Build Meals and Days of Eating

How to build a meal:

• Step 1: Choose a protein source

• Step 2: Choose plants

Steps 1 & 2 can be in any order but our point is that when building meals, we want a foundation of protein and plants.

You may go no further and call it a small meal or a snack.

You may look at your protein options and notice that it’s got some fats, like with many meat choices, salmon, eggs. Maybe it’s got some carbs if you’ve chosen beans, legumes or tofu.

If part of your plant choices are potatoes you have more carbs and avo you have more fats.

So you see your base of protein and plants might already be a mixed meal.

However, you might start adding more carbs and/or more fats and here are a couple of graphics to show firstly a portion guide depending on goal and then a fat loss example.

Similar foods can be made into meals for differing goals, which is great when sharing meals. Couples and families sharing meals will likely have very similar foods for each meal, however the portions should differ to reflect our different sizes, differing activity levels, appetites and needs.

Building a day of eating which is going to suit you as an individual takes a bit of thought.

How many meals do you enjoy eating per day?

What does your lifestyle allow?

What is a target for you to aim for consistently so that you are satisfied from meals and across the day?

There is no perfect amount of meals that we should all be eating. The “eat 6 meals to boost your metabolism” thing is a myth.

3-5 meals with protein and plants at each is a great general guideline and a range in which most people will naturally fall when thinking about matching a plan to their lifestyle.

Separating Carbs and Fats

For those who are not tracking and are looking for a method to balance carbs and fats each day, you could consider separating carbs and fats.

Have meals with protein, plants and carbs around training.

Have meals with protein, plants and fats away from training.

This is not a magic formula and there is nothing wrong with eating carbs and fats together. In fact many people find it very satisfying.

A consideration is that carbs and fats together often enhance the taste of a meal quite a bit. This can certainly be a positive in some situations, however it can make portion control harder.

Think about boiled potato - how much can you eat?

Then mash the same potato and add butter and milk - with that combination of carbs and fats, you might find that you end up eating more.

The main takeaway point is that when building meals and building days, focus on protein and plants. It is the foundation of nutrition, no matter your goal. Everything is built on top of the foundation.

Planning and Preparation

This is key. It doesn’t have to be an exact plan but knowing when, where and what you plan to eat each day can help to make most of your food decisions in just a couple of minutes, at a time when you are most mentally focussed.

Making food decisions when tired and hungry is difficult.

So try to think in advance, it might be a quick note in your phone in the morning or evening - depending on when you have time and when you are not hungry.

Even if this includes buying meals, have some advanced thought of what you might buy and where can certainly help.

Over time, you’ll start to build a list of meals you enjoy that you can default to when needed and you might even have some convenience meals and grab and go options that can support you when time is short.

Understand Satiety - Feel full and stay full

Satiety is feeling full and satisfied from our meals and is a huge consideration for any goal. For a fat loss goal, if we can stay full and satisfied from our meals whilst reducing calories, it makes the process a lot easier.

At some point in the fat loss phase, hunger is often a reality, however we can make this a much smaller issue when we focus on what can increase our satiety, what can increase our feelings of fullness and satisfaction.

Food volume:

Eating less calories for fat loss doesn’t have to mean eating less food. The actual amount, the volume of food we eat can play a huge role in how full and satisfied we feel. When aiming for fat loss, choosing plenty of higher volume, lower calorie foods is a great idea.

It’s called “low calorie per bite”

For each bite of food, is it lower or higher calorie?

We generally consume a similar weight of food each day, rather than a constant amount of energy. Eg - consistently consuming 2000 grams of food rather than 2000 calories. This means that the lower the energy content of the foods eaten (lower calorie per bite), the lower overall energy intake may be and vice versa.

Example:

• If someone usually eats a meal of 500g in weight for a meal, it could be 300 calories or it could be 3000 calories depending on how dense the meal is.

If you’re wanting to feel fuller on less calories, look at adding higher volume lower calorie foods such as fruits and vegetables. 

Examples: 

• Fruit has a lower energy density than chocolate.

• Vegetables have a lower energy density than pasta. 

• Honey has a higher energy density than strawberries. 

• Olive oil has a higher energy density than avocado. 

• Potatoes have a lower energy density than rice. 

• White fish has a lower energy density than salmon. 

The main factors of energy density are water and fat. Foods with the lowest calories per bite are those with the most water and least fat. Foods with the highest calories per bite are typically high in fat and low in water. Fibre can also help reduce calorie density, another tick for fruit and vegetables!  

If we can eat more foods that are lower calorie per bite, we can increase our satiety. 

That’s why we like to promote the idea that you don’t have to eat less food volume to lose weight, just less calories.

