Easy to Follow Nutritional Guidelines

Hiiii! 

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I am super passionate about creating a healthy lifestyle that’s sustainable. I think eating well and working out should be fun, not stressful. And I think a huge part of wellness being fun and sustainable is making it simple. So, once again, I’m letting Nate take over and break down nutritional guidelines — “barney style.”

“Barney style” sounds kinda weird, right?! I know. But I’m going to let Nate explain that to you, too. 

I hope you enjoy and learn some simple ways to eat well! Also, let me know in the comments if you like Nate’s blog appearances. I’d love to start incorporating more. 

xx,

R

Why Nutrition Is the Key to Elite Performance

When it comes to optimizing your overall wellbeing and improving your athletic performance, nutrition is vital. 70:30 is the ratio that shows the importance of nutrition over-exercise when pursuing health and fitness. In other words, your gains and transformation are 70% dependent on your nutrition — the food you consume — and 30% dependent on the way you train. 

This is exactly why in Hōmebodies, the workout membership Remi and I host, we offer lots of nutritional ideas and resources like this “How to Make the Perfect Bowl” training course. We believe that optimizing your nutrition is the only way you’ll be able to achieve longevity and perform at your highest potential. 

As far as we’re concerned, everyone's nutritional needs are different in some way, shape, or form. So, we don’t do quick fixes or “one diet fits all.” Instead, we know that eating clean, whole foods, without the addition of processed sugars, dairy, and gluten, allows us to eliminate the need for calorie counting and extreme, unnecessary dieting.

Today, I’m going to be breaking down nutritional guidelines for you “Barney Style.” ‘Breakin' it down Barney style’ is an idiom frequently used in the Marine Corps Infantry. It means “to relay information to someone in an easily digestible way.” My goal with this post is to keep things simple and applicable.  

I believe that if you understand the principles of nutrition, you have the building blocks of eating well. From there, you can build a functional nutritional system that works for you and your lifestyle. Changing habits can be difficult, and even making simple swaps with foods can be tough or throw a wrench in our baseline. So, the goal of this post is to help you establish an environment that will work FOR you, not AGAINST you. A system and structure like this set you up to skip the poor diet choices and make healthier ones.

If you apply the five tips I’m sharing with you today, you’ll be surprised by the difference you feel after just a couple of days of eating a cleaner diet.

Note: I’m not a nutritionist. However, over the last eight years as a Marine, Crossfit Competitor, and USA Boxer, I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to fuel your body for both performance and a healthy lifestyle. I’m sharing with you what works best for me after all I’ve learned and tried. You can read about my journey here.

Nutrition Tip #1: Start the Way You Want to Finish

“Start the way you want to finish” is another way of saying, “If you have a sweet breakfast, with low protein and fiber, you will most likely crave sweet things throughout the day.” Instead of pouring yourself a bowl of cereal or picking up a donut at Dunkin when you grab your coffee, focus on having a breakfast that is high in protein, essential fats, and fiber. Whatever you eat for breakfast sets the tone for your day.

Do you want to be dragging throughout the day and reaching for a sweet treat in the afternoon after working out that morning? Or do you want to cook and eat a wholesome, well-balanced dinner with your loved ones when you get home from work? 

Breakfast doesn’t seem like that big of a deal — a lot of people even skip it — but not only does it set you up physically to make healthy choices, it also sets you up mentally. If you wake up and choose to have a nourishing breakfast, you’re going to be a lot less likely to throw it all away when someone shows up to work with a plate of cookies.

So, when you wake up, opt for some scrambled eggs, oats, and avocado. If you prefer to eat breakfast after working out like we do, be sure to have at least 20g of complex carbohydrates after your workout. Generally, you want these carbs in their most natural form. This is why I ALWAYS reach for a banana post-workout and put it in my shake.

One of the first meals in this video is a post-workout breakfast shake we make a lot. It’s a vlog covering every single meal Remi and I ate for a week, so you’ll find lots of nutritional meal inspiration there, too!

Nutrition Tip #2: Hydrate or Die

A simple, extremely effective, but also extremely overlooked nutrition tip is to drink lots of water. At least two to three liters of water is needed daily to enable your body to perform basic bodily functions. Add on intense training, and you should be consuming at least an additional one to two liters a day, which puts you at three to five liters daily. 

You need to rehydrate what you lost in sweat to get yourself back to your baseline, AND then some. After working out, you can add one teaspoon of Himalayan salt and some fresh lemon juice post-workout to help jump start your system’s rehydration. 

Hell, staying properly hydrated can help your body's immune system fight off viral infections. Frequently, some of the seemingly most complex issues you’re experiencing could be from not drinking enough water. Liver detox, skin health, and weight-loss are just a few of the many benefits that come from drinking more water and being sufficiently hydrated.

Seriously, guys, I can’t stress this enough — DRINK WATER! If you’re not at home most of the day, fill multiple water bottles and take them with you, so you don’t have an excuse not to drink!

Nutrition Tip #3: Consume Quality Proteins with Whole Foods 

If you fully focus on consuming quality proteins with whole food, you will never have to count a macro or worry about your weight a day in your life. Our primal nature makes real, unprocessed foods the best for our bodies. It’s what we are naturally meant to consume and convert into energy. So, the more natural and unprocessed food you eat, the less work your body has to do to keep you energized and dispose of toxins (anything that can’t be used to make energy).

