A FEW WORDS ON NUTRITION
Stephen Baker

I am going to go into some more specific rules regarding proteins, carbs and fats because I know these are always the burning questions regarding diet (what else is there, really?) but I want to go over some general concepts regarding food first.

 

You don't need a huge variety of everything, every day.  This is just not practical, and not a natural process.  Sure, we have access to pretty much every food imaginable, in one easy trip to the grocery store,  but notice how we're the only species on the planet with a rampant obesity problem too? Weird.  The most important thing is to eat foods CYCLICALLY, and stop obsessing over daily intake.  Don't let yourself starve, and you'll be fine. 

Eat the RIGHT foods when you're HUNGRY, not because your food alarm went off on your iphone.  Stuffing food down when you don't really want it is not only pointless, but also likely to make you loath eating.  You got into this to feel better, so shouldn't this be easy and enjoyable?

 

If a food doesn't agree with you, I don't care how many positive things you have read on it, AVOID that food.  The reason why a variety of foods exist on this planet is because everyone is at least somewhat different and apt to respond better to certain foods.  Notice how the variety doesn't exist to eat it all, but rather to serve a purpose to the whole. Cars don't come in different colors so you can buy one of each, they come in different colors to appeal to the masses.  Nature is no different.

 

PROTEIN

Don't over do it.

 

You don't need protein at every meal, or even every day for that matter(more on this soon). Your muscles are not going to atrophy because you didn't eat half a cow today.  Think about this:  To digest protein (eg. beef) it takes quite a while, certainly A LOT longer than the 3 hours most bodybuilders tend to wait before eating another meal. So basically, your body is still breaking down protein from the previous meal, and you've thrown more at it already. This is completely unneccesary and actually harder on your digestive tract.  I know the idea of eating protein because it "builds" muscle makes it easy to believe that eating a shit load of it is going to build more muscle, but there is NO scientific data to support this.

 

Another common mistake is to eat a wide variety of protein sources every day, changing up at every meal.  Your body produces enzymes to break down specific proteins, so try to minimize the sources of protein you use each day.  One hefty serving of a nice animal source around mid day should be all the complex protein you need.  Eating chicken, tuna and beef is just nonsense.  Think about this:  ALL animal protein is a complete protein, meaning no amino acids are lacking in it.  Why then is it so vital to eat 5 animals in one day?  What other animal in nature does this?

 

There are going to be days where you will need extra protein, and there will be days where you just need some simple extra calories, meaning protein might not be a huge priority that day.  These are all things that will eventually become basic to you, once you learn how to read your body.  The biggest thing to keep in mind is finding protein sources (this actually stands for all the food you take in) that you LIKE and that are easy for you to digest.  Trial and error is going to go a long way here.  Remember, the goal is to make this process as EASY as possible, and that means EASY on your digestive tract as well.  If everytime you eat tuna, you get heart burn or an upset stomach - STOP EATING IT.  Just because Johnny Meathead at the gym swears by it, it doesn't mean that it is perfect for you too.

 

 

CARBOHYDRATES

Everyone is different.

Some people can do well with a fair amount of carbohydrates in their diet, some don't need them at all and in fact just get tired and/or have trouble balancing blood sugar levels.  Sources of carbs should be kept mostly to fruits and vegetables.  Occasionally (again going with the CYCLICAL eating principle), you will have some tuberous carb sources (yams, potato etc), but again, not something you NEED every day.  Your body can store carbohydrates as glycogen in the muscles, and you don't expend all of your glycogen stores in a single workout (especially not on the kind of workouts you will be doing - refer to the training principles for more information).

Eating carbs all the time is going to do ONE thing - stress out your pancreas.  If you want your body to remain sensitive to insulin, STOP over doing carbs. As I mentioned in the protein section, you can convert protein into carbs, so technically speaking, carbs are completely NON essential anyway.  That isn't to say they don't have their place, but that place is specific, cyclical and limited - as with all food sources.

 

 

FATS

Dietary fat is not the enemy, body fat is.

You need fat to produce one of the most important things for bodybuilding - HORMONES.  Low fat diets will work in the short run, but after a few weeks of a fat depleted diet, you become agitated, tired, weak and your results begin to lag.  WHY - because you NEED fat.  Why deny your body the natural precursors to testosterone??  Again, there will be periods in your diet phase that involve limiting dietary fat, but it is not a consistent eating pattern.  Again, I'm going to beat this concept to death but, CYCLICAL EATING. 

 

Another piece of information regarding fats, is that they help protein absorb, and are in fact NECESSARY for proper protein utilization.  Animal proteins naturally come with fat attached.  Do you see animals in nature picking the skin off their meat, or eating around the fat? NO! Piling down boneless skinless chicken breasts is idiotic, as is eating egg whites by themselves.  The fats associated with the protein sources provide a DRAMATIC anabolic effect towards proper protein utilization, take advantage!! This goes back to the general concept of eating foods whole.  They exist whole in nature, so eat them that way.  We are not smarter than Mother Nature, and going against her is going to bite you in the ass.

 

Avoid loading up on plant oils all the time.  Sure they serve a purpose towards omega/essential fats, but again, don't over do it.  Your skin will start to take on an oddly oily texture, and if you have some experience with bodybuilding and contest prep, you likely know what I'm talking about.  Saturated fats are not the enemy either, although over cooking them can be. Don't burn your meat to a crisp, you ruin the quality of the fat by doing so, and make it toxic to the body.  Another myth is that animal fat is mostly saturated fat, this is just not true.  They have a higher percent of unsaturated fats in them.  100g of ground beef:  5.7 grams saturated, 8.1 grams unsaturated. Just about everything we have been taught is wrong, exaggerated or a sad combination of both.

 

Where to start?

