Nutrition — Frequent Questions
My own core foods for the day: 119g protein, 50g carbs, 42g fat, 1054 calories total. 5'10", 180 lb, 39 years old. That leaves easily 1500 extra calories per day while still in a deficit. I get optimal protein for muscle growth and enough fats for healthy hormone regulation without counting a thing.
Can I take supplements?
Yes. Vitamin D in higher doses is the only thing close to a magic pill. I take 4000iu daily with fats and vitamin K. If you're deficient the effects are dramatic: better mood, recovery, energy, sleep, immunity. Creatine monohydrate 5g per day is an absolute home run for more reps and better results. Fish oil is great for joints and general health but nothing physique changing. I'm not a doctor. Look up the research and make the call.
What about weekends?
Weekends might break the timing rules. That's fine. Just make sure you eat all your core foods that day and try to keep it to one non core foods meal. If you can't make that work, it's not the end of the world. But always eat your core foods no matter what.
What about carbohydrate foods?
You need them to perform well but they aren't core foods. If your energy is consistently poor you probably aren't eating enough carbs. Add healthy carb servings after work using cupped handfuls as the portion. Rice, fruit, whole grains, potato, etc.
What about post-workout nutrition / anabolic window?
Not as useful as it is inconvenient. You give up a ton of fat loss and life convenience to get a tiny boost in potential muscle growth.
What's a good recipe or meal to make?
Save recipes for your "whatever you want" time. The whole point is to be "all or nothing." So it's either a great recipe with whatever you want, or zero time and effort during core foods. Plain, steamed, seasoned, whatever. Don't add a ton of calories with sauces. My favourite prep: whenever you're cooking dinner, throw some protein in a pyrex dish with premade seasoning and bake it alongside. Zero minute prep.
I'm afraid that I'll binge.
This is an honest and legitimate worry. Give it a try first, you might be surprised. If it's still a problem, add more mandatory foods into your core foods. If that still doesn't work, the solution may lie outside health and fitness. Seek some help and focus on patterns that trigger the urge. They are often hardwired emotional reactions that can improve with practice and awareness. You are not a broken person.
I still get hungry as hell at night.
1-2 hours of sleep deficit makes you about 1 meal hungrier every day. Get your sleep back to 8 hours first. If that still doesn't work, add a 5th protein serving after dinner. Eating more of the right foods means less of the wrong ones which could be 2-3x the calories. One last trick: brush your teeth after your last meal. Only needs to stop you a few times a week to work magic.
I feel very low energy and cannot work out hard.
You're going too hard on restriction. Core foods are the minimum, not the maximum. You still need dinner. You probably need more carbs. Add carb servings after work. As you get stronger and build more muscle, your body will demand more fuel. That's a good thing. Feed it.
I want to eat vegan.
I don't have a solution that won't involve much more strict eating. Out of probably 1000 people in my career, I can count on one hand the vegans who weren't overfat or undermuscled. All of them did many hours of weekly exercise and were much more restrictive with food choices. Vegetarian has less of an issue. If you don't have personal reasons for it, I'd advise against it.
I want to count calories.
Calories and macros are the ultimate decider of weight. But counting them daily doesn't work in practice. The fail rate is astronomical and everyone ends up gaming the system instead of eating the right stuff. You can count your core food macros initially to make sure your choices are adequate, but that's about it.
I want to make changes or pick and choose parts of this.
Breaking into new levels always requires suspending previous beliefs. Those beliefs are often untrue, just etched deep by old emotional experiences. You'll need to make leaps of faith. Knowing what to do is not enough, you need to accumulate positive experiences actually doing it. Try it and see what happens.