ONLINE COACHING

NUTRITION GUIDE

PHYSIQONOMICS.COM
DISCLAIMER
The information presented herein is in no way intended as medical advice
or to serve as a substitute for medical counseling. The information should
be used in conjunction with the guidance and care of your physician.

Consult your physician before beginning this program as you would with
any exercise and nutrition program. If you choose not to obtain the consent
of your physician and/or work with your physician throughout the course of
the Physiqonomics coaching, you are agreeing to accept full responsibility
for your actions.

By beginning this program you recognise that despite all precautions on the
part of Aadam Ali and Physiqonomics, there are risks of injury or illness that
can occur because of your use of the aforementioned information, and you
expressly assume such risks and waive, relinquish and release any claim
that you may have against Aadam Ali and Physiqonomics, or its respective
affiliates as a result of any future physical injury or illness incurred in
connection with, or as a result of, the use or misuse of this program.

TL;DR: I’m not a doctor or nutritionist – I am an educated trainer and coach.

You joined this program with an understanding you’d be exercising and
monitoring your diet. Just don’t be silly and you’ll be fine.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
4 The Dirty Secret Of The Dieting World

8 Protein And Its Importance In The Diet

10 Carbs & Fats And Their Importance In The Diet

13 The Importance Of Balance In The Diet

18 Meal Frequency & Nutrient Timing

23 Food Tracking

29 Fasting

33 Meal Planning

35 Eating Out & Staying On Track With Your Diet

39 Dealing With Alcohol

41 Travelling & Dieting

45 Trigger Foods

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THE DIRTY SECRET
OF THE DIETING
WORLD
 THE DIRTY SECRET OF THE DIETING WORLD

In this guide I will be explaining how I approach client nutrition. And some
of my own philosophies to dieting.

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE

As you’ve probably discerned by now, there’s a lot of information here.

Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to read this all at once or memorise the
information. Take your time and read this at your own leisure and use it to
refer back to whenever the need arises.

You can read this straight through, or simply use the table of contents to
read the bits that interest you.

THE DIRTY SECRET OF

THE DIETING WORLD
EVERY diet works.

Yup.

Whether they admit it or not, all diets work by (in one way or another) having
you control your calorie intake.

And the biggest factor to your dieting success will be to find a diet you enjoy
and can stick to for the long run.

People don’t fail with diets – people fail to maintain a diet for the long-
term.

And the biggest reason for this is because people try to overly restrict
their food choices or revert to crash diets in the form of juice cleanses or
extremely low calorie diets.

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 THE DIRTY SECRET OF THE DIETING WORLD

And so to avoid this, we setup the diet sensibly that gives us enough of a
calorie deficit to lose fat or just enough of a calorie surplus to gain muscle
while minimising fat gain.

When it comes to diet setup, there’s a hierarchy of priority.

Calories come first

Despite what you may have heard, the number one reason you’re not losing
fat is because you’re eating too much. Yes, even when you’re adamant you
aren’t. Conversely, if you can’t gain weight (and muscle) it’s because you’re
not eating enough.

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 THE DIRTY SECRET OF THE DIETING WORLD

After your calorie intake, come macronutrients

Macronutrients make up the components of food and are:

Macronutrients are needed by the body in large amounts – thus the ‘macro’
– to keep you alive and functioning.

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PROTEIN AND ITS
IMPORTANCE IN
THE DIET
 PROTEIN AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN THE DIET

PROTEIN AND ITS

IMPORTANCE IN THE DIET
• Muscle Retention: When you’re in a calorie deficit –which, as you know
by now is needed to lose fat – the body starts to use its own energy stores
for fuel. Strength training provides the stimulus and, in conjunction with
eating sufficient protein, stops the body from burning muscle.

• Muscle growth: Protein is the building block of muscle and without

consuming adequate amounts of protein, you won’t gain muscle and
strength.

• Satiety: Protein is more satiating than either fats or carbohydrates. So,

when calories are low and hunger is inevitably high, protein will help
keep you full.

• Uh, it’s delicious?

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 CARBS & FATS
AND THEIR
IMPORTANCE IN
THE DIET
 CARBS & FATS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE IN THE DIET

CARBS & FATS AND THEIR

IMPORTANCE IN THE DIET
Carbs
Ah, the controversial carb. While carbs have seemingly become the villain
of the dietary world, carbs are not (neither any other macronutrient) bad
in and of themselves – it’s the excess of total calories that dictate whether
you gain or lose weight.

