Writing diet articles is tricky because there truly is no one size fits all approach that works equally well for everyone.
My hope is that you can take the information I’ll lay out here and try and “match” it as best you can to your needs.
By “match” – I simply mean – adjust the amounts of food.
I’m a 42 year old, 220 lb male.
So these amounts work perfectly for ME.
You might need a little more or a little less.
But here’s what I’ve settled over the last year or so as a long term sustainable approach to dieting that meets my goals.
#1: Meal Frequency set at 4 meals per day.
Four meals is easy. Five is pretty easy too. 6 or more gets to be a real pain in the ass. 2 or 3 does not allow me to adequately distribute my protein needs across an entire day very efficiently.
Breakfast – Lunch – Midafternoon – Dinner
#2: Protein fixed at 50g per meal.
So 200g per day. This is good for most men trying to build or maintain muscle.
150g for much smaller guys and most women is good.
225-250g for much larger guys might be needed in some cases.
#3: Vegetables fixed at two times per day. In meal 2 and meal 4.
I vary the type quite a bit to get a wide variety of micronutrients into the diet. I do not measure or weigh vegetables and I don’t factor in their carb content. I know they contain them, I just don’t count them.
I basically treat most vegetables as “free” foods . On average it’s probably about a 1 cup serving.
Prepare in a low-fat way. Steam in bag, baking, grilling, sauteeing with Pam.
#4: Fruit fixed at two times per day. In meal 1 and meal 3.
