Over 11 years ago a great friend challenged me to eat no sugar for thirty days. I immediately wrote him off as crazy. It’s impossible to go without sugar for that long, right?
However, as an ultra competitive person, I threw my hat in the ring.
No refined sugar for 30 days. A simple, but challenging feat.
I was astonished with the results.
For the first week I struggled, fighting through headaches, cravings and withdrawal symptoms, but as we grinded through week one and got into week two, transformations already began to happen.
My face was less puffy, I had more energy, abs I hadn’t seen for a while began to emerge and personal records in my workouts were being set.
This small challenge changed my life FOREVER.
This 30 day challenge sent me on a journey of trying several different meal plans over the course of the next 11 years that included the Zone diet, to Paleo, Whole 30 and counting macros.
The biggest thing I’ve learned is that a meal plan needs to be specific to your goals, HOWEVER, whether you’re trying to gain or lose weight, build muscle, or compete athletically, there are four key concepts that need to be incorporated into any good meal plan.
Does your meal plan consist of WHOLE FOODS? If the food was grown and on your table with minimal to no processing it’s a whole food. Anything that comes in a box, can, or jar is generally highly processed.
Eating processed foods can lead to consuming more than the recommended amounts of sugar, sodium, unhealthy fats, and calories. This can be detrimental for fat loss and building lean muscle.
Does the meal plan have you eating a FRUIT and a VEGETABLE with each meal? Fruits and vegetables are highly concentrated with vitamins and minerals that are essential for your body systems to function efficiently. This is critical for any fitness goal, whether you’re interested in losing weight or building muscle.
Simply eating a fruit and vegetable with each meal can maximize the vitamins and minerals you’re getting each day, give you more energy and help you feel better.
Does the meal plan have you consuming ENOUGH LEAN PROTEIN? Most of our clients do not eat enough protein throughout the day. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues.
Protein helps build lean muscle and lean muscle increases metabolism for weight loss. A simple guideline is to eat the same number of grams as your body weight in pounds.
For example, a 200 pound male can eat up to 200 grams of protein per day. You can track your protein intake by using a food scale, measuring in grams and tracking in any fitness app.
Does the meal plan include HEALTHY FATS? Healthy fats can be found in avocados, nuts, seeds, omega-3’s, etc. These fats are essential to give your body energy and to support cell growth.
Fats help your body absorb nutrients, keep your mind sharp, keep you satiated throughout the day and help produce essential hormones.
When your hormones are in balance and your body is absorbing nutrients properly this helps increase metabolism which aids in weight loss and building lean muscle.
Every person is different and many meal plans need to be adjusted to the person to help them with specific goals.
At Lincoln Nutrition & Fitness we help you game-plan and set action steps for you to reach your goals.
If you need help with your meal plan schedule a consultation with a coach and we’ll help lead you where you want to go.
For potential new members the consultation is free! For current members you receive a goal session every 90 days with your membership! SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION HERE.
COACH PHIL KNIEP
Precision Nutrition L1 Coach
CrossFit Level 3 Trainer
Endurance Certified
Mobility Certified
Scaling Certified
3x CrossFit Games Qualifier