If protein is the building block of muscle and your body, think of carbs as
the energy source.

While technically speaking you can survive on zero carbs, due to the body’s
ability to breakdown fats and proteins to use for energy, Carbs are the
preferred energy source of the body if you regularly engage in high-intensity
exercise.

Fats
Like protein, fat is an essential nutrient that is is needed for us to survive. If
protein is the building block, and carbs give us the energy, fats are needed
for hormonal health. If you go too low in fat intake a lot of bad things start
to happen like loss of sex drive, women can lose their menstrual cycle and
a host of other processes in the body go haywire.

Scary huh?

Point: Fats are important so don’t fall victim to low-fat diets.

Fibre
While fiber isn’t a macronutrient, it’s extremely important for health and in
aiding our goals of body composition.

Fiber helps aid with digestion, keeping us ‘regular’ and helps stabilise
blood sugar. More importantly, fiber helps increase satiety so is a must
have during a fat loss diet, when calories are low and hunger is an issue.

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 CARBS & FATS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE IN THE DIET

How much?
Around 20-30g a day is sufficient for both men and women.

Guidelines for micronutrition

Alongside macronutrition, just as important is micronutrition – fruits and

vegetables. Here are some things you should know to ensure you’re staying
on top of your vitamins and minerals.

• Aim for 1-2 pieces of fruit per day

• Aim for 1-2 portions of veg per day (see this for portion guidelines)
• Try to ‘rotate’ the types of fruits and veggies you eat week to week; this
ensures you’re getting a spectrum of vitamins and minerals.
• When dieting and calories are low, it can be hard to get in the required
amount of fruits and vegetables so supplementing with a multivitamin in
this instance can be beneficial.

Guidelines for water intake

I don’t like giving concrete numbers for how much water you should drink.
There are too many variables, so follow this super simple rule – Aim for 5
clear urinations a day.

Also:

• Ensure that you’re drinking adequate amounts of water before and

during your workout
• As a guideline, from 30 minutes before starting your workout to the end
of your workout you should have consumed between a half to one litre of
water (500ml to 1000ml)

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THE IMPORTANCE
OF BALANCE IN
THE DIET
 THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE IN THE DIET

THE IMPORTANCE OF
BALANCE IN THE DIET
The term ‘balanced diet’ can open the door to ambiguity because what
exactly is a balanced diet?

A balanced diet is one where:

• You aren’t unnecessarily restricting foods

NB: When I say unnecessarily I’m referring to thinking certain foods are bad
or omitting foods because you think they will prevent you from losing fat. I
just want to make it clear that there will be some foods that you will have to
remove, as an example: if a certain food item triggers you to overeat then it’s
best to not keep these sorts of foods in the house and keep exposure to them
as minimal as possible.

• Eating a variety of food sources and macronutrients

• Not deeming foods ‘good’ or ‘bad’

And eating a diet that serves both your health and fitness goals as well as
preserving your sanity.

The biggest problem dieters face isn’t the actual fat loss, rather maintaining
that loss for the long haul. Because really, nobody diets to just lose fat, they
diet because they want to lose fat and maintain that loss for life.

The maintenance part is the hardest because the majority of diets that
people revert to for fat loss tend to be highly restrictive; eat these foods only
and don’t eat those other foods, cut out carbs and sugars, cut out grains,
cut out all junk. This results in people eventually giving up or feeling guilty
because they couldn’t stick to the diet, and in turn, this becomes a vicious
cycle of yo-yo dieting.

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 THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE IN THE DIET

Approaching your diet through the lens of balance promotes sustainability

and longevity: Knowing you can eat any and all foods, especially the ones
you enjoy, puts you at ease. You’re no longer having to fight off cravings and
feeling restricted. This automatically means you’re going to stick to the
diet plan for the long run.

Another benefit to a balanced approach is that it moves the ‘diet’ mentality

to that of a ‘lifestyle’. You’re no longer ‘on a diet’, this is how you eat.

