I’ve been promising this post for a while, and today nearly finished “it”. However, I felt the post didn’t flow the way I originally intended it to, so I’ve decided to split the post into 2 segments, (probably) back to back.
The first, obviously, is what I eat, and where I’m getting it.
The second, why I eat this way. Simple =)
Let’s get started.
Lamb
As seen above, a ton of lamb. I actually ate over three and a half pounds recently.
A ton, yes, but I was hungry that night =)- and yes I ate it all in one sitting.
That lamb is from a grocery store I found 2 minutes from my house- a rare find indeed considering it’s quality. Not only is it grass fed (imported from Australia), but it is INSANELY cheap, at about $3 per pound.
Totally awesome, totally healthy. I sprinkle on various spices for flavor (rosemary, garlic, black pepper), although it tastes great plain as well. Always cooked in an oven (just wrapped in aluminum foil), anything over 300 degrees, close to an hour cook time.
“The Dream Shake”
I’ve blogged about it before, so I won’t bore you with repeat info- check out the post here to learn about my (un)usual breakfast.
Eggs
I don’t always eat a dozen, but if it’s my main meal I will easy. I actually ate a clean 16 whole eggs the second morning of The 21 Convention 2009 this year- most ever, with room to spare =).
The eggs are usually from that same grocery store as the lamb (Publix). They are organic, and fed primarily flax seed (which is not perfect, but much better than a strict diet of corn and soy).
My eggs are always cooked well- although it’s actually a bit better to leave the yolks undercooked (whites must always be fully cooked). Sunny side up is great, or in the case of this picture, scrambled (I scramble as they cook).
Coconut oil is the preferred cooking oil, although grass fed butter isn’t bad either. Adds a great flavor and ample amount of that heart healthy saturated fat, too.
Chicken
Speaking of chicken, here’s a picture of some chicken breasts I had the other day.
They are organic, but conventionally fed chicken breasts. Meaning the fat from them is not as awesome as the fat from the lamb pictured above, or bison pictured below.
To circumvent this, they are really really lean (skinless) cuts. To add fat back in, I fry them in loads of coconut oil and usually smother them in grass fed butter.
Not a perfect methodology, but works for the time being.
I then drench them in hot sauce (Frank’s) and other spices on occasion. Tastes great with just the coconut oil/butter mixture though.
Bison
The next pic is of a 2+ pound cut of bison.
I wrapped it in aluminum foil, and threw it in the oven for a while. Came out great, with only a bit of pink in the middle.
Also pretty lean, so I added in a big chunk of butter to make up for the lack of fat. Tasted great alongside some sea salt and black pepper.
As for where I got it from, a pretty cool new site I found, www.Grasslandbeef.com.
You can check out a scan of my first order by clicking the link.
You have to order in bulk, but it’s a great service. All of their “red” meats are great, as is the bison jerky (the other jerky’s are not quite as good from my experience), and the chicken I ordered was kick ass too.
In case you are wondering— like I was— how they get it to you, they wait until a certain day of the week, and then ship out en mass to their customers. It’s overnight, and comes packed very well in a big styrofoam box, wrapped in newspaper, and packed with a “freezie pack” (all of the meats are frozen).
Also, be sure to check here for coupons. I got 20% off my first order by using coupon code Google77. Looks like it’s still working too.
Tuna
This final pic is a snack I frequently have- 1 or 2 cans of tuna (packed in water with no “vegetable” broth, which is just soy). You can find it at any Wal-Mart.
On it I put spicy mustard, and in this case, extra hot sauce =)- and a bit of salt and pepper.
Tastes really great, and is easy to throw together. Not a big fan of canned foods, but this defintely works in small amounts.
I also add in some extra fat on occassion, including coconut oil, olive oil, or avocado.
Can’t get enough of the stuff.
Anyway, this is a good list of what I eat as my second main meal of the day (I only eat twice a day, not including an occasional small snack). Simple, yet delicious and nutritious.
Hope this helps anyone trying to make the shift to better health and a leaner, stronger body.
