Nutrition & Balanced Meals with Zack of BEST
Today, we have a guest post from Zack of Byler Elite Strength Training [BEST] on the topic of nutrition and balanced meals. Zack is a strength and conditioning coach, owner and director of BEST, and a Precision Nutrition certified coach.
One of the most frequent questions we are asked here at BEST is “What do YOU eat?” (as if the way I (Zack) eat makes a difference for the person I am coaching).
At BEST, we do not give out elaborate meal plans because you can find those online for free, and a meal plan doesn’t teach you anything. It doesn’t get you out of the endless cycle of needing help doing the things you are intuitively capable of doing.
So let’s agree on this: The only way you will get out of the vicious cycle you are currently stuck in is understanding what makes a perfect meal and then ensuring the meals you eat actually match the description – with 80-90% consistency.
As a certified Precision Nutrition coach, I teach my clients the Precision Nutrition ways. So here’s the inside look into how to make the perfect meal. The perfect meal has these 4 components:
1-2 PALMS of protein
1-2 CUPPED-HANDS of smart carbs
1-2 FISTS of vegetables
1-2 THUMBS of fat
Scheduling
Knowledge about what makes a perfect meal is great, but you have to apply it. There are 2 things you can schedule to help you apply the perfect meal framework consistently:
1. Schedule your grocery shopping days 1 to 2 times per week to make sure you always have the ingredients you need. This is also a bit of budget accountability. If you are spending money at the grocery store, you are less likely to be spending money going out to eat.
2. Schedule time to prep the food AND EAT IT – REALITY CHECK: Scheduling your trips to the grocery store isn’t a full-proof plan by itself. If you find yourself constantly throwing away food because it is spoiled you have either a food preparation habit to practice or you have to practice slowing down your life so you can eat what you made.
If you would like a couple habit tracker sheets, then send me an email at zack@bylerelitestrength.com and I will send you over some things I use with my clients!
Your 4-Step Meal Making Plan
Once you get the scheduling issues out of the way, you can continue with this four-step process:
1. Choose one ingredient from each of the four categories that make a perfect meal.
• One protein – beans, eggs, chicken, steak, shrimp, or lentils
• One vegetable – broccoli, cabbage, green beans, bok choy, or spinach
• One smart carb – spaghetti squash, red potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, or chickpeas
• One fat – olive oil, walnut oil, sesame oil, avocado oil, canola oil, coconut oil, butter, avocados, almonds, or peanuts
2. Make sure you use the portion sizes I mentioned above for the perfect meal!
• One to two palms of protein (20-30 grams of protein equals 1 palm)
• One to two cupped hands of carbs (20-30 grams of carbs equals 1 cupped handful of carbs)
• One to two fists of vegetables
• One to two thumbs of fat (15-20 grams of fat equals 1 thumb of fat)
You can adjust these portions based on how frequently you eat, your personal goals, and your personal results.
If you want to lose weight and you are following this portion size guide CONSISTENTLY, then the secret of fat loss that is guaranteed to work for you is: eat smaller portion sizes and you will lose weight. (But you have to be consistent in your portion sizes to BEGIN with before you can make adjustments.)
3. Now it’s time to get some flavor in your life so you don’t believe the lie that “eating healthy means eating crappy tasting food.” Below are some examples of my favorite flavors and how to create those flavors:
Italian – oregano, basil, fennel, capers, anchovies, olives, oranges
French – tarragon, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, black pepper, lemon
Mexican – cilantro, cumin, cocoa, ancho and chipotle chilies, lime
Japanese – miso, sesame seeds, seaweed, pickled radish, ginger, yuzu
Indian – cumin, fenugreek, coriander, turmeric, curry powder, ginger, fresh curry leaf
4. Cook the food.
To flavor your 1-2 palms of protein, squeeze fresh citrus juice over them.
To add flavor to your 1-2 cupped hands of smart carbs, add dried spices.
To add flavor to your 1-2 fists of vegetables, mix in fresh herbs.
I hope this helps you out and at least gets you mentally engaged with the process of nutrition and eating balanced, healthy meals.
*This information is adapted from a infographic from Precision Nutrition.