A balanced diet should look something like this:

• 70% Whole, nutrient-rich foods. These are foods that are minimally
processed and contain a multitude of nutritional value (vitamins,
minerals etc.) While no foods are inherently bad, if your diet is missing
key nutrients, you leave yourself open to illness and performing less
than optimally. Whole, nutrient-rich foods are also satiating and will
stave off hunger better during a diet. They will also better serve muscle
recovery and growth.

• 15 % nutrient-rich, minimally processed foods. These are foods that

are minimally processed yet still contain key nutrients.

• 10 % Processed, junk foods. These are the obvious junk items. While
they aren’t bad and should be included as part of a balanced diet, they
should be fitted in after the bulk of your diet includes the prior two
groups. These foods contain minimal to zero nutrients and won’t keep
you satiated as whole, nutrient-rich foods. These foods can often also
trigger overeating. Which leads to our last group.

• 5 % Foods to avoid. Also known as trigger foods. They contain very few
nutrients, and can trigger overeating. What type of foods are trigger
foods? This will depend on the individual, so you’ll have to experiment
and see what your trigger foods are. Generally, I find some foods should
be avoided or at best, exposure to them kept minimal (only consumed
when going out to eat, on special occasions, etc).

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 THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE IN THE DIET

What Foods?
Please note this is not a complete list, just one to give you an idea.

70% Whole, nutrient-rich foods

• Lean meats like chicken and turkey breast

• Eggs
• Milk
• Rice (white or brown, doesn’t matter, eat what you prefer)
• Potatoes (all varieties)
• Nut butters
• Vegetables
• Healthy oils -- olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, macadamia oil, are three
I recommend you use.
• Fruits
• Beans and other legumes

15 % nutrient-rich, (minimally) processed foods

• Rice cakes
• Protein bars
• Wholegrain cereals
• Dark chocolate
• Bread (all varieties are fine, but whole-grain or 50/50 is preferred due to
fiber content)
• Yoghurt
• Oats
• Cheese
• Protein Powders

10 % Processed, junk foods

• Sugary cereals
• Chocolate bars
• Cakes
• Candy / sweets (haribo, skittles etc)

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 THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE IN THE DIET

• Alcohol
• Ice cream
• Processed meats (pepperoni etc)

5 % Foods to avoid

This will depend on the individual. Some people find certain kinds of
chocolate bars to be a trigger food, others may find savoury foods such
as cheese to trigger overeating. You’re going to have to test and see what
these foods are for you.

Once again, this doesn’t include everyone, but if you know this includes you
– you’re going to be better served with removing these items and keeping
exposure minimal.

I’ve created a simple shopping list that you can download here:
> Download shopping list

The list isn’t exhaustive, but it will help give you an idea of the types of
foods you should buy when going shopping.

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MEAL FREQUENCY
& NUTRIENT
TIMING
 MEAL FREQUENCY & NUTRIENT TIMING

MEAL FREQUENCY
We now know that eating six small meals is comparatively no different
than eating 2-3 larger meals and holds no ‘metabolic advantage’ as far as
fat loss goes.

Ultimately, how many meals you choose to eat will come down to what
best suits you and your lifestyle.

Here are my suggestions:

• Cutting: 2-3 meals

• Bulking: 3-5 meals

Rationale:
If you have a large appetite, or you’re currently dieting and calories are low
you’ll be best served with a lower meal frequency (2-3 meals). This will
allow you to eat larger meals in a single sitting resulting in better satiety
and feelings of fullness.

Conversely, if you struggle to eat large amounts of food in a single sitting,

or are currently in a muscle gaining phase which requires you to eat more
calories, then spreading out your calorie intake into more meals (3-5 meals)
will help solve this problem.

There’s also one more important, yet oft-forgotten, factor here: Ghrelin.

Ghrelin, the hunger hormone, controls when you get hungry. Fortunately,
ghrelin can also be ‘trained’.

Training yourself to eat at set times will keep Ghrelin consistent and will
create consistent hunger patterns – you’ll get hungry at similar times in
the day – this will reduce the risk of falling off plan.

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 MEAL FREQUENCY & NUTRIENT TIMING

NUTRIENT & MEAL TIMING

Meal and nutrient timing are terms used to describe when you eat your
meals (meal timing) and the specific macro makeup of those meals (nutrient
timing).

