Full disclosure: I’m no nutritionist. Take what I say with a grain of salt (or gram of fat) and fact-check me.
With that said, I fully understand the importance of health in the form of eating well & wisely. In my unscientific, layman’s approach to “nutrition,” my approach is pretty straightforward and basic: 1) eat balanced snacks throughout the day, and 2) burn hundreds of calories throughout the day to offset what you take in.
If you can’t do point number 2, absolutely do point number 1.
• Point #1: eating balanced snacks throughout day help me curb toxic hunger and also help mitigate my (un-dealt with) hanger-issues. Balanced snacks consist of good fats, protein and good carbs. If you are an actual nutritionist, you probably take those macronutrients (good fats, proteins, good carbs) and put respective percentages to each one. I personally don’t bother with the percentages, so I definitely have room for improvement. However, of the macros, I make sure I consume around 100g of protein every day.
• Point #2: if conventional wisdom says males should consume 2500 calories daily and females should consume 2000 calories daily, my goal is to burn a minimum of 500 calories daily. A pound of fat is around 3500 calories, so my formula above will achieve one pound of weight loss per week (-500 cal/day x 7 days = -3500 cal/week). This is my basic, but beneficial, approach towards weight loss, but also towards maintaining the weight loss.
So, my approach to “nutrition” sure isn’t rocket science, and, I concede, it could be a little more buttoned up, however, this approach helps me and others maintain and sustain a meaningful and orderly, dare I say, balanced way of life.
So, if you’re just starting one of the 4 Lifestyle Modification Challenges in The Arena (which require you to eat a certain number of healthy, balanced snacks), keep it simple to start.
Have your balanced snacks consist of some fruit (carb), meat (protein) and some nuts (fat).
Suggestions for Super Simple Snacks:
(The below are my easy go-to’s)
CARB: 8-10 red or green grapes OR half an apple OR half a grapefruit OR a whole plum
PROTEIN: 2-3 slices deli meat (turkey, chicken) OR some beef jerky OR 1-2 egg whites
FAT: 10-12 pistachios OR 10-12 almonds OR half an avocado OR a handful of pumpkin seeds
Any combination of any of the 3 above give me plenty of variety.
As you become better accustomed to eating more healthy and more wisely, you can easily apply this approach toward your actual meals.
Remember, one step at a time, one less calorie at a time.
Refer to link above here
SUCCESS HACK: buy a bunch of deli meat, bushels/bags of fruit and a bag of your favorite nuts or seeds. Graze on combinations of all 3 throughout the day and the week.
