So there was a HUGE response with my last blog post about what I eat on a Training Day.
For the last year or so I’ve been experimenting with intermittent fasting and just recently, I’ve converted over 100% to a 7 days-a-week fasting schedule where I typically fast from 8-9pm at night to 12-1pm the next day, training day or not.
In this post I reveal below what a typical NON-Training looks like…
Meal 1 – My Non Training Day “Breakfast”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQI5qnbT4hk
Usually it depends on what I’ve got going on that day, but if I have a ton of stuff to get done, I’ll drink a organic blend of coffee. Most of the times I stick to water even if I’m a bit tired which is hardly ever.
This is exactly why an intermittent based fasting eating plan is so powerful – It keeps me wide awake in the AM and gives me a rush of energy. The main thing I don’t want to do is get hooked on coffee and have to rely on it everyday to wake up.
Main Focus: Water, water, water is the key and what you’ll find out is the busier you keep yourself, the easier it’ll be to make your AM fasting sessions a success.
The issue most people have when it comes to overeating is the fact that their bored as all hell and the only other thing to do is to eat food.
Solution – keep yourself busy!
Busy professionals that need to get a ton done in the AM will find fasting to be very effective. Besides all of the health benefits, the productivity benefits that come along with fasting are well worth it on it’s own…
For me, I LOVE the morning. I’m up at usually around 430am everyday, Monday thru Friday and typically on the weekends, I’m still up and at it around 615am. If I sleep any longer then that I feel like a waste. I feel as if I missed out on something.
The couple extra hours of sleep actually makes me more tired then supply me with an extra boost of energy.
Anyways, let’s get into some more meals shall we…
Meal 1 – My 1st “Official” Meal
Since it’s a non training day, I keep my first meal relatively light. I always start off with “The Lean and Mean Stack” that’s composed of Athletic Greens mixed in water, Omega 3 fish oil, a vitamin D, and some BCAA’s.
I also throw down a dose of Resveratrol which has been proved to be super healthy for your heart. One of my athlete’s, who’s a national champion wrestler as well as a total supplement nut told me about Resveratrol. At first I thought it was a bunch of crap, but all the studies I’ve read and the research I’ve looked over have been great.
I take all of this about 10-15 mins before my first actual meal, but sometimes I forget and I just drink the Athletic Greens and take my pills with my 1st meal.
My first solid meal is either 4 sunny side up eggs on top of a bed of fresh greens with some apple cider vinegar and salsa OR I swap out the eggs and have some tilapia or a grilled chicken breast.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTHnS-p1o0Q
In the video as you could see, I had 4 eggs sunny side up, 3 strips of bacon (YES! BACON!), some bells peppers, a ton of greens, and the usual condiments of apple cider vinegar and salsa.
DAMN GOOD!
Sometimes I’ll have some lean ground beef mixed with a ton of greens and salsa as well.
Just depends on what I’m feeling like that day.
I keep this meal small as I don’t want to over due it.
This amount could be different for anyone, but it’s important to note if you get drowsy or tired after you eat this meal, you may have eaten too much.
I used to eat 6 eggs mixed with either sliced chicken breast or some lean grass fed ground beef with veggies, but when I would do that, an hour later I would feel drowsy and sluggish due to the amount of food I just pounded down.
So with that, I always make sure to keep this meal light and lean.
If I’m really starving, I’ll thrown in a hand full of almonds, walnuts, or macadamia nuts as well.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX4MDvUT0hE
This next meal I again keep rather small, light, and lean and it’s usually one of the examples I mentioned above.
On this day I had some organic chicken mixed with a ton of greens then topped with salsa.
Nothing fancy… Just LEAN and MEAN!
As you may of noticed, I talked about how these meals can start to get boring… Well, why stray off the path if the path is getting you results.
Find the foods that work with you the best and stick to them. Always remember – 80-20 Rule OR 90-10 rule…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J88ffC8Wqc
Now I start to crank it up a bit as by this time my metabolism is on fire and my hunger has really started to burn on high, but it’s all good because I’ve “earned it”.
If I’ve kept my earlier meals under control portion wise, I can now let a little bit loose on this meal.
I have this meal around 5pm when I’m not training evening athletes. If I’m in the gym training clients and athletes, Ill save this meal for after 7pm for when I get home.
If I’m training at the gym, I throw down a quick handful of nuts or chomp down a Lara Bar around 5-530pm.
If I’m at home, I’ll cook up a nice steak, some chicken breast, fish, or some grass-fed ground beef or bison and I don’t scrounge on the serving size.
With this meal, I eat just about as much as I want. It’s not uncommon for me to eat a 1lbs of beef in one sitting or take down two large chicken breast.
With that I’ll add in a endless amount of greens via spinach and kale or a mixture of broccoli, cauliflower, squash, and carrots.
I’ll also typically have some pumpkin or a sweet potato with this meal to start loading up for the training I’ve got coming up the next day. This is super important and CRITICAL for you training…
OPTIONAL – The 4th Meal
This meal all depends on how I feel. If I’m starving, I’ll eat more. If I feel satisfied I settle for some almond butter or a Protein Shake Pudding Mixture.
As for the meal, I’ll typical REPEAT what I just ate for my 3rd meal, but have something a bit different or just have a smaller portion.
The important thing is to focus in on is what you have going on the next day, especially training wise.
If I got some crazy training coming up, I “load up” with a bunch of smart starchy carbs from sweet potatoes or pumpkin. It’s normal to go through a whole can of pumpkin in one sitting EASY…
The main thing to think about is if you’ve fasted the RIGHT WAY, the meal you have at night will RE-FUEL your body and get it prepared for the next day of training.
Since I fast 7 days a week now, this is very important!
And what’s cool about this is that when you eat enough food at night, you’re body will naturally start to shut down and get ready for sleep.
Now, since we’re eating much larger meals at the end of the day, it’s OK since we want our body to start to shutting down for the day around this time. It’s better to start feeling sluggish and tired at night vs. mid morning or early afternoon.
I was always one to believe that it worked the exact OPPOSITE as I would fear of having all of the carbs and extra calories I ate in the evening to turn into fat if I wasn’t going to be very active for a while….
This won’t happen if you’ve fasted correctly. This extra food will be supplying you with the FUEL you need for the next day. That’s why it’s called RE-FEEDING.
Feel free to let loose on this last meal of the day if you’re trying to gain some lean mass.
If you’re looking to lose weight and get leaner, you’re number one focus should be on dropping body fat. For this, be a little bit more in control of your last meal of the night.
Now, let me leave you with a nice little cheat meal. You won’t believe what I eat here…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-mBBoj48xg
Hmmmm mmm mmm! Damn good!
Again, I credit all that I know and how I’ve evolved my eating style to various strength coaches and nutritionist. The main influences on how I now eat are from Jason Ferruggia and his Renegade Diet, John Romaneillo and Dan Go’s Fat Loss 4 Ever IF Based Program, LeanGains.com, Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat, and of course the overall philosophy of the Paleo Lifestyle.
I’ll continue to learn and evolve as time goes on, but for now this is how I eat and it works!
Go ahead and drop your thoughts in the comments! Also, let me know what type of questions YOU may have.
Keep Living, Eating, and Training Aggressive!