Food Basics

Thank you all for your introductions. It’s great to learn about where everyone is coming from. I’ve noticed we have a variety of body types and a variety of goals. To reach these goals, there are three major variables you can control: food, exercise, and sleep. Today I’d like to focus on food.

First, let’s figure out how many calories your body needs! Head on over to this calorie calculator and see what your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is. If you want to gain weight of any sort, you should add an extra 500 calories per day to your food intake. If you want to lose weight, you want to reduce that number by 300-400 calories. Sounds simple? There are a couple of extra considerations.

1.       You want to eat 4-5 meals per day, preferably every 2-3 hours. Simply put, this prevents your body from going into fat storage mode. Having 1-2 meals a day means that your body will try to keep every last calorie it can… by sending it to storage.

2.       If you’re trying to lose weight, cut refined carbohydrates and white sugar. Also, add more fish such as a Salmon and Tilapia. If you don’t like fish, make sure to take 6-8g of Fish Oil pills, spread out amongst your meals.

3.       If you’re trying to gain weight, increase your protein and your complex carbohydrates such as beans, brown rice, and quinoa.

4.       Do not go below 1200 calories on any given day. When you eat too little, your body goes into starvation mode and eats muscle. This is VeryBad(tm)

5.       Every person is different, and this calorie number is just a rough estimate. Try it out for a few weeks, and adjust. And then adjust again. It’s a process, not an end point.

6.       Finally, and I hate to say this, alcohol is not your friend. Besides the caloric content, it shifts your body into fat storage mode AND inhibits muscle growth. So no matter your goal, alcohol will slow that goal down significantly.

Now, food for me is easily the most difficult part of this equation. When I get stressed, I bake brownies and cookies. I dislike fish. I love Ben & Jerry’s. My roommate calls me a Hobbit because I am constantly hungry. (Also, at 5’7″, I’m Hobbit-like!)

The good thing is that going over calories one day doesn’t kill you. Try using a three day method – where the average of those three days meets your caloric goals. It allows for more flexibility, and takes away some of that pressure to be on target every day. 

Remember! Next week I answer your questions! So send them in! In the meantime, keep up the good work!