IIFYM 101: HOW TO GET 35 DIFFERENT FOODS A WEEK.

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Are you a creature of habit? Do you eat the exact same thing every day? Did your coach give you a plan with a total of 6 items on it? Are you struggling to incorporate variety into your meals because you “just don’t know what to eat?”

This blog will help you.

Sports nutrition 101 tells us that we need to eat 35 different foods a week. Our team of athletes and lifestyle clients follows this goal.
This is important simply because, variety allows us to get micro nutrients from lots of different sources.

I have spoken openly about my Bro diet plan and how it made me very sick. You can read more about that here. I was eating a ‘totally clean’ competition diet of
turkey
chicken
fish.
egg whites
oats
ezekial bread
brown rice
sweet pot
spinach

I had 12 cups of spinach on my plan each day.
I hated my meal plan. As I got closer to my show, my calories were very low and I had 6-7 meals a day of tilapia and spinach.

That is about 9 different foods and entire food groups are missing from this plan.
There is zero nutrition coming from beautiful fruits and other veggies. I could have had other options and still reached my goal. I would have felt better and had more energy. I certainly didn’t look better on this plan than I do on a variety of food. That’s a fact.

If you are on a “bro plan” but want to learn how to get variety.. click here

Nutrition should be a priority no matter what plan you are on.
It astounds me that intelligent people accept this style of eating when “dieting”. If you were told to give your kiddo this food 6x a day, you wouldn’t. Kids need better nutrition. They need their calcium and fruits and veggies. How dare someone recommend this.
When did we lose our sensibilities!! Let’s eat some beautiful food! Stop removing total food groups! You don’t need to!!

How can I increase my variety to get to 35 different foods a week?

DON’T OVERTHINK IT.
Eat simply. If you are in the mood for black berries, eat them. Have an apple on another day. Eating the rainbow is a perfect way to increase your variety easily.

DON’T SHOP FOR 35 DIFFERENT FOODS
You don’t need to do that!! Just start with what you like, and add to it.
We use challenges like “Taco Tuesday” and “Waffle Wednesday” to help our clients get creative and increase their variety. Both of those meals can be created with lots of variety! It’s easy to find yourself with 15-20 different foods a day on those days!!
Think of the toppings, the ingredients. If you want fish tacos, great? Do you want a taco salad? Or waffles with Halo top and chocolate sauce.. Or perhaps you just want Waffles with blueberries!