Questions, comments, or other meal ideas? Post em up in the comments, would love to hear em!
Wow, pretty good info but that’s a load of food in each sitting. Since eating Paleo my appetite seems to have regulated to a much lower more natural level…..If I ate a 12-16 egg omelette it would probably have me full up all day….
Do you practice any IF or do you just eat when hungry?
Hey great info. I live in south florida, and was wondering what eggs and chicken you buy at publix. I shop there and at whole foods, and would like to buy the same brands cause I never know which to buy at publix. Should I be concerned about calorie counting with all that coconut oil for fat? I use it to cook as well but can never really get a rough estimate on how much I’m consuming.
Following the last poster, I’d also be interested to know if you do any IF. I was looking into doing it since I am kind of forced into IF’s since I work full time during the day at a pharmacy and don’t have much time if any to eat. Switching to 2 meals a day or one large meal at night would be a great time saver if I can forgo the hunger.
An idea for a great future post would be a typical shopping list you’d use..I’ve read primal blueprint and still am clueless on exactly what I should be buying to throw together great meals.
Lovin this post, can’t wait for part 2.
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now. You know what sucks for you? You don’t look as smart as you really are.
One thing I think you should look into: the below article on typography. You habitually use hyphens(-) in place of em dashes (—) and that is the #1 Web Typography Sin. Just tryin to help out.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/08/11/top-ten-web-typography-sins/
“You don’t look as smart as you really are”
LOL
Ya, my dad has said I look like a “prison thug” in the banner on here.
Totally ignorant to the typo. Will check it out, thanks.
-Anthony
@Chris
Crazy as it sounds, my appetite has also decreased as I’ve progressed along with ever evolving dietary habits (once I shifted to a paleolithic direction).
That 3.5 lbs of lamb was not a usual dinner for me, but, I was hungry- so I ate =). On average I am still eating a few pounds of food per day though, and I can go far longer without eating at all, the way I eat now.
Regarding your question, the only time I intentionally fast is leading up to a work out. I usually eat no closer than 12 hours to the workout, and not long ago only ate one meal in a 48 hour time span leading up to a workout.
I also wait at least 1-2 hours after exercising to eat as to not interrupt hormone levels and aid in “protein turnover” (according to Art Devany).
Other than that, I listen to my body, and eat when hungry.
thanks for commenting
-Anthony
@Jason
I buy Country Hen eggs. Expensive, but better than the other eggs they have IMO. If they are out of those, I’ll just grab the organic publix eggs, but that’s pretty rare.
I prefer to buy poultry from the Grassland website now, but when I do buy it at Publix (like tonight), I just grab the skinless Greenwise chicken. I have found the tenderloins cook easier than the breasts as well.
I buy the same eggs at whole foods. Chicken…rarely buy any there, but when I have I just picked up whatever whole foods had (which I believe is the same as what Publix is offering with the Greenwise label).
Do not be concerned with calories from coconut oil, or any healthy fat for that matter. Eat as much as you like of the stuff, it’s great for you, and is one of the few foods that *actually* speed up your metabolism (to a small extent).
It’s metabolized a lot like a carbohydrate actually, and can provide energy faster than any other fat.
As for eating once or twice a day, I highly recommend it! Drastically reduce or eliminate carbohydrates from your diet, and within a few weeks time it will become very easy to go for long periods without ANY food. It’s strange, you’ll even forget to eat sometimes.
As for the shopping list, check this one out from a while back. It’s pretty shocking =)
http://twitpic.com/g1y3y
I will consider doing a post on exactly what I buy…but really I eat one of the meals in this post every day (or, something similar), and The Dream Shake for breakfast.
