Nutrition 101

Before you start stressing about how much protein/carb/fat you require. Make one simple and yet difficult step: focus on food quality.  Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Buy fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat. Only venture down the aisles for a few select things like nuts, beans, olives, etc. The aisles are generally one big, processed, nutritionally worthless tease.

Healthy food – organic plants and animals are perishable. If it doesn’t spoil little to no organic material still exists in the food, and that means it isn’t very nutritious, or it has been processed and coated with enough chemicals that the spoilage is delayed indefinitely.

Real Food:

Chicken, beef, fish, lamb, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

Something Other than Real Food:

Cereals, bread, pasta, table sugar, flour, potato chips, “instant” anything, “fat free” anything, sweets,  corn meal.

History lesson:

• Humans before agriculture, refrigeration and processing = 2,000,000 years
• Modern agriculture  = 5,000 – 10,000 years
• Widespread processing of food  = 60 years
• Our bodies have had millions of years of evolution to digest meat, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
• Our bodies have had only a short time to adapt to modern food practices

How do we eat well?

Humans were made to eat real food. In our modern world we shop for our food and simply, shopping the perimeter of the grocery store is where most of the real food is located. There are also some good things inside the aisles, but they’re the exception rather than the rule.

• Buy your meat and fish fresh when possible but frozen sources from the right supplier is practical and avoids constant inventory control.
• Buy enough fruits, vegetables, berries, and greens to last 3-4 days.
• Buy vegetables and fruit frozen when out of season
• Buy eggs, Strong people eat eggs
• If you are not dairy sensitive? Buy full fat, natural yogurt and cheese.

What do I buy in the aisles?

Other than your household necessities (TP, cleaning products etc…) tread lightly down the aisles.

• Buy bulk nuts, seeds and dried fruit
• Buy olives and olive oil a great fat source
• Buy pickles

Finally, because real, healthy food spoils, this type of shopping will require more frequent trips to the grocery store. However, you’ll be buying fewer groceries on each trip. Furthermore, your number of stops in the grocery store will be greatly reduced.

Overall, this type of shopping and eating may be a drastic change. Unfortunately, if you desire to change your health, fitness, and body composition then your lifestyle must change. That should go without saying, but I don’t think many people realize it. If you keep the lifestyle you’ve always had then you’ll keep getting the results you’ve always received. If you’re happy with your current results then that’s great; no change is necessary. However, if you want different results then you need a different lifestyle. Don’t try to fool yourself into thinking you can get drastic changes without undertaking drastic changes.

When and only when you have mastered the Nutrition 101 are ready to step up to the next level: That will include weighing and measuring and evaluating your food and it’s effect on your performance.

The Zone diet explained:  LINK TO ZONE DIET PDF