Here it is, folks. If you want to eat well for the rest of your life, maintain reasonable bodyfat levels, and be energetic for about the next 70 years, here's my one rule:
EAT
REAL
FOOD.
That's it. Nothing processed. That's all you have to do. How do I define real food? Here's the breakdown(in order of importance):
Eat meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar.
If this is the ONLY rule you follow, you will eat well for the rest of your life. Excess bodyfat will melt away, you'll have excellent energy, and you'll feel great.
Many call this the 'Paleo' diet, or the 'Caveman' diet. The idea is this: Our species has evolved over the span of hundreds of millions of years. Modern humans have been around for between 250-500,000 years. We should eat the foods we evolved with, not the ones we created only 10,000 years ago, the blink of an eye in evolutionary time.
Let's go over the list for a moment.
1) MEATS. Yes, I said meat, and lots of it. It's the protein source most easily digested in the human body(vegetable sources require combination to get complete amino acid structures. It's possible, but a huge pain in the butt). If you are vegetarian, protein will be a major problem for you. I advise against it(this coming from a former veggie dude). If you're vegetarian for ethical reasons, then get your meats from sources that treat animals ethically. Grass fed, cage free, free roaming, non-hormone treated, etc. It's also better for you, and tastes amazing. If you're a vegetarian for health reasons, please re-examine this carefully. Chances are your issues are caused by excess carbohydrate, but check with a qualified nutritionist.
2) VEGETABLES. As many as possible, and as widely colored and flavored as possible. These supply some carbohydrate, and many micronutrients. So don't just have green veggies, but red and orange and every other color you see in the produce section.
3) NUTS and SEEDS. Be careful if you have allergies, but these are great sources of good fats. FAT IS YOUR FRIEND, not your enemy. Eat good amounts of fat, from animal sources(meat, anyone?) and nuts and seeds.
4) SOME FRUIT. Fruit is naturally sweet, and makes for a great dessert. Also, a good source of carbohydrate and many micronutrients. Again, variety is good here.
5) LITTLE STARCH. Starch can be good for energy, but excess starch(VERY easy to do) increases insulin(storage) levels, which leads to weight gain.
6) NO SUGAR. Sends your insulin(storage) levels through the roof and leads to weight gain.
Notice what's not on the list.
NO GRAINS. Period.
NO DAIRY. I could discuss this one, but I'll save it for later. The basic idea is that until the advent of farming, humans only had breast milk, and then only in infancy. Dairy milk contains hormones and compounds that we a) don't need, and b) would be better without. I'll deal with the details later.
Why no grains? Way, way too much carbohydrate. Carbohydrate stimulates production of insulin, a storage hormone. When we get a decent amount of carbs(from veggies and fruit) we get a nice steady energy, and a level production of insulin, resulting in some storage for future energy needs. When we overdose on carbohydrate(compare carb levels in 1 slice of whole wheat bread v. 8oz.(1/2 pound!) of broccoli) our insulin levels shoot up, telling the body to store everything that comes through. Then we get fat. IT DOESN'T MATTER that your meal was 'low fat.' That elevated insulin made your body store everything that came through your bloodstream as fat. So, your 'low fat' meals are making you fat. Sucks, but it's true. Don't believe me?
Read this. And
check this out.
So, this has been a bit long-winded so far, so I'll call it a day, but you may now be thinking the following:
WHAT ABOUT MY CEREAL FOR BREAKFAST?
Don't eat it. Have this instead:
Ham & Eggs(eat the whole egg, none of this egg-white nonsense) with fruit.
WHAT ABOUT MY SANDWICH FOR LUNCH?
Eat the meat(yum), but put it in a gi-freaking normous salad with lots of veggies and stuff.
WHAT ABOUT MY PASTA FOR DINNER?
Don't eat it. Have a nice big piece of chicken or beef(notice a trend here?) with some vegetables, and maybe some strawberries for dessert. Flavor the meat if you like, with seasonings, some olive oil, whatever.
If your goal is weight loss, cut out grains completely for two weeks. Weigh yourself at the start, and two weeks later. Then tell me I'm wrong.
WHAT ABOUT CALORIES?
Forget them. It's very hard to OD on calories eating like this. Trust me. Try it and you'll see.
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