So I’ve occasionally been receiving emails from people wanting to know what my own specific diet looks like. I get this in person from time to time as well. My favorite is during holidays and other family-gathering-type situations. It’s more like I’m on a nutrition game show then, except the only real “prize” is finally getting out of the conversation. Fun times.
Anyway, I figured I’d break down my own diet meal-by-meal for those interested in what/how I eat, and also for those who are looking for a general example of what a healthy diet looks like. Be sure to check out the couple of notes at the end for some clarifications on some things. Here we go…
Meal #1: “Pre-Workout Meal” and “Breakfast”
Since I workout in the morning, this first meal ends up being both my breakfast AND my pre-workout meal. So basically, this is one of the most important times of the day for me to eat some protein. I’d say 99.9% of the time my protein source for this meal is eggs/egg whites. Sometimes hard boiled, sometimes an omelet. Eggs/egg whites are a cheap, simple and fairly high quality source of protein. Plus they are an actual breakfast food which is nice if you care about eating breakfast foods during breakfast.
The other almost equally important nutrient for me to eat during this meal is carbs. There is quite a bit of research backing up the benefits of consuming a protein and carb meal pre-workout (more details on that will follow in a future article). My carb source of choice during this meal is usually oatmeal or whole grain toast or something similar. Much better than a typical breakfast carb source (junky, sugary cereal or pastry) for sure.
And then, water. Lots of water.
Meal #2: “Post-Workout Meal”
Interesting fact about this meal… it’s the only meal of my day that takes place while I’m driving. That may sound odd, but really, it’s not. In fact, it may be ideal. This is my post-workout meal, and pretty much all of the research you find and all of the nutrition experts you listen to will say the same thing. Immediately following a workout, one of the most beneficial things you can do is have a fast digesting protein and carb meal. (I’ll get into all of the specifics of “why” in that same future article I mentioned above. For now just know it’s a really good idea.)
Now, for most people, any good protein and carb source you come up with would be alright here. Something like some chicken (protein) and a baked potato (carbs) would make a good post-workout meal. Now, you may have noticed my use of the word “immediately” when describing the timing of this post-workout meal. This is because at this time, your body wants/need nutrients, and it wants/needs them as quickly as possible. Having this meal within the first 60 minutes after your workout is a good maximum to shoot for. 30 minutes would be even better.
However, I (and many others) take this one step further. I have my “meal” about 5 minutes after my workout… on the car ride home from the gym. Again, it probably still sounds a bit odd. Trust me, it’s not. The reason why is that my post-workout meal really isn’t a “meal” at all. It’s a drink. It’s my post-workout shake.
Just like the example meal mentioned above, this shake is still nothing but protein and carbs (and water). The protein source is whey protein powder (yup, a protein supplement). Whey is a very fast-absorbing protein which makes it the ideal source of protein for your post-workout meal.
The carb source is dextrose. It may sound like another supplement, but it’s not. Dextrose is actually just a type of sugar. Hang on, I know what you’re thinking. “Wouldn’t a sugar such as dextrose be like the worst possible type of carb you could eat? I could swear I’ve seen you recommend limiting higher glycemic carbs like sugar and consuming lower glycemic carbs instead? Are you just a liar?” Nope, I’m not. I swear.
Avoiding so-called “bad” carbs that lack nutritional value and eating mostly (if not all) “good” carbs in their place is still a terrific idea. Well, except one specific time of the day… post-workout. What makes simple carbs (like dextrose) so bad is the speed at which they get digested by the body. These carbs are digested very quickly compared to foods like beans or vegetables. The slower the digestion, the better effect it has on our blood insulin levels. This is why 99% of the time you want to avoid sugary and/or highly processed junk.
That other tiny percentage of time is immediately following your workout, which is the only time of the day when your body may actually benefit from a faster digesting carb. So, I combine whey (fast digesting protein) with dextrose (fast digesting carb) inside a bottle, add a bunch of water and drink it on my ride home from the gym. This meal may be the one that requires the most explaining, but it’s my quickest and easiest meal of the day.
Meal #3: “Lunch”
Next up is what most people would probably refer to as “lunch” (I personally like the sound of “Meal #3″ better). This meal takes place about 1-2 hours after my previous meal. I’m only mentioning this because none of my other meals are this close together. The main reason why this meal comes a bit sooner than the others is that again, due to the workout, the body is still in a state where nutrients are its best friend. So, combined with the fact that the previous meal was just a shake and not a big filling solid food meal, I eat this next meal just 1-2 hours later. Small difference, but I figured I should mention it.
