Nutrition Foundations

90-percent of nutrition boils down to these three guidelines

Hi all, happy November!

As we turn the page to a new month, we're going to dip our toes into a really thorny topic - especially around the holiday season - NUTRITION.

Before we go any further, let's acknowledge the elephant in the room. Nutrition is PERSONAL. Our food choices are rife with preferences, restrictions, intolerances, desires, emotions, traditions, and cultural significance. I acknowledge that.

Any post on this channel related to nutrition should come with that disclaimer, but for the sake of brevity, just take my word for it that whenever I post about it from here on out, I am doing my best to consider the context and situation someone is eating with.

Today's theme is about building a solid foundation of nutrition. Here are some guidelines that nearly everyone can follow, regardless of their goals.

  1. Get enough.

  2. But not too much.

  3. Make it whole, minimally processed.

That's it. That's 90% of nutrition right there. The devil is of course always in the details (see aforementioned contexts and goals) - however, for most people, most of the time - this is a recipe for success regardless of their goals and situations.

Even so, let's go one (only ONE) layer deeper.

1. Get enough - Even if your goal is to maintain or lose weight, you still need to intake enough to fuel yourself - both balance (get enough of each macro), volume (how much or how little), and variety (option A versus option B within each type). This is even more important for those working to grow or bulk.

2. But not too much - one of the most widely used techniques for gauging energy needs is by finding out your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (how much energy you use), and backtracking so you take in only that much (maintain), slightly more (bulk), or slightly less (cut) to get at your intake.

3. Make it whole, minimally processed - the sliced fruit is better than fruit juice, the old fashioned oats with cinnamon are better than pre-packaged oatmeal, the fig is better than a fig newton, etc, etc.

At the risk of going into information overload, I'll leave you with one final thought.

Nutrition is not a "good" or "bad" binary decision. We are all taking in fuel and we need it to live. We are all also busy humans and convenience matters. Instead of sticking to these guidelines as if they are law, instead try to simply consider them the next time you go to the grocery store - extend yourself some grace this holiday season, but remember your goals too!

We’ll get into more specifics soon, but you gotta start with a solid foundation! That's all for now.

Yours in Health, Nolan

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