When choosing food, you’re looking at three different categories: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. 

• Protein: Your goal should be to get at least 30g of protein from whole foods with each meal. That is a baseline recommendation. Personally, to maintain and potentially gain muscle, I focus on getting one gram of protein for each pound I weigh. For example, if I weigh 195lbs, I would focus on eating enough protein each meal to hit 195g of protein before I head to bed.

You want to shop for things like wild-caught salmon, lean free-range meats like chicken breast or thighs, and turkey breast. Choose organic, grass-fed, cage-free, free-range whenever possible. If you're ballin' on a budget, I suggest sticking with ground turkey and chicken.

• Carbohydrates: If you truly want to see dramatic changes in your energy and physique, stay away from processed, simple carbohydrates — white pasta, pizza, pastries, and refined sugars. These things taste good, but they have been stripped of their nutritional value and cause a sharp rise in insulin, which can leave you unsatisfied and feeling hungry moments later. They are what we call “empty calories.” While they may fulfill a craving, they make your body work hard and are not efficiently converted into energy. On top of that, they tend to be addictive, so you eat more of them than your body needs. 

If you're eating a high-in-empty carbohydrates diet, expect your immune system to take a hit and get sick more easily. To avoid this, complement your protein with vegetables like broccoli, kale, asparagus, squash, and carrots. You can switch out your white rice and pasta with brown rice or some sweet potatoes and squash to fill you up and curb your cravings for sweet bullshit. 

• Fats: For brain clarity, stamina, and overall feelings of being satiated, fats are crucial. People have been avoiding fats for years because they think it makes them fat. Listen, healthy fats don't make you fat. Healthy fats are vital to your bodily functions. Again, you want to find the most natural form possible. So, think about adding half an avocado, a scoop of cottage cheese, a handful of almonds, or an egg to whatever you’re preparing, and you'll have a well-balanced meal. 

To make eating like this a no-brainer, do a kitchen overhaul and only keep food that fits into these three categories. Will it be hard at first? Probably very hard. But will it be worth it? Yes, very worth it! If you’ve been putting hard work into training, do yourself a favor and put some hard work into what you’re eating!

Nutrition Tip #4: Eat the Rainbow 

Aim to consume five to ten different types of vegetables per day. And focus on eating a range of colors to gain the most antioxidants. Don’t avoid the dark green kind, like kale, broccoli, spinach, bok choy, romaine lettuce, and brussels sprouts. Darker greens have a considerably high nutrient density and go a long way to helping you feel energized after eating them instead of slow and sluggish.

When it comes to eating fruit, stick to fruits that are low in sugar but high in antioxidants. Blueberries are my go-to. But all berries contain high amounts of antioxidants and fiber. They also tend to be lower in sugar and release that sugar more slowly, making them an ideal snack or oatmeal topper. 

I highly recommend a handful of blueberries and almonds as a snack. They complement one another so well, not only in taste but also in high nutritive value. 

If you need some ideas on incorporating a variety of veggies and fruit into your diet, check out this free training on how to build the perfect bowl — Remi’s and my favorite way to eat the rainbow!

Nutrition Tip #5: Optimize Your Gut 

Completing your diet with good bacteria is the final piece of the nutritional puzzle, so to speak. Good bacteria are in control of our immunity and digestion. They also have a major role in weight management and mood. Whether it's kombucha, yogurt, kefir, or fermented veggies like sauerkraut and kimchi — Remi loves natto and miso — try to consume prebiotic and probiotic foods daily. 

• Probiotics: Probiotics put good bacteria in your body. My primary focus on probiotics revolves around their digestive features. I've noticed that even a half glass of kombucha post-meal really helps speed up digestion.

• Prebiotics: Prebiotics feed the good bacteria already in your body and prevent bad bacteria from taking over your microbial flora (the healthy function of your gut). When you eat shitty food, you create bad bacteria in your gut. Bad bacteria craves shitty food to satisfy themselves — bad bacteria are assholes. Asparagus, garlic, onion, leeks, and bananas are some of the prebiotic foods that we get into regularly.

Many people suggest taking prebiotic supplements, but if your diet is locked in, you don't need that. That’s why I focus on locking down the diet aspect before recommending supplementation. By intentionally consuming prebiotic and probiotic food, you will be well on your way to decreasing weight gain and digestion issues while improving your skin health, mood, energy levels, and immune system. 

Why You Need to Keep Nutrition Simple

Life is complicated — there’s no way around it. The last thing you need is for eating and feeling well to be complicated, too. Make it simple, and your chances of following through even on the toughest days are much more likely. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It just has to be functional. And like I say, every time I talk about this stuff, it comes down to this question, “How much do you want it?” 

You can live a life full of energy and look the way you want, but you have to want it bad enough because having that kind of life requires the hard choices of prioritizing a balanced breakfast, drinking lots of water, eating natural food, and caring for your gut. 

Now, you know what to do, so go make it happen “barney style.”

I hope you learned a thing or two from this. If you did, please take a screenshot of this and share it on Instagram. Tag both of us (Remi, @rrayyme, and me, @nates_beard) and let us know which tip you’re going to work on first. We want to support you! Don’t forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel where this epic stuff drops, and Remi shares lifestyle and wellness tips. 

Nate