How Much?

I get all kinds of nutrition-related questions and requests. I am 100% happy to answer them as it gives me joy (and hope for the future of our species) when people show interest in their health. I think the most important questions are the simple ones that get the gears turning in your head and ball rolling in the direction of change.

I often get the question of ‘how much’ food should one eat. Depending on where you are in the learning process, my answer will be different. The next three posts I write will be on optimal sources of protein, carbohydrate and fat. This post will be a primer.

The reason that we focus on ‘what’ foods first rather than ‘how much’ food is twofold:

1) Paleo foods are the ‘what’: What you eat is more important than how much in the big picture of achieving nutrition for longevity. Eating foods that you evolved to eat – foods that for the majority of your genetic evolution was available – is the most important step toward wellness. These foods (meats, vegetables, nuts/seeds, fruits) are orders of magnitude more nutrient-dense and less inflammatory and disease-causing than the majority of foods that take up grocery store aisle space.

2) Zone quantities are the short answer to ‘how much’: The answer to ‘how much’ is often too overwhelming when making changes to what you’re eating and it’s small changes over time are the kind that will stick. However, it’s very common to find people not eating enough food, or way too much of some foods. Also, understanding how much and manipulating your intake are requirements for continually achieving performance goals.

When people ask me to help them achieve any goal with nutrition, it is important to figure out how much food is necessary for them to be able to function, to do CrossFit, and further, to achieve any body composition and/or performance goals.

After a person has demonstrated an understanding of quality/’what foods’ and are in a pattern of planning the majority of their food from high-quality whole foods, I recommend that people figure out how much they should be eating. Being in a pattern of planning means making sure you’ve got quality foods available, that you’ve tried out a variety of recipes and feel comfortable with the staples of the paleo diet: cooking a variety of meats and a variety of vegetables using quality fats. This would be Stage 2. Stage 1 would be when you’re still working on getting the majority of your food from quality, paleo sources.

After Stage 2 I recommend weighing and measuring food according to a recommended amount for 2 weeks to make sure they actually know what ‘how much’ looks like. For those with time-bound body composition goals, this is particularly important, but also in general, I find that once people switch to quality food sources, most people tend not to eat enough food each day. Another common trend is that people tend not to get enough protein when eating intuitively and quality fat sources to maintain and build lean mass. Also quite common is people over-doing their fruit and nut/nut butter intake which may slow body fat reduction.

The Zone block method of quantifying ‘how much’ is pretty handy as it’s an easy way to learn as well as communicate quantity. A Zone block prescription (“Zone Rx”) gives you a certain amount of protein, fat and carbohydrate that will help you maintain your lean body mass only. This initial Rx will not in most cases help you gain mass but it will help you lose body fat if there’s any to lose. This Rx is only a starting place. It’s a good starting place, but should be adapted to meet your goals by making adjustments to the amount of carbohydrate and fat you eat.

After 2 weeks of weighing and measuring, you’re practically an expert on what a serving or ‘block’ looks like and can put away the food scale. At this point, you’ve made the best quality choice of food, you know how to cook with it and you can with almost zero effort, eyeball the quantity to be able to tell if you’re getting enough food. Every six months or so, it’s a good idea to test yourself to make sure your favorite food quantities haven’t grown in size on their own (1 teaspoon of almond butter can very easily begin to look like 1 tablespoon).

So, how much? It depends on where you’re at in the journey, your goals, and your preferences. Here’s how it usually goes…

If you’re in Stage 1, I recommend: start eliminating the crap in your diet (refined sugar and wheat above all, grains, legumes, artificial sugars) and get protein (meat/eggs) as a start for breakfast. Start integrating dark leafy greens (DLG’s) and other vegetables by trying a new one each trip to the store, as well as quality fats (coconut, olive oil, nuts/seeds) at every meal. Next I’d suggest to go easy on the high glycemic-load fruit, and continue eliminating the crap remaining in your diet. Eat until satisfied, not stuffed.

If you’re early in Stage 2, starting to eat Paleo, I recommend refining the quality of your foods: improving the quality and quantity of fats you’re eating while reducing any remaining high glycemic-load sources of sugar/CHO, increasing the quantity of DLG’s you consume. I also recommend keeping a 3-7 day detailed food log for feedback, as well as starting to work on integrating post-workout meals (planning and brining quality protein and starchy carbohydrate for after your workout). If you have time-bound body composition goals, I’d recommend looking at checking out your quantities.

Stage 3: it’s time to have a look at quantities, understand what’s in this toolkit, and weigh and measure for 2 weeks to make sure you understand the right amount. There’s a lot to play with here for both body composition and mass and strength gain goals. The amount of method applied here is up to you and your goals. Check out the Paleo Challenge page.

There are plenty of resources on the blog and under the Nutrition pages to get you on your way and you’re always welcome to have a chat with a coach who will help point you in the right direction.

Recipe for today: Spicy Cauliflower & Chicken Soup. Add some kale or collards to the soup and it gets two thumbs up from me!