Hi there! Let’s talk nutrition. I’m your dummy 🙃
This may end up being pretty lengthy so I recommend bookmarking this and revisiting this as needed.
Before we get underway let’s just take a moment to understand why you are reading this. You probably acknowledge that your nutrition is a monumental factor in your health & performance.
But…acknowledging and deeply understanding are two totally different things.
Many of us acknowledge ways that we could improve or nutritional habits but we don’t follow through on virtually any of those ways. Those of us who deeply understand what these changes mean to us are much more likely to follow through.
I start with this because all of the information that follows is only going to benefit you if you are prepared to actually change.
Let’s Bust Some Myths
All of these could be an article by themselves (and probably will be one day) but I want to just quickly get through these so we can start the real discussion with a clear head. Here goes…
“carbs are bad”
Please please please please let this myth die. The poor guy has been dragged through the mud by a manual transmission 2003 Mazda Protege5 (my first car). He has been forgotten, remembered, forgotten, and remembered yet again. He is still out there everyday fighting to be believed and many people are more than happy to believe him.
So let’s make this quick. Carbs are not bad. It isn’t as simple as “sUgAr Is A cArB aNd SuGaR iS bAd RiGhT?” Plus while we are on the subject… sugar actually isn’t a purely bad thing… I know pretty fucking shocking to hear that huh… sorry but it’s true.
A huge portion of this myth has to be crushed by understanding that PORTION SIZES MATTER! Anything in excess is deleterious to your health. The grain of truth comes from the fact that some carb sources are certainly easier to overeat leading to an excess intake of calories.
Beyond that, though, carbs are incredibly effective at providing nutrients and minerals as well as quick/sustained energy uptake depending on the types you are ingesting.
Also if you are doing ANY aerobic activity with some regularity… you’re going to want carbs unless you want to be miserable… your choice.
“fat is bad”
Same basic idea here as the carb discussion… but honestly this one is even MORE insane to me that it ever catches on. Seriously if someone says this then you know without a shadow of a doubt that they have less than zero real education on nutrition.
Fat is absolutely vital to brain function, nutrient absorption, and hormone regulation.
It is important to understand that dietary fat is not any more likely than proteins or carbs to be stored as body fat. The macronutrient doesn’t matter for the storage of body fat. The question is whether or not you are in a calorie surplus; and to a lesser extent what types of training are you doing.
Final point on this is you can bet with 90% certainty that anytime you see a food listed as “low-fat” it just means it is pumped with added sugars to make up for the taste.
“diet soda is bad for you”
Please, I beg of you, show me the randomized human control trials that even remotely show this statement to be true… I’ll wait.
Look, the thing is that people get veryyyyy dogmatic when it comes to nutrition beliefs. This myth suffers from the naturalistic fallacy (if it’s ‘fake’ it must be bad). I hate to break it to you too: almost none of our food is free from human interventions at this point.
First things first… diet soda absolutely WILL NOT cause weight gain. A zero calorie food literally cannot do that. Now of course we have to put this into context of what a person’s habits are and whether or not changing from diet soda to water is a better choice. Well sure it is… but if you are crushing fast food everyday trust me the diet soda is the only thing saving you in those meals.
Final point on this is that every few months you’ll see a new study pop up showing how bad these are for you. Wait. Read it. Understand it. Every one of these studies are in rats and are with dosages that are virtually impossible for a human to achieve without the stuff being pumped directly into your stomach.
“red meat/dairy is bad”
I’ll say this right now: whole lean red meat is about as close a thing we have to a real life superfood as we can find.
complete amino acid profile ✅
high in protein ✅
satiating ✅
easy for almost everyone to digest ✅
This is true to a lesser extent of dairy too.
Certainly with ANY of these topics an individual experience is valid. So if you feel sick every time you have a steak or drink milk….STOP IT… hell I’m not telling you that you NEED to eat this way.
Finally, there is definitely a tier of quality to meats. Deli meats/sausages/bacon won’t be as good of choices when compared to cuts of beef/pork/chicken or even some leaner ground cuts.
“too much cholesterol in eggs“
Trans fats, saturated fats, and simple sugars are the primary movers of blood cholesterol levels. Dietary cholesterol simply doesn’t move the needle like we once thought it did decades ago.
Takeaways
There are tons of myths out there. I encourage you to be skeptical of anything you hear and that includes from me. Just do yourself a favor and don’t fall into the trap of demonizing food groups… it is incredibly unhealthy to do so.
Okay… let’s move on to the good stuff finally.
Water
“Really Dillon… water… I know already”
Okay sure you do. We all know water is important. Since we know it’s true that means you drink AT LEAST .5oz per pound of bodyweight right? That means you start your day off with water instead of 3 cups of coffee right? That means you don’t forget to have water until like 2pm and then quickly down 3 bottles but that’s it until 10pm right?