While meal and nutrient timing aren’t as big a factor as some people
make it out to be – no, you won’t lose your gains if you don’t slam back a
protein shake the second after finishing your last set, and neither will you
go catabolic and crash your metabolism if you skip breakfast – there are
some instances when meal and nutrient timing do become important.

The first is to do with Ghrelin as mentioned previously. The more consistent

you can become with your meal timing, the less variability in when you get
hungry.

A second factor is that carbs, for some, can trigger hunger and cravings.
If this happens to you, then skip carbs at your first meal and save them for
around the workout. This will ensure that you can go through your morning
without experiencing cravings.

Finally, when carbs are low, like during a dieting phase, keeping the majority
of carbs around your workout window – pre and post workout – will help
with performance in the gym and recovery after.

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 MEAL FREQUENCY & NUTRIENT TIMING

A few examples of how to set up your day when carbs are low:

TRAIN IN THE MORNING

• Breakfast / First Meal – Protein, fats and veggies
• Lunch / Second Meal (Pre workout meal) – Carbs/Protein/Fats
• Dinner / Third Meal (Post workout meal) – Carbs / Protein

TRAIN IN THE EVENING

1
Option 1 – Fasted training
*feel free to have a protein shake post workout
• Breakfast / First Meal (Post workout meal) – Carbs, Protein
and veggies
• Lunch / Second Meal – Carbs/Protein/Fats
• Dinner / Third Meal – Protein, fats and veggies

2
Option 2 – No Carb Pre workout
• Breakfast / First Meal (Pre workout meal) – Protein + Fats
• Snack (Post workout meal) – Protein (e.g. protein shake)
• Lunch / Second Meal – Carbs/Protein/Fats
• Dinner / Third Meal – Carbs/Protein

3
Option 3 – Carbs Pre workout
• Breakfast / First Meal (Pre workout meal) – Carbs + Protein
*optional snack – (Post workout meal) – Protein (e.g. protein shake)
• Lunch / Second Meal – Protein + Fats and veggies
• Dinner / Third Meal – Carbs + Protein

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 MEAL FREQUENCY & NUTRIENT TIMING

WORKOUT NUTRITION
I recommend clients aim to consume some protein an hour before their
workout or within an hour or two of finishing their workout if they’re training
fasted.

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FOOD TRACKING
 FOOD TRACKING

FOOD TRACKING
All my clients are required to track their food intake (macros), unless I
state otherwise. I recommend downloading a calorie tracking app like
MyfitnessPal or the one I use, and prefer, FatSecret.

You can download them from any of the app stores. I’ve provided links
below. (If you prefer a particular one outside of the ones I recommended
feel free to use that.)

MyFitnessPal
• iOS
• Android

FatSecret
• iOS
• Android

Why I want you to track your food intake

The number one reason people have a hard time losing fat or gaining
muscle is because they are either eating too much or not eating enough.

People are terrible at reporting food intake (and studies have shown this
over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and
over, over, over, over again…and again) because nobody knows how many
calories are in foods and that’s where the utility in calorie trackers lies –
they make the impalpable palpable.

If someone is overeating – the archetypal “I’m hardly eating and I just

can’t lose weight!” – and you have them track calories, all of a sudden, “Oh
my god, I can’t believe I was eating that much.” (The reverse for the self-
proclaimed hard-gainer).

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 FOOD TRACKING

The calorie tracker quantified the previously unknown.

One common criticism of calorie tracking is that it’s “not accurate” because
food labels can be off by upto 20%. While this is true, here’s the thing:
Accuracy isn’t the point.

Tracking food intake provides constraints and gives you a tangible baseline
to work from. Once you have a baseline we can make adjustments. It’s
better to be off by 20% but make progress than be off 100% and not make
any progress.

Allow me to illustrate the above statement. The image below is a visual

representation of constraints with calorie tracking.

The blue line represents your actual calorie requirements – the amount
required to lose fat or build muscle. The pink rectangle represents the
error margin in your tracking.

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 FOOD TRACKING

Now, take a look at the following graph.

This graph is a visual representation of what happens without calorie

tracking.

The margin of error is greatly increased. This is why people ‘think’ they’re
“hardly eating and not losing weight”; or, the opposite, “I eat so much but
can’t seem to gain weight”.

When you track your calories, food labels may well be off; you may not be
100% spot on with your tracking (totally fine) but the act of tracking means
you keep your total intake controlled to some degree. And over time, this
consistency leads to fat loss or muscle gain.

