After letting myself go for too long, I am trying to refocus what I am eating on a daily basis to get into a calorie deficit. I run 4 miles 2-3X per week and do 100 pushups/dumb bell sets 2-3 days per week. My main issues are snacking too much, and portion control, which I realize are my impulse/self-control issues and not so much the food, but I have cut out sweets, granola, flavored yogurts to reduce sugars, and also have mostly cut out any crackers, rice, or pasta to reduce carbs.
I don't drink soft drinks. I'm either water, water w/ LMNT packets, unsweetened green tea, or alcohol. (Im cutting down on alcohol as well. Been going 4-5 nights per week, but cutting it down to 2 nights per week.)
These are the things I am currently focusing on, but I'd like to hear any other recommendations you all may have:
Typical breakfast:
Cottage cheese
OR
Hard-boiled eggs
Typical lunch:
Albacore Tuna in water & hard-boiled Eggs
Typical Snacks (2X/day):
Parm or cheddar Cheese single servings
OR
Cottage cheese
OR
Banana
OR
Apple
Typical dinner:
Lean red meats, chicken, pork, Fresh fish/Salmon & a fresh Vegetable
I have been doing a very strict animal based diet for two months and it has worked very well for me. I have no problem eating the same exact thing every day, but if that isn’t something you like, then you’ll have to be more creative. Details are below and I am scheduled to have blood work done in a month, so it will be interesting to compare it to my blood work from a year ago when I was eating a more typical American diet.
Meals: 1/2 - 1lb of Red meat (varies from steaks to ground) or game meat and 3-4 eggs, 2x per day for lunch and dinner. I do mix in cheese as well and cook everything in grass fed butter, tallow or coconut oil. 2 protien shakes per day with honey and some cinnamon for taste. I use either the Jocko protein mix or the Ascend protien powder from Costco (they have very minimal garbage in them).
Snacks when needed: full fat yogurt or cottage cheese, blueberries, strawberries or raspberries.
Drinks: Coffee (black), water, carbonated water (Costco brand).
Supplements: Grass fed beef liver tablets (4-6 per day), glycine, creatine, magnesium, vitamin D. If I am tired, I will take 0.3 mg of nicotine from Nic Nac Naturals.
Absolutely zero alcohol for the past 6 months.
Workouts/Training: Lifting 4x per week; (Weilder’s 5, 3, 1 program), cardio 3x per week. If am training for a hunt then I will ramp up the weighted ruck workouts and do hill repeats, otherwise it’s mostly zone 2 and 3 running.
Current results: Age 44, height 6’5, weight 205 lbs. I have a six pack for the fist time in my life.
I will admit, the first few weeks were very difficult to stay on point, especially staying away from breads and other crappy snacks like granola bars, some chocolate, etc. It is also tough to do when at family gatherings or going out to eat - pretty much everyone thinks I am a psychopath because I am so disciplined with it, but I could care less because most of the poeple that tell me this are fat and can’t even walk up a flight of stairs.
Imo, the physical results I’ve gotten and the peformance results are amazing. I feel great and find myself needing less sleep, I am never really fatigued (don’t get tired at work in the afternoon), I am never really very hungry either. I honestly think cutting out the alcohol (used to dring 4-5 x per week, 1-3 drinks at at time) has been the most noticeable.
Stay strong with it for 75-90 days and see how you feel.