The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Foods to Looking Good Naked
Ok guys, I’m going to let you in on the real secret when it comes to building your dream body – that lean, muscular physique you dream about at night. This secret has been closely guarded by a uber secret society of magazine publishers, and supplement companies. This secret had been under lock and key for hundreds of years. Lucky for you, I was able to pick the lock and learn of this secret. Are you ready?
The secret is….there is no secret. That’s right! The box was empty!!
Despite what the magazine publishers and supplement companies ram down your throat, there is no real “secret” to obtaining your dream body. That dream body results from the consisted application of smart training, proper nutrition and eating habits. It’s a four-step process.
Consistency train hard
Eating right
When necessary, use supplementation (protein shakes, etc.)
Repeat for years.
Of these four steps, the majority of individuals screw up on their nutrition and eating habits. People get too wrapped up in the differences between diets and switching things up too frequently. All diets operate by having individuals in a caloric deficit while restricting macronutrient consumption (either dietary fats or carbs) over time. Click here to learn more.
To achieve your physique goals, you’ll need to focus on being consistent, patient, and staying the course with your nutritional approach.
The best diet is the one you enjoy and able to stick to long-term while making consistent, measurable progress.
However, its damn near impossible to make progress when you are making poor nutritional choices. You’ll need to have a sustainable diet full of quality foods, otherwise you’ll constantly feel hungry, deprived and miserable while dieting. There is a saying” you cannot out-train a bad diet” and it’s 100% true.
The Good Stuff
If your primary goal is the look good naked as fast as possible, then your diet should consist of these foods. Focus on these foods, while having your total calories matching your physique goals and you'll be on the fast track towards success.
Old Fashioned Oatmeal
Oatmeal is the go-to carb of choice for long term nutritional success, even if you are on a restricted carb diet. Oatmeal contains about 2 grams of both soluble and insoluble fiber. Not only does fiber helps keep you regular in the bathroom, the soluble fiber can keep you full longer and helps improve cholesterol levels earning the American Heart Association’s “heart healthy” seal of approval. I strongly suggest that you only buy oatmeal that lists “100% natural rolled oats” in the ingredients. Also, avoid all the different flavored oatmeals for these flavored, prepackaged variety are completely loaded with sugar. Regardless if you are trying to shred body fat or gain muscle, make oatmeal a staple within your nutrition.
Cottage Cheese
Confession – I have a love/hate relationship with cottage cheese. I dislike the taste and texture of cottage cheese. In addition, It’s bland, gross and just ugggh... to eat by itself. However, I eat pounds of cottage cheese every week. Why do I do this? Easily, cottage cheese is a great source of casein protein at about 15g per serving and it's cheap!!. In addition, it is low in carbs and fats (depending on which type you buy). I usually have cottage cheese as part of a quick early morning meal or as a bedtime snack.
Fruits and Veggies
I know, I know. You heard this literally a thousand times. Hell, you can probably hear your mother telling you to eat your veggies in your mind, and she was right…. Again. There are about a hundred reasons why you should be eating more fruits and veggies, yet i won't beat a dead horse, except to say this: fruits provides you with tons of micronutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, fiber. Avoid fruit juices and eat your fruits all natural.
Whole Eggs
Eggs are a great source for both healthy fats, cholesterol, and protein. Fact – cholesterol is the basic structure for all anabolic hormones. Without it, your body won’t be able to produce testosterone, the essential hormone for building lean body mass. So, leave your yoke in the egg and eat the whole damn thing like a man. In addition, if you are struggling to eat your veggies, throw some veggies in with your eggs and you make yourself a bomb-ass omelet.
Popcorn
Popcorn just may be the healthiest snack food you aren’t eating. I’m not referring to those awful microwave popcorn, rather stovetop popcorn you cook from scratch. Stovetop popcorn has many benefits, such as raising testosterone levels, has a low glycemic load, can give you stronger erections, and contains more polyphenols than fruit and veggies. Polyphenols are micronutrients that plays a role in preventing degenerative diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. So, for your next movie date night be a man and cook some popcorn for your girl.
Protein Powder
I can already hear a few people screaming, “Mack you fool! Protein powder is a supplement, not a food dummy!” While I understand and appreciate your concerns, this is my list not yours. Protein powders contain protein, carbs, fats, vitamins and minerals on the label. In my book, that makes it a food, so deal with it.
While you should focus on getting your necessary protein from whole food lean protein sources (90% or higher), if you are unable to meet your protein intake, then supplement your protein intake with protein powder. Protein powder makes the list because they are nutrient-dense, fast and convenient. It allows people to quickly and effectively get the nutrient they need while trying to work eight hours a day, train, spend time with family and friends AND having a life. Sounds like a win-win to me.
The “Bad” stuff
This category contains foods that are generally good for you, yet may not be perfect or necessary for everybody. While most of these food leans more towards the good side, play around with these foods and see how well they work for you.
