The 3 Clean Eating Rules I use every day to keep lean all year round.
I find it quite funny about how a lot of our gym members ask me how I eat every day. I find it funny because I’m no chef (believe me), my food is boring and I feel like I don’t do anything particularly extraordinary. But when I tell a client about how I make a daily salad, they look at me with amazement like I’ve just solved Einstein’s theory of relativity. I have no idea if that last sentence makes sense. Does Einstein’s theory even need solving? I’ve got no idea. But basically the point is, they’re somehow really impressed! So then I thought I’d share these ridiculously simple things I do each day to keep myself lean. They’re so easy and simple I’m slightly embarrassed to say them. But here we go anyway.
Let me preface all of this by saying two things: 1) I am not a Nutritionist or Dietician. But all the information below comes from 20 years of experience in Fitness and of witnessing hundreds of clients and experiments done over the years. So I've seen a fair bit. And 2) Deep down I’m a lazy (and busy) guy. So I don’t want to spend every day thinking and obsessing over what I eat. I want to get the most benefit for the least amount of effort given. Who wants to spend 20 hours a week of their life food prepping and counting calories. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But I’d rather play with my kids, swim in the ocean or have quality time with my wife (if she’s reading this :))
Now here's three simple tricks I personally use to clean eat 90% of the time (I still enjoy the occasional pizza and burger).
1) Eat the same few meals over and over again, especially for breakfast and lunch. You think it may get boring, but it doesn't.
2) Plan your meals ahead, always have the ingredients handy.
3) Clean out your pantry, and never keep bad treats in the kitchen. Yep, throw away all the chocolate, chips, biscuits, etc. You don't need that temptation in your house.
So here's a very concise cheat sheet for each meal !
BREAKFAST
When I’m shredding, I really try and give up bread. After a while, you don’t even miss it. So here are my go to two different breakfasts.
1) Overnight Oats!
- Rolled Oats soaked overnight in Almond milk. You can then add Blueberries, Yoghurt, Banana or Protein Powder to it.
2) Eggs with - Spinach
- 1/4 Avocado
- Tomato
- Bacon
I eat Oats every morning, 6 days a week. On Sunday's I eat eggs.
LUNCH
Repeat after me. BIG.......ASS......SALAD! That's it. No sandwiches, wraps, etc. I eat the same big salad every day with a drizzle of Olive Oil and salt.
SNACKS
Here's the low down on snacks:
1) Fruit - YES!
2) Greek Yoghurt - YES!
3) Carrot/Celery Sticks. Even better when they're dipped in Hummous
4) Nuts - look Nuts are healthy but are high in calories so only eat these sparingly.
5) My latest favourite snack - Rice Cakes, topped with Smoked Salmon, Spanish onion and Ricotta/cream cheese. Yumm.
DINNER
Go for a lean meat/fish and veggies. That's it. There are so many healthy recipes out there to choose from so go nuts. If you want me to send you some, I can.
(Quick note: IF you don't have time to cook, prepared meals like "My Muscle Chef" are ok if they don't contain pasta in them).
AFTER DINNER SNACKS
NO DON'T DO IT!!!
Choose from the above snacks if you're still hungry. A great little trick for the sweet eaters out there is add some Cacao nibs to some yoghurt or oats. It's basically chocolate without the sugar.
And that's it. I know right? It’s so bloody simple that I bet there was hardly any new information here for you. But let me tell you my secret (and every other Personal Trainer’s secret). The secret is not having the most knowledge of diets, nutrition, macros, etc….. The secret is simply find what works for you, then having the DISCIPLINE to stick to it. All the info in the world won’t help you if you don’t stick to the damn eating plan.
That’s it. If you’re still reading, here’s a really, really, funny dad joke:
Remember when Botox used to be a taboo subject? Now when you mention it, nobody raises an eyebrow.