Nutrition pillars for fit fathers
Nutrition science is complex.
Nutrition application is simple.
These statements are both true.
The more you learn about nutrition, the more confusing and complex it gets. It’s a never-ending rabbit hole and we will probably never truly fully understand it.
The good news is, the more you learn the more you begin to see patterns and you realize something:
Simple is sophisticated.
We’re going to cover the only 4 numbers you need to know to dominate your nutrition.
If you master these, you can manipulate your bodyweight, build muscle and strength, and feel fantastic.
That’s a big return for just 4 things, but as a busy dad, you probably don’t want to handle more than that.
That’s exactly why we simplified it for you, so let’s jump in.
We’re starting with the top priority and foundation of your nutritional pyramid:
⚖️ Eating an appropriate amount of calories ⚖️
If you want to be a Fit Father, you’re going to have to manage your nutrition quantity.
You’ll be able to better regulate your energy, control your bodyweight, and bring awareness to your food intake.
Determining what is “appropriate” is easy enough through an online calculator (like this one).
Aim for the number that spits out as you track your food with a scale and app (my favorite is Cronometer), and monitor your bodyweight for two weeks.
Depending on what your weight does, you’re either at maintenance (stays the same), a deficit (decreases), or a surplus (increases).
You can make changes to the calorie number depending on your goals. If you want to lose weight, decrease by 200-500 calories. If you prefer to maintain, keep it the same.
And if you’d like to gain muscle, increase by 5-10%.
Next up is the macro king:
🍗 Eat enough protein 🥩
It’s the only macronutrient you really need to quantify because it’s importance is three-fold:
💪🏻 It’s the raw materials for building muscle
☺️ It’s satiating, so you stay satisfied after meals
🍫 It helps with immune support and blood sugar regulation
Basically, if you want to be muscular and defined while never getting hangry, protein is your best fucking friend forever (BFFF).
How much is pretty straightforward:
0.7 to 1 gram per pound of bodyweight.
This is best for lean individuals. If you’re looking to lose weight it’s more like 0.7 to 1 gram per pound of goal bodyweight.
To manage protein intake, you do the same thing as suggested in step 1:
Track your food!
It’s amazing what happens when you really monitor what you’re eating and have the data to back it up and make decisions.
You’d be surprised how frequently protein is drastically undereaten before it’s tracked.
Third on the list is making sure we’ve got healthy poops 💩!
Ok well not really.
We’re talking fiber, which does lead to great dumps but is more important for longevity, aka living a long time.
Studies consistently show a high-fiber diet leads to living longer, and that’s why it’s our third pillar.
Basically we can say that good poops = great life 😂.
But on a serious note, fiber helps to control the quality of your food. When fiber is high, you’re eating lots of fruits, veggies, and whole grains (among other healthy things like seeds and beans).
How much is appropriate for you?
It’s broadly recommended men get 35+ grams and women get 25+ grams, but we can get more specific:
Aim for 14 grams per every 1,000 calories you eat. So take your calories you calculated from step one and multiply it by 0.014.
To make sure you’re hitting that target, I’ll recommend doing the same thing I did in step 1 and 2:
Track your food!
What gets monitor gets managed.
Last (but not least) is both the most overlooked and overrated aspect of healthy eating.
You either forget about it entirely or put way to much stock in it
It’s:
Meal timing.
Some of us overrate it to the point we’re eating a carefully crafted meal before our workout and slamming a protein shake the moment we’re done.
Others don’t have any timing plan.
Both are wrong.
While meal timing isn’t the be-all end-all, it is important you have a meal timing strategy.
I like the one we use in The Lab, our community program for dads:
The “3-4 Protocol.”
You eat 3-4 meals per day, spread out every 3-4 hours.
Doing this will:
💪🏻 Maximize your muscle gain
🤤 Minimize your hunger and overzealous snacking
😁 Give your body the consistent nourishment it craves
All you have to do is what you do for your kids:
Eat at consistent and regular times throughout the day.
These 4 numbers work because of a simple saying:
Calories determine what you weigh. Macros determine how you look. Quality determines how you feel.
It’s a bit simplified but it’s largely accurate, and when it comes down to it, what we weigh and how we look and feel tend to be high priorities.
Which means these 4 numbers encapsulate most, if not all, of our goals and aspirations. You don’t have to make it more complicated to get better results — you just have to do these 4 things consistently.
Let’s finish this off with a quick counterpoint:
Nutrition isn’t just about numbers.
It’s also social, emotional, and enjoyable.
We can use these numbers to make nutrition simple, but it’s important to remember that’s not all nutrition is.
If you find yourself obsessing over these numbers and hitting them exactly or else, it might be time for a different approach for you, for now.
Nutrition is never one-size fits all, so while this will work for many, if not most, make sure it’s a tool that improves your relationship with food.
If not, experimenting with other tools is a great idea 🙂.
