Five Universal Truth of Good Nutrition
The health and fitness industry is full of myths and misconceptions. Every day we are bombarded with ads, Instagram videos, and articles claiming they have discovered the most effective diet or exercise or detox tea.....
There’s so much conflicting information on what we should and shouldn’t do.
It should come as no surprise that to boost your metabolism and improve your health, body composition, and physical performance, you must watch what you eat. Unfortunately, “watching what you eat” and “dieting” had become synonymous with deprivation, tedium, and monotony.
As a personal trainer with almost a decade of experience, I find myself having the same conversations with people around recurring themes: Which diet should I follow? What are the best exercises? How can I get rid of my gut?
After helping literally hundreds of clients with their nutrition, I’ve found by adhering to these five universal principles often leads to success.
My goal with this article is to cut through the noise and bullshit and present to you the five things that actually matter regardless of what diet you’re on.
Follow these five universal principles, and you’ll not only transform your relationship with food but possibly your life and physique.
Principle #1: The key equation to weight loss or weight gain
Even though everyone knows this, unfortunately not everyone wants to believe it. This is known as the energy balance equation, also known as calorie in, calories out. This equation looks like this
(Energy in)- (Energy out) = changes in body composition
This energy balance equation comes from the First Law of Thermodynamics, which states “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transferred from one state to another.” Humans cannot create energy out of thin air. We get our energy from the food we eat and the excess energy doesn’t magically disappear either. It is simply stored as body fat.
In other words,
In order to lose weight, you need to be in a caloric deficit, period. To be in a caloric deficit, you need to take in less energy (i.e. food) than you burn.
In order to gain weight, you need to be in a caloric surplus. To be in a caloric surplus, you need to take in more energy (i.e. food) than you burn.
In order to maintain your current weight, your energy in and energy out must be equal.
If you want to gain or lose body mass, you’ll need to consider your overall energy balance and how to shift it in your favor. The easiest way to shift it into your favor is to actively track your macros for a few weeks to ensure you’re in the correct energy balance.
I strongly recommend that you should track your calories for at least 30 days as this short-term sacrifice can greatly improve the rest of your life by building a solid nutritional foundation, awareness, and education.
To quote one of my mentors Jordan Syatt, from Syatt Fitness,
“You don’t have to count your calories, yet your calories count.”
—-> Click here to discover your perfect diet.
Principle #2: Prioritize protein with every meal
Without question, protein is the most important macronutrient to consistently hit week, in, week out. The reason is simple - it’s an essential macronutrient, which means you literally cannot survive without consuming it. Protein is important for us rebuilding our tissues, and keeping systems running including our muscular and skeletal system to the nervous system and our immune system. Almost every bodily system depends on protein to optimally function, manage and continue to work. So, if you’re going to overeat one macronutrient, make it protein.
In addition, it has numerous other benefits, such as:
Prevents muscle loss: Muscle tissues are the most metabolically active tissue. Consistently hitting your protein intake (with resistance training) helps you retain your muscle while carving away fats to finally show off your muscular definition.
Protein keeps you full: When caloric intake is low and all you want to do is inhale that Costco Family Size Supreme pizza, protein is your BFF 😊
Protein burns more calories during the digestion process: Protein has shown to be up to 30% more metabolically expensive than carbs or fats. This means if you had 100 grams of protein, then your body will burn 30 calories simply by breaking the protein down into usable amino acids.
The easiest way to getting enough protein? Build each meal around your protein source. This is a guaranteed way to nail your protein every damn day.
Principle #3: Focus on whole food, nutrient-dense products
We become healthier when we consume more whole foods and fewer processed foods. Minimally processed foods (such as lean cuts of meat, grains, eggs, fish, etc.) contain a vast selection of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients (plant nutrients), and zoonutrients (animal nutrients). Due to having more vitamins and minerals, whole food products will consistently have a higher nutrient density (i.e. rich in nutrients relative to their calorie content).
As foods become more and more processed, it increases the likelihood that food has
Decreased nutrient value such as protein, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, zoonutrients, and phytonutrients.
