Health and Fitness

Nutrition and Fat Loss 101, Part 2 – Sample Food Diary

I talk a lot about what to eat for health and fat loss. Sometimes I might tell you about a meal I’ve cooked, or I might explain why I don’t think a high-carb diet is suitable for most people, or I’ll talk about the best foods for rapid fat loss and detoxification. If you read through the nutrition archives of this blog you’ll be busy for days.

Yet somehow in the midst of all that I have never shared with you a full day’s example of how I eat. A reader pointed that out to me in last week’s Foundation of Nutrition post, which is part of a new series I’m calling ‘Nutrition and Fat Loss 101’.  I thought I’d better rectify that and add in a previously unplanned addition to this series!

this is how i eat

This is a typical sample (non-treat) day:

5.45am: wake up, take fiber, primal greens, glutamine, selenomethionine (selenium) in water with 2 yang-r-ala washed down with it (carnitine and alpha-lipoic acid; best ever combo for fat loss and for morning energy). Extra glass water before this, and another half glass after this.

6am: in car on the way to the city: 120-140 grams of leftover roast beef, 5 or 6 raw organic brazil nuts

6.20-7.30am: in my favourite writing haunt (city cafe): 2 long macchiato’s

8.15am: BCAAs, C and E, carnitine, glutamine before training, followed by BCAAs, beta-alanine during training and BCAAs, C and E, magnesium after training. My morning training is always weight lifting. Currently I am trying to build muscle, so I am lifting very heavy weights with very slow tempos and long-ish rest periods. I’m on a 4-day split. I do not stretch or do cardio after (or before) training.

9.25am: Immediately after training (usually while still in gym; i.e. change-room) organic grass-fed natural protein shake with teaspoon raw cacao, primal greens, glycine and glutamine added. I’d usually take the above-mentioned PWO supps with this.

9.45am: 2 poached eggs (if I’m extra hungry I might have 3 scrambled instead) with 100 grams grass-fed steak, spinach sauteed in butter. 2 x primal digest chewed before eating, 2 x holy basil before eating. During meal: 3x HCL, 1 x zinc, 2 x gotu kola, 1 x NAC-2 plex, 3 x fish oil (I rotate which blend I use), 2 x omnizyme, 2 x hepatoforce, twice a week I would take at least 5,000 mg vitamin D with a morning meal.

11.30am: Strong 3/4 latte. I’m trying to minimise milk; I would like to cut it out altogether but am just being lazy about it. So I order strong lattes with only 3/4 milk which ends up being barely any more milk than a long macchiato, but for some reason I just don’t want to order a long mach later in the day!

12.30: Organic chicken breast, broiled, with raw greens. Usually spinach, cucumber, capsicum, celery; something like that. Sometimes I will bring leftover steamed veg like broccoli, green beans, broccolini. Handful of self-roasted almonds, or 2 flat teaspoons of nut butter (not peanut). Same supps as at earlier meal.

3.30: Same as at 12.30.

4.30: I might do 20 minutes of intervals sprints on the treadmill, or occasionally a circuit workout in the gym. I would take some BCAAs before this.

4.15: PWO shake, same as before. I only take 2 shakes if I’m doing 2 workouts; I prefer solid food aside from this. With or without the shake I would eat a few more nuts and usually some more chicken/meat/fish from whatever is left from my day’s food.

7pm: Grilled barramundi with fresh lemon, salad, steamed green veg. Same supps as earlier, except also 2 x ubermag and 1-2 x yin r-ala added.

8.30pm: (This is just last night; I try not to eat after dinner at least half the time): organic full-fat yoghurt with steamed rhubarb, a few toasted seeds, and cinnamon. Peppermint tea.

10pm: Fiber, glutamine, uber inositol, 2 more ubermag, glycine.

10.30pm: Bed.

All of my supplements are from Poliquin Performance, and I also stock only Poliquin in my office. The exception is protein powder, which I get from Tonic Superfoods (enter bodyincredible at checkout for a discount) and also stock in my South Melbourne office.