Further reading: I highly recommend reading the article below where I explain
just how easy it is to overeat without knowing.

tt You’re Not Losing Fat Because You’re Eating Too Damn Much

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 FOOD TRACKING

Misc. Tracking Tips and Notes

1. Don’t worry about tracking fibrous vegetables. They’re so low in calories

and high in indigestible fiber that you don’t need to worry about gaining
fat if you overeat on them.

Fibrous vegetables:
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Cauliflower
• Fresh Green Beans
• Celery
• Spinach
• Kale
• Okra
• Cucumbers
• Cabbage

2. However: Do Count the carbs in starchy vegetables: Potatoes, carrots,

sweet corn, green peas, beets, etc. These vegetables are far higher in
calories and digestible fiber.

3. Anything under 50 calories, don’t bother tracking.

4. Track all fruit.

5. Condiments.

Don’t worry about tracking these:

• Mustard
• Relish
• Soy Sauce
• Salsa
• Tabasco
• Sriracha

Track all other condiments like ketchup, BBQ, mayonnaise, etc.

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 FOOD TRACKING

6. Weigh all types of meat (beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, whatever) before
cooking.

7. Cooked meat? Look up the information on your calorie counting app.

Most of the time, the information is there.

8. If you’re weighing things out of a jar, like peanut butter, here’s a tip:
Put it on the scale; set the scale to zero; take out how much you need,
and it’ll show the amount you used with a “-” in front of it.

9. If you’re using cooking oil spray, use this super simple rule of thumb:
1 spray = 1g of fat. So if you spray the pan 4 times – that’s 4g of fat.

10. Weigh rice cooked.

11. Other carbs like potatoes, weigh them before cooking.

12. If in doubt, cross reference your calorie counting app with

Nutritiondata. For example, if I type in “White potatoes” – it gives me
the nutrition values for both raw and baked.

13. The biggest thing to remember is to be consistent. If you started

out weighing your carbs cooked, then continue weighing them cooked;
conversely, if you started out weighing your carbs uncooked then
continue weighing them uncooked. Consistency over time will negate
any inaccuracies in your measuring/tracking.

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FASTING
 FASTING

FASTING
I’m a strong proponent of intermittent fasting and I encourage my clients
to perform some sort of fast during the day.

Generally, I prescribe either:

• The 16/8 LeanGains fast or

• A 24-hour fast

NB: The type of fast I prescribe will vary client to client. I’ll make a note of
what type of fast I want you to perform in your Macros/Cardio document.

Why?

Besides the health benefits of fasting, the main reason I want my clients
to practise fasting is to help them control their impulses. Because hunger
isn’t the problem, impulse is.

Hunger > easy access to food > eat (impulse) > hunger > easy access
to food > eat (impulse).

And that’s where the real benefit of fasting lies: It acts as a reminder that
it’s not real hunger, it’s just impulse. And that you won’t die if you don’t eat
for a few hours. It

It’s less about the actual act of fasting than it is the realisation of this fact
– something many people have lost.

NB: I fully understand that not everyone can perform fasts (either due to
health concerns, or they simply don’t want to - hey, I can respect that) so this
is up to you. However, I strongly encourage that if you are able to, you do so.

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 FASTING

Thoughts on fasted training?

Fasted training is training on an empty stomach after a certain period of

not having eaten.

Example: Last meal was at 8pm the night before. You train around 10am
the next day (14 hour fast) and then eat after you finish your session.

Why don’t I recommend it?

• For the majority of people fasted training tends to affect performance

negatively.

• Some people can become hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) if they train
fasted.

• During a dieting phase when you’re trying to actively lose fat and retain
as much muscle as possible your performance in the weight room is
going to be a key factor to muscle retention. If performance drops, you’re
more likely to risk lean mass.

Which leads nicely into answering the notion that you’ll ‘burn more fat
while training fasted’.

Consider this:

• While you may burn more fat during the fasted state - this doesn’t
necessarily equate to increased fat loss overall. Fat loss doesn’t happen
in a vacuum. Just because you burn X amount of fat during one training
session, if you eat back the calories resulting in an overall (net) calorie
surplus that tiny bit of fat loss was futile.

• If training fasted causes your training performance to take a hit: the

question then becomes - was a small amount of (potential) fat burning
worth an increased risk of muscle loss? I don’t think so.