Nuts and Natural Peanut Butter
Nuts just slightly miss the good mark for one simple reason: they’re extremely calorie dense and no one can simply have one serving size. For this reason, I only suggest you include nuts into your diet when you are trying to add muscle or consider yourself a “hard gainer.” One ounce of nuts (roughly 32 nuts to be precise) has around 160 calories. If you’re snacking on some nuts by your computer, this can quickly add a thousand calories to your daily intake.
Similar to nuts, natural peanut butter just barely misses the good mark by being so calorically dense. Make sure you’re staying with natural peanut butter and the ingredient list should read, “peanuts and salt.” Period.
Milk and Yogurt
Milk is a double-edge sword. On one end, it’s a cheap source of protein and can those on a lean bulking program. On the other end, the majority of the fat content in whole milk falls into the “bad” category with it’s saturated fat mixed with high sugar content. In addition, roughly 10-20% of the population are lactose-intolerant, meaning they cannot properly digest milk sugar. If you must have milk, stick to fat-free or 1% milk.
A better option would be yogurt. Yogurt has many of the same benefits of milk without the drawbacks. Just make sure your yogurt is plain and not filled with artificial “fruit” sweetener. I personally prefer plain, Greek yogurt over normal plain yogurt for the extra protein. Also, yogurt contains gut helping bacteria to keep your digestion system running properly.
Pasta, Rice, Potatoes, Yams, and Whole Grain Bread
The only reason why these foods fall within this category is due to their carb content. IF you are trying to build muscle, then these are excellent choices to make, however if you are carb sensitive or trying to shred body fat, then you should limit your consumption.
Based on their glycemic index, stick to the following: sweet potatoes (yams) over white Russet potatoes, whole wheat pasta over white pasta, and long grain brown rice over white rice.
Again, these foods aren't terrible, but if you are carb sensitive or trying to shred body fat, then you should limit your consumption.
Sauces and Spices
I cannot tell you the number of times, I had clients claim to be eating "healthy" salads and being frustrated by their lack of progress, until they begin adding their sauces and spices. Sauces and spices makes the list because there are some really good options and some really terrible options. The bad options include anything made with high fructose corn syrup (BBQ sauce, etc), mayo, and the majority of creamy salt dressing. On the flip side, there are plenty of good options from Worcestershire sauces, a plethora of calorie free pepper sauces, and just about every single herb and spice.
The Ugly Stuff
If you want to take off your shirt in public and have the eyes on you, then you should avoid the following items.
High Fat/High Carb foods
This category is so large that I might as well simply label this one as the prototypical American Western Diet. This “diet” has caused Americans to every increasing raising rates of obesity and obesity-related diseases. High fat and high carb meals represent the worst possible case scenario by promoting high blood levels of fat, carbs and insulin. No wonder why America is among the world leaders in obesity.
Fruit Juice and Non-Diet Sodas
Repeat after me; Fruit good, fruit juice bad. Fruit juices are containers filled with simple sugar that will, at best, mimic the fruit and, at worst, allow you to make faces with your belly. There’s simply no benefits to having fruit juice compared to whole fruits. Just eat the damn fruit!!
Americans have a real problem with fruit juices and soft drinks, which we easily consume more of than water. I’ll just say it plain; Cokes are liquid candy especially designed to make you more thirsty, dehydrate you, and get you addicted to the caffeine. As for diet soda, I’d rather prefer to see individuals drinking what our body exactly needs and wants – water. That being said, diet soda are fine if you don’t mind the artificial sweetener and sodium.
Flavored Oatmeal
This is what I want you to do. Stop reading this article, go to your pantry, grab your oatmeal, and look at the ingredient list. The ingredient list, which are listed in order of quantity, sugar is usually the second ingredient along with salt, hydrogenated vegetable oils, maltodextrin, and partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Do your self a flavor; go outside and throw that shit as far as you can! Then get yourself some old fashioned oatmeal instead.
Most Breakfast Cereals
The majority of cold breakfast cereals, despised being labeled as “healthy”, are nothing more than pure physique destroyers. Cereals are the equivalent of breakfast candy. Don’t believe me? Take a look the next time you’re at the grocery store and look at the ingredient list. If sugar is listed within the first few ingredients, then it’s gonna wreck your physique. To be fair, there are a few good cereals out there. All Bran and Fiber One makes decent oatmeal replacements.
Alcohol
As a connoisseur of fine beers and spirits myself, it pains me to place this on the ugly list, but it’s true. Alcohol is filled with empty calories, inhibits fat loss, and suppresses testosterone production aka minimizes your gainzz. While the occasional beer/drink is fine, if you are seriously about your overall physique, don’t drink like a frat boy. That being said, it is possible to drink while maintaining your physique if you have the discipline for it.
Candy
Oh, come on! You knew this was gonna make the list!!!!