Functional Diet for the Tactical Athlete

[Tyr0331]

One of the topics that's always being discussed among my co-workers is diet. Everyone seems to try a different diet to accomplish whatever their goals are in a short period of time. Most common goals.. Fat loss and muscle gain.

I would like to put this thread out to everyone to give a brief post on what their current diet is and maybe a link or two of research that supports why they chose that diet. Diets you have tried in the past and what you did/didn't like about them? Which diet has work the best for you and why? Other than the obvious goals of choosing a particular diet, how did it affect your overall health?

I recently transformed my diet to a low carb, paleo diet. Giving up sugar was extremely hard. Been a rough few weeks, but so far I've lost about five pounds and lowered my blood pressure five points. I've always been somewhat lean, just turning 30 recently, I wanted to make a goal of the next decade to "eat like an adult." No more snacking on sugary sweets and/or processed foods.

My main goals aren't fat loss or muscle gain. It's overall health and as some of you might know, to lower my blood pressure.

The reason I chose this type of diet was based off recommendations from a few guys I work with who are using the ketogenic diet. Reference Dr. Phil Maffetone. Although I'm not using that diet specifically, they have helped mentor me in the types of foods to give up to see what makes a difference in a positive way.

I would recommend anyone who hasn't looked in to Gary Taubes or Chris Kresser to do so if you are looking for some good information on dieting.

I hope this post turns into a good research point for TB users to find good solid information on healthy diets.

One last thing, how is the diet you are on, a functional diet for a tactical athlete who doesn't always have time to warm up meals or prepare it in the field properly?

[Green2Blue]

1. Meats (including eggs) and vegetables
2. Fruits, nuts and seeds, and starches including rice, potatoes, and oats
3. Grains and dairy
4. Sugar
5. Alcohol

I don't eliminate anything, I just heavily prioritize. Kind of like the 80/20 rule. I count calories and macronutrients almost daily. Its not that restrictive because I maintain pretty decent body composition.

I've done keto in the past when I was fatter. If fat loss is your primary goal I think there's some merit to carb reduction. That being said, I don't know if it would play well with TB for most people. If performance is your main goal adding some carbs helps.

As far as making it work with the lifestyle: my breakfast are simple and require no prep time, my shift meals and shakes are prepared and frozen every other week, and my wife cooks dinner. When I was single I just made more prepped shift meals instead of a home cooked dinner.

[Tyr0331]

1. Meats (including eggs) and vegetables
2. Fruits, nuts and seeds, and starches including rice, potatoes, and oats
3. Grains and dairy
4. Sugar
5. Alcohol

I don't eliminate anything, I just heavily prioritize. Kind of like the 80/20 rule. I count calories and macronutrients almost daily. Its not that restrictive because I maintain pretty decent body composition.

I've done keto in the past when I was fatter. If fat loss is your primary goal I think there's some merit to carb reduction. That being said, I don't know if it would play well with TB for most people. If performance is your main goal adding some carbs helps.

As far as making it work with the lifestyle: my breakfast are simple and require no prep time, my shift meals and shakes are prepared and frozen every other week, and my wife cooks dinner. When I was single I just made more prepped shift meals instead of a home cooked dinner.

Right on glad it works out for you. Sounds similar to how I usually ate, minus the alcohol. As far as counting calories, how much do you give yourself on average per day? Does it fluctuate depending on activity levels? Or just based on your BW?

[Tyr0331]

Rob Shaul from Military Athlete on Nutrition. Citing Gary Taubes' book "Why We Get Fat"

https://youtu.be/BYVfxHWx8Zs

[Green2Blue]

1. Meats (including eggs) and vegetables
2. Fruits, nuts and seeds, and starches including rice, potatoes, and oats
3. Grains and dairy
4. Sugar
5. Alcohol

I don't eliminate anything, I just heavily prioritize. Kind of like the 80/20 rule. I count calories and macronutrients almost daily. Its not that restrictive because I maintain pretty decent body composition.

I've done keto in the past when I was fatter. If fat loss is your primary goal I think there's some merit to carb reduction. That being said, I don't know if it would play well with TB for most people. If performance is your main goal adding some carbs helps.

As far as making it work with the lifestyle: my breakfast are simple and require no prep time, my shift meals and shakes are prepared and frozen every other week, and my wife cooks dinner. When I was single I just made more prepped shift meals instead of a home cooked dinner.

Right on glad it works out for you. Sounds similar to how I usually ate, minus the alcohol. As far as counting calories, how much do you give yourself on average per day? Does it fluctuate depending on activity levels? Or just based on your BW?

I drink alcohol once every 3 or 4 months, hence why it's on the bottom.

I'm currently maintaining at 2500 at a bw of 160. That's a bit on the low end because my lifting intensity is really low right now. It's REALLY going to vary depending on the individual and their workload though.

[Aelian]

I recently transformed my diet to a low carb, paleo diet. Giving up sugar was extremely hard. Been a rough few weeks, but so far I've lost about five pounds and lowered my blood pressure five points. I've always been somewhat lean, just turning 30 recently, I wanted to make a goal of the next decade to "eat like an adult." No more snacking on sugary sweets and/or processed foods.