I’m being an ass… but I’m right and you know it.
I’m starting with this not only because it is soooo important but also because it is emblematic of how we need to stay focused on the simple things that make the biggest differences.
I don’t want to hear jack shit about cold plunges, peptides, supplement stacks, red light therapy, etc.
All of that stuff has a place… and the chances are for those who are reading this… you aren’t there yet.
So do me a favor… drink your water… do it everyday… throughout the whole day… and when you don’t miss more than a day a month then we can move to the next big rock.
Protein
If I could encourage everyone to do one thing to have a monumental shift in their health & fitness it would be to track your protein intake for a week and tell me if get more than 60 grams even twice. I bet you don’t.
It can be absolutely shocking to people who think they eat a lot of protein to realize how little they probably do eat.
We live in a world of chips, pasta, sodas, and if you’re lucky bacon/sausage. You simply aren’t getting anywhere near the protein you need if this stuff is in your everyday diet.
So before I get to the “why” let’s answer your question that you have already: “how much protein should I get”.
You should do your best to get to 1 gram of protein per pound of target bodyweight. If you get 75% of that then you are heading in a good direction. If you are less than that then there is a very good chance that even if you are losing weight at the moment that you are losing more muscle than body fat.
Fruits/Veggies….. FIBER
Getting in adequate fruits and veggies are very important for your health.
You probably have heard that… but do you really understand why? Do you know the trickle down effect of having adequate fruits/veggies in your nutrition?
My 2 favorite aspect of getting in fruits/veggies are:
handles most/all micronutrients
blunts cravings/hunger
The first point is one that people think of when they lazily say “fruits/veggies are good for you”. Again… it’s true but it doesn’t do any good to say it if you don’t appreciate it.
The second point is what can be so beneficial for people who are trying to lose weight. Hunger can vary wildly so to get a better control on that is worth every bit of effort possible.
Part of this effectiveness on hunger control comes down to its fiber content. Fiber is extremely important for digestive health. It also does a great job of simply “filling” the stomach…making you feel satiated.
How much fiber should you have?
Shoot for 14 grams per 1,000 calories. That leaves people, typically, in the range of 25-42 grams.
Avoiding Processed Foods
DON’T……….OVERTHINK……….THIS……….PLEASE
I’ll give you three simple reasons:
typically calorie dense
typically higher in added sugars
typically not a good source of protein
These three things just mean that it doesn’t really give you a lot of bang for your buck.
I’m not even going down the “health” effects. I’m not trying to scare you away from certain foods. I don’t demonize any food. Everything has it’s place.
BUT….
I will also be very honest when it comes to saying certain foods simply aren’t that useful to you aside from tasting good.
So keep it simple: if it is in a box or a bag just take an extra moment to analyze whether or not it fits into your diet effectively.
There are TONS of “processed” foods that get a bad wrap but are actually incredible foods like the evil WHITE RICE! It is filling, useful carrier of other foods/flavors, and a great carb source. Eat your rice it is A-OK.
Cake? Ice cream? Soda? Candy? Many pastas? You know the answers.
Calorie Counting
If you have never counted your calories diligently for 4-8 weeks…. YOU SHOULD.
It can be VERY eye opening to people who think they are aware of their diet.
Simply put: many people are extremely ignorant to the amount of calories they take in on a daily basis AND (almost as important) how much it can vary from day to day.
Where to start? Take your goal bodyweight and multiply it by 12.
This is a starting point and will almost certainly not be 100% correct for each individual. But the better you are at tracking the easier time you will have at adjusting things up/down as needed.
Macro Counting
This falls in line with calorie counting… sort of.
I would definitely not start with this if you are new to tracking in general.
This is because until calories > protein > fiber are in check this can only add confusion to people and make it easier to choose processed foods that give simple numbers.
I won’t even give specific numbers on this because it can very greatly and there are simply better resources than myself on this specific topic.
This can be a great method for making progress for an individual who has tracked before.
Particularly for disciplined exercisers this is important to ensure to make sure their hard work doesn’t go to waste.
Conclusion
I glossed over a lot of information here. None of it was meant to be a deep dive on a specific topic. The goal was to give you a north star on how you approach your journey in improving your nutrition.
I encourage you to be patient. I want you to trust the process. I want you to believe in yourself.
I do not want you to get distracted by anything not DIRECTLY related to your specific focus at the moment.
Start small but start on the stuff that makes the biggest difference like protein, fruits/veggies, or calorie counting. Learn… adapt….improve.
YOU GOT THIS.
Don’t ever be afraid to reach out to me brickbybrickgym@gmail.com for any help!
- Coach Dill