Simplifying Your Diet

        I have mentioned before that a person's diet is very case specific.  It is especially tuned towards the end that you are seeking to achieve.  In short, there is a greater urge for a detailed specific diet for a competitive bodybuilder than for a middle-aged person just wanting to do a little trimming.
         Many teammates that I have talked to experience a wide range of dieting practices which further illustrates the point of these habits being case-specific to your goals.  Most people are not into or going to put forth the effort in the form of measuring and calculating that is required to put you on a magazine cover.  The laziness is justified I suppose if physical appearance is not high on your priority list or reasons for cleaning up your diet.  However, there certainly can be too much emphasis placed on a minimum effective dosage; how can I put in the least amount of effort that yields the most return?  That said, let me continue...
         My last athletic competition was in May of this year.  That was over three months ago.  At the time I was about 165 lbs and ~5.2 percent body fat.  There was definitely a great deal of neurotic calculating and measuring involved in getting to that stage and as I would be taking some time off from competing in the coming months I did not see it as productive to continue.  Rather, I relied on the good eating principles that I had learned and encouraged myself to take part in the habits that I had engrained in my brain over the years.  Before I go into more detail keep in mind that I spent the better part of two years building up these habits.  It was not like I Googled a miracle diet promising overzealous results, read a couple blogs and forums, tried it for a week, then decided I was set for life.  It took a lot of practice and patience, trial and error to get to this point.
          A thought crossed my mind a week or so ago that I had not weighed myself or checked my body fat composition in a few months.  This was quite a long period of time considering my procedure during competition seasons.  Out of curiosity then, the next morning I stepped on the scale to find that I weighed 167.5 lbs.  Due to good eating habits, in spite of reducing my training from 5-6 days per week to 2-3, I still weighed relatively the same.  This got me curious about my body fat percentage.  I pulled out my calipers and checked my chest, abdomen, and mid-thigh (the 3-sites specified in the Jackson-Pullock procedure), checking each site four times and plugging the average into the formula (you can find this online here or for your android phone).  Much to my surprise and satisfaction I had a calculated Percent Body Fat (PBF) of 5.6%.  WOW!  In regards to my weight and composition I was pretty much the same as when I was training much harder and putting a lot more effort into planning my diet.



A previous Diet of Mine would have looked like this:

May 2012 Training Camp Diet

Daily Intake: 2000 cal
Meal	Apx Time	Protein(g)	Fat(g)	Carbs(g)	Calories	Descrip
1	8:00 AM	23	2	5	130	Coffee, Whey, 2 Fruits
2	10:30 AM	29	14	41	406	Coffee, Whey, Nut Butter
Post Wrkt	1:30 PM	43	14	59	534	6oz Meat, 60g Starchy Carbs, MultiV, Joint Supp
4	4:00 PM	45	12	10	328	6oz Fish, 2 Vegetables, 2tsp Oil
5	7:00 PM	33	12	10	280	6oz Meat, 2 Vegetables
6	10:00 PM	9	20	8	248	40g Nuts
		182	74	133	1926	~ 3 x 20 calories for condiments
		728 cal	666 cal	532 cal
		37.80%	35%	27.60%
Notes:						Supplements:
1) First Meal w/in 30 min of Waking						MetRX Natural Whey
2) Meal #3 is Post Workout or First of Day						XCAP Natural Mins
3) Cinnamon w/ Coffee (insulin sensitivity)						Equate Glucosamine/Chronditin/MSM
4) Multivitamin & Joint Guard Post-W
5) Cold Shower Post Workout (recovery)
6) Hot showers on non-workout days
7) One hot bath per week (Relax)
8) One Cheat Meal per Week - Sat
9) Fruit Jiuce with Cheat Meal, Spicy Meal Prior
10) Cheat Meal Replaces Last 2 Meals of Day

Now, this is what is stuck to my refrigerator:
August 2012 Diet
5 x 30g Protein (whey (2), poultry, red meat, fish)
2 x 60g Carbohydrates (Starch)
2 x 20g Carbohydrates (Fruit = < 20g Carbs)
4 x 60-80g Non-Starchy Vegetables
2 x 30g Nuts (nuts, pea/hazelnut/almond butter)
1 Tbsp oil (Smart Balance)
Snacks:  Avoid, but < 100 cal OK on occasion
*Keep Sodium Low
*Keep Condiments Minimal
*Supplements:  Whey Protein everyday, Joint Guard and Multivitamin on training days
 Weekly
*1 Cheat meal that is NOT a buffet
*Large serving of fruit juice with cheat meal (laxative effect)
*Large amount of capsicum (spicy stuff) on cheat day (laxative effect)