That’s it. Very simple, very healthy. Will do my best to explain why eating such little “variety” is so good in part 2.
thanks for commenting, let me know if you have anymore questions. Will be in South Florida tomorrow night btw
-Anthony
great post dude.. reading stuff like this makes me really want to start a similar blog about nutrition and exercise; not so much to become some big expert blogger, but because I want to communicate subtlety to my friends and family about how off conventional notions are about the topics, how important they are, and the potential benefits they’ll receive by lifestyle changes… But, every time I see my roommates buy a carton of yolk-free egg whites, or fat free/diet anything i get all vexed up.. but i bight my lips now – or else I get the ‘here we go again’ look.. plus its hard to be objective in conversations because i never remember details of studies or biological facts to back up what i say. In the mean time, ill try to get more people to read your blog and other sites like Weston A Price and zeroing in on health, as well as watch the ‘food inc.’ documentary.
I got a question.. What do you about vegetables? For me its controversial, because I feel what the zero-carbers are saying about meat being the only needed substance, but at the same time I want to listen to of authors Weston Price, and to 150 healthiest foods, who do say to eat fresh vegees. Whenever I do eat vegees, its raw and always with fat like a sour cream dip.
For fruits its simple for me. I only buy em when they are in season, just because I enjoy them (esp. peaches), but in moderation because of the really high carb content.
Interesting post man, couple of questions;
Do you not eat much in the way of fruit and veg, or have you just not written about it? If you actually eat just what you included here and little produce, are you not concerned about acidity/alkalinity levels?
What kind of timings are you meals generally? I know you said you have the shake for breakfast and one other meal, but when do you usually eat it, lunch? Evening?
Cheers
@Matt
I do not eat many fruits or veggies. The little I do are usually berries (blue, straw, ras), cherries, avocado (actually a large berry), or maybe some lemons/limes in ice water.
Veggies…not many anymore. On the rare occasion I do, it’s usually a few carrots, broc/cauliflower, or some type of lettuce (as part of a salad).
I am no longer concerned with acid/alkalinity levels being affected by my dietary choices- assuming my dietary choices do not contain large amounts of carbohydrate.
Even then, it would be the last thing on my mind compared to the other harmful side effects of eating grains/beans/sugar/starch and so on.
I usually have The Dream Shake in the morning, and then meat/eggs at night. Sometimes I only eat one meal per day though (either a larger potion of meat/eggs, or I have TDS right before eating meat). That is usually at night.
I never eat anywhere near a workout either, including before, and after (always go in fasted, and wait 1-2 hours, or more, after working out).
thanks for commenting
-Anthony
Hey Anthony, thanks for your reply.
Another question, why do you fast around training? I understand going in to a session in a fasted state, but why disregard post-workout nutrition, any good reason for this?
Have you ever considered having your dreamshake in the afternoon/evening nearer the time you eat? If you read some of Ori Hofmekler’s advice, he thinks that fasting throughout the day and then overeating at night will give you a better fat burning environment in the day, and then an anabolic boost from the big consumption in the evening.
Hey Dream, I’ve been trying to eat with as little carb as possible. My diet consists mostly of fish and eggs right now actually. Could you put a number on how many grams of carbs a day is too many? I was able to get some wild caught fish, but the carb count on them is about 13 grams a serving. Is that normal for meat to have that much carb? I read the label and it did say it was “lightly breaded” which I’m not too happy about, but what I have to deal with right now.
@Simon
Hey man
I feel you on the “biting your lip” moments. I too have to do the same day in and day out. It gets easier in time, in the meantime, lead by example. Eventually, those close to you often catch on.
“plus its hard to be objective in conversations because i never remember details of studies or biological facts to back up what i say”
Try sticking to simple evolutionary logic instead. While not perfect, it’s an effective tool more often than not for arguing a point.
An example would be someone trying to convince you “whole grain” is a nutritious “food”. Not only is it not nutritious…but it’s not even a food. For 2.5 million years no human being ate any measurable amount of grain. Considering this, how could it ever be a “food”, let alone “healthy”- of which it is neither.
Just because we can eat glue doesn’t make it a food =)
As for veggies, I eat some, but not much. Sometimes they are raw (carrots), other times they are steamed (broccoli). I don’t think either will kill me, but I don’t view them as necessary for nutrition- so, I don’t eat them very often.