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 FASTING

Here’s What I Recommend:

Aim to consume a decent sized meal anywhere from 1-2 hours pre-training.

Of course, there will be exceptions:

If you can only train early in the morning and aren’t able to eat that early or,
if the meal will be too close to your training session and affects your lifting
- then here’s two suggestions:

1. 1 scoop of whey protein and a piece of fruit like a medium sized Banana,
20-30 mins before lifting will help.
2. If that’s too much, then the shake on its own or a carb based drink will
be beneficial [lucozade/gatorade etc] or just skip both and go with water.

If this happens to be your situation (you can only train fasted) - don’t fret
over muscle loss, as long as your total protein and calories are hit by the
end of the day you’ll be fine, however, I’d still recommend a protein shake
or protein containing meal post workout.

If you prefer to train fasted -- more power to you.

But, do it because it fits with your lifestyle as opposed to doing it because

you believe it holds some magic fat loss / muscle gain properties.

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MEAL PLANNING
 MEAL PLANNING

MEAL PLANNING
One of the key factors that differentiates those who achieve their fitness
goals versus those who don’t is planning.

If you don’t order and plan your own life, someone or something else will.

And the easiest way to do this is to plan your meals in advance. Here are
some tips.

1. Uniform eating.

Remove choice and decision fatigue by eating the same, or similar, things
during the week.

To use myself as an example, my breakfast, pre workout meal, and dinner

are more or less the same Mon-Fri. I leave variance for the weekends
when I’m more likely to be going out to eat.

2. Plan your meals in advance.

Preparing your meals in advance will help with staying on track. Pick
one day during the week and meal prep for the week.

3. Keep it simple.

The advent of social media and #foodporn may make you feel like you
need to be preparing a Michelin-starred meal, every meal. But this simply
isn’t true. Unless you’re planning on becoming an Insta-famous food
blogger, the simpler you can keep your meals and recipes, the easier
your meal planning will be and in turn, the more successful you’ll be
with sticking to your diet and achieving your goals.

In your “Macro/Cardios” folder you will find sample meal plans based
on your calorie intake. Take a look at them to get an idea of the kinds of
meals you could design.

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 EATING OUT &
STAYING ON
TRACK
WITH YOUR DIET
 EATING OUT & STAYING ON TRACK
TRACK WITH YOUR DIET

EATING OUT AND STAYING

ON TRACK WITH YOUR DIET
When you’re dieting, it can seem like you’ll have to give up your social life
so that your diet doesn’t get thrown off, and this tends to create neurotic
behaviours that can be damaging to your psyche and relationships.

But it needn’t be this way. Here are some tips for having a social while also
succeeding with your fat loss goals.

1. Check out the menu in advance. Most restaurants now have nutritional
information available online. If you are going to be going out, hit up their
website and see what foods they have so you can work these foods into
your calorie total.

What about if the restaurant doesn’t have an online menu?

No problem. Simply find a restaurant in your calorie tracking app that’s

close to the type of food you’re going to be eating.

For example: if you’re going to be getting pizza and the restaurant hasn’t
listed any calorie counts, you can use Pizza Hut, instead.

Note: When it comes to eating out: Add 40% to non-posted calorie counts
for meals at restaurants and 20% to posted information. (Studies have
shown that restaurants often undervalue the actual calorie content of
their foods.)

2. Reduce calories during the week. If you know you’re going to be going
out on the weekend and it may be difficult to count calories, or you may
not want to, you can reduce your calorie intake during the week leading
into the event or occasion – let me know if this the case, and we can work
this out together.

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 EATING OUT & STAYING ON TRACK
TRACK WITH YOUR DIET

3. Think Protein. Saving most of your calories for the night out is another
useful strategy. There are two ways to approach this.

i. You fast until lunch time and have a high protein meal (think a chicken
breast salad) and then enjoy the night out.
ii. If you don’t wish to fast, you can simply have 2 meals (breakfast and
lunch) that are high in protein, saving the rest of your calorie intake
for the meal out.

4. Ask them to remove sauces: Ask the restaurant to either remove any
sauces (like mayo) or ask for the sauces to be given to you separately on
the side so you can control how much of it you’re eating.

