Nutrition Outline - Written by Joel Thompson

No More Diets. Lifestyles Only.

Set yourself up for Success

Plan the work and work the plan as the old saying goes. Whether leaning out or adding muscle is your goal, success will come down to picking the right nutrition strategy and sticking to your plan. This may seem daunting due to the massive amounts of popular nutrition strategies on the market. Which one is best? Let’s cut through the noise together. My goal is to make this a simple process. Just to clarify, I said “simple” and not easy. Being disciplined is not easy no matter what life hack gets marketed to you!

Before moving on we need to understand the following: Every good thing you want to accomplish in life is on the other side of sacrifice and effort. If you were hoping to avoid this truth, you can stop reading now. If you have accepted this fact, then continue on.

There are so many popular diets to sift through and each one can lead down a rabbit hole, each with new and shiny products for you to buy. I believe, as King Solomon did, that “There is nothing new under the sun.”

Let’s clear the fog away from the dietary landscape and look at a simple overview of your options. They boil down to 3 categories. Each popularized diet is a derivative of these 3 choices. The good news is consistency with any of the 3 categories will net positive results. Consistency covers a multitude of dietary sins.

What do I Choose?

Paleo, Keto, Whole 30, Mediterranean, Carnivore, Primal, Atkins, Vegan, Vegetarian, Flexible Dieting, Macro Counting, IIFYM, Zone Diet, Daniel Diet, Warrior Diet, Intermittent Fasting, Carb Cycling, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, ad infinitum...

The list above is not exhaustive but contains just some of the options you may be confronted with when trying to determine how you are going to reach your health and body composition goals.

The 3 Options:

Elimination Diets remove entire food types or groups (i.e., sugar, grain, alcohol, etc.) Some of those options are Paleo, Keto, Whole 30, Mediterranean, Vegan, Vegetarian, Carnivore, Daniel Diet, Warrior Diet, Atkins, and Primal.
Macronutrient counting. You control your intake of protein, fats, and carbohydrates in a way that supports your activity level and goals. This involves weighing, measuring & tracking caloric intake. Some of those options are Flexible Dieting, Macro Counting, IIFYM, Zone Diet, and any number of popular calorie counting diets (Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc.)
Caloric Restriction/ Intermittent Fasting. This strategy reduces your overall intake by alternating a feeding window with a fasting window where you don’t eat anything. There are a lot of different ways to incorporate fasting into your diet that all fall under the IF (Intermittent Fasting) protocol.

You may be thinking, this sounds like an oversimplification. Do you really only have to choose between these options? The answer is yes. Fundamentally you will either be eliminating foods from your diet, counting calories, or going with no food for a time.

There are a few other factors to take into account however. Those factors will influence which direction you go. At the end of this primer you will have a quick worksheet to help you figure out what strategy you should implement.

Below we give you the basics of the popular dietary strategies. The Paleo Diet, Keto and Carnivore are the main elimination diets, so we focus on those. I left out Vegetarianism and Veganism because I don’t recommend those to my athletes, nor do I discourage them if an athlete is on a plant-based diet. Due to time and needed nuance for my plant-based friends, I will focus on the omnivores of the group.

The Paleo Diet is about consuming foods that were available to our Paleolithic ancestors. This strategy eliminates grains, legumes, dairy, alcohol and all refined sugars and processed foods. The Paleo community is large and many people have seen amazing results from this strategy, especially in dealing with autoimmune issues. The single most significant adjustment is how often you will go shopping and how many foods have added sugars to them. This is a great option as a dietary reset and an eye opener to how much junk we eat daily.

The Ketogenic Diet was developed as a cognitive intervention for patients with epilepsy. It has been around since 1923 and was developed by a Dr. Russell Wilder at the Mayo Clinic. It has been adopted by a growing number of people as a way to lose weight, stabilize their energy levels and reverse many chronic issues they have. The basic premise is that you will consume 50g or less of carbohydrates per day while getting the majority of your calories from fats and the remainder from protein. This is a high fat moderate protein and low carb diet. Keto is a great option for individuals looking to burn fat and address any autoimmune or cognitive issues they are having.

The Carnivore diet is a bit newer in its popularity, but in particular cultures it is ancient. This diet eliminates all plant products and is as simple as it sounds. You eat all kinds of meat and eggs and engage with dairy in varying degrees. This diet however is predicated upon eating the whole animal. You can’t just eat hamburgers every meal. You need to be consuming the meat, organ meat, tendon, bone marrow etc. You need to be getting the nutritional value of the whole animal, so this takes some effort to do especially in today’s mindset of avoiding the less popular cuts like liver and heart! Adherents to this strategy have amazing results with regard to skin and inflammation issues. Much like the paleo and keto strategies, the carnivore diet is a great option for people looking to deal with any kind of metabolic syndrome, autoimmune issue, or quickly reduce body fat.

Flexible dieting, Macronutrient Counting, and IIFYM are the same thing. The Zone Diet is a specific iteration of macronutrient counting that maintains a very specific ratio of protein, carbs and fats each meal. I will focus on the catchall term of macro counting.