Additional additives, such as preservatives, fillers, sugar, sodium, unhealthy fats (i.e trans fats), and/or refined starch.
Minimally processed foods are also rich in fiber and/or protein - two critical nutrients to maximize satiety i.e. fullness. They tend to have fewer calories per serving than highly processed foods. By consistently adhering to whole foods, this will make it easier for you to nail your nutrition while maximizing fullness. In addition, you’ll see improvements in your blood pressure, resting heart rate, insulin, glucose, and cholesterol levels.
Rather than separating foods into either “Whole” and “Non-Whole ” groups, imagine placing your food on a spectrum. The more food becomes processed and refined, the less effective it’s nutritional power becomes.
—-> Click here to read the Fat Loss Preparedness CheckList
Principle #4: Fruits and veggies will help you lose weight and reduce disease risk factors
Stop me if you have heard this one before. Yes, this is something your mother and grandmother (probably grand-grandmother too) have been harping on for years.
The reason why people have been harping on this for decades (possibly centuries...) is that there are tons of both fiber and micronutrients (i.e. vitamins and minerals) packed into vegetables, which also contain important plant chemicals (phytonutrients) that are essential for optimal performance.
There’s a huge body of evidence from the past 20 years that definitely shows that consuming more produce can help prevent a wide range of health problems, such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer.
As far as I’m concerned, there’s no one fruit or veggie that reigns supreme. Rather than sticking with one magic power food (i.e. eating strawberries every damn day), aim for a variety. Not only would you get a wide range of vitamins and minerals from multiple sources, but you’ll also eventually become sick of strawberries if that’s the only thing you eat.
By getting a variety of different fruits and veggies in your diet, this one of the simplest things you can do to dramatically improve your nutrition.
Principle #5: Sleep: the most boring and effective fitness tip
After working with hundreds of people throughout my coaching career, I can safely say people can follow these essential nutritional guidelines, yet still, struggle to reach their goal.
Why is this? Because they often neglect their sleep.
Why is this important?
If you only sleep for 5-6 hours a night, you’ll constantly keep your body in a chronically sleep-deprived state, impairing its ability to regulate several hormones
Ghrelin levels rise, increasing hunger cues
Leptin falls, so it takes longer to feel full
The end result? You’ll be hungry more often and you’ll eat more food than you should. You’ll crave sweets more than you should. You’ll still be tired so you exercise and move less.
But don’t just take my word for it. This is backed by science.
There was a recent 8-week study done that focused on the effects of sleep restriction on weight loss when in a calorie deficit. There were 36 people in the study and got their baseline body compositions (muscle and fat mass) tested in week 1. 15 of the people (Group A) simply used a calorie deficit for the 8 weeks.
The remaining 21 individuals (Group B) used a calorie deficit combined with sleep restriction for 8 weeks. They were instructed to reduce their time in bed Monday-Friday and cold sleep as much as they wanted on the weekends (to “catch up” on their sleep). This was an average of 169 minutes less sleep for the entire week.
The results: Group 2 loses an average of 39% of their total weight loss as muscle mass and 58% as fat mass. When sleep was not restricted, Group A only lost 17% of their weight as muscle mass, but 87% as fat mass. That means both groups lost the same amount of total weight, but the group with more sleep lost more fat and less muscle!
—-> Click here to learn how to sleep like a baby all over again.
The Next Step:
The goal of this guide (and online coaching) is to empower you through education.
I want to help you stop guessing when it comes to making sustainable progress and start achieving the results you desire.
So, what is your next step?
Realize that all the knowledge you’ve gained from this guide doesn’t equal real change.
If you’re fed up with how COVID fucked up your year, invest in a coach.
If you’ve read LITERALLY DOZENS of guides like this in the past and still haven’t made the change nor the confidence you want, invert in a coach.
If you’re overwhelmed by the content in this article, invest in a coach.
If you cannot be consistent with the strategies within this article, invest in a coach.
If you are ready for a change, I’m here to coach you.