Getting to the meal itself, I’d say 9 times out of 10 this meal is grilled chicken, brown rice, and some sort of vegetable. For me personally (someone who has always been a naturally boring eater), this is my perfect meal. I could eat it all day long.
And to drink… water.
Meal #4: “The Meal After Lunch & Before Dinner”
There’s nothing too special about this one, so “the meal after lunch & before dinner” is about the best meal nickname I could come up with here. In the simplest terms, this meal is a protein source, a carb source, and for the first real time of the day… fat.
The protein source of this meal, mostly just for convenience purposes, tends to be a protein shake (or sometimes tuna fish). As for carbs, it will usually be potatoes. And for fat, usually almonds. Just the typical basic meal a boring eater like me prefers.
Actually, the drink is pretty fancy. It’s water. (There’s a little diet sarcasm for ya.)
Meal #5: “Dinner”
This meal starts with a record setting amount of vegetables. Seriously. I’m one of those weird people that just really likes vegetables, so similar to the way some people would load up their plate with dessert items, I load up my plate with vegetables. The vegetables in question will usually go one of two ways. Sometimes (probably the majority) it’s a giant salad containing everything I can fit in it (romaine lettuce, celery, red pepper, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.). When it is a salad, I use a pretty good amount of olive oil/balsamic vinegar dressing, thus adding some more quality fat to this meal. When it’s not a salad, I’ll usually go with a huge broccoli and string bean combination with some oil and garlic.
From there we go to the protein source. This will be anything from chicken, to turkey, to a lean cut of meat.
Depending on a bunch of factors (the rest of my diet, my goals at the time, etc.), I may also throw in some almonds or walnuts during this meal to add some more fat to my diet. Currently I am doing this. Sometimes I’ll even buy sliced almonds and throw them in my salad. This is about as fancy as I get with my diet.
Then I drink a whole bunch of soda!! I go nuts! Bottle after bottle, can after can. Soda, soda and more soda! Alright, you caught me. More water.
Meal #6: “The Last Meal Of The Day”
A few hours after dinner, and about 30-60 minutes before I’m in my bed sleeping, I have my last meal of the day. As you can discern from that sentence, I laugh in the face of the “if you eat late at night it all turns into fat!!!” myth. Silly myths.
Anyway, as for the meal itself, it’s some more protein and some more fat. The protein source is usually something leftover from the meal before (dinner). I try to purposely make enough of the protein source (chicken, turkey, etc.) so that I have a little bit left over for the next meal. If that plan fails (it usually doesn’t, unless I’m not eating at home), plan B is usually casein protein powder.
I’ll then have some more nuts (almonds or walnuts usually) because I want to make sure there is some fat in this meal for a specific reason (besides just reaching my ideal daily fat intake, which is always reason #1).
Earlier I mentioned my post-workout shake, which was a combination of fast digesting protein and carbs. The reason for the fast digesting foods is that right after my workout is when I want these nutrients absorbed by my body as quickly as possible. For this meal, I want to do the exact opposite.
Since this is going to be the last meal I eat for the next 8 or so hours (while sleeping), I want to help keep these nutrients available for a longer, more drawn out period of time. That’s one of the reasons I try to have some fat in this meal. Fat slows down digestion.
Oh, and due to the “30-60 minutes before bed” timing of this meal… there is no water. 
Other Notes About My Diet
- All of the above is what takes place on a typical day that I workout on. When I don’t, a few things change (most notably there is no more post-workout shake). However, since I have 4 workout days and 3 non-workout days, the diet I decided to describe is the one from a typical workout day since it is the type of day that makes up the majority of my week. Plus, I thought it was more interesting than my non-workout day diet.
- This diet is right for me, my body, my metabolism, my activity level and my goals. For you, it might suck. For this reason, I purposely left out the specifics of quantities and how many calories and grams of protein, fat, carbs, etc. I consume. It really shouldn’t be of much interest to anyone because of what I just mentioned. The diet might cause me to maintain weight, and it might cause you to gain 2lbs per week. See what I mean? The food choices and the reasons for those choices are what you should take something away from. It pretty much fits perfectly with every type of expert-recommended guideline for eating a healthy, balanced diet along with other additions that are specific to me and my current goals.
- Speaking of which, for anyone who is interested, I will mention that I am currently gaining about 0.5lbs per week with this diet, as it fits with my current goals (increasing muscle/strength). Of course, this is just a matter adjusting calorie intake. If I wanted to lose weight or just maintain my weight as is, everything I mentioned above would stay EXACTLY the same. The only real change would be a slight decrease in total calories consumed.
- As I mentioned, I use protein powder. In addition to that, the only other supplements I take are a multivitamin, fish oil, calcium, vitamin D and creatine.