Note: For those with a muscle gain or performance goal, feeling full can actually be a limiting factor and eating too much food volume may actually negatively impact your progress. Imagine trying to increase your calories for these goals when all you are eating is lean protein and plants.

Protein and Satiety:

Most studies show that protein has a stronger effect on satiety than the same quantities of energy from carbohydrates or fats.

It increases satiety in one meal and over 24 hours. It was also shown to spontaneously lower energy intake, which can be important if you don’t weigh, measure and record your food intake.

20g protein seems to be enough to maximise satiety.

Fibre and Satiety:

Most studies show dietary fibre has a positive effect on feelings of fullness between meals and reducing energy intake as a result.

The amount of fibre was important, and larger doses were more effective at promoting satiety and reducing energy intake.

Fibre Sources:

Fruits, Vegetables, Potatoes, Oats, Whole-grains, Beans and Legumes

Here are some simple swaps for more protein and plants, more fullness, for the same calories:

Meal Speed and Satiety

If you find that you’re a fast eater and it leaves you feeling hungry, try to slow your rate of eating down.

Can you stretch it out to 15-20 minutes by putting your cutlery down in between bites, swapping hands, using chopsticks, etc.

Do you notice yourself loading up your fork or spoon with the next mouthful before you’ve even finished what’s in your mouth? Try putting your cutlery down in between bites and concentrate on chewing, how the food tastes and really enjoying the meal.

Chewing your food more can also significantly reduce hunger and promote satiety.

Listening to up-beat / fast music may actually make it difficult to eat slowly, try something a little slower. Who knows, maybe some yoga chill sounds will be your secret to eating slowly.

Noticing the flavours and textures of our meals can help us slow down. Food journaling can really help here.

Being mindful and present when eating can also help us slow down, so try turning the TV off until after your meal.

Reduce Caffeine & Coffee Calories

You may not need to reduce caffeine. About 2/3 of humans tolerate caffeine really well, it can help us focus, work efficiently and is one of the few effective sports supplements available. There are just a few things we need to be aware of and always consider with coffee, are you in control, is is a “want” or a “need”. Do you feel like you “need” a coffee or can’t start the day without one? It might be time to test yourself and regain control.

Caffeine stays in our system a really long time.

It has a half-life of about 6 hours, meaning that 6 hours after a coffee, we’ll still have half the caffeine in our system affecting us.

So consider the timing of your last coffee in relation to your planned bedtime and also consider other sources of caffeine:

• Tea

• Cola drinks

• Dark Chocolate

• Cough Medicine

• Energy Drinks

• Pre-Workouts

Pre-workouts can have the equivalent caffeine of 2-4 coffees. Sure, you might feel like you have a boost for your workout but if you are exercising in the evening and the pre-workout affects your sleep, then it might not be worth it. Feel a boost for training but then impact sleep leading to less energy and reduced recovery.

Also consider that caffeine is an appetite suppressant. This may seem like a great thing when in a diet phase and it can be when used well.

If you are aware of your hunger signals, have planned meals and use caffeine strategically to manage hunger during a diet - that can work.

However if unplanned, you might find that you aren’t hungry during the morning but then can’t eat enough to stay satisfied in the afternoons and evenings. In this case, caffeine may be masking your true hunger in the morning, leading you to under-eat and causing your appetite to peak later in the day.

Reducing Caffeine

We can experience withdrawal symptoms if going cold-turkey with coffee. For most, this probably isn’t necessary - just making a reduction or shifting caffeine earlier in the day is probably enough.

However if you do stop drinking caffeine for any reason, just be aware you may experience headaches and fatigue for a few days.

It might be better just to make a reduction, switch some of your later coffees for non-caffeinated teas like peppermint, or try a decaf for your latest coffee of the day.

Caffeine and Calories

Caffeine itself doesn’t have calories and black coffee is basically calorie free. So if you are a long black fan, you don’t need to track or consider calories from your coffees. Just be aware of the point above.

If you add milk, sugar, syrups etc then your coffees do have calories and they can add up if you are having multiple each day.

Just think of the frequency and purpose of your choices.

Enjoy Social Meals and Weekends

Social Health is important and shared meals are great experiences. These can be situations where a greater amount of calories are consumed, with more food available, wider food choices and alcohol.

Try to maintain the protein and plants focus first which is going to help fill you up.

Be aware of the calorie dense foods and liquid calories.

Approach the meal with a moderate dose mindset, enjoy it thoroughly but more doesn’t always bring more enjoyment.

Slow down your eating and decision making. Try to wait a few minutes before deciding on a second drink, a second serving.

