Full day of eating

If I had to guess, the most common questions I get asked are:

1. Food-related: How many calories do I have, what do I eat, when, how much do I eat, and what are my macros split?

2. Training related: How often do you train, what do you train, how do you train, and when do you train?

Now paradoxically, these questions can be both productive and counterproductive, depending on their intent.

You see, I am a massive fan of curiosity and learning from other people, what they do, what they don’t do and what works or does not work for them. So I also often ask these questions; these are core/ fundamental questions we delve into during the first consultation.

However, I think the majority of times I get asked the above questions is because people think, ‘Tell me what you do, and I’ll just do the same’. In this context, they are terrible questions that can lead to a very counterproductive experience for anyone who blindly copies what someone does.

There are over eight billion people on the planet, and everyone is different.

There are eight billion people on the planet, and everyone is different; even identical twins are different. Therefore, no single one size fits all plan will work for everyone. If you genuinely want the most optimum way to get healthy, enhance your current time, and extend your natural time, then you must build a specific plan. I aim to enable everyone with knowledge, tools and content to do this for themselves - and all that can be accessed for free through this website.

Anyway, I slightly digressed, so back to the point. Whenever I get asked these questions, I almost always get struck by paralysis and stand there briefly like a deer caught in the headlights. Nevertheless, I get asked these so much that I will share what a full day of eating looks like here - with the following caveat.

The following is specific to me and is what works for me to stay fit, happy and healthy (body fat, waist measurement, cholesterol, blood pressure & resting heart rate levels). If you just copied this, you would not see/ get the same results.DISCLAIMER

Educational tools, not lifelong crutches 

It is also worth stating that I no longer count calories or use MyFitnessPal. This may sound hypocritical, as I advise it as an absolute imperative for success to any client. However, it should be an educational tool, not a lifelong crutch. So six months of religiously using it daily has taught me to know the calorific values of foods instinctively and how they can naturally fit into my life.

The other tool/ piece of equipment I advise as imperative is a set of food scales, and yet again, in danger of sounding like a hypocrite. I no longer use food scales 100% of the time. These should also be used as educational tools, not a lifelong crutch. I still use them mainly to appeal to my OCD tendencies. I love knowing that certain meals will always have the same taste and consistency every time I make them. The scales serve an excellent purpose for this! It is limited to my porridge, granola yoghurt bowl, and quesadillas'.

Additional things to note:

• I drink a minimum of 4-5 litres of water a day.

• I take 2x omega 369, 1x multi-vitamin & 1x D3 vitamin tablet a day

• I love routine, and I love the foods I eat, so this will stay very similar except for:

  • Dinner: We love to eat together as a family in the evening. This is varied and almost always natural, home-cooked and fresh (fish, chicken, rice, vegetables, noodles, pasta, chilli etc.).

  • Lunch: the protein source will change daily (turkey, tuna, prawns, eggs)

  • Quesadilla: The protein source will change daily (chicken, tuna, 5% fat minced meat)

• Typically my day will come to ~3,000 calories even when accommodating for the above changes

• On a Saturday, I'll consume a little more due to our evening meal being:
  • A 'kids choice meal' which typically will be:

    • Beef Burgers and sweet potato fries (5% meat)

    • Chicken Burgers and chips

    • Pizza

    • Curry

    • Meal out

There are three types of health. One of which is mental.

It is important to remember that there are three types of Health. One of which is Mental, and a great way I take care of that is by socialising with family and friends and doing many things with my wife and kids to create memories and experiences.

We regularly go on days out and holidays, eat out, and visit friends' and grandparents' houses, and we love having lots of family and friends over at our house. I regularly travel for work and am out with colleagues or clients. Occasionally (unfortunately not so much anymore), I am out socialising with mates, which typically involves copious amounts of alcohol. When working through your initial phase to get 'healthy', I recommend adjusting/ accommodations for these events. 

Good news

However, I do not, and the good news is. You can stop adjusting when you reach your healthy state, and your diet becomes lifelong and sustainable. ~90% of the time, I eat, as in the table above, which means I no longer need to make adjustments/ accommodations. I am fully present at the event and enjoy socialising, eating/ drinking whatever I like. Then, the next day, I return to a 'normal/ typical' day with zero impact.

Now, want to know how you can figure out your calories and macros, check out this blog.