Here’s a quick note amidst a busy week. I typically see hard training lifters or athletes breaking down when faced with a decision of what to eat. They’ll often pick an unhealthy choice because it tastes better. If you have to eat out during the week, then focus on hitting your macros instead of getting the tastiest item on the menu.
Macronutrients are protein, carbs, and fat. You should have an understanding of how many you need to eat in a day. If you don’t have a clue, search the 70’s Big site history. If you want my comprehensive methodology, check out Paleo for Lifters. The premise is eating enough protein to maintain or build lean body mass (i.e. muscle), enough carbs to fuel your activity level, and enough fat to recover. There’s some discrepancy or ambiguity on how much of a given macro that a type of athlete will need, but I’ve covered that on the site and in the book.
In any case, hit your macros consistently. The chronic intake is more important than the daily timing, and actually hitting the requirements is more important to recovery than it is to have a tasty, yet not as healthy meal. Does that mean you should pass on a brisket meal with a baked potato? No, but your goals will make that decision.
This doesn’t mean you should be eating bland meals, because “healthy” or “paleo-ish” meals can be very tasty if you use your brain and put some effort into them. We’ll talk more about this in the near future.
Train hard and get big.
The fun part of hitting macros in public places (aka anywhere outside the confines of your own home) is that everybody thinks you are a voracious pig or really like meat. I usually need to ask for extra meat in places that allow it or maybe order a second order and the server/employee think there is someone else to eat it (when I’m all alone.) Expensive too but worth it.
A bunch of fast food places let you order double meat… I contemplate asking for triple meat and seeing if they’ll let me…
mmmm triple meat. Man do I miss In’n’Out. Stupid East coast.
Five Guys will do just fine as a pinch hitter for In-N-Out. I ordered a 7×7 at Five Guys not too long ago, and the cook staff all took pictures with it before they called me up to the counter.
I’ve ordered a triple steak burrito from Chipotle a few times…easy protein! I think it has about 120g protein if you get everything on it – cheese, beans, sour cream, guacamole, etc.
It’s 90g of protein from meat if you get the triple, 60 for double
Yeah, the rest of the full burrito adds 30g of protein…
I recently discovered the Lamb T-Bone steaks in the Costco meat area. Now that is a tastey way to get your protein!
Don’t forget the fourth macro that you can derive nutrition from… alcohol. You get 7 calories for every gram. :) Just remember, while carb backloading may help you hit your training goals, alcohol backloading might not be the most effective strategy.