          As you can see, the principles are essentially the same and I still measure my food in terms of mass (grams) for accuracy.  However, the current plan is a much more simplified version and is much less intimidating.  It is, as indicative of my current weight and composition, nearly as effective yet much easier to mentally and procedurally digest (pun intended).
          If you're curious, I have picked up my training pace to about three days per week of Jiu Jitsu, one or two days of light Yoga, and perhaps one day of Rock Climbing.  This is not as intense as it my seem since the Jiu Jitsu days are really the only "hard" training days.  The yoga and climbing are more for active recovery aspects.  I am not a doctor or nutritionist and my advice is a mere suggestion, not a prescription.  The examples provided are taken from procedures I have actually used and were/are specific to my lifestyle and training regimen at the time they're implemented.    Nevertheless, hopefully there has been something useful in here for you guys.  Thanks for reading!   

Train Smart, Live Hard, Be Well!

Some Thinking About Water

          By this day and age the importance of proper hydration, both in sports and as a general health / weight loss tip, should be well established.  So I'll skip over the statistical regurgitation and get to the point.  My approach to hydration is no different than any other fitness and health oriented advice that I offer.  That is, it is the minimum effective dose to achieve your goals given your needs and circumstances.
          A bit of hypocrisy here, just to mention some statistics, but its just to get the ball rolling.  There are many different "professional recommendations" pertaining to the amount of water a person should drink per day.  The reason for the variance is no different than the dynamic market of dieting plans floating about pop culture.  The reason is that there can be no "blanket effect" or mass prescription given the variance of people's genetics, lifestyle, and activity level.  Now, about these statistics... I have heard (I don't have the source on hand, sorry) that the human body can absorb a MAXimum of 1 quart (32 oz) of water per hour.  Given that there are 24 hours in a day, and you should be sleeping for 8 of them, that leaves 16 hours for drinking (water :-D).  Therefore, your body can make use of no more than 16 qt of water per day, which is 4 gallons, the rest is simply waste.  Another recommendation that I have heard is that people should be consuming one ounce of water per pound of body weight.  If, for the sake of easy math, we take a 200 lb male for example; he should be drinking 200oz of water per day.  That is about 1.5 gallons per day (there are 128 oz in a gallon).  Yet another recommendation I have seen is that you should try to drink 8oz of water every hour which would mean in a 16 hour day you should drink one gallon even per day.
          So far we have learned that your body can absorb a maximum of 4 gallons of water per day without wasting any.  If you're a 200 lb male you should be drinking somewhere between 1 and 1.5 gallons per day. So, here is my "simple" solution to meeting your needs...

Note:  I am not a doctor, follow this advice at your own risk and heed your physician's instructions before mine.

*At all times during this guide you should, by all means, be drinking if you are thirsty!  The opposite is also true that if you feel nauseated, don't keep drinking until you vomit.  That would certainly be counter productive!

1)  Things you will needs:  A)  An empty 20oz Gatorade or soda bottle for your gym bag, and B)  a 16oz coffee mug or cup that holds about 16oz of water for your desk

2)  On the day you intend to start this plan:  First thing int he morning, after slapping the alarm clock and heading to the bathroom, but BEFORE you put the coffee on, turn on the TV, or check Facebook on your phone fill the glass up and take a few hearty slugs off it.  Continue about your morning routine but makes sure the glass is empty before you leave for work / school and be sure to take the mug with you.

3)  When you first set up shop at your first class or get settled in your cubical, fill the glass up again and take a few swigs.  Each time you go to the bathroom remember to take a few more when you return. (for students that have a locker and not a permanent desk, another Gatorade bottle works well instead of the coffee mug)  Try to have the first mug / bottle gone by the time you go to lunch.

4)  At your lunch break follow the same routine as your breakfast.  Fill the glass, take a few sips right away, drink whatever you like with your meal, and finish the water before heading back to work or class.  Now the day is half over and you already have 3/8 of a gallon in you.

5)  The second half of your work day should follow the same routine as Step 2.  Fill the glass and leave it on your desk and try to have it finished before you head home.

6)  Now its time to hit the gym if after work.  If you're a morning workout person, then just apply this step where its needed.  Aim to drink one of your bottles or mugs during your workout, save the pre/post workout shakes for those times.  After your workout you should try to guzzle down another one between the time you say "that's it for today" and when you put the car  in park in the driveway (don't make yourself sick though).

7)  Supper should follow the same principles as breakfast and lunch if possible.  This isn't too much of a hang up if your not thirsty from drinking so much on the way home from the gym and I'm sure you worked up an appetite.

8)  Lastly, try to finish another 16oz throughout the remainder of the evening.  It would even be better if you could slosh down a little extra after brushing your teeth before calling it a night.

          AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!  A no excuses, easy to follow guide to drink an entire gallon of water in a single day.  Live well, be smart, and train hard!