Eating to Thrive Part 1 – Choose a healthy menu

I have a few rules here when picking a healthy menu to base MOST of your meals from:

1. The Law of Four
2. Grains in moderation
3. Green is good
4. Lean is ideal
5. Treat yo'self, but not all the time

The Law of Four

You will pick four items from these groups you can eat consistently for a period of time with ease of transferability across a variety of methods of cooking, spices, and flavors

1. Protein
2. Carbs
3. Fats
4. Vegetables
5. Filler items

This helps to simplify your menu choices, and shopping list, greatly for ease in and out of the store because you are not bogged down by a list containing 10 different snacks which invariably get stuffed in the pantry for easy access when you pretend you are too busy to cook because the new episode of Westworld is about to come on.

Grains in moderation

Some people, like myself, cannot eat gluten. Some people think they can't eat it because when they do, they get reactions to it, some people can eat it and not feel a single negative thing. I am not here to debate the why's, the science, or who and who isn't gluten intolerant, sensitive, allergic, or celiac. That debate isn't in my wheelhouse, but common sense is.

MOST people will do better with fewer grains in their diet. When I say grains, I mean wheat and corn based ones. The simple fact is when you consume foods based around those grains, they are often higher calorie with a lower food weight. Take for instance two food items we shall compare:

1 slice of whole wheat bread is 69 calories (28g weight) with 12 grams of carbs.

The equivalent weight for fresh strawberries is 9 calories with 2.1 grams of carbs.

Volume wins every time, especially when you are trying to get leaner and manage food intake.

It is quite easy to eat a massive PBJ, but extrapolate the carbs, fat, and calories across a bowl of strawberries with peanut butter (let's keep it fair) and you will plainly see the difference in food quantity.

This is why I say grains in moderation, volume and binging issues.

Oh, rice is a grain but I don't count it as such since it's a side dish rather than a loaf of bread we all secretly want to toast, butter, and eat... yes that includes me, I really love bread.

Green is good

Vegetables, eat them. I was that guy for a long time who refused to eat them. Mainly because I was a stubborn fool. The only excuse you have for not eating vegetables is sheer ignorance and refusal.

I won't explain why you need to, this is something you should already know from a child when your mother, hopefully, told you to finish the broccoli or you won't get dessert.

Lean is ideal

Sure, rib-eye tastes DAMN good, I love steak, but rib-eye has a stunning amount of fat. If you eat a steak that weighs 200g, you just consumed 66 grams of pure delicious fat.

Again, I am not going to get into the argument about fat, carbs, keto, low carb, higher carb. I just do not care. Medical science tells me saturated fat, in excess, isn't ideal for a healthy heart. Studies also tell me, and experience dealing with hundreds of clients, a low carb/high fat approach isn't ideal for performance.

There are exceptions, but they aren't the rule.

Fatty meats fall into the Treat yo'self, but not all the time category because they just fit better there when you are managing a meal plan.

Which brings us to..

Treat yo'self, but not all the time

This goes without saying but hang on to this thought, as this will be its own series as there are numerous psychological and physical implications to consider with how you treat yo'self.

You got the rules to consider

1. The Law of Four
2. Grains in moderation
3. Green is good
4. Lean is ideal
5. Treat yo'self, but not all the time

Let's pick four items from each major group and food shop.

1. Protein

Lean is ideal here so I usually choose:

99% lean ground turkey
Chicken breast
96% lean ground beef
Pork tenderloin

I really love eating my fats from nuts, as the health benefits are plenty plus I can easily control how many I eat. This frees up my diet to eat ALL of my protein from food sources, and none from shakes since I don't need to juggle fat and protein by the end of the day. Win for me.

2. Carbs

Sweet Potatoes
Strawberries
Blueberries
Gluten free pasta

I eat sweet potatoes like a boss, and a lot of them. They are filling, healthy, and easy to cook. I prefer them over rice by miles. The fruit gets used in a specific way which I will detail in a later update.

3. Fats

Eggs
Mixed Nuts
Avocado Oil
Peanut Butter

There is debate about whether eggs are a protein or a fat. One egg is 6g of protein and 5g of fat. It has more calories, per egg, from fat, so IMO I classify it as a fat source. This means I am able to use it as such in my food for added flavor and menu enhancement.

4. Vegetables

Broccoli
Cauliflower
Mixed peppers
Green beans

Boom, a variety of colors. I buy bags of frozen mixed peppers from Trader Joe's because cutting the amount of peppers I eat, daily, is time consuming. I just don't want to do it.

5. Filler items

This is where it gets a little mixed up and this takes time to figure out. Things that don't necessarily fall into one category, or may but you will use it anyway. Items like sauces, etc.

For me, this is easy.

Nonfat Greek yogurt
Marinara sauce
Shredded Cheese
Bubbies Pickles

I will elaborate on exactly how I prep my daily meals as this series continues, but for now, I want you to do some homework.

Use this framework and make your own list, see what you come up with, and put some thought into it. As time goes on you will find you gravitate naturally towards 10-12 food items you recycle in your personal menu often, why not make it into sustainable healthy habits and learn what healthy eating is all about.

I know, treat yo'self, as I said, we will get into that later...