Social meals are often on weekends and it’s common for people to maintain great habits on weekdays before adding huge amounts of calories over the weekend.

If weight loss is a goal, we want to be sitting in a caloric deficit. If for example you are in a 200 calorie deficit each day Monday to Thursday then Friday night splurge on a pizza with a couple of drinks, Saturday go out for a big breakfast, even more drinks, some ice cream, then Sunday you struggle to meal prep and order Uber Eats and polish off a block of chocolate - that could lead to potentially large caloric surplus over 2 and half days. That weekend surplus of for example 1200 calories could lead you into an overall weekly maintenance or surplus and could be the reason you aren't seeing any changes.

Here are some tips on being mindful of your weekend habits:

• Plan ahead, read the menu in advance, don’t skip meals before events leading you to be exposed to buffet type situations when really hungry.

• If you are going to indulge over the weekend, aim for 1-2 indulgence meals. Try to maintain 4 out of a potential 6 meals over the weekend to be aligned with your goals.

• If you're going large on the beverages, be prepared with good food choices the next day. Try not to add to the calories of alcohol with more calories of hangover foods.

• You can still enjoy yourself socially but be mindful of how many calories you are consuming through beverages.

Plus some tips on being mindful when dining out:

• Eating protein and nutrient dense meals doesn’t need to be restrictive or only practiced at home. We can still make choices aligned with our goals most of the time, even when dining out.

• If you know the place you’re going to ahead of time, look up their menu online. Most places will have a full menu for your viewing. Try to read the menu when you are satiated, not when you’re hungry.

• Aim to pick foods that are high in protein and nutrient dense foods but ensure you choose something you will really enjoy! Remember, the purpose of meals out is enjoyment.

• You can always ask for extra veggies or salads on the side.

• Ask for sauces on the side so you can control portions.

• Allow for extra fats to be used in the cooking process (chef’s don’t care about your caloric intake, they care about flavour).

• Eat your veg and protein first.

• Eat slowly.

• Eat until you’re 80% full, not completely stuffed

• If having more than a main, aim for either entree OR desserts (maybe not both).

• Be cautious of caloric beverages.

• If you do happen to over indulge, that is fine, we all do to from time to time. Move one, don’t dwell, your next meal is a chance to go straight back to your plan. No guilt, no punishment.

Cheese Boards / Grazing Plates / Buffets

These are usually a collection of calorie dense, delicious foods which we enjoy in the company of friends and family with a drink in our other hand. Awesome for social health but being exposed to these situations regularly whilst aiming for fat loss can be difficult.

The graphic shows how quickly the calories can add up.

To break it down:

• 200 Cals from salami

• 100 Cals from the cheese

• 100 Cals from the hommus

• 85 Cals from the crackers

• 77 Cals from the olives

So what can you do?

• First option is going all in and just accepting that you've delayed your goal a little.

• Try to reduce your exposure to these situations by communicating these challenges to those who you socialise with and try to encourage social interactions which don't always involve temptations like a double cream truffle brie.

• Plate yourself a portion and enjoy it slowly.

• Make sure you are not hungry going to these social situations, maintain your regular meals before being exposed to these foods.

• Position yourself away from the food and so the food is out of sight

Tracking social meals

Even if you are using Calorie/Macro tracking to help with your goals, you don't need to track every meal. It's okay to track 3 out of your 4 meals per day. Often with social meals, it's not feasible nor a good idea for your social health and happiness to even attempt to track. Does this mean the meal becomes an 'all in-cheat'... No...You can hide calories from My Fitness Pal but not from your body. 

Here's what you do instead:

"I just had my afternoon snack, I have 750 Calories, and about 20g of protein left for dinner tonight". 

You head out for dinner, base your order off what you think might roughly fall within your calorie budget. Obviously it takes a bit of experience to be able to just "eyeball" and order based on the calories you have left in your day. But if you are developing your nutritional skills, why not test yourself? You can further modify the potential calories of your meal by doing things such as asking for the sauce on the side.

In the grand scheme of things, it might be one meal in a week, and the social benefits might actually increase the longevity of your diet. So being a little sub-optimal might be worth it. At the very least if you approach this in an informed manner there is no reason why your goals will be derailed. 

Reduce your "forbidden foods" List

Do you have a list of foods that you fear, cause anxiety, that are forbidden?

Do you feel like 1 particular food is going to make you fat, stop you making progress, reverse your progress?

Having strict food rules rather than general guidelines, dieting with too much restriction, living without flexibility are risk factors for Binge Eating Disorder.

Try to remember that no food in isolation will cause you to gain weight, the same way that no food in isolation will cause you to lose weight.