A good 2-4 week cleanse diet is where I'd recommend you begin dialing in your meal plan.  Your digestive system is where all the magic happens.  If you aren't absorbing your food properly, it doens't matter what you eat, you will never get the results you are looking for.  What does a cleanse diet look like?

Here's an example of the one I did a few months ago, and have had quite a number of people try with great results.

 

List of foods you can eat:

First 5-7 days you are going to be cutting out meat entirely.  Don't worry, you are not going to lose all of your muscle in a week.  In fact, after I did my cleanse, I actually gained a bit of muscle, and it was a real eye opener to cut my protein intake way down and NOT see extensive muscle loss like we'd all expect.  After you have made it 5-7 days on the meal plan below, don't be afraid to add in a few eggs a day, and some raw salmon or chicken each day (cycling back and forth each day between the chicken and salmon, and having the eggs every morning). 

 

• Oats
• pineapple
• blueberries
• broccoli
• probiotic yogurt unflavored
• beans
• cinnamon
• tea
• olive oil
• vinegar

avoid: dairy, meat, refined sugars, wheat, anything not on the list I just gave you.

Example meal plan (remember though, you can eat these foods in any combination you like, this is just an example of how to put this together) Don't obsess over weighing all of your food, it's ridiculous.  Eat enough food to feel full, but not enough that you get an upset stomach.  Rely on logic and common sense when feeding yourself here. 

• meal 1 -oats with yogurt, some blueberries and cinnamon for flavour.  A shot of olive oil (10ml) mixed with red wine vinegar (10ml)
• meal 2 -broccoli chopped up and served with olive oil and vinegar as a dressing (optional)
• snack -pineapple
• meal 3 - beans (dressing optional)
• meal 4 -yogurt with blueberries

Have a few teas daily doesn't sound like a lot of food? It's not.  The idea of a cleanse is to let your digestive tract recover, and also to stockpile some vitamins and minerals.  Let's take a look at the foods we selected and give some insight as to why.

 

• oats - basic energy source, with some soluble fiber.  Pretty easy on the digestive tract.
• pineapple - loaded with vitamins and minerals.  Superfood(like EVERY fruit).  This one also
  has compounds that may help joint health, and reduce inflammation. 
• blueberries - again, loaded with vitamins and minerals.  Not too dense in calories.
• broccoli - source of vitamins and minerals.  Insoluble fiber helps to clear the digestive tract
  of stored waste.  Stored waste in the tract cause your body to spike estrogen and stress hormones.
  A healthy, clear digestive tract means lower estrogen and cortisol levels.
• probiotic yogurt - rebuilds the healthy flora (bacteria) in the stomach.  Also provides some
  quality protein to the diet.
• beans - source of protein (very important since we have no meat or eggs in the first few days).  Complex carbs
  mean your body will work to break this down and as such balances blood sugar levels.  Also packed with
  nutrients.
• cinnamon - great for flavour as well as being a potent anti oxidant and overall health promoting spice.
• olive oil - essential fats contained within olive oil are quite good for the skin, joints etc.  Olive oil also
  seems to have an anabolic effect on the body when used properly.
• vinegar - nice potent system cleaner.  Also adds a little kick to food.
• tea - tea in general is great, just don't add milk or sugar to it. 

Things to expect on a cleanse. 
Your taste buds are going to recalibrate themselves.  You've likely been pounding food that is loaded with salt and processed sugar.  It is not until you go without these things that you realize you currently can't really taste anything (which probably explains your obsession with hot sauce).

 

Your energy levels may be a little bit wonky as you adjust to the lower caloric output.  If this happens, don't stress it. You will have more energy than you know what to do with soon.

 

You will notice that after 5 days you haven't lost all your muscle.  Just think, all those years you spent worrying that if you missed a single meal of protein, all your work would be lost.  You will begin to rethink nutrition.  You are no longer a slave to diet regimens that tip on the excessive side.

 

Your body will start to digest food much more effectively, and because of this, you will need less to get the same results as before.  You will also notice that you are not as hungry as you used to be.

 

You will become more sensitive to caffeine and supplements in general.  Your digestive tract is working properly now, so enjoy things doing what they are supposed to.

 

First meal of the day

 
Your body has just been fasting for a good 8-10 hours.  The most important rule to breakfast, is to EAT it.  Making sure that you always eat the cleanest foods here is pointless.  You need some energy to start the day, so if a bowl of cereal is your favorite thing, or a muffin, have it sometimes.  The stress you place on your body by constantly denying it anything it enjoys is going to hinder your progress more than if you just treat yourself every now and then.  Another good point to consider is that if you tend to crave junk food at night, knowing that you can go to bed, wake up and have that piece of cake or chocolate with your breakfast is going to make it a lot easier to avoid night time binging (which is one of the reasons why people stay fat - eat great at the start of the day, and then steadily go down hill as the day wears on and by the time they get home, they pig out.)

If your goal is to actually step on stage and compete, sure - close to the show, things are going to get pretty strict. 

 

If you are like most people and just want to look good naked so you are attractive to the opposite sex, then don't worry about being perfect, close to contest shape is probably your end goal so don't worry about always being perfect.  Don't worry about pounding down a heavy protein breakfast (unless this is YOUR ideal version of what to eat).  Breakfast should energize you, not bog you down.  If you don't feel great
after, you probably over did it. 

 

Am I telling you to not worry about having some junk food here and there? YES!  Remember, you are going to be eating LESS calories overall, and that is going to help you get lean a lot faster than eating a tonne of calories from "healthy" sources. 

 

Too much of anything is bad for you.   

 

Well, that's it for now.  More to come on example meal plans, portion sizes, a break down of all the foods available to us and how to pick the foods from that arsenal that are right for you!

 

Stephen Baker