And when I do have them, it’s usually with lots of fat =).
With fruits, it’s similar. I eat them fairly often (berries in my morning shake), but it’s always a very small amount. I don’t view them as necessary either, just something I like that probably won’t kill me =).
I haven’t eaten a whole fruit in a while though. I guess I would when the occasion arises, but it will be pretty rare.
thx for commenting
-Anthony
@Matt
“Another question, why do you fast around training? I understand going in to a session in a fasted state, but why disregard post-workout nutrition, any good reason for this?”
I don’t feel I’m disregarding it, in fact, I think I am respecting it big time =).
I won’t claim to completely understand it, but the idea is that eating before, during, or after a workout will spike insulin and trump other hormones (GH, testosterone, etc)- all of which are spike by intense exercise.
It’s basically counter productive. The amount of “muscle wasting” is dramatically over blown to help sell supplements IMO, and that “wasting” is always coupled after a workout by high levels of the previously mentioned hormones.
It also falls in line with evolution. You would NEVER hunt an animal on a full stomach, and you would never eat it ON THE SPOT. Time would pass between the kill and eating it, and I believe our bodies are accustomed to this.
Downing massive amounts of any nutrient immediately after to ward off “muscle wasting” is, imo, counter productive.
According to Art Devany, it also ties into “protein turnover”, which, as I understand it, is how your body uses the protein it has, and the protein you ingest, after some time has passed after the workout (some 1-2 hours, or more).
Haven t heard of the guy you mentioned. Have a link to some of his content?
-Anthony
@Claire
Hey Claire
From my understanding, there is no amount “too low” for carbohydrate consumption. Personally, I eat anywhere from 20-40 grams a day on average- including “fiber” and carbohydrate from meat and eggs (which many often overlook). On occasion I will go “zero carb” for the day as well.
And also on occasion, I will go well over 100 grams, but, that is less than a once a week occurrence- and even then I am still not consuming any grains or beans (which contain all sorts of substances you don’t want in your body).
So, hopefully my personal intake helps- but again, go as low as you want. In time, your body will “keto adapt” and you will have less of a craving. Eating less sweet food also helps blunt any cravings for sweets (eat less you want less basically).
As for your fish, all meat has a tiny amount of carbohydrate in it, but it should not be anywhere near 13 grams per serving. What store are you shopping at? While not always cheap, there should be a few options for naked fish not fed corn/soy.
thanks for commenting, hope this helped
-Anthony
Hey bro, thanks for the info, I’ll check out Art Devaney
The guy I mentioned was Ori Hofmekler, his website is at warriordiet.com
I confess to not having read his book, but there’s tons of info on the web about his ideas, and it’s pretty simple really; undereat during the day, overeat in the evening. I’ve been following that principle for a few months now and it works great for me.
thanks for the response… Im on the same page for vegetables.. I really do think theres a solid evolutionary reason why brocolli or asparagus for example taste pretty aweful alone, but combine them with a fatty dip or drench them in butter, and it tastes awesome. And on the flip side, eating a chunk of butter is particularly enjoyable without the vegetable or protein. I guess it has something to do with the fact that most vitamins are fat soluble (ive read that a bunch of times), so your brain is rewarding you for that food combination.
I just took a look at the warrior diet thing.. you could find more than half of it on google books
http://books.google.ca/books?id=I_f39J6wJi8C&dq=warrior+diet&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=-FLgSqejJcrPlAeP5MGEDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false
its got some good ideas, but still has lots of conventional wisdom, and little un sourced theories like how we lack some enzyme that converts D protein to L protein of meat. meh
simz
I meant to write: “…eating a chunk of butter is not particularly enjoyable…”
Ya I thought so. I read that at first and I was like wtf… who eats chunks of butter? lol
Thanks for the google find. Agreed on the comments about the content.
-Anthony
Yeah some of the ideas aren’t necessarily backed up properly from what I can tell, but there are some interesting ideas also. Same as anything else really, don’t swallow it whole (if you’ll pardon the pun), take on board what’s useful, discard the rest.