Counting your macros is based on a standard macro calculator that takes into account your age, gender, height, weight, and training frequency. This method is very effective for weight loss and body re-composition for a couple of reasons. Your BMR or basal metabolic rate is the daily amount of calories you burn while at rest. The BMR is interchangeable with the RMR (resting metabolic rate) and the REE (resting energy expenditure). Your BMR is based on the metrics above and then you add in an “activity multiplier” that considers your training frequency and intensity. This number will be decidedly higher than your BMR and then you have caloric targets to hit based on your goals. This nutrition strategy is very popular and can be very effective if you are disciplined. It does not restrict any kind of food for the most part so you can have your proverbial cake and eat it too… “If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM)

Intermittent Fasting (IF) has become quite popular more recently and is a great strategy to help limit the amount of calories you eat. You will also become insulin sensitive which will control blood sugar levels and can jump start your body’s fat burning mechanisms. Caloric restriction and fasting is connected to longer life spans, but not necessarily improved athletic performance. There are many different ways to fast. One of the more popular ways is to split up the day into a fasting window and a feeding window. An important thing to remember is that your first meal coming off your fast is not a free-for-all! You will be highly insulin sensitive, so taking care to minimize your carbohydrate intake right off the bat will serve you well. Otherwise you may have a post meal crash and wind up taking a nap. A very common benefit of IF is mental clarity and increased energy. Like any strategy there are pitfalls and too much of a good thing can have negative consequences. If you go this route, dig into the topic and learn!

Honorable Mention

*Nutrient Timing strategies are used in conjunction with the Flexible Dieting protocol. Carb Backloading or Carb Cycling deal specifically with the timing and amount of your carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates have a profound effect on your insulin levels and these strategies seek to maximize the effect of your insulin response to add muscle mass and decrease body fat. Carb backloading focuses on waiting to eat your carbs until later in the day or post training. It can be used for set amounts of time to break through a weight loss plateau. Both of these strategies are used within the Macronutrient tracking strategies while Intermittent fasting can be used in conjunction with either. If you like the idea of Carb Backloading or Carb Cycling just know these are higher level strategies and can be effective but should come after you have been disciplined with your nutrition for a while. I wanted to mention it because you will come across it eventually, but don’t start there. If you have never counted your macros before, get good at that before doing something complex.

Boring But Effective

Consistency = Results = Behavior Reinforcement = Long Term Success

Along with your nutritional strategy you must have a plan to implement it. You need to know what fast food joints you can eat at and what items are acceptable to your strategy. You need to know what to order when you eat out and be okay with asking for meals that fit your requirements. If you choose an elimination strategy then clean out your pantry and your refrigerator. DO NOT STAY AROUND TEMPTATION! Set yourself up for success!

You won't be 100% perfect and don’t sweat it!

Eating a bad meal is not falling off the wagon. You won’t be perfect and you don’t need to be. You truly need to be about 80-90% compliant with your strategy to get the results you want. Just focus on your strategy as a lifestyle and not as a diet. If you focus on creating new habits around your eating, you will see progress long term.

Here are some things to expect if you want long term success:

You will be shopping more often because as it turns out, real food spoils more quickly than processed food.
You will be meal prepping. This will become a part of your weekly ritual. If you don’t prepare then you will fail.
You will catch flack from friends and family… have fun with it.
You will need to keep learning about food and nutrition. This will reinforce the “Why” behind your decisions and keep you motivated.
You will eat a lot less fast food and you won’t eat out as much. This is a good thing for your wallet and your waistline.
You will get tired of the discipline. No one escapes this but it gets easier the longer you do it and the more you view it as a lifestyle.
You should expect good results!

Final Thoughts

Before deciding on a strategy, let’s get some basic concepts into your mind.

Do you want to count calories or eliminate processed and comfort foods? If you are highly organized and highly motivated by structure, organization, and planning, then some form of calorie counting will be a great option.

If you focus on efficiency, don’t enjoy planning, and would just rather not eat things, then the elimination route is for you. What you need to know is there is no right answer, because if you are consistent you will achieve your goals. You just need to settle on the option that provides the least amount of friction with your personality!

Remember that the more you learn, the more you will look at what you are doing as a lifestyle. The responsibility is upon you to take some time and educate yourself. Use the appendix as a starting point. It is not remotely comprehensive! Enjoy the process, focus on lifestyle habits and sustainable rhythms, be consistent, and you will succeed! Let’s goooo!

Select your strategy with these 3 Steps!

Go through the Nutrition Strategy Self-Assessment
Select your strategy
Learn about your strategy by using the Appendix

*Keep in mind that starting is simple. Upon starting you will need to continue learning so your knowledge can deepen along with your habits.

Nutrition Strategy Self-Assessment

Note: you can circle more than one answer. Answers will have “Elimination” or “Macros” next to it indicating which strategy is suited for that answer. “Either” will be written after each answer that is neutral. Note: this is a simple inductive guide to get you thinking which strategy may work best for you.

What is my main motivation for changing my nutrition?
1. Improve Body Composition (fat loss) (Elimination or Macros)
2. Longevity and Vitality (Elimination)
3. Athletic Performance (Macros)
4. Muscle Building (Macros)
5. Aesthetics (Elimination or Macros. Macros are more tuned for this however)
Do you suffer from any chronic illness or autoimmune issues?
1. Yes (Elimination)
2. No (Macros or Elimination)
Am I low energy and lethargic by mid day?
1. Yes (Elimination)
2. No (Macros)
How would I characterize myself?
1. Do I geek out about the numbers and would I enjoy hitting my calories each day? (Macros)
2. Am I highly organized?(Macros or Elimination)
3. Do I feel under the gun with no time? (Elimination)
4. Do I hate details? (Elimination)
5. Am I ADD? (Elimination)
6. What are my actual resources and time availability to pursue this? (Either)
Am I willing to educate myself about nutrition?
1. Yes (Elimination)
2. No (Macros)
Do I have a support system or is this all on my shoulders?
1. Yes. Let them know what you are doing and be accountable to them.
2. No. Find some like minded people to go on this adventure with!