Step back and look at the whole puzzle, not just 1 piece.

If this post hits home, please head over to

https://breakbingeeating.com/stop-binge-eating/

This page is a blog - 5 Proven Steps to that will help you stop binge eating - by Dr Jake Linardon, who specialises in eating disorders.

The blog includes comments, questions and his answers at the bottom, as well as a free ebook download.

Even if you don't consider yourself at risk, I would encourage you to read the blog and the ebook as there are also sections on journaling, identifying stress and planning non-food actions and planning joyful activities.

Both the blog and ebook are short reads and will probably take less than 30 minutes out of your week.

We would love it if you are open to adding comments about things that have helped you, might help others and foods which you have successfully shifted off your forbidden list.

Control Your Food Environment

Your Food Environment is like your ‘Nutritional Subconscious’.

Managing your food environment has the potential to make eating for your goals easier and takes willpower out of the equation. With some proper planning and minimal upkeep, you can manipulate your environment in such a way to cause you to think about food a little less, reduce the number of temptations you face, and make it easier for you to make better choices.

Food Environment Guidelines For Success:
If it’s not immediately in your environment, you’re probably not going to eat it. In some cases, the best decision might be to not purchase something in the first place.
Keep the calorie-dense, low-satiety food (chips, cakes, lollies, chocolates, ice-cream etc.) in less visible and less convenient locations.

If you want a nutrient-dense food to be prevalent in your diet, make it prevalent in your environment.

For example, keep a fruit bowl in plain sight in your kitchen so you can easily see AND access it.

Keep refrigerated vegetables on the front and middle shelves of your refrigerator, and keep more calorie-dense refrigerated items near the back and on top or bottom shelves
 

Generally speaking, food variety may increase food consumption.  Keep a wide variety of foods you want to eat more of (like fruits, vegetables, and lean protein sources), and keep a narrow variety of indulgence foods.

If you are serving food out of large bowls/containers, do not keep the serving bowls at the table. Leave them on a counter or in the kitchen so you have to portion your food on your plate and bring the plate to the table. This makes it less likely that you’ll keep adding more food to your plate.

This same strategy applies to snack foods. If you tend to graze, stop hanging out in the kitchen!

Likewise, if you’re at a social event, creating physical distance from certain foods can be quite helpful.

Make building new nutritional habits easier and make continuing old habits more difficult.

What This All Comes Down To:
Foods that you should be eating MORE of need to be more visible, more convenient, more prevalent, and of greater variety in your environment.

Foods that you need to eat LESS of should be less visible, less convenient, less prevalent, and of lower variety (in some cases nonexistent!) in your environment

What you purchase determines what ends up in your food environment. Make sure you purchase a variety of the foods you want to eat more of, and make sure you limit the foods you want to eat less of. When you bring those foods home, take the time to display or position them accordingly in your food environment.

A way we can create a goal aligned environment is by trying the traffic light system.

TRAFFIC LIGHT SYSTEM

Arguably the most influential in a person's decision making is the environment someone is in day to day. It can be the foods they see or have available, advertising, triggers, cues and even the people they spend their time with or are influenced by.

People blame themselves or their personal traits and they underestimate the external factors that influence their behaviour.
People expect themselves to be strong-willed in tempting situations whilst also trying to do their jobs and complete other personal tasks that require energy. Willpower requires energy too, so the less energy you have from practising willpower or completing tasks during the day, the tougher it is going to be to say no to temptation and to make a healthy eating choice when presented with an easier, less goal aligned options.

This activity helps to take willpower out of the equation and make goal aligned choices easier.

Try to keep tempting foods that aren’t goal aligned out of your environment. Create an effort barrier between you and the indulgence items. You can’t eat what isn’t there. On the flip side, create a food environment that is aligned with your goals. Lean proteins, plenty of plants (fresh and/or frozen), fibrous carbs, healthy fats - the ones you enjoy in a wide variety, highly visible and easy to consume. Keep the more tempting foods in less variety, less visible and more difficult to consume.

Green foods mean good to consume regularly - these foods are goal aligned, you enjoy them, they are good for your body and mind.

Yellows are sometimes ok, sometimes not - can be an occasional treat without going too overboard or have you craving them as soon as you see them.

Red foods are probably not a good idea to have in your environment because they are trigger foods, have you feel unwell or aren’t aligned with your goals (not to say they can’t ever be eaten, probably just not a good idea to be regularly visible or attainable especially when trying to build new healthy eating habits).

Important note:
Not to say red lights can never be in the environment, the temptation level can change over time as habits are built.

Ultimately we want to try to make your lives easier when it comes to making nutritious food choices that are aligned with your goals.

