Stick to the outer walls of the grocery store. The stuff in the middle is trouble.
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Some good advice above, I would just add eating to hunger and stop a little bit before your stomach/brain tells you too (you can always go back for more).
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I know what you mean - the more you know, the less you know. I commented on this in āThe Game Changersā thread, but Iāll repeat my thoughts here.
Iām a biologist (a plant geneticist), but have no training in nutrition whatsoever. As such, I donāt make any claims about having specialist knowledge and freely admit to being way out of my depth when it comes to many aspects of nutritional science. However, I do have many years experience of reading, analysing, interpreting, and critiquing scientific literature. I understand the requirements for a well designed scientific study, and the statistical rigour required to be able to draw meaningful interpretations from experimental results.
I think that one of the reasons that the topic of nutrition causes so much debate, it that is is very hard (perhaps impossible) to devise a properly controlled experiment. There are too many unknown variables. Any collection of humans used in a study is going to be extremely diverse. Even if every detail of their life during the experimental period could be controlled, their past lives will have been very different. Aspects such as lifestyle, activity levels, age, ethnicity, stress levels, will all have confounding effects on any results. Add on to this, that the differences in any measured variable are possibly quite small, and it makes it almost impossible to come up with any unequivocal result.
You then have the problem of extrapolating health guidelines from any significant results that you do find. Letās say, for example, that a study finds a significant reduction in blood LDL cholesterol levels after following diet A vs. diet B. Letās pretend that we are 100% sure of that result, and that all confounding factors have been properly accounted for. So we have proved, beyond doubt, that diet A results in lower LDL cholesterol than diet B. To get from that to the statement that diet A is better, we have to then prove that lower LDL cholesterol actually gives a health benefit (not as straightforward as it may seem). We also have to account for any other differences - e.g. does the lower LDL come at the cost of higher HDL, or some other change, that has equally bad (or even worse) health outcomes. Even if we somehow manage to do all of the above and can state with 100% certainty that diet A is better than diet B, then what about diets C or D?
This is the crux of the problem. People want to be told āif you follow this diet then you are doing the healthiest possible thingā. Thatās just not possible. And what is the healthiest diet for person 1 might not be for person 2. Itās this, for me, that makes the topic of nutrition so fascinating, but also so frustrating.
Given all of the above, my personal philosophy is for choosing your diet is as follows:
- Do some reading (as much or as little as you like, but the more the better)
- Decide what makes sense to you - which studies do you think are best designed, which results do you believe, what intuitively makes sense?
- Self-experiment.
Itās the last point that I think is key. Try the diet that you think is going to be healthiest and that can work for you (Iād rather shave a few years off my life-expectancy and/or not achieve my maximum athletic potential than constantly be trying to follow a diet that makes me miserable). Give it at least a couple of months to allow for adaptations to your new diet (unless your health deteriorates or you find it unsustainable). Do you feel better? How is your mood? How are your energy levels? How is your recovery?
It took me many different diet types to come to my current one (vegan, leaning towards whole-food plant-based). I may change diet again, but currently I donāt see any reason to (and the environmental and animal-welfare factors are further motivation to stay vegan). For me, this diet works. I have more energy than ever, Iāve seen the first FTP increase in a long time, my mood is far better (I have a history of depression), Iām definitely recovering between training sessions better, and I donāt feel like Iām depriving myself at all (in fact, Iām enjoying food more than ever). However, I am always willing to reconsider and should I find that my diet starts impacting on my health, mood, or performance then I will look at changing it.
Having picked a diet, I do think it is important to do some reading to try and ensure youāre getting all of the essential micronutrients and looking at ways to incorporate foods into your diet to enable this. Maybe you will need/want to use supplements (I only take one 1000 ug vitamin B12 supplement, twice a week).
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Iām not trying to be argumentative but do you know people who only eat fruit? Or only eat apple pie? And have an in depth understanding of their lifestyle?
Either of these people could get fat or suffer other ill effects on their health if something is eaten in excess
Book
How Not to Die
Website
nutritionfacts.org/
A great resource of not only what you should eatā¦but also why. His website is backed up with videos of scientific research. He advocates a plant based diet which may not please everyone but he provides evidence based studies to back it upā¦ Itās a truly great resource which has impacted how I eat. Also does a good podcast too
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I have been told that my nails are weak due to eczema on the nail bed. For the last month or so I have been doing 30-40 minutes of strength work 5 mornings a week, followed by whey isolate and dextrose shake.
My nails are much stronger. Is this just fluke? or is there something in the shake? Itās the only thing Iāve changedā¦
Another resource for the list. Very well informed, science based. Not afraid to explore potential benefits while at the same time saying he cannot advocate them without further research. The podcast is often very interesting (latest one on the importance of sleep).
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Iāve been reading The Endurance Diet and peppering in more whole foods-based meals. I can say with certainty that I feel more satiated and better prepared for my workouts than ever before. Iām not perfect at it, but it has helped me a lot, and I also feel better about it.
