Nutrition Follow Up Template: Fill & Download for Free

Fasting Intermittently is great, and I do some form of it most days. I rarely if ever have food in the morning, and often my first solid food is around 4–5pm.You can have bacon in the evening, too…There are many things that people get wrong about it, however!Thinking that fasting is magic and dispels the need to worry about calories. It doesn’t.Eating during the fasting period. Don’t laugh, I’ve seen it. “But I was eating less than before”…dude, you weren’t f*cking fasting! You were just eating less! That’s not fasting…Drinking caloric beverages during the fasting period. Just because it says “coffee” on the package doesn’t mean it’s sugar free. It usually isn’t.Putting sugar or milk or butter in your coffee during the fasting period. No. No, no, no. Especially that last one.Doing it for too long. If you are lean, you don’t want to fast for very long. The fatter you are (it’s not offensive, it’s descriptive!) the longer you can and should fast for.Not exercising. Weight training is still going to retain, maintain, and sustain your main muscles. Growth hormone goes up when fasting to help prevent muscle loss, but exercise is still needed.Eating too much later. I guess this isn’t technically “while” doing IF, but it’s part of the process and you need to be aware that it CAN make you eat too much later.Eating the wrong foods later. You’ve gotta fit more nutrition into a smaller window, and you’re eating gummy bears?Doing while stressed. IF is great, but it does take some adapting to, and this can add stress that can compound life issues. If you are stressed, breakfast might be a better idea than trying the latest fad.Thinking that fasting is going to solve all your woes. Yes, there is some evidence that it can treat SOME diseases, but it’s not like all viruses, bacteria and cancer cells just give up as soon as you don’t eat for a few hours.Keeping food nearby or in sight. You’re going to be hungry at some point, why make it harder than necessary?Not drinking enough water. You should be peeing with an annoying frequency.Talking about Intermittent Fasting too much. We get it. You don’t eat in the morning. Good. Great. Grand. I’m gonna go eat a breakfast burrito.Thinking you need to do it all the time. It’s a tool. That’s all. It’s a template that you apply to your diet. That doesn’t mean that you need to do it all the time. Feel free to use it however much as stays in line with your goals.Obsessing over a certain “time frame”. Sometimes I’ll do 12/12, sometimes 16/8, sometimes 20/4. If my wife surprises me with breakfast in bed on my birthday, I don’t slap the food out of her hand, it becomes an 8/16 day. If you don’t have that kind of flexibility, you aren’t controlling your diet. It’s controlling you.Follow me on Instagram or YouTube for diet and training tips! This is a huge mistake that you are probably making right now!

There is a belief out there that intelligence is passed along genetically. The argument of nature vs nurture.Even though good health and nutrition does contribute to this, but like many others I do not subscribe to this belief.This leaves the nurture aspect to analyze.No matter how bad the global perceptions of Quality of Living of Indians(those living in India) or Chinese (those living in China), they have got one thing right. They have historically taken care of their people. You do not get to a combined population of 3 billion people by not organizing well as a society through ages.Yes, in comparison to todays West, it may seem that the conditions are bad, but it takes a long time for wealth to trickle down to such a huge number of people. And by wealth I mean, income more than $10/day.With huge population also comes huge internal competition. An average Indian or Chinese goes through tremendous amount of anxiety between ages 16 to 24.Because they are trying to figure out whether they will have the required score to get into college, whether they will get to the good university which will eventually land them a job in the sexy multinational company, and once they are with the company whether they will get a job in the West.Once they are in the US they subconsciously keep pushing themselves because of the conditioning from the 8 years of anxiety/fear motivation.They get married (mostly arranged for Indians), have a baby(s) the following year and replace the anxiety/fear motivator of getting a job with I need to make more money for my kids to be able to live the higher life.Three key take aways from my long preface:Population matters. Since the Indians coming to the West have jumped so many hoops to reach the target, the West gets the cream the country can produce. If we were to go with a made up statistic that in every third world country, 2% of the population is inteligent and in the West its 5% or higher. India still wins thanks to the sheer number of people.Templates. Indian society is still setup arounds templates. School, Marriage, Reproduction, taking care of parents and other responsibilities. Role of the wife, role of the husband etc. If you have ever taught a class of 30 or more people or managed a team of 50 or more people; then you know the power of templates. There are pros and cons of following templates, but they do clear the way to focus on other activities.The anxiety/fear motivator plays a huge role. Will I be able to get the job? Will we have enough money to send our kids to private school etc.I am not encouraging that we embrace any of this in the West and start preaching it, but a hungry hunter hunts better.And that is why you see such a high number of successful and educated Indians in the West. That and the fact that an educated Indian is easy to spot in the West than within India.Hope this brings some perspective.A2A Request.

