Eat a diet based around food that hasn’t been processed: plants and meats. “If the Gods made it, eat it, if man made it don’t”. Aim for 800g of fruits and vegetables in a day and a minimum of 100g of protein. Around 80% of your diet will ideally look like this and 20% could be whatever you want.
Explanation
I have distilled my thousand years of experience and understanding of both diets and human behaviour to this.
It is achievable and sustainable.
It's not a 6 week quick fix that goes belly up after the six weeks.
It's a way to eat for the rest of your life.
A way of eating that will result in better health, sleep, body weight, mood, energy, cognitive function, self confidence, strength, protection from chronic disease and longevity. How and why it works A diet rich in fruits and vegetables will provide your body with a vast array of minerals, vitamins and fibre which are ESSENTIAL for optimal health. Without the fruits and vegetables you are running on poor quality fuel and are not going to experience the best your body is capable of giving you. The 800g is based on 450 ish kcals - it is achievable and it helps to push out other poorer quality foods (it's not just a made up number).
The 100g of protein is based on an absolute minimum - and is achievable for most people.
For optimal protein intake you want to be hitting 0.7g x your body weight in pounds (eg. 0.7 x 180 = 126 … so someone weighing 180 pounds would require 126g protein in a day - if you are looking for optimal gain from strength training you might want to hit 2 x your weight in kgs) Honestly 100g is a little bit on the low side for most adults - but I have found the vast majority of people I speak with are so massively under-eating protein daily that if they aim to hit 100g they are making a huge change to their diet that is sustainable over a long period of time. Balance Once the fruits and veg and adequate protein has been hit in a day then you may choose to eat whatever you want to fill out the rest of your calorie intake for the day. So lets say you are left with 300 cals that are not specifically protein or F&V…you may choose to have some ice cream, or whatever your favourite food is. That is balance. *Warning* Honestly, people are fairly terrible at estimating balance so be careful here.
Typically the residual calories after the protein and F&V has been hit allows for one random food item in a day (the larger the person the higher this might be but as a general rule, if you are looking for optimal health and body weight, then this is one thing . If you want to be 100% accurate and not leave things to chance then record everything in My Fitness Pal or Cronometer for a period of time until you really get to know what your residual calories look like.
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