What Should I Eat?

In the last post, we discussed eliminating vegetable oils, refined sugars and grains from our diets.  But what should we eat?  I know, it's all so confusing.  I've been at this for 10 months or so and I'm still learning.  Probably the best lesson I've learned so far is "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good".

I agree with Mark's statement in that post "in most cases what you don’t eat is more important than what you do eat."  That's one of the reasons my first post was about what not to eat.  But we do need to eat something.  The following is what makes up a large portion of my diet.  I will address a lot of questions (but that's loaded with fat, and that's loaded with cholesterol...) in future posts.  Today is just about getting started.

Eggs.  I eat a lot of eggs.  I eat them hard boiled when I need a snack.  I eat them over easy with a side of bacon for breakfast.  I eat them scrambled with a large handful of colorful vegetables for any meal.  Or maybe I'll add some fresh salsa, jalapenos and sour cream.

Meat.  I eat lots of burgers, steaks, tuna, bacon, chicken and pork. I look for meats with high quality saturated fats.  I eat chicken with the skin.  And when possible I cook my meat still on the bone.  I haven't tried it yet, but I have some frozen chicken liver that I plan to prepare sometime soon (future post?).  Organ meats are really, really good for you.

Vegetables.  I eat a large salad almost every day.  I make sure it is loaded with lots of dark leafy greens.  I'll add some colorful varieties of bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms or whatever looks good that day.  I will add some good fats from eggs, bacon, avocados and cheese.  And I make sure my dressing DOES NOT contain any vegetable oils.  I also eat lots of fresh broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, green beans, carrots and so on.  I steam my veggies since steaming keeps more of the good stuff intact than boiling.  And I add lots of salt and butter.

Fruits.  I eat mostly berries -- blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries.  I often mix some frozen wild Maine blueberries in my protein shakes.  I also eat apples, peaches and cherries among other fruits.  I often squeeze a lemon into a tall glass of ice water.  Fruit does contain fructose (sugar).  This doesn't mean you should avoid fruit.  Remember, we are allowed 100 - 150 grams of carbohydrates per day.  Some fruit is certainly encouraged.  Just don't overdo it.


Dairy.  I drink raw whole milk.  I add it to my coffee or mix it with a protein powder following a workout.  I eat high fat greek yogurt (or high fat plain yogurt).  I add raw cheese to my burgers or eggs.  Sometimes I cut it up into cubes and eat it as a snack.  When I'm having a higher carb day, I'll eat ice cream (only the kind made with all natural ingredients).  As mentioned above, I eat sour cream and lots and lots of butter.

Herbs and spices.  As much as possible, I will add fresh herbs when preparing my food.  More often than not, I use the kind that comes in a container.  I buy whole spices and grind them in a coffee grinder.  This produces more flavor and aroma than spices already ground in the container. 

This list is certainly not complete - not by a long shot.  It's just the beginning.  Many, many foods not mentioned above are perfectly fine to eat.  If you stick to whole foods found around the perimeter of the grocery store, you will have improved your diet by leaps and bounds. 

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day...

And it is pretty much impossible to go "primal" in a day as well.  It took me months to figure out what I was doing -- and I was still able to shed over 50 pounds of fat in about 8 months.  And believe me when I tell you I don't spend much time in the gym.  Almost all of my weight loss was due to changing what I eat.  Mark Sisson from Mark's Daily Apple and author of "The Primal Blueprint" has said that 80-90% of what we look like is based on what we eat.  Once I figure out how to post photos, I'll have before and after pics and you can judge for yourself.

Where to begin?  In my opinion, it's best to figure out what not to eat before worrying about what to eat.  First, read the labels on all of your food.  Immediately throw away anything that contains vegetable oils (canola oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil and a few others that don't come to mind at the moment).  These products are no good. 

Second, come to terms with sugars (cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, etc.).  If the label says "low fat", it should probably also say "high sugar".  If the goal is to lose weight, 100 grams of carbohydrates should be the maximum average per day.  If the goal is to maintain weight, up to 150 grams is okay.  Get rid of the sodas (diet soda too -- I'll explain that in a future post).  Get rid of the Twinkies, Twizzlers and Twix's.

Third, understand the impact of breads and cereals.  We've been told to consume lots and lots of whole grains.  We've been fed a bunch of lies.  Grains, in particular those that contain gluten, can wreak havoc on our insides.  They can cause inflammation.   They can mess with our immune systems.  Plus they are typically in high carb products (bread) that end up making us fat.  I will occasionally eat bread made from tapioca starch or sprouted grains.  But only when I really want a slice of toast or a sandwich.  And that's not even the worst stuff. 

This should give you a good start by knowing three major "food groups" to avoid -- vegetable oils, sugars and grains.  I promise to provide more details on each in the future.  For now I'm trying to keep it simple.  Hope it helps.

As a closing to the first post, I'm going to provide a link to one of my favorite posts from Mark's Daily Apple.  Please click on it and enjoy the dramatic reading.