so… get over it everyone).Instead, our focus should shift towards building an eating program that we can enjoy more while still getting us leaner and healthier, and especially towards asking and answering this question:  how can we build an eating program that improves compliance and one that we can still be doing one year from today? (and that includes the emotional and psychological techniques that can improve compliance as well)

Here’s one good answer: Eat foods you ENJOY that still fit healthy, fat-burning, muscle-building, energizing foods (i.e., hitting your calorie and macronutrient goals for the day, while also providing optimal levels of micronutrients).

Here are the foods I choose to achieve this outcome. This eating plan is not difficult to stick with at all, by the way. I enjoy eating like this and it feels almost weird NOT to eat like this after doing it for so long. Remember, habits work in both directions, and as Jim Rohn Said, “Bad habits are easy to form and hard to live with and good habits are hard to form but easy to live with.

These are listed in the order I frequently consume them. So for example, if oatmeal is on the top of the list that means this is the food I am most likely to eat every single day.

My 10 top starchy carb and grains

1. Oatmeal (old fashioned)

 2. Yams (or sweet potatoes – not same food, but very similar)

 3. Brown rice (a personal favourite is basmati, long grain aromatic rice)

 4. New potatoes

 5. Multi grain hot cereals (mix or barley, oats, rye, titricale and a few others)

 6. Beans (great for healthy chili recipes and some cold salads too)

 7. 100% whole grain bread (not a daily staple food for me, but I do eat and enjoy it)

 8. 100% whole wheat pasta (same note as bread above – a favourite on high carb / re-feed days)

 9. Chick peas (aka garbanzo beans) or other peas

 10. Quinoa (slowly but surely starting to learn some quinoa recipes)

My Top 10 top vegetables

1. broccoli

 2. asparagus

 3. spinach

 4. salad greens / lettuce

 5. corn

 6. carrots

 7. onions

 8. mushrooms

 9. cucumbers

 10. Zucchini

My top 10 lean proteins

1. Eggs (I include at least one whole egg per meal and use the rest whites)

 2. Chicken Breast

 3. Salmon (wild alaskan)

 4. Turkey Breast

 5. Top round steak (grass fed beef)

 6. Flank Steak (grass fed beef)

 7. Tilapia Fish (from U.S.  – Seafood Watch has warned to avoid Chinese and Taiwanese Tilapia)

 8. tuna- steak or canned in water

 9. Trout (rainbow)

 10. Whey protein isolate

My top 10 fruits

1. Grapefruit

 2. Apples

 3. raisins

 4. Canteloupe

 5. Oranges

 6. Bananas

 7. Peaches

 8. Grapes

 9. Strawberries

 10. Pineapple

By the way, remember – fruit is nature’s candy and DOE'S NOT contribute to fat gain.

And also note, I DO include healthy fats as well, walnuts, almonds, olive oil, flaxseeds, flaxseed oil (supplement – not to cook with), avocado and a few others that are slipping my mind at the moment. Or I will simply supplement with Udo’s Oil

Also, YES I eat dairy and I have nothing aginst it, nor am I lactose intolerant. I just don’ t eat as much dairy as the rest of the stuff on my lists (although it’s worth noting that whey and casein protein powders are milk proteins). When I eat dairy its usually skim milk, low or non fat cottage cheese, low or non fat yogurt .

Hope you found this helpful and interesting. Keep in mind, this is MY food list, and although you probably couldn’t go wrong to emulate it, (if your goal is more muscle and less fat), you need to choose foods you enjoy in order to develop habits you can stick with long term. There are for example, hundreds of other fruits and vegetables out there…enjoy them all! And remember this: every time you eat make sure you have some form of carbohydrate + protein + fat = healthy, well balanced meal ! A meal can be something as simple as some left over chicken and salad. So dont over think it !

Bon Appetite!