What I’m eating at the moment is pretty similar to what was posted, with the only difference being the timing; I don’t eat a full meal until the evening, followed by a shake a couple of hours later. Doing it like this I get the benefit of a full day of IF. Like I said, works well for me, everybody’s different.
First off wanted to say great site! Been flipping through some of your old posts and find a lot of information that I’m in agreement with. Just been getting into paleo nutrition this year thanks to coming upon Mark Sisson and Art DeVany’s work. Blew my mind as I think we need more people like them in the world willing to challenge convention and make people actually think about what they are doing instead of moving through life like robots!
But anyways, onto my questions. Since embarking on your fat loss/muscle building experiment, have you been tracking your daily calorie consumption, or just going by satiety? If the latter, do you have any idea of roughly how many cals you consume in a day and the macro ratio?
I was also wondering on how you came to eat two meals per day. Have you come across any information regarding this regimen, or just experimenting yourself?
Again, thanks for the great info and I will definitely be checking back in regularly!
Part 2 coming?
Soon! =)
Got a bit side tracked, but yes, most of it is already written.
Hey Anthony if you’re into fasting I recommend u check out leangains.com. Interesting stuff
Checked it out, thanks for the rec. Have seen it before actually…not long ago either. Good content, impressive physique, but there are quite a few ideas I disagree with.
So the total amount of fat doesnt matter? I’ve been eating like this for some time but do you eat fat by itself in addition to cooking with coconut oil, grass fed butter and such?
Im at about 240 lbs, and I remember you telling me the majority of calories should be from fat, about 70 percent or so. While im at it, does total caloric intake matter or for fat loss should it just be to use your intuition, majority of calories from fat and about 30 percent protein? I read the primal blueprint not too long ago but have some questions about it.
I often get bombarded with questions and sometimes criticisms about my diet or how I eat since it is so opposite to what conventional wisdom is as well, I think ill just try to keep it as simple as possible when talking about how I eat. On a side note have you ever read the book “How to win Friends and Influence People” its one of the best books I’ve read on persuasion and ive seen you get into some debates in the past on facebook and on here, anyways would love some feedback
I usually don’t eat fat by itself, not in any significant quantities anyway.
Total calorie intake does “matter”, but is a distant second to dramatically reducing or eliminating carbohydrate intake for fat loss. So, at your weight, focus on eliminating carbohydrate first, and eating “less” second- although that should come fairly easy when 70% of your food is fat.
I’ve read part of HTWFAIFP, didn’t like it. May give it another shot someday.
That grasslandbeef.com site looks awesome, do you know a UK / European equivilent?
Cheers,
Fraser
Unfortunately I do not, but I’m sure Chris does at
http://conditioningresearch.blogspot.com/
Hey Dream, question about the lamb. I’ve never cooked lamb before so when you say “covered in aluminum foil” do you mean you cover the top of it as well?
And I have an oven that can make heat come from the top or bottom, should I heat both sides like after halfway cooking time. Or does one side get the job done?
I normally just fry meat so I’m like an oven noob :]
Lamb is easily overcooked. Wrap it up to keep the moisture in, cook it at a low temp (all around), carefully.
Thank you
Anthony is there a reason for “always” cooking in the oven. Can you provide me links showing the benefits of fasting before a workout and why to wait a couple hours afterwords before eating.
Dude. Fasting has absolutely NO scientific benefit. It will only hold you back for health and fitness goals. If you’re NOT fasting for spiritual reasons, then don’t do it.
http://jp.physoc.org/content/early/2010/09/13/jphysiol.2010.196493.abstract?abspop=1&related-urls=yes&legid=jphysiol;jphysiol.2010.196493v1
“Training in the fasted state improves glucose tolerance during fat-rich diet.”
No, the oven was just used out of convenience. Search Marksdailyapple.com for fasting info as well as leangains.com.
jeffrey if i want your input (which i dont) i will ask you. Thanks for the links