Very interested to see how this works out for you. My experience with low carb:

- Good for weight loss
- Compatible with long-duration low intensity activity like LISS
- Incompatible with high intensity activity or training (like HIIT/MMA)

I think it's a good approach for lifestyle fitness, the elderly, or recreational trainers. Not sure how well it would play with performance oriented training.

Awesome job on the weightloss. I'm playing devil's advocate here; but could it be because you ended up lowering total calories by eliminating carbs?

Personally, I follow Ross Enamait's advice. Eat lean organic meats like chicken, salmon, beef, healthy carbs like potatoes, brown rice, veggies and fruits, along with some natural fats from eggs and nuts. I avoid man-made sugar based products, sweets, alcohol and junk food in excess. I'm as healthy now as when I followed low carb, but I also have enough energy to train and perform (which was an issue for me low-carb).

Please do keep us posted as to how it affects your training, strength and HIC in particular.

[Barkadion]

I think it's a good approach for lifestyle fitness, the elderly, or recreational trainers.

My personal experience is different. I was able to run on carbless diet without issues at my prime. Now, pushing 46ish, I do need my carbs. All the time.

Personally, I follow Ross Enamait's advice. Eat lean organic meats like chicken, salmon, beef, healthy carbs like potatoes, brown rice, veggies and fruits, along with some natural fats from eggs and nuts. I avoid man-made sugar based products, sweets, alcohol and junk food in excess. I'm as healthy now as when I followed low carb, but I also have enough energy to train and perform (which was an issue for me low-carb).

X2 big time. This is what I realized after experimenting with all diets. Simple and natural. I'd add that I use butter, olive oil, salt and peeper with home cooking. Nothing else. And I drink water, coffee and tea only.

[Tyr0331]

I recently transformed my diet to a low carb, paleo diet. Giving up sugar was extremely hard. Been a rough few weeks, but so far I've lost about five pounds and lowered my blood pressure five points. I've always been somewhat lean, just turning 30 recently, I wanted to make a goal of the next decade to "eat like an adult." No more snacking on sugary sweets and/or processed foods.

Very interested to see how this works out for you. My experience with low carb:

- Good for weight loss
- Compatible with long-duration low intensity activity like LISS
- Incompatible with high intensity activity or training (like HIIT/MMA)

I think it's a good approach for lifestyle fitness, the elderly, or recreational trainers. Not sure how well it would play with performance oriented training.

Awesome job on the weightloss. I'm playing devil's advocate here; but could it be because you ended up lowering total calories by eliminating carbs?

Personally, I follow Ross Enamait's advice. Eat lean organic meats like chicken, salmon, beef, healthy carbs like potatoes, brown rice, veggies and fruits, along with some natural fats from eggs and nuts. I avoid man-made sugar based products, sweets, alcohol and junk food in excess. I'm as healthy now as when I followed low carb, but I also have enough energy to train and perform (which was an issue for me low-carb).

Please do keep us posted as to how it affects your training, strength and HIC in particular.

I guess the major changes I made were to cut out processed foods and sugar other than what's in fruit. I also cut out milk and dairy other than grassfed butter. I'm aware of the issues I might run into with the low carb so I plan on adjusting my carbs As needed but instead of using junk to fuel up I would like to eat more fruit vegetables and quinoa for my go to snacks when I need that energy. Mainly trying to avioid those big insulin spikes

[Tyr0331]

I recently transformed my diet to a low carb, paleo diet. Giving up sugar was extremely hard. Been a rough few weeks, but so far I've lost about five pounds and lowered my blood pressure five points. I've always been somewhat lean, just turning 30 recently, I wanted to make a goal of the next decade to "eat like an adult." No more snacking on sugary sweets and/or processed foods.

Very interested to see how this works out for you. My experience with low carb:

- Good for weight loss
- Compatible with long-duration low intensity activity like LISS
- Incompatible with high intensity activity or training (like HIIT/MMA)

I think it's a good approach for lifestyle fitness, the elderly, or recreational trainers. Not sure how well it would play with performance oriented training.

Awesome job on the weightloss. I'm playing devil's advocate here; but could it be because you ended up lowering total calories by eliminating carbs?

Personally, I follow Ross Enamait's advice. Eat lean organic meats like chicken, salmon, beef, healthy carbs like potatoes, brown rice, veggies and fruits, along with some natural fats from eggs and nuts. I avoid man-made sugar based products, sweets, alcohol and junk food in excess. I'm as healthy now as when I followed low carb, but I also have enough energy to train and perform (which was an issue for me low-carb).

Please do keep us posted as to how it affects your training, strength and HIC in particular.

To answer your question about the weight loss. Absolutely was due to i taking less calories. Cutting sugar out of my diet has been extremely tough and my body has given me flu like symptoms trying to adapt to higher fats with significantly less carbs so in turn, I probably cut my calories in half this past week. Starting to introduce more carbs in this week

[J-Madd]

Great thread folks!