20 Random Nutrition Thoughts

I had a 20 Random Training Thoughts blog post a few weeks ago so it's time to follow it up with a 20 Random Nutrition Thoughts post.

1. If fat loss is your goal, calories do matter.  Females should aim for a daily calorie intake that is around 10x their body weight.  Males should aim for a calorie intake around 12x their body weight.  Be sure to recalibrate those numbers once weight is lost.
2. Without getting too complicated here is an easy way to measure out servings of proteins, fats, veggies and starches:  protein - palm, fat- thumb, veggies- fist, starch- fist.
3. Two things that should be constants at every meal: protein and veggies. Females should have at least one serving of protein (a palm) and at least one serving of veggies (one fist).  Males should have two servings of protein (two palms) and at least two servings of veggies (two fists).
4. If there is one thing you can always eat more of its veggies.  At any meal, on exercise days, on non-exercise days, at breakfast, on Halloween. Vegetable intake is basically unlimited.
5. The one macro-nutrient that should remain constant on a daily basis is protein.   Whether you did not get off the couch all day or whether you crushed it at the gym your protein intake should be the same which is roughly around 0.8-1.0 grams per pound of body weight.
6. If carb intake goes up, fat intake should go down.  If fat intakes goes up, carb intake should go down.  If both are going up at the same time then we are in trouble.
7. If carbs are going to go up, they should go up on days you work out.  These are days where you can have starchy carbs.  Days that you are not working out you should keep carbs at your baseline levels and avoid starch intake.  You should "earn your carbs".
8. If you are over 15% body fat and looking to lose weight carb intake other than those coming from fruits and vegetables should be kept under a 100 grams a day.  The leaner you are, the more carb tolerant you usually are.
9. Be careful of your fruit intake.  Eating too much fruit will not make you fat, but it can prevent you from losing fat.  Keep fruit intake to 2-3 servings a day.
10. Whether you eat eat three meals a day or 4-6 small meals a deal what matters is your total calorie intake at the end of your day.  Meal frequency has been shown to have no effect on metabolism. Some do better managing their daily caloric intake by eating less frequently. Others do better by eating more frequently.
11. You have heard that everyone should be drinking at least eight cups of water a day.  That may work for some, but not for others. Water intake should be proportional to your body weight.  What you want to be aiming for is a water intake that is about half your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 150 pounds shoot for 75 ounces of water a day which is just over nine cups a day.
12. Two easy ways to get your water intake up: Pound a large glass of water as soon as you get out of bed.  The other is pick up a 20-30 ounce canteen or glass water bottle.  Fill that up a couple times a day, add that to the large glass of water you pound early in the morning and then add that to the glass or two of water with each meal.  Your water intake should be taken care of.
13. Fat still gets a bad rap.  The real problem is not fat as an individual macro-nutrient.  The problem is where that fat is coming from and the other nutrients it is combined with.  Fat from a McDonald's Big Mac is different than fat which comes from omega-3 containing grass fed beef.
14. Most of your fat intake should be coming from whatever your source of protein is at each meal.  If you are going to add some extra fat some good sources would be: fish oil, coconut oil, avocado, and nuts such as walnuts or almonds.
15. Does the Paleo diet work?  Yes for some, but not for others.  Does Atkins work?  Yes for some, but not for others?  Does vegan work?  Yes, for some but not for others. There is no one diet that works for everyone no matter how well that book is selling on the New York Times best seller list.  Find what works best for you.  But which ever one you choose you are going to have to give it time to figure out if it is working.  Whichever route you go, give it at least four weeks.
16. If you look for some of the similarities between some of the most popular and successful diets, which does not include the Cookie Diet, what are you going to find?  A common theme of increased protein intake, decreased starch intake, increased veggie intake, getting fat from high quality sources, a lower overall calorie intake than your present calorie intake and eliminating processed foods.  There is really no magic to these magic diets.
17. Two easy ways to sneak more vegetables into your day:  omelets and shakes.  Throw some peppers, broccoli, spinach or other vegetables you may like into an omelet.  Throw some kale or spinach into your shakes.  Believe me.  A shake that is blended up with some spinach or kale may not look so good.  But you can not even taste the spinach or kale if you have a bunch of other ingredients in there.
18. A simple way to make up a shake that covers all your bases: include a liquid (water, almond milk, coconut milk, etc.), a protein source (protein powder, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese), a fruit (berries, berries and more berries) a green vegetable source (spinach, kale or greens powder), maybe a fat source (walnuts, pecans, almond butter, coconut oil, etc.) and whatever spices or sweeteners you want (cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, pumpkin spice, honey, stevia, etc.).  Throw a couple ice cubes in there if you like a thicker shake.  One thing to note though is if you are being calorie conscious be sure to measure out how much of each you are putting in.  Calories can add up quickly.
19. Try an elimination diet every now and then.  For 30 days pick one thing to eliminate such as alcohol, grains or dairy and take it out of your diet completely.  Make note of how you feel after those 30 days.  Do you feel less bloated?  Has your joint pain decreased?  Do you have more energy?  Are you sleeping better?  If you can answer yes to one or more of those questions you may be onto something.
20.  You can not eat well if you do not have good foods available.  You can not eat like crap if you do not have crap foods available.  Get into your cabinets and refrigerator.  Get rid of all the crap and restock with foods that are going to match up with your daily habits and goals.  Good nutrition starts with being prepared.  "If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail".