Where to Start when Changing your Diet - Part II.

To refresh from Part I, we're looking at making changes in a layered approach - Food Quality, Food Quantity, and Food Timing. In that order.

With the big picture of food quality out the way, let’s look at FOOD QUANTITY.

I think it goes without saying that everyone is different - that's because we all have different goals, we're different ages, we're different sexes, we have different NON-exercise activity throughout the day, not to mention the ever present bio-individuality that makes us all unique humans.

The great news is also that once Food Quality has been optimised and you've been nourishing your body with supportive foods consistantly for awhile, the quantity of food seems to fall into place much easier!

This is partly because you are properly satiated, and your appetite hormones are more settled. Meeting the actual nutrient requirements of the body is sooo important. Empty calories and hyper-palatable foods don't often 'fill' you like their calorie content would have you expect, leaving you hungry again.

Classic case of overfed and undernourished.

When looking for guidance in the whole 'quantity thing' though, the first thing you can do is look at filling about a 1/3 of your plate with protein (meat/fish/eggs), 1/4 with healthy fats (eg avocado, nuts/seeds), and the remaining space with vegetables. If most of your meals look like this, it's an amazing place to be.

From there you can also consider tailoring the portions using your own hand as a guide!

If you tend to eat 3 meals a day, you could look at 1 palm size piece of protein, 1-2 thumbs of fat, 2-3 fists of veggies, and a cupped handful of starchy carbs (eg. sweet potato, quinoa) or fruits.

After following that protocol for a couple of weeks, you can see how your hunger and energy are, how you're looking, feeling and performing and consider adjusting from there.

If you're looking to lose bodyfat, you could consider removing the cupped handful of starchy carbs from 1 or 2 meals and reassess for a couple of weeks.

If hungry, consider adding a little more protein or fat. Protein is great to increase for most people - especially if weight training is part of your training regime (hint: it should be)!

If looking to gain weight, you could try closer to 2 palm size pieces of protein per meal, an extra thumb of fat and an extra cupped handful of starchy carbs or fruits at 1 or 2 meals.

For those who like numbers and the accountability of a food diary, you can consider trying a tracking app.

My pick of the bunch is Cronometer. Another one is My Fitness Pal but I find it a little less accurate due to crowd-sourced data. You also be aware the default macro setting is often 50% of your calories from carbohydrates which personally I would NOT recommend no matter what your goal is, particularly if you want metabolic flexibility (equal, effortless efficiency burning fat as well as carbs).

Entering your stats and goals into one of these apps will give you a ballpark calorie guide of either a deficit or a surplus, and then you can enter your foods and enjoy the very eye opening experience of seeing what and how much you're *actually* consuming! Get your geek on.

Remember that our metabolism is part calculator, part chemistry set, part thermostat, and part magic & mystery :)

It LOVES being resistant to change too...but through a bit of art and a bit of science, we can get where we want to be and keep it sustainable.