Nutrition & You

Nutrition is 80% of what determines if you'll be successful in recomposing your body.

Have you been choosing whole grain cereal as a “healthy” breakfast option? Think fruit is a great default snack? Avoiding red meat because it’s “heavy”? Completely eschewing butter and bacon? Picking like a bird at iceberg lettuce salads in hungry desperation?

All of this “common knowledge” is completely wrong. Forget everything you’ve been taught about nutrition. This Nutrition Guide will teach you everything you need to know to put fat-burning, muscle-building choices on your plate each and every day.

You will not be hungry. You will not spend zillions on mysterious diet products. You will not be limited to an extremely restricted daily plan. You will not eat tasteless food.

Use nutritional science to your advantage. Learn how to compose a healthy plate - or how to choose one from a restaurant menu. What you eat can cause nearly effortless fat loss - with or without exercise.

Stick to a plan

Get a nutrition plan adjusted to your goals. If you don’t have one, the 8fit app can produce a personalized menu for your goals.

Do your best to follow your diet plan, since there will be plenty of occasions where life will get in the way. Your results will depend greatly on your adherence to your plan!

Bonus points: track your food

If you start tracking everything you eat, the mere act of tracking will make you infinitely more aware of what you’re putting into your body. You’ll be far less likely to shovel absent-minded handfuls of m&ms into your gaping maw.

There are many nutritional trackers out there; the one we recommend is Lose It! It’s free, has an extensive database of foods, and will keep count of your daily macronutrient ratio (which we’ll look at in a moment).

Your caloric needs

No, you do not have a wonky metabolism. No, you weren’t born with that stubborn fat on your hips. No, you are (very likely) not the exception to the rule.

Just like everything else in the universe, you are subject to the laws of thermodynamics. You gain weight from creating a caloric surplus - eating more calories than you burn. You lose it through creating a caloric deficit - eating fewer calories than you burn.

Your daily calorie goal will depend on whether you want to lose, maintain, or gain weight (NOTE: the majority of this guide is written with the goal of shedding poundage rather than packing it on).

If you’re using 8fit’s app, the nutrition section will already be adapted to your goal.

You can eat utter garbage at a caloric deficit and you will still lose weight. However, you will likely be overwhelmingly lethargic while doing so, constantly suffering from hunger pangs, and undernourished. The weight you will lose will come largely from muscle, not fat. You’ll end up a starved skinny-fat saddo with a high chance of regaining all the weight you’ve lost. Who wants that? Not you. Read on.

Macronutrient basics

A calorie is not a calorie. There are really only three building blocks of food that you need to pay attention to (apart from calories). These are the macronutrients: protein, fat, and carbohydrates.Your body processes each in a different way.

If you balance these three in the right way, you’ll evade hunger, give your body what it needs to build muscle, and enter ketosis, the optimal fat-burning mode - all at once. Your optimal ratio will depend on your caloric needs, which you can determine in the above section.

Most people can benefit from limiting carbohydrates to between 50-100 grams each day. Reducing them to somewhere in this range will force your body to stop depending on glucose - sugar - for energy. Instead, you will begin to burn fat, both dietary and the jiggly bits. Try eating slightly fewer carbs on rest days and slightly more on workout days, but stay below 100g/carbs/day to remain in fat-burning mode. There are a couple ways to check if you’re in ketosis or not.

Ensure you eat at least 100-150 grams of protein each day. This gives your muscles the material they need to grow. Yes, women too, and no, you won’t get bulky. Eating enough protein also kills hunger much, much better than carbs, which give you a quick burst of energy followed by a crash.

The remainder of your calories should come from fat. Yes, fat: eating fat will not make you fat. Because you’ll be in ketosis from restricting carbohydrates, your body will be optimized to use fat for energy. Both the fat you eat and the fat stores in your thighs will work to power you through your days. Eat fat and love it.

What about all those other bits on the nutrition labels? What about vitamins and minerals? Flintstones Chewables, my friend. Taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement ensures your bases are covered. Check out the Supplementing your diet section below for recommendations.

What to avoid completely

Like we said, you can eat utter crap and still lose weight if you’re maintaining a caloric deficit. However, it will be very, very difficult to balance your macronutrients so that that you burn fat and gain muscle at the same time.

There are some foods you should simply avoid entirely. They’ll do nothing positive for your body, and their effects may hurt your fitness efforts even if consumed in small amounts.

Ditch starchy, fast-absorbing carbohydrates: bread, pasta, rice, grains, pasta, beer, cereal, corn, and potatoes. Yes, this includes “wholesome” whole grains, like brown rice and whole wheat bread. They’ll make you exceed your daily carbohydrate target extremely quickly. The more you indulge in them, the more you’ll crave them.

Limit fruit intake. Fruit is nature’s candy, and fructose makes you hungrier. There are some low-calorie fruits worth including in your diet in limited amounts (see below). Be more than cautious with sugary fruits like bananas, dates, grapes, papayas, mangoes, and pineapples. Dehydrated fruit is especially dangerous as it concentrates the sugar. Juice is doubly bad - it eliminates all the benefits of fiber in whole fruit and leaves only sugar water.

Forget sugar and all its derivatives. “Natural” sweeteners like honey, agave nectar, molasses, maple syrup, and unrefined sugars are just as dangerous as their evil cousin, refined white sugar. All of them will make you fat, unless you burn them, which is difficult. Just don’t eat them in the first place. Cut out soda and sugared drinks completely; drink the diet version only if you feel you’ll otherwise implode. Forget anything with high-fructose corn syrup even exists.