5. Don’t stress it. As long as you’re making sensible choices when you’re
out – having a starter, then the main meal, and dessert; not starters,
main meal, dessert, more dessert, more starters, and drinks, and more
drinks – you’ll be fine, and stressing over it will only make things worse.
Just enjoy the evening.

NB: If you have an event or occasion coming up and aren’t sure how to manage
it – send me an email and we can work a plan together.

Misc. Tips For Eating Out

Here are some more tips to help you when eating out.

• Skip the appetisers or starters completely, or, where possible pick

starters that are high in protein and low in carbs and fats.

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 EATING OUT & STAYING ON TRACK
TRACK WITH YOUR DIET
• Don’t go into the meal hungry. I always recommend clients eat something
before they go out – again, something high in protein; low in carbs; low in
fat. This will reduce hunger and because you’re not starving, you won’t
make poor food choices and eat more than normal.

(Example meal: A protein shake and an apple)

• Protein > vegetables > carbs > fats. Follow this sequence when
picking a food item. First, choose a lean protein source, then vegetables,
then carbs, and finally fats.

As an example: You might pick a grilled chicken dish, accompanied

by grilled vegetables or salad; then say, rice or potatoes; and finally,
something higher in fat like sauces or toppings.

• Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Remember, that you’re the customer

and you’re paying for the food. (Even if you’re at an event, you’re still
technically the customer even if you’re not paying.) So don’t be afraid to
ask questions and modify the dish.

Some examples:

◊ What can I order instead of [insert whatever food item or side here] –
“Can I have grilled vegetables instead of the fries?”

◊ “Are the vegetables/salads topped with any oils? If so, can I have them
without?”

◊ “Can I get half of my food to go?” (This sounds like an odd request, but
you’ll be surprised by how common this is and how accommodating
most restaurants are.)

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DEALING WITH
ALCOHOL
 DEALING WITH ALCOHOL

DEALING WITH ALCOHOL

To keep things really simple, all you have to do is divide the total calories
in the drink by either 4 or 9.

Divide by 4 if: you want to use your carb allotment for the drink.
Divide by 9: if you want to use your fat allotment for the drink.

So, for example, if the drink you choose has 200 calories and you wish to
sacrifice some carbs, it would look something like this:

200/ 4 = 50g of carbs

Or, if you’d rather use your fats

200/ 9 = 22g of fat

Simple.

Further reading: Read the article below for an in-depth explanation on alcohol
and fat loss.

tt How to Get Turnt Up Without Ruining Your Progress

And see this for an extensive list of calories in different drinks.

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TRAVELLING &
DIETING
 TRAVELLING & DIETING

TRAVELLING AND DIETING

In an ideal world we’d have complete control over where we are and what
we’re doing day to day. We’d know exactly what to eat, when to eat it, and
even where to go to buy the best foods.

Unfortunately, life happens. And sometimes you might find yourself needing
to travel. Keeping on track with your goals while travelling is one of the
common hurdles my clients face. But, it needn’t be this way – With some
smart planning and an action plan, you’ll realise that eating on the go can
be quite doable.

Here are some tips and strategies you can use to keep on track with your
goals while travelling. I’ve broken this section into long-term travel and
short term travel.

Long-term travel

If you’re going to be away from home for days or weeks, then:

• Check out the surrounding area. If you’re going to be staying somewhere

for an extended period of time, check out the local restaurants and
supermarkets in the area. This will give you a good idea of what foods
you can buy or meals you can eat.

• Pack convenience high-protein foods. Protein bars, ready to drink

protein shakes, beef jerky are good options for foods to take along when
travelling.

Short-term travel

If you’re travelling just for a day or two, then:

• Carry healthy convenience foods. Protein bars, ready to drink protein

shakes, (or protein shakers filled with whey protein), beef jerky, fruits,

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 TRAVELLING & DIETING

and nuts are all good options for foods to have with you on your journey.
• Pack your lunch. Make a healthy lunch or two at home and pack it into
tupperware to take with you. Salads work great here.