Reduce Alcohol

At FNC, we are all about balance and enjoying yourself. This is merely about awareness when it comes to drinking yourself into a calorie surplus and potentially undoing your progress from eating well and training hard.

This also isn't an approval to not eat if you plan on drinking, just be mindful that it is easy to put yourself into a caloric surplus through alcoholic beverages and the typical associated behaviours (greasy foods, hangover cures, inhibition, sympathy food, etc)

• Here is a rough guide of the caloric value of some popular alcoholic beverages.
  Vodka Lime and Soda - 65 Calories
  Gin and Tonic - 74 Calories
  Glass of Rose (120mL) - 83 Calories
  Glass of Sav Blanc - 119 Calories
  Glass of Shiraz - 122 Calories
  Stone and Wood Pacific Ale - 132 Calories
  James Squire 150 Lashes - 140 Calories
  Guinness - 125 Calories
  Spiced Rum and coke - 122 Calories
  Whisky - 76 Calories
  Espresso Martini - 285 Calories
  Tequila - 64 Calories
  Pina Colada - 378 Calories
  Long Island Iced Tea - 789 Calories

If you are eating in a calorie deficit throughout the week and consuming 10 alcoholic beverages over the weekend, that may equal 1000+ calories and put you in a weekly surplus. That isn't even taking into account the food choices on the weekend.

Simply be mindful and drink responsibly, aiming for the minimum amount that you enjoy.

Alcohol and Sleep

We feel like we have to bring this bad news to you - having a ‘nightcap’ drink might actually prevent you sleeping well.

Alcohol can help us lose consciousness but can reduce the quality of our sleep.

Alcohol can fragment sleep, meaning that without realising it we might be waking many times during the night which can lead to fatigue the following day. Alcohol can also block rapid eye movement (REM) sleep which helps us consolidate memories. If we are trying to learn and commit new things to our memory, an interruption of REM sleep can slow down or stop this process. 

It’s easy for us all to get into the mindset of ‘needing’ things. “I need a coffee to start the day” or “I need a drink to get me to sleep”. These needs are actually habits and a change of mindset and gradual behaviour change might be more beneficial than the quick fix.

Slow down your decision making

Do you find that you are already ordering or pouring yourself a new drink before you’ve even finished your last? Try to slow down your decision making. Alcohol reduces or inhibitions, it makes decision making harder. Aim to pause between drinks and notice how you feel. Do you need another drink right away? Maybe you’ll enjoy yourself more by stretching the drinks out a little?

What about hangovers?

If you are being real with yourself and know you’re going to celebrate a special occasion leading to overconsumption, at least be prepared with these tips.

Read more about alcohol

Check out our blog for more alcohol information:

Alcohol: How it affects your body

Include Protein with Meals

• Protein supports our immune system

• Protein helps us feel full from meals

• Protein helps us feel more satisfied/less hungry between meals.

And most importantly: Protein helps build and repair almost every tissue in our bodies — including our muscles, connective tissues (such as tendons and ligaments), and bones.

More protein means better recovery, more muscle, less fat, and a stronger, healthier body.

Protein is going to lay the foundation of your meals. Every time you eat a meal, first think of what your protein source is going to be. 

Protein-dense foods

Lean meat such as beef, pork, lamb or wild game (kangaroo)
Poultry such as chicken or turkey
Fish & seafood such as white fish, tuna, salmon, or prawns
Eggs & egg whites
Cottage cheese & high protein dairy
Greek or Icelandic Yogurt (Chobani, YoPro, Siggi’s)
Protein powder such as whey, and vegan/vegetarian blends.
Cooked legumes or beans (although also carbohydrate sources)
Tofu, tempeh, seitan, textured vegetable protein

Protein Portions  - Without tracking
1 palm per meal of animal protein sources (3-5 palms per day)

1 hand including fingers per meal of plant protein sources (3-5 palms per day)

Protein Portions  - Tracking

Aim for 1.4 - 2 grams of protein per kg of your body weight, per day

Ideally split this reasonably evenly between 3-5 meals

Roughly aiming for 20 - 40 grams of protein each meal. If having plant base proteins, stick to the higher end of these recommendations as bioavailability isn’t quite as high when compared to animal proteins.

WHEN? We recommend consuming PROTEIN at each meal along with some plants (fruit, salad, veggies).

Having protein with each meal, 3-5 times per day, can help to get all the benefits of protein each time you eat a meal. It can help to efficiently use protein for muscle growth, repair and a strong body.

Here’s a visual example of spreading protein across the day without making it too frequent and overly complicated.

Roughly 20-40 grams per meal is a great aim:

Here is what 30 grams of protein looks like: