Blakkbox Lifestyle

There doesn’t need to be anything complicated about eating, yet so many people get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information put out in the health industry. It’s easy to see why. There are literally thousands of different diets, magazines telling you to do something one month, and something else the next. Then there’s all the blogs discussing advanced concepts and details that 99% of the population doesn’t need. It’s information overload and it’s ridiculous.

No longer. Here are my 10 most basic rules for eating in a way conducive to building a lean, muscular physique.

1. Erase the word “diet” from your mind.
First of all, “diets” don’t exist. You can’t temporarily change the way you eat and expect long term results. If you go on a crash diet for 4 weeks and then go right back to your old eating habits, you’ll never see any permanent progress. Ever. So learn to eat the right way, then eat that way consistently.

2. Ignore whatever the USDA recommends.
First they had the food pyramid, now they have MyPlate. If their recommendations had a grain (pun intended) of truth behind them, do you think the U.S. would be the most unhealthy country in the world among developed nations? Probably not. While you’re at it, ignore what pretty much anyone else with limited mainstream knowledge of nutrition tells you.

3. Ignore food packaging (if you buy any packaged food at all)
Especially ignore anything trying to advertise the contents of the package as healthy. Things like ‘low calorie!,’ or my favorite “zero trans fat!,” mean literally absolutely nothing. Some of the worst foods for you have advertisements about their health on them. By the way, most of your food shouldn’t have any kind of packaging like boxes or bags anyway. But if they do, pay close attention to the ingredients label. You want as few ingredients as possible, with the main ingredients being nutritionally dense – packaged mixed nuts with salt and/or seasonings added is an example.

4. Eat nature-made
What the fuck is in a Cheez-It anyway? Stick to foods with single ingredients. The fewer the ingredients a food has the better.

5. Eliminate anything man-made
I call these foods science experiments. I mean seriously, have you looked at the ingredients in a Pop-Tart recently? This also includes grains (such as bread), science experiments of any kind, and mostly any pre-made and frozen meals.

6. Eliminate sugar
Fits the classification of a poison and has been suggested to be considered similar to cigarettes and alcohol. It’s literally killing you.

7. Focus on vegetables, fruit, eggs, lean meat, nuts, berries, seeds
Notice a theme with these things? They all have one ingredient and come from the earth. We humans didn’t get a chance to fuck them up yet. I’m okay with limited dairy (cheese, cottage cheese, whey & casein protein powders, etc.) but I would highly recommend cutting cow’s milk from your diet. Try almond milk instead.

Here’s a great list to get you started:

Lean meat (poultry, fish, lean red meat)
Eggs
Veggies (lots and lots, you can buy fresh or frozen)
Fruits, especially berries (fresh or frozen)
Cottage cheese
Cheese
Nuts
Seeds
Butter
Nut butters (almond, peanut)
Avocadoes
Hummus
Beans (occasionally)
Jerky
Potatoes
Greek yogurt
Dark chocolate
Sour cream
Green tea
Water

8. Eat more protein and less starchy carbs
Starchy carbs are bread, pasta, potatoes, etc. Instead, eat more fibrous carbs a.k.a. vegetables. Protein leaves you feeling full longer, and helps you build & retain muscle mass. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism is, which aids in burning fat. This is desirable for males and females – for some reason women are always wary of higher-protein diets.

9. Quit counting calories
Bottom line, control your portions. Just know your starting weight, have a goal, and adjust your intake of the approved foods.

10. Drink only water, tea and coffee.
Quit drinking soda, including diet soda. And all those worthless energy drinks. You don’t need them. Instead, stick to what nature intended you drink: water. Aim to get at least a half ounce per pound of bodyweight, or 2/3 oz if you’re active. Oh and wine, beer and liquor are cool too. In moderation and infrequently – I’d try to have fewer than 5 drinks a week for optimal progress.

Bonus: Cheat!
It’d be great to follow the outlines here 90% of the time. But don’t let your diet take control of your life. If it’s Saturday and you want to live a little, go ahead! In fact I encourage it. Not only will it help keep you sane, but mixing up your diet by having one high calorie, high carb day a week is a good way to reset your metabolism and keep the fire burning. So go to town on that pizza, just make sure to get back on track the next day.