Why My Diet Is Pretty Darn Good
- First and foremost, weight control. The total calorie intake is what it needs to be in order for my weight to do what I want it to do.
- Second, there is balance. My (and your) body requires significant amounts of protein, carbs and fat to function properly, and I am consuming good amounts of all 3.
- Third, quality. There is not a single junky item in my typical daily diet. No trans fat. A sane amount of saturated fat. Low sodium, sugar and cholesterol. High in the good stuff. Those 3 aforementioned nutrients are coming from high quality sources. Protein comes from eggs, chicken, turkey, lean cuts of meat, fish and a protein supplement. Carbs come from fruits and vegetables, brown rice, potatoes, oatmeal and other whole grains. Fat comes from almonds and/or walnuts, olive oil and a fish oil supplement.
- Fourth, personal preferences and goal related adjustments. What I mentioned above is what’s most important for consuming a healthy diet. Things like the number of meals I eat, the timing and frequency of those meals, the specific food choices I made, and total amounts of calories, protein, fat and carbs are adjustments made to suit my personal needs and preferences. You should do the same. For example, if you’d rather eat 3 meals instead of 6, do that. If you hate almonds but love peanuts, eat peanuts instead of almonds. This sort of stuff is pretty important, as eating is a pretty big part of your life. If you hate a part of your diet, it’s just going to make it hard for you to stick to it. What I mean is, this is what is best for me. You should always do everything in the way that is best for you.
- Basically, my diet contains a lot of what it should, little to none of what it shouldn’t, the total calorie and nutrient intake is just right, and it’s all put together in a way that suits me and keeps me happy. And this, my friends, is the simple outline of what you should want your diet to be.
That was a very interesting read. Having recently started to work out again after a long pause, it was great to see a solid example of a diet such as yours and I picked up a couple of ideas out of it such as the nuts as an afternoon protein source.
Very helpful blog post, thank you for sharing! (I found my way over here from Lifehacker.) The description of your diet and your reasons for your choices are concrete and useful, I’ll be sharing this with my husband since he could benefit from a similar plan. He already does the protein shake after workouts and nuts in the afternoon, but the rest of the example will be inspiring for him.
Thanks for sharing.
What exactly do you do with all those non-eaten egg yolks?
A well written article, clear and concise.
Keep up the good work, Just one question the half a pound you gain a week is that fat or muscle?
steelfrog: Glad it was helpful.
phasic: Ah, cool… you’re welcome.
Perry: I offer them to other people if other people are around at the time. If not, I include the hardboiled yolks in my yolk juggling act.
Scott: The goal of course is for as much of the weight as possible to be in the form of muscle. However, no matter how perfect my diet is or how perfect my workout is, some of that weight will be fat. How much depends on many factors. Obviously, the worse the diet and/or workout is, the worse the ratio of muscle to fat gain will be.
But, after that, genetics definitely play a very large role. Good genetics = better ratio, bad genetics = worse ratio. (Drug use = amazingly fantastic ratio.) I personally am somewhere on the “bad ratio” side thanks to my less than stellar genetics. Thanks mom and dad.
Awesome article, thanks.
just fyi I think you meant “fourth” instead of “forth” in “why my diet is pretty darn good.”
Austin: Ah, good catch. It’s fixed now, thanks.
do you cardio on those non work out days?
people tend to say that doing cardio is bad when you’re trying to build muscle, is that true?
kaiser: I play some basketball most of the year (except the winter), but, I’m never on a treadmill or anything like that. As for whether cardio is bad when trying to build muscle… the biggest problem is that you need calories when building muscle, and cardio burns a bunch. This really just means you need to make sure you are eating enough to compensate for the calories you are burning during whatever cardio you are doing.
This is why, for the most part, some light cardio on your off days isn’t such a big deal (and may in fact help your recovery) when building muscle. BUT, anything more than just “light” cardio on your off days is probably a bad idea. You are taking these days off to give your body a chance to rest and recover from intense weight training. Doing any sort of intense cardio on these days would be counterproductive to the whole point of “off days.”
Check out The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle (http://www.acaloriecounter.com/building-muscle.php) if you haven’t already, specifically requirement #5, which contains a bit more info about my thoughts on cardio when trying to build muscle.
thanx.
Hey Question!
I’ve heard time n time again about exercising at dawn being most effective tt u burn fats n not ‘carbs’. Also something bout in the morining since there’s no calorie intake, the body burns what’s stored; & tt at other times it burns wat’s consumed for the day. I mean as long as I’m burning fat I’m cool, but if its not effective then there’s a problem.
