Eating for Success: Rules and Routines
The real trick to long term success with BODYSIM meal plans is to translate this strategy into a way of life. We’ll share a set of rules to guide you to choosing on-plan foods and routines that build an environment conducive to staying on-plan.
Establish Some Rules
We have just 3 rules that will take you far towards making on-plan choices even in novel situations or food environments:
- Every meal should have at least 30 grams of protein, and probably 1 meal double that (60g protein).
- Each meal should have <= 15 total calories per gram of protein.
- Prefer carbs over fat
Get That Protein Every Meal
Rule 1 helps to ensure you don’t end the day with too much protein to actually eat. Muscle building is hypothesized to be maximized by consuming 30 grams of protein every 3-4 hours (in subjects potentiated by RT) so this spacing also assists with that goal. Many of our users are surprised to learn just how little protein they get in each meal, especially breakfast, and learning to pack at least 30 grams into each is one of the most important aspects of the BODYSIM meal plan. Your 60g of protein meal is usually dinner in the USA. This 30/30/60 pattern of course is only enough protein for our minimal recommendation for certain groups, and most users need substantially more. You can achieve this, say 250g target, by adding 2x 30g protein snacks/mini-meals, a 30 g workout recovery shake, and a 40g before-bed shake.
Watch Your Protein/Calorie Ratio
Rule 2 helps you hit your protein target while simultaneously hitting your overall calorie target for the day. For instance, someone on a 1500 calorie diet could still get 1500 / 15 = 100 grams of protein in the worst case, while someone on a 3500 calorie diet could get 3500 / 15 = 233 grams of protein. Obviously, every meal in the day cannot be this calorie rich. Fortunately your recovery shake, before-bed shake, and breakfast are often low calorie enough to get you to your total protein without going over calories.
Carbs=Fuel
Finally, Rule 3 helps you hit your carb goal while staying in total calories. When choosing between fruit preserves or cream cheese to top your breakfast bagel…always pick the preserves. Choose Ketchup with your fries over mayonnaise, even a fruity vinaigrette over ranch dressing on your salad, cocktail sauce over tartar sauce for your shrimp, BBQ sauce over wing sauce, salsa over chimichurri, and so on. For desserts other than on splurge days, choose a slice of apple pie over ice cream or crème brûlée.
Pick The Right Routines
Before we even get to specific recipes, it’s important to arrange your eating and shopping routines to make it easy to stay on plan. First let’s talk about putting some protein on auto-pilot, and then about how to keep your fridge and pantry stocked for conveniently staying on plan when life gets crazy.
Protein for Breakfast
Some meals and supplements you can put on an autopilot routine to ensure a good chunk of your daily protein, and your hectic mornings, are handled. Weekday breakfasts are a prime target: figure out your favorite one or two breakfasts and ensure you always have those items on hand. When you wake up, you’ve been fasting from protein for about 8 hours so it’s a prime opportunity to get 30 grams of protein right when you wake up. Shift some calories into an early lunch or snack if necessary to streamline breakfast. This is a perfect opportunity to have a ready-to-drink protein shake like our recommended Fairlife Nutrition Plan, to have measured out an extra serving of our Recovery Shake if you have the calories to spare, or to pour a bowl of our recommended Protein Wheaties and fat-free Fairlife milk. All of these have 30 grams of protein and take no time. On weekends you can make a more exciting breakfast like our Sourdough Blueberry Protein Pancakes.
Bedtime Snack Protein
Similarly, right after your workout and before bed you can eat the same recurring snack. We recommend our Recovery Shake recipe in the app which has both 30g protein as well as 30g carbs to replenish your glycogen (did we mention it also has a ton of fiber and tastes great?). Before bed, recent research shows you can take advantage of an otherwise-missed muscle protein synthesis window by consuming 40g of a slow-digesting protein. We recommend our Bedtime Shake recipe in the app, which not only has 40g of slow-digesting Casein protein, but fiber, and magnesium to help you sleep.
At the Store
Your shopping routine can also make it significantly easier to stay on plan. In fact, in the BODYSIM app we have a list of “High Protein Go-To’s” that you can easily add to your shopping cart, which includes both (1) high protein convenience foods and (2) ingredients for meals with a fast protein fix.
On the convenience food side, we’ve curated a set of high-protein, low-fat products you can throw into your day to help hit your macros. This includes items like 20g protein yogurts, 10g protein bone broth drinks and zero sugar beef jerky.
On the fast meals side, we’ve curated a list of ingredients like low fat tuna packets, pre-marinated pork tenderloins, pourable egg whites, and ultra-lean ground turkey. These power some of our simplest recipes you can quickly crank out for a weeknight dinner that meets or exceeds our Rules 1, 2, 3 above and easily help you stay on plan.
Having your fridge and pantry stocked with these items means even on the busiest days, you can find a snack or meal that keeps you on plan. You’ll know you’ve gotten it down when you visit friends or families for a holiday and think “how is there so much food here but nothing I can eat?” It’s amazing how much variety and excitement you can build in your fridge and pantry following the BODYSIM nutrition plan, yet how different it is from how most people stock their kitchens.