MEAL EXAMPLES FOR LOSING BODY FAT & GAINING LEAN TISSUE Quick Overview Cook as many meals at home as possible. This will allow for maximum control over your diet. Gently cook your food at lower temperatures to release and protect nutrients. Eat a low carb breakfast to boost morning to afternoon fat metabolism. Think eggs, eggs, eggs! Batch cook lunches and take to work to avoid sandwiches and other processed nutrient devoid foods at lunch time. For dinner aim for the plate to contain: 25% protein (meat/fish), 25% starchy carbs (potatoes/ rice), and 50% vegetables (especially bitter green cooked veg). You will lose more body fat if you stick to three larger meals with no snacks. If you do need to snack, keep it low sugar and full of nutrients. 1
Cooking Methods Getting the Most from Your Food Cooking foods at lower temperatures, for longer periods, helps protect the delicate nutrients contained within the food. When protein is cooked at a high temperature the delicate protein fibres become denatured, meaning they become tangled and warped and less able to be absorbed and used by the body. In addition to protecting the nutrients in our food, gentle cooking can also increase the amount of nutrients. A good example of this is the protective phytonutrient lycopene found in tomatoes. The amount of lycopene has been found to double when gently cooked. The point of food is to nourish us. Hunger and appetite is the body signalling it needs more nutrients to promote optimal health in the body. The fewer nutrients our food contain, the more food we will have to eat to achieve optimal health. So when we eat the most nutrient dense foods, cooked in a way that increases their nutritional content, we maximise the nutrients available to us, need to consume less food, allowing us to lose more body fat. Slow Cooking Food Slow cooked meals like casseroles and stews are ideal when it comes to preventing proteins in our food becoming denatured, increasing the bioavailability of the food, allowing us to receive more nutrients from them. Invest in a slow cooker for delicious tender grass fed beef, venison, and lamb dishes. You can also avoid protein denaturing using a hob and pan; when cooking an omelette or steak, try cooking it on a low heat for longer than usual. Like a slow cooker it will protect the protein filaments and enhance the taste. 2
Sautéing Gently cooking vegetables in butter or coconut oil can increase the amount of nutrients available in the food. Certain vitamins, like fat soluble vitamins A, D, E & K, need fat to be present (butter, coconut oil) to increase the body s ability to absorb the vitamins. Green collards like broccoli, cabbage and kale, should always be cooked as they need to have their cell walls broken down for their nutrients to be absorbed. Lightly Steam Not Boil If you cannot sauté your vegetables lightly steaming is a great way to break down the cell walls of plants to allow us to access the nutrients more readily. Boiling veg in comparisons can cause the nutrients to leach from the vegetable and microwaving can be to aggressive damaging the molecular structure nutrients. If you do microwave your veg do so at a low setting. Batch Cooking Foods Making the right lunch choice can be difficult when you ve worked all morning and haven t prepared anything in advance, and this effect is magnified when you skip breakfast. When clients are ill prepared for lunch they often opt for a sandwich and packet of crisps. However it doesn t have to be this way. All it takes is a little bit of planning and a slow cooker. Make a big batch of casserole or stew, then instantly cool it down in a glass container surrounded by ice water, stick it in the fridge sealed, bingo you ve got lunch for 5 days. Just microwave it at work and you have a filling nutritious meal that will keep you alert and full till dinner time. You can also batch cook rice and potatoes in the same fashion. The key is to instantly cool it down by running it under cold water in a sieve, then refrigerating it in a sealed container. Not only will this rival the convenience of bread but cooling your rice and potatoes then re-heating lowers the Glycemic index by 50% by increasing the amount of resistant starches in the food. Clients nearly always complain that their main obstacle to eating good food is time, resulting in them being at the mercy of buying food from companies 3
and corporations that have profit in mind and not your health. By batch cooking food you save time and control what you eat. Batch cooking foods offers the convenience of fast food, with the health benefit of a good home cooked meal. Just reheat gently in a microwave and your ready to eat, or eat cold if it tastes better. Some are a few examples of many possible batch cooking foods: Soups Casseroles Stew Beef stroganoff Chilli con carne Baked potatoes Salads Curry s Your favourite home made Chinese meals like beef and black bean sauce Hummus & veg sticks Guacamole & veg sticks However seafood is probably best eaten fresh, but meats are no problem. Raw Foods Raw vegetables are a great way to feel fuller for a bit longer during the day as they take longer to digest: so salads are a great idea at lunch time. Salmon and tuna are also best eaten raw whenever possible in the form of sashimi in sushi, as the delicate nutrients can be lost in the cooking process. 4