I tried running in the morning, I get a little light headed as well n can’t quite keep up. Is it ok to eat breakfast before a workout? How long u suppose one should allow before working out n breakfast? If it doesn’t matter when your calories go in, does it matter when they go out?
Just about exactly my diet. I’m with you I love oatmeal, whole-wheat bread, and veggies!
Yay veggies!
one question, i noticed you never mention drinking anything but water, but is it OK to drink milk?
I usually just have oj, milk, and water,.. but mostly water. Is this ok?
other than that and the shake thing, this sounds like what i like to eat.
Thanks for your helpful info.
I heard that drinking a glass of chocolate milk was a good post workout drink, is there any truth to that?
First off,the comment made about the forth vs. fourth, OMG, Geez, give me a break……….. Enough said. LOL
Anyway, wanted to thank-you for your information in regards to good health. Most of which I pretty much do already. However, most of my “good” “productive” habits fall by the wayside when I go into one of those nifty drive-thru-devil-enhanced places of business. My problem now is that I have recently been diagnosed with Vertigo, and my doctor says for me to go on a strict diet consisting of pretty much just vegetables and fruits to see what types of foods I might be allergic to as I enter one-by-one back in to my diet over a period of time. Thus the reason I went surfing and landed on your website. If you can offer any advice to my cause, I would be deeply appreciative.
Also, I need to come up with an exercise regimen. I am 5’4″, 49 years old, YIKES!!!! and weigh 145. I have back issues which slow-up some of my faster paced intentions, and after the back surgeries, went from total muscle to flab. HELP!!!!!
I have just discovered your website and blog and have been very much impressed. I’m an 83 year old and have always been quite active most of my life, including now. I don’t have the boob tube connected, I don’t like to sit and watch TV. I spend most of my time doing things around the house, gardening, landscaping, making things etc. I had started fast walking 2 miles recently but don’t do it consistently. I’ve gone up to 173 lbs when most of my adult life I stayed at about 155 lbs. I have just begun counting calories, but being Italian and cooking my own meals, I’m a widower, I have not idea how many calories are in a meat-loaf, which I just made the other day, or a plate of pasta or ravioli, or any other meals I make. Do I really have to give up Italian food to loose weight. I have begun cutting back on my portions to almost half. I don’t eat cookies or desserts and do try to stay away from the ‘bad fats’. I just wondered it you ever eat Italian food and maintain your weight. You’ll forgive me for this lengthy letter but I’m totally new to this calorie counting business so I have a lot to learn. Looking forward to your reply.
Rudy
I guess what you mean is I’m too long winded. Here’s the abbreviation.
I’m an 83 year old widower that just discovered your website and am impressed. My question simple is, do I have to forego Italian food to loose some weight? I’m 5′ 8″ and 173 lbs and would like to get down to 160 lbs. I get lots of exercise around here, working around the house and occasionally fast walking 2 miles.
I still have to learn how to apply calorie counting. I’m a widower so I do all my own cooking, mostly Italian.
do you have a book?
Thanks for sharing and making it FREE. Verna
What do you recommend for the alternative in your meals, instead of chicken and turkey etc for vegetarians? I eat eggs, but no meat or fish what so ever.
Thanks, would be most helpful.
i would be so bored with that mealplan. i get the regimentation but how do you not go crazy for a little variation. i cook for my husband, mother and 4 yr old son. if I tried that for more the 2 days,everyone would revolt. any advice?
Your diet is interesting. It’s a myth buster. Exercising after eating, eating 7 times a day not 5, eating less than 3 hours before bed, juggling all those eggyolks, wow!
Looks like a sweet diet plan. I’m wondering about how many calories, and grams of protein and carbs, are in your post-workout shake from the whey and dextrose individually?
Thanks in advance.
i love this! good job and thank you for providing some guidance i use to be healthy and i started straying but that way you wrote it out is perfect and makes it sound so easy! and honestly it is! its great!
Just wanted to say thanks a bunch for making this website. It explains so much. I put it in my fovorites.
I just would like to say THANK YOU…THANK YOU…N…THANK YOU. In just several hours of reading your website..I have learned a great deal of knowledge,about weightloss and nutrition. I am a very heavy female looking to lose a lot of weight. I tried every fad diet you can think of, and although I lost…I just gained it right back. I use to starve myself…and cheat which led to more weight gain!!!!All this time I should have been doing the most sensible and inexpensive things which is decreasing my caloric intake…eating the RIGHT things, and working out. Believe it or not…I have started to lose weight just by following the steps that I read on this website. Thats inspiration alone for me to keep going!!!!! Thanks again!!!