I should also add, this is on a work day; which happens 3 x p/week. On a non-work day I might sleep in until 6, and would certainly only do one workout. Unless I add in some kettlebells at home 🙂

Comments/thoughts/questions? Jump in below!

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20 responses to “Nutrition and Fat Loss 101, Part 2 – Sample Food Diary”

  1. Catherine says:

    Wow. That seems like a lot of supplements! If you had to narrow it down, what would you say were the essential supplements (for general health and fat loss)?

    • Kat says:

      Hi Catherine, in order I would say the most important supps for women are 0: HCL based on HCL test for proper digestion and assimilation, 1: Magnesium as it’s depleted through stress, aids sleep, increases bone density and helps burn fat, 2: a good multi, 3: fish oil, 4: vitamin D based on blood work (most people need it), 5: carnitine if fat loss is a goal.

      I hope that helps!

  2. Deb says:

    Ditto to the supplements Catherine! Have you tried that kind of eating without all those supplements?

  3. Natasha says:

    Ditto to Catherine and Deb’s comments re supps! Also of particular interest to me is why you need to rotate the type of Fish Oil (what are all the different ‘blends’?).

    I also feel I need more fibre, especially since I’ve radically changed my eating and don’t eat bread or anywhere near as much fruit. I know that Psyllium husks are a good fibre source, how do you take them? What can you mix it with?

    • Kat says:

      I never take straight Psyllium, only blended fiber. It’s important to rotate fiber so it doesn’t irritate the gut wall. Every 4-8 days is good. With fish oil, different oils for different needs but also just for variety. You wouldn’t eat the same foods every day!

  4. Terri says:

    I was surprised to see the list of supplements with all the food and drink intake. I do admire your commitment to workout everyday. I need to get back into the habit of working out in the mornings. I do great for few months and then fall back into bad habits. I am glad I found your site hopefully, it will give me that spark I need. Thanks again.

    • Kat says:

      My pleasure Terri. I’ve been taking supplements like that for about 3-4 years now, and I’ve just found it far easier to feel, look and function my best! My whole thing with supplements is that ‘we shouldn’t need them in a perfect world, but it’s not a perfect world!’. I plan to take them for life.

  5. Hanna says:

    I’m wondering about the caffeine after your morning workout. I’ve tried to avoid it after workouts since according to Charles Poliquin it raises cortisol levels when PWO they should go down. Would love to hear your take on this :)?

  6. Talitha Natt says:

    I don’t know how you remember to take all those supplements my dear – that’s a full time job in itself! x

  7. Deb says:

    Hi Kat,
    can you reply to our queries please – really interested to hear your answers.
    🙂

    • Kat says:

      Hi Deb – I’m so sorry; for some reason I’ve had no comment notifications come in for 2 weeks and I just saw them all then! All done now 🙂

  8. Hanna says:

    Ok, great! This is just what I wanted to know, whether it’s ok to drink coffee AT ALL after workout. So if I train early in the morning it’s ok to have a dessert coffee after lunch :). Thanks!

  9. Reece says:

    Hi Kat

    Youre on a mass phase but your overall calories look real low. I know people I’ve trained (mostly young guys) need a ton of carbs and a lot more fat. Do you see this in some of your clients as well?

    Thanks for the great info

    • Kat says:

      I’m not overly carb tolerant Reece. I don’t believe in needing to carb up to gain muscle 🙂 some of my clients do need more carbs though. High carbs PLUS high fat is usually not a good idea for anyone!

  10. Annabel says:

    Hi Kat,
    Just discovered your website and am loving all this info! Just a quick question – I’m trying to find a good protein powder (I live in NZ) and have been looking at the Tonic Superfoods website – is the protein powder you use the Whey Isolate one? I’ve been reading about Isolate vs Concentrate at Dr Mercola’s website and he advises against isolates. What are your thoughts on this? I’m quite confused about it all!
    Thanks for all your great advice!

    • Kat says:

      Hi Amanda, I use Tonic WPI or Casein; I rotate them … my thoughts are simply to go with quality (organic, grass-fed), and to rotate to prevent gut irritation. Thanks for your comment!