My sister-in-law is vegan, so Iāve really incorporated a lot of things from her diet into this style, as well. While I may not be vegan, vegans do have excellent whole foods recipes to incorporate into a regular diet and I find thatās worth exploring.
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This is great advice and I strongly +1 this.
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Go ahead and try to eat fruit in excess. Thatās my point.
Not sure if any of you have heard of Precision Nutrition, but I think they have a great way of dealing with portions. Iāve gone through their coaching course twice now, and have really enjoyed it.
They donāt promote calorie counting, but using your hands instead. As an initial guide for men, at every meal try to get 2 fists of veg, 2 palms protein, 1 cupped hand of carbs, and 1 thumb of fat. Further details (and portions for women) can be found at Forget calorie counting: Try this calorie control guide for men and women - Precision Nutrition. Really helpful when eating out to get a rough idea of what you need to eat.
They also had a āruleā of 80% which really helps to cover for life situations. Say you eat 4 meals a day - thats 28 meals a week. The 80% rule means that 5-6 meals during the week donāt have to be perfect. In the grand scheme of things, 80% compliance is pretty good. Take into consideration date nights, food with friends, food with family, etc. Whilst it may not be your ideal, you can pick the best option and still be totally happy. This allows you to not stress so much, and enjoy the moment.
Theyāre also a big fan of experimentation. So you can start with that portion guide for a few weeks, and adjust accordingly.
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YESSSS
My husband thrives on paleo. Say what you will about how derpy it is to base food choices on irrelevant and mostly wrong ideas about ancestral habits: he thrives. On the other hand, I canāt join him, because I turn into a living skeleton and start getting concerned looks from my family.
This kind flexibility is critical, and equally frustrating. If I could just pick a thing and have it work and then not think about it ever again thatād be super.
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Measure with your hands and get it about 80% right. Very precise. 
Not knocking the guidlines, have seen that before and it makes a lot of sense, but find it funny that they ome from a company with āprecisionā in the name.
Wondering why they have separate measures for women though? Imo, the āhand measureā is used becausr it automatically relates to body size - even for kids.
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Haha not too precise, no. But itās relative to the user and I think the overall goal goal is to get consistency for the majority of people, without the stress of exact precision. You have a valid point though - maybe the audience is quite different to those who are using Trainer Road!
In saying that, I think itās still a nice way to get a base and then start modifying based around your needs and how your body reacts.
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Excellent point. So many times I still want to eat a bit more because that feeling of satisfaction is still not there and if I stop imeddiatly some minutes later that feeling comes and Iām fine, while if I keep eating looking for that immediate feeling os satisfaction a few minutes later the feeling will be of discomfort by overeating.
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Thanks @OreoCookie for starting this thread.
I must say that Iām a real nutrition nerd, mainly since Iāve had a number of problems of the years related to IBS. Note that since upping my training, eating primarilly fruits, vegs and whole foods, Iāve not had a cold for nearly 3 years now. I guess this a combo of luck and treating my body a bit better (and copious amounts of Sauerkraut).
One thing that irks me a bit is the need for gaming nutrition so much when you are not a pro and a regular amateur. Healthy eating should always be prioritised. You know my Dad, who is an avid cyclist but does it also to keep healthy at an older age, sees stories about pumping carbs like gels, timing, restriction of things (yes the internet is mental) and then is forgetting to focus on the macro side of just eating something generally healthy, and enough of it. Makes me smile for by own case that NTS for timing post-workout was so hyped, then the studies from Schƶnfeld showed that well just eat normally over the day and youāll be fine, is a good example.
The post above also about the book Diet Cults is a good one, definitely worth a read.
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that is a neat way to keep track of it, thanks.
At the risk of merging threads with the āHow much I 
MFPā one; I think many people just donāt track, in any way, what goes in their mouths. They have a woolly notion that they are only taking treats now and again. When in fact they have well busted the 80% rule mentioned above. If you donāt measure it how can you manage it?
Iām not necessarily sure you have to measure, but the evidence is that the biggest thing that people who lose weight and keep it off do differently, is carry on keeping a food diary in maintenance.
fwiw I do measure, and record in mfp.
This is a great topic and the right emphasis
I suppose it really boils down to what you are trying to achieve and what the starting point is. I see a lot of endurance athletes and the podcast VERY diet focused - and sometimes the focus is well founded and grounded in good knowledge and sometimes it isnāt
I often wonder if ppl are trying to ālook like a cyclistā rather than be a good athlete. I see a lot of calorie restriction and hidden dieting which canāt be healthy. Particularly if making a certain weight or a certain look is compromising health/power/life
So can you eat Popeyes every day - maybe if you are 17. But not for long. A decent balanced diet founded in whole foods and less processed food is likely a good generic answer that makes sense. And fueling your training rather than dieting on the bike
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