I've studied the styles, approaches, and philosophies of several experts throughout my life. Here's my distilled answer of years of research. These have worked for me in helping me achieve and maintain a physique that makes me feel content, secure, and confident.Overarching Strategic ThoughtsWhat works for you will not work for everyone else. Results vary from person to person.Following fads, quick fixes, and crash diets without understanding basic nutrition, biology, physiology, and chemistry will lead to long-term failure, discouragement, and resignation. Understanding and adopting principles will ensure long term success. Tactics and tools will always change, but principles are long lasting.The goal is not to become an expert, but to know enough to self-correct.Don't get caught up with clever marketing and labels - paleo, gluten free, atkins, etc. It's all marketing. Follow principles and science, not hype and marketing. I'm an advocate for paleo, but it's just a label. It's a template, a starting point for you to tinker and customize to fit your genetics and goals.The field of health and nutrition is still like the wild, wild west. It's like peeling one layer of the onion at a time. We're uncovering wisdom. One day they say coffee is bad, the next they say it's a lifesaver. Please be patient with science.Case in point: In 1799, George Washington had the world's best doctor tend to him when he awoke at 2am unable to breathe. Their number one recommendation? Bloodletting. By 10pm he was dead with 40% of his blood was gone. Doctors mean well, but often don't know well.There are not a lot of black and white rules in the health and nutrition world. Look for areas of agreement instead of discourse.General agreements include: eat lots of vegetables, avoid over processed human-manipulated foods, and don't drink and smoke. Almost everything else is in the grey area.Listen to the experts that encourage experimentation. Run like hell from the experts, including myself, that press upon you a one-size-fits-all solution.There is a study for every argument out there. If two people are arguing, each person can grab their phones and google a research that backs up their claim.You have to do your own due diligence, follow the right people, recognize patterns and trends, and come to your own conclusions. Embrace trial and error. A lot of error.Any claim can be backed up by some research. It doesn't matter who is wrong or right.Do you want to be right or do you want to be effective? Divorce hype from principles and you'll be more educated in making the right choices. Choose what is most effective and empowering.Example: many "experts" will argue that the paleo diet is ineffective, difficult, and grounded on baseless assumptions. Paleo promotes eating real foods that are minimally processed and nutrient dense.Learn how to distinguish between hype and science. Pay little attention to article headlines; they're optimized for clicks, not truth.Learn how to understand scientific research and distinguish between good and bad experiments. If you're lazy like me, just follow certain experts you trust and they'll break down theFollow the money trail for every product, study, and diet. Example: You should not trust a study funded by Coca Cola, fast foods, or pharmaceutical companies.Example (sort of): I worked alongside a national heart health organization. It became clear as crystal that when there were more news coverage on heart attacks, sales would increase for us. As a business owner, I saw a strong correlation between heart-related injuries and my profits. Make your own conclusions.I am not a doctor. Please consult with a doctor before trying anything listed below.DietProcessed foods are the enemy. They may look like food, smell like food, taste like food, but they're not food. They're more like edible products.Processed foods are optimized to make you overeat. They're loaded with sugar, salt, chemicals, and other questionable ingredients that you cannot pronounce. They are void of nutrients and are processed quickly by the body, leaving you always feeling hungry and craving for more. Cravings lead to addiction. Addiction leads you to buying more. Manufacturers win. You lose.The food industry optimizes their products for sales, not health. They do not have health on top of mind. That does not mean that they are inherently evil people. That's just how the system is setup. If you and I were in their positions, we'd have the exact same goals.Food manufacturers are not to be demonized, but our food and health system should be. If you and I were to switch places with food manufacturers, wouldn't we do the same and optimize foods for sales and profit?Avoid packaged, edible products with more than 5 ingredients. Use your own discretion per product. Avoid foods with ingredients your grandmother cannot pronounce or recognize.Follow this simple phrase: eat real food, not too much, and mostly plants.Don't count calories. We count calories, when we should be counting chemicals. Counting is very stressful, archaic, and doesn't work. Calorie in is not calorie out. You have to account for the 70+ hormones that impact your weight.The body is a very adaptive, complex organism and will regulate itself and respond to environmental inputs as it needs to. Sometimes that response is cancer, which is just another way the body protects itself. You won't be counting calories if/when you have cancer.If you do decide to measure calories, recognize that they're not created equal. 