Avoid milk, yogurt, and dairy-based products in general, at least at the beginning. Dairy is insulinogenic, meaning it that spikes insulin levels and makes you hungry. Many people find that including dairy in their diet leads to weight loss plateaus. Others successfully make use of it to build muscle in balanced ways. Try eliminating it from your daily intake for now.

Eating fat won’t make you fat, but some fats aren’t friendly to fitness. Don’t consume corn oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, shortening, or absolutely anything containing refined/hydrogenated/trans fats. Your body doesn’t know how to deal with these kinds of fats, and they can throw your chemistry into chaos.

In general, avoid:

• Starchy carbs: bread, pasta, rice, grains, pasta, beer, cereal, corn, and potatoes
• Fruit, especially sugary fruit like bananas, dates, grapes, papayas, mangoes, and pineapples
• Sugar and all derivatives, including honey, agave nectar, molasses, maple syrup, and unrefined sugars
• Dairy, including milk and yogurt products
• Nasty processed fats, like hydrogenated and trans fats

What are good foods?

If you have to give up your daily deep-fried croissant, just what the hell are you going to eat? So glad you asked! There are loads of whole foods that fit very well into 8fit nutrition.

Great whole sources of protein

• Grass-fed beef
• Chicken and turkey
• Tuna
• Wild salmon, herring, sardine, trout, mackerel, and anchovies
• Nearly any fish
• Shellfish, like mussels, oysters, and clams
• Octopus and squid
• Lean pork
• Eggs, especially organic eggs
• Greek yogurt (unsweetened)
• Edamame (whole soybeans)
• Cottage cheese

What about beans? Legumes definitely offer protein, but it comes packaged with a hefty dose of carbohydrates as well - so watch your intake and moderate accordingly. Ditto with “whole protein” quinoa - a cup will net you a whopping 109 g/carbohydrates in exchange for a mere 24 g/protein.

It’s also possible to find processed products that have decent macronutrient ratios, but you’ll find it noticeably more difficult - this is because manufacturers of processed foods generally pump them full of salt, sugar, and fat (incidentally, that’s also an excellent book on the subject!). A few processed sources of protein that we enjoy are deli meats, tofu, and tempeh.

Want to get creative? Consider offal - livers, kidneys, gizzards, and hearts are all dense, delicious sources of protein, and a fun way to mix things up if you enjoy their stronger flavors. Beef tongue is also delicious, but fairly high in fat. Adventurous eaters can try intestine, tripe, sweetbreads, blood, and brains. Feel free to gobble up the meat of slightly odder animals, including frog, horse, and snails.

Great sources of fats

• Fatty fish like salmon, herring, trout, mackerel, and anchovies - great sources of Omega-3
• Grass-fed beef
• Bacon (yessssss)
• Egg yolk
• Avocado
• Coconut oil, palm oil, and extra virgin olive oil
• Butter, especially grass-fed organic butter
• Greek yogurt
• Cream
• Cheese
• Olives
• Nuts other than peanuts (which are actually a legume): almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts
• Seeds: pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, chia, flax
• Pan drippings: the fresh fats that result from cooking meats

Again, for the intrepid: try marrow. It’s mineral dense and extraordinarily delicious.

If you don’t like fish, consider taking fish oil as a supplement to ensure you get enough Omega-3 fatty acids.

Great sources of carbohydrates

• Leafy greens: spinach, chard, kale, lettuce, collard, mustard, and arugula
• Cabbage (including sauerkraut and kimchi)
• Radicchio and endive
• Sea vegetables: wakame and nori
• Bok choy
• Cauliflower, broccoli, and brussel sprouts
• Peppers: bell peppers and chile peppers
• Squash: summer squash, spaghetti squash, zucchini, pumpkin
• Mushrooms
• Asparagus
• Eggplant
• Cucumber
• Fennel
• Green beans
• Tomatoes
• Hearts of palm
• In moderation:
• Berries: blueberries, raspberries, blackberries
• Cherries, apples, pears, grapefruit, and figs
• Sweet potatoes and yams
• Quinoa and wild rice

There are many more vegetables out there, of course. Look up their nutritional value before enjoying. Take note of the net carbs, which is the total carb count minus any fiber content (which aids in digestion since your body can’t process it into glucose). Any herb or spice is also a great addition to your arsenal.

Never go hungry

Follow the recommended macronutrient ratios each day, and you’ll never have to put up with hunger pangs while maintaining a caloric deficit. The problem with running off carbohydrates is that the body uses them for quick energy, then comes to a speeding crash. It demands more easy glucose, likely in the form of another candy bar.

If you get enough protein, you’ll quiet the rumbles. Protein sates the body over a much longer period of time than carbs. It’s processed slowly, avoiding the insulin spike and crash. Dietary fat also aids in long term satiety.

Consider a plate of 600 calories’ worth of sausage and bacon versus 600 calories’ worth of skim milk and cereal. Ever note how you can eat bowl after bowl of cereal without feeling satisfied? The protein/fat option fills you up and keeps you there much longer than the empty carbs with colorful marshmallows.

The fat-burning state of ketosis also reduces hunger, since the body is relying on slow-release fats for energy instead of quick-burn carbohydrates. You should not go hungry while following 8fit nutrition.

(This article is culled from www.8fit.com)