What I’m eating 2 years into a diet

There are a thousand different diets out there and it’s damn near impossible to know where to start. That’s not surprising because nutrition is incredibly complex. For 2 years I’ve been trying to figure out what works best for me and I’m still making changes. After a decent amount of trial and error, I’ve landed on a few simple guidelines that work for me:

1. Calories in vs calories out is all that really matters
2. As long as you get enough protein
3. And as long as you feel full

“Calories in vs calories out” has been shown to be the driving force behind weight loss countless times and yet somehow people still seem to doubt it. They think that if you take all your calories and eat them in a 1 hour window you’ll magically lose weight. Or they think that it doesn’t matter how much you eat as long as it doesn’t have any carbs. Or as long as it’s “minimally processed”. Or whatever other fad of the day. But it’s all BS.

Sure, these diets can and do work for a lot of people but that’s just because you naturally end up eating less when you restrict yourself. Unfortunately, these diets tend to be very unsustainable because you’re depriving yourself of the foods you like.

Instead, I would much rather figure out how to make the foods I like fit into my calorie goals. Thankfully, that’s often not that hard because there are lower calorie versions of most foods. All you have to do is look for the low-fat or low-sugar versions. Fat in-and-of itself isn’t bad (despite what the sugar industry has conditioned us to believe for decades) but it has a lot of calories that usually aren’t worth it. Personally, I buy low- or no-fat versions of all my dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese, sour cream, etc.) and I think it tastes just fine. I also buy low- or no-sugar versions of sauces/condiments like ketchup, bbq sauce, and jam. They all taste great and have way fewer calories than the regular versions. And, of course, you can make room for your favourite things. I still eat a lot of things that pretty high calorie; Two days ago I had a shake from Shake Shack, yesterday I had a donut from Donut Farm, and today I’m about to go to Black Sugar for boba. I just make room for it by eating lower calorie meals and snacks the rest of the time.

That said, losing *weight* isn’t the real goal. We want to lose fat. You can lose weight eating nothing other than twinkies but you will almost definitely lose some muscle as well. We can mitigate these effects by making sure our calorie deficit isn’t too large and by eating adequate protein. If you’re eating enough protein (even without resistance training — though you should do that too), you’re significantly less likely to lose muscle. If you structure things correctly, you’ll probably even gain some muscle while losing fat.

How much is enough is another question. However, the general consensus I’ve heard from voices I trust is between 0.7 and 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. Unless you’re very muscular, the lower end of that range is probably fine. I’m ~170lbs and try to get 140g (~= 170 * 0.8) of protein per day but as long as I hit 120g, I’m happy.

The other problem with eating nothing but twinkies is that you’re going to be ravenously hungry. However, there are some simple strategies to combat this. A high protein diet thankfully helps here already but it won’t take you all the way because most high protein foods tend to be pretty dense. In order to feel full you usually need a decent amount of volume. This is where buying lower-calorie versions of foods can make a big difference because you can simply eat more of it. It also helps to add low calorie-density foods like most vegetables and many fruits (particularly berries) to meals. Spinach, for example, is 7 calories per cup. You could eat a literal gallon of spinach for about 100 calories. Many veggies and fruits are also high in fiber which is another thing that will help keep you full. Throw a low-calorie sauce on top and you’re golden. (Maybe don’t actually eat a gallon of veggies but a few cups on the side).

All that said, you don’t have to spend your days shovelling down veggies if you don’t want to. You have to eat food that you actually like. Just pay attention to the nutrition labels and you’ll quickly figure out what works.

Further reading (well.. watching)

I’m going to be following up with some posts on foods that fit my diet well but you don’t have to listen to me. There are plenty of people on the internet giving great advice. I have to give some credit to Greg Doucette’s “Anabolic Diet” as he clearly inspired a lot of the people I’ve been listening to. Unfortunately, his voice is incredibly annoying and he seems to have a textbook definition of “roid rage” so you can probably skip his videos (though the ones I’ve watched do have some good advice). Some other, less annoying, channels that always have good advice include:

• Sean Nalewanyj (good general fitness advice)
• Will Tennyson (mostly vlogs but he has some good recipes)
• Remmington James (recipe videos — I don’t generally follow them but he has good ideas on some low-calorie ingredients you can use)

Be careful though because there’s a *ton* of really misleading content on youtube that is easy to fall for. I’m embarrassed to admit there was a period where I watched a decent number of Thomas DeLauer videos, as well as a few other pseudo-science channels. Always stay skeptical.