100 calories of gummy bears will not nourish you like 100 calories of grass fed steak. You have to take into account of nutrition density. Nutrient dense foods will keep you full and eating less for the long haul.Fat has been mistakenly demonized. Eat more high quality fats like grassfed butter, ghee, coconut oil, avocados, and some nuts. It's the cleanest source of fuel for your body and brain compared to protein and carbohydrates.You'll stay satiated for a much longer period of time when you consume more fats compared to carbs. You'll lose more weight and have more energy too.Sugar, along with processed foods, is the main driver of obesity. Avoid sugar as much as possible. This will be the key to you obtaining the body and health you want.You can survive 100% fine without consuming a molecule of sugar in your life. It's not necessary.Fructose in large amounts is not good for you. I forgot the science, so don't quote me here. Too much fructose will cause liver damage, obesity, and diabetes. The by product from too much fructose is triglycerides."Triglycerides can build up in liver cells and damage liver function. Triglycerides released into the bloodstream can contribute to the growth of fat-filled plaque inside artery walls".In the old days, fruits would grow towards the end of summer. Humans would feast on fruits to get some extra fat before the cold winters. Nowadays, we have access to fruits 24/7. I have not fact checked this scientific claim, but it makes sense to me.Ladies will definitely not like this. Long term consumption of fructose accelerates the development advance glycation end products. The acronym is - AGE. Guess what they do? They speed up the aging process and cause more wrinkles. Sorry, off topic, but avoid fructose because it'll make you obese and wrinkly.Go for the berries - strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries. They have the highest nutrition density with the lowest amount of fructose.Why do you think they're always so expensive compared to the cheap restaurant fruit salads of cantaloupe, melon, pineapple? The latter is chock full of crappy sugar with little nutrition. It's all about the berries!Dairy, gluten, and eggs are the most reactive foods out there. If you're unsure if they're reactive to you, then run experiments, track biofeedback markers (hunger, energy, cravings, sleep), and decide if you should continue consuming them.I love pastured my eggs. Milk is the devil. Gluten is the devil's shit. That's not to suggest that your body is completely tolerable of the above mentioned.Gluten can cause long term damage to your gut lining. You get something called leaky gut. Foreign particles can pass through your gut lining and enter your bloodstream.White blood cells will protect you, but are somewhat blind and can begin attacking non-foreign objects in your body, hence autoimmune disease (when the body attacks itself). (fact check what I just said here in case)No one ever complains about drinking too much water. Or eating too much vegetablesStick to organic if possible because the downsides would appear to outweigh the positives. Pesticides, like Roundup, cause the stomachs of insects to explode. They're supposedly safe for humans, but I personally would not want to consume something that makes stomachs explode.MovementExercise not entirely necessary, but movement, frequently and for long periods, is absolutely necessary. I still enjoy my crossfit workouts, but they're not necessary for the regular citizen.Sitting for long periods leads to obesity, inflammation, and lower life expectancy. Stand and move as much as possible.Sedentary is death. Movement is life.There is a difference between being grotesque and being fit.Body builders and athletes have different goals and metrics for success. Body builders aim for size, symmetry, tone, and other cosmetic metrics. They're not optimizing for performance.Athletes aim for power (= (force x distance) / time), speed, strength, and more performance-oriented metrics. There are exceptions to all generalizations.What does this mean? Define what success looks like to you and reverse engineer it. Determine your metrics of success, else you'll never get the results you want.Walking is the most natural movement to humans second to breathing, and blinking if you want to get more technical. Studies show that it trumps running in terms of burning fat because you're operating at the right level of cardiovascularThe most effective and best fat burning exercise is what you enjoy and will continue to do for long-term.Long distance running in moderation, like anything, is fine. Excessive long distance running is very dangerous, leads to inflammation, and can cause long-term injuries. There are always exceptions to any generalizations.Unfortunately, society has cornered women into a category of only aerobic and feminine activities