MEAL PLANS The meal plans are just a guide to show what types of food you can consume and stay within tour eating plan rules for losing body fat and gaining lean tissue. There are infinite ways to make your meals and stay within the guidelines. Feel free to tweak till your hearts content (within the guidelines though!). Breakfast The Aim of Breakfast The aim of breakfast is to: Deliver as many nutrients as possible Keep you appetite satiated and content until lunch time Keep energy levels stable. Avoid low blood sugar levels that precede cravings for unhealthy foods. Take advantage of high cortical levels that increases fat burning till lunch time. Practical Considerations Here is the outline of the structure of breakfasts that will optimise fat loss: Avoid starchy carbohydrates and sugars at breakfast. Especially; bread, cereals, cereal bars, biscuits, porridge, oat cakes, crackers. Organic eggs are the best choice. Have them any way you like; omelettes, fried, scrambled, baked, poached, or boiled. When having eggs try to include some vegetables with them. My choice tends to be; mushrooms, tomatoes and watercress. But choose whatever you can. Feel free to have ham, turkey, salmon, tuna, and roast beef with your eggs. Cook in butter or coconut oil and if you making an omelette whisk in some double cream. If you re in a rush your emergency meal can be a full fat Greek yogurt with berries and nuts or our fat loss smoothy (see fat loss smoothy chapter). 5
Breakfast Meal Examples 1-2 egg omelette (300kcal-500kcal) - Melt tablespoon of organic whole fat butter in pan. Next gently sauté some chopped mushrooms and tomatoes in the butter for a couple of minutes. Pour the two organic eggs- that you have previously whisked in with two table spoons of whole organic double cream- into the pan with the veg and butter. Once it starts to set sprinkle some your favourite full fat raw cheese. Serve with ham, salmon and garnish with water cress! Quick Scrambled Eggs (350-450kcal). 1 or 2 eggs whisked in two tables of double cream, cooked in table spoon of butter. Serve with favourite protein if you wish, and some chopped veg with olive oil drizzled on top. Greek yogurt (300Kcal), choose full fat with small handful of berries, and small handful of nuts (almonds, Brazil, macadamia). Weight Loss Smoothy (300kcal)- See smoothy fact sheet Meat or fish with salad- Choose your favourite meat or fish, hot or cold and serve with your favourite veg with balsamic vinegar and olive oil drizzled on top. 6
LUNCH The Aim of Lunch Keep blood sugar levels balanced to avoid a mid afternoon slump in energy and concentration levels. Provide the body with as many nutrients as possible. Have appetite satiated and content until dinner. Keep the body ketone adapted. Practical Considerations If you wish to remain ketone adapted and optimise fat metabolism high keep carbohydrate levels low; that s about 25 grams of carbs ( 120 grams of potatoes, 75 grams of cooked rice) If you eat no carbs and supplement with a table spoon of coconut oil. Aim for a balance of foods. Plenty of veg, good fats, and protein. Lunch is a great time for cold salad style veg or soup as they will keep your appetite satisfied. Avoid sugar at all costs. Lunch Meal Examples Where your daily carbohydrate levels allow add rice, potatoes, or any other safe starches if you desire, but trying to stay at about 25 grams. Lamb casserole swerved with basmati rice. Beef Curry served with basmati rice. Hot or cold chicken on the bone served with: table spoon of hummus, avocado, cucumber, peppers, carrots. Smoked salmon and side salad (mixed salad baby greens, tomatoes, cheese, olives, olive oil) 7
Roast chicken with Greek salad (olives, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, feta cheese, olive oil, vinegar) Beef, peppers and black bean sauce. Tuna salad with salad (celery, mayo (olive oil based), almonds, tomatoes, cucumber. Homemade burger (minus the bun) with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, sautéed sweet peppers and mushrooms. Cesar salad with meat. Large bowl of Soup. Baked potatoes with meat or fish with plenty of salad or cooked veg. Sushi- especially sashimi, nigiri, make. Chilli con carne- served with extra veg. 8
Dinner The Aim of Lunch To provide as many nutrients as possible to improve health reserves. To deliver the nutrients needed to repair the body from the days stress, exercise and work. To allow us to sleep well and feel refreshed for the next day. To promote fat burning while we sleep. Practical Considerations If you work late consider batch cooking before hand for a quick dinner when you get home. Use the weekend to try new recipes when you have more time. Night time is a good time to eat cooked bitter veg as it will be easier to absorb before bed compared to salad. Calculate how much carbs you have left over in your allowance and use the remainder. However if you don t feel like them leave them out and have more veg. You will burn more fat this way. Aim for 25% starchy carbs, 25% meat or fish and 50% veg. Dinner Meal Examples Where your daily carbohydrate levels allow add starchy carbs like; rice, potatoes or any other safe starches if you desire. You re aiming for 25% starchy carbs, 25% protein, 50% veg, especially bitter veg. 9
Grass fed beef steak pan fried in organic butter with béarnaise or peppercorn sauce and plenty of kale Wild salmon pan fried in organic butter with hollandaise sauce with plenty of broccoli. Slow cooked vegetable and lamb or beef shin casserole served with plenty of asparagus. Chicken legs and thighs sealed in a pan with organic butter then cooked in the oven served with plenty of vegetables. Sirloin steak with sautéed mushrooms and cauliflower mashed potatoes. Lambs liver, bacon, and mushroom with asparagus. Any fish baked or lightly fired in butter served with steamed veg. 10
Snacks The Aim of Snacks Practical Considerations Snack Examples 20 grams of nuts and 50 grams of berries. Greek yogurt with 20 grams of nuts and 20 grams of berries. Hummus with sliced carrots, cucumber, and peppers. Vegetable soup. Avocado salted. 11