Simple travel salad idea

1. Grab medium-sized tupperware
2. Throw in spinach, and other leafy greens
3. Throw in cut up lean meat (chicken or turkey breast)
4. Drizzle with healthy fat like avocado or olive oil
5. Season with salt and pepper
6. Eat alongside a piece of fruit

• Service station foods. Most, if not all, service stations now have a large
variety of restaurants and shops. Remember, if you’re travelling aim for
best not perfect. The beauty of tracking your food intake means that
you can eat whatever you like and factor it into your numbers. With that
said, here are some suggestions for quick, healthy food options from the
service station:

• Fruits: I prefer berries and apples. They’re lower in calories than other
fruits, and due to the high fiber content of apples, they’ll keep you
satiated for longer. Alternatively, you can buy ‘fruit packs’ which contain
an assortment of ready to eat fruits like kiwi, melons, grapes, etc.

• Protein bars: Most shops now carry a wide assortment of protein bars
and other high-protein foods.

• Beef jerky.

• Yoghurt. Especially 0% Greek yoghurt.

• Mixed nuts. Buy a small packet, while nuts are great for you they’re also
super high in calories. So buying a large packet will very easily put you
into a surplus if you’re not careful.

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 TRAVELLING & DIETING

A quick service station ‘meal’ idea

Protein bar + 1 medium-sized apple + small bag (25g) mixed nuts

This ‘meal’ provides you with a good amount of protein, healthy carbs,
healthy fats, along with vitamins and minerals.

See? Easy

Remember…

• You also have access to me. So if you’re travelling and confused, email
me and we can work a plan.

• Best is better than perfect. Don’t think that just because you’re travelling,
everything is ruined. As long as you’re 50-60% consistent, you’ll be fine.
It’s better than having a “Fuck-it” attitude and going off the rails entirely.

• If you’re on holiday, enjoy the damn holiday! Yes, I used an exclamation

mark because if you want to make this fitness thing a lifelong thing –
travel will happen. And a week or two of more relaxed eating, while
trying your best to make intelligent food choices isn’t going to destroy
your progress; but becoming neurotic about your diet and exercise will
ruin the holiday and the memories you can make.

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TRIGGER FOODS
 TRIGGER FOODS

TRIGGER FOODS
Everyone has those foods that they find really hard to control themselves
around and not overeat. Even as you read that sentence I bet images popped
up of certain foods – right?

These foods are known as trigger foods. A trigger food is a food (or multiple
foods) that can cause you to lose control and binge eat.

You’ll note that these foods are generally high in a combination of sugar,
fat, and salt.

Think: Cookies, fries, crisps, ice cream, mixed nuts, etc.

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 TRIGGER FOODS

Tips for dealing with trigger foods

• Firstly, don’t feel like it’s only you. Everyone has a trigger food or foods
– mine are Snickers and peanut butter (seriously, I think peanut butter is
EVERYONE’S trigger food). This is an important first step because when
you normalise it, you realise that it’s not an isolated issue and there’s
nothing “wrong with you.”

• Secondly, don’t bring these foods into the house. Common sense, but
you’d be surprised how many people ignore this. If a particular item of
food causes you to overeat, don’t bring that food or foods into your house.
For most people, it’s far easier to abstain than to moderate.

• This doesn’t mean you can’t ever eat these foods again, but… Limit
exposure. If ice cream is a trigger food for you, only eat it when you’re
out with friends and family. This way, you can enjoy the food while not
ending up binging. There’s also another benefit to doing this: You prove
to yourself that YOU have control, not the food.

• Take responsibility. Here’s the thing: Food companies spend billions

every year to make food as tasty as possible so that you keep coming
back for more – It’s a business, after all. My point here is that you have
to take responsibility. If you know you can’t control yourself around a
certain food or foods, don’t bring them into the house. Be responsible
for your actions.

• It’s your choice. If you decide not to have a food item in the house,
remember: You CHOSE to do it. Not because you’re somehow a ‘weak’
person. No, you, as a responsible adult CHOOSE to keep this item out of
the house. This shifts the mindset and gives you the power.

• Find a substitute for the food that’s similar but not exactly that food.
Example, Froyo instead of ice cream. This stops you from feeling deprived
while also giving you something similar (you derive the pleasure response
without triggering the over eating).

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 TRIGGER FOODS

Ok, so that’s the end of the nutrition guide. If you have any questions or
are confused about anything feel free to drop me a message or post in the
group.

This nutrition guide is forever expanding and I’m constantly updating it.
If you think I missed anything and that thing should be added to this guide,
drop me an email or post in the group and I’ll be sure to add it in.

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