that are sub-optimal for human performance.Although zumba, dancing, yoga, and running are good forms of exercise, lifting heavy weights is much more effective in helping women burn fat, develop lean muscles, increase energy, improve sleep quality, and promote bone health (lifting weights increases bone density for women and lowers chances of osteoporosis)This is one of my most favorite sites: CrossFit Chicks. Several reasons why women should lift.Is she fit or grotesque? You decide. More importantly, decide what success looks like to you.Chemicals206 Million Pounds of Toxic Chemicals Dumped Into U.S. Waterways in One Year, Study Finds There's a study for everything. What do you want to believe?BPA and other endocrine disruptors are chemicals that affect the body's endocrine system and causes developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune problems. They're found in plastics and household products.Women experience worse effects than men when it comes to being exposed to these chemicals. Hormonal disruptive chemicals will cause you problems such as disease and infertility. Lack of fertility is the biggest indicator of the fall of the human race. Don't go infertile.Whatever you put on your hair, skin, and nails should be safe enough to eat. Your skin is the largest organ on your body. The liver is the second. You wouldn't want to put random chemicals on your liver, right? Don't do it for your skin.This area isn't my specialty, but I err on the side of safety by getting rid of as many chemicals in my house as possible. They're unnecessary risks. For 95% of things in your house, there is a safer, cheaper, DIY product you can obtain. Search for "DIY toothpaste", "DIY cleaner", "DIY detergent", etc.Avoid using non-stick cookware. When they reach a high enough temperature, the fumes may potentially cause cancer and other issues, including obesity. Get a cast iron or stainless steel pan instead. 5 Artificial Chemicals That Are Making You Fat (Found in Your Home)Water is the ultimate and universal solvent. Whatever water comes into contact with, it will become one with water (Be water my friend). It won't happen immediately, but over time it will.Even the water in your glass cup is reacting with the glass, but it's not apparent. This is why you want to avoid plastic water bottles, steel cans, and other questionable containers. Glass and stainless steel are the least reactive and convenient materials around.What's in your detergent?SleepSleep is your Vitamin S. You need it daily.There is no award for getting less sleep than your coworkers.Lack of sleep wreaks havoc on your body. Your metabolism will slow down. Your hunger will increase. Your energy levels will fall. Your cravings will spike up. Inflammation will increase. Your fat loss decreases. You'll decision-making will be impaired and you'll succumb to temptations more easily, like donuts.Quality of sleep is much more important than quantity. Sleeping 10 hours after a night of drinking will not help you perform as well as 6.5 hours of a good night's rest.Make your room as dark as possible. Any ambient light will lower the quality of your sleep. Block out any LEDs or slivers of light from your windows.Leave your phones, televisions, and anything with a screen out of your bedroom.Blue light from your electronics will lessen the quality of your sleep by disrupting your melatonin production. Stop looking at your screens 2 hours before you go to bed.That's a tall order to fill. It's ideal and difficult to start with. Try shutting off your screens 30 minutes beforehand and go from there.Use technology to give you data on your sleep. This is something I use: Hello. It gives me data on my sleep quality, when I wake up, the ambient light, and the ambient sounds that occur during my sleep.There is no award for getting less sleep than you coworkers. Very important.MindsetWhen people give you advice, they're simply talking to their younger selves. Here's me talking to myself.All the above advice is meaningless unless you develop and master your inner game. If you don't are not happy with what you have now, then when you finally achieve that perfect body, you will continue to feel incomplete, not good enough, unfulfilled.There's a story of a super model who thought of herself as extremely gorgeous. However, she was too attached to her looks. As she grew older and her physical beauty fleeted, her happiness left with it as well. So caught up with appearance, she had forgotten about her beautiful experiences, relationships, and future ahead of her. She died alone and miserable.On the other side of the world, a woman also recognized that she was beautiful. However, she understood that all is impermanent, including herself. As she aged, she learned to let go of her appearance. She stopped trying to grip fiercely on to the past and how things used to be. She was able to live in the NOW, the present moment. By being present, she felt her wholesome spirit with all her wisdom and inner beauty. She focused on sharing her gifts with the world. She passed away peacefully.If you are too attached to your appearance, then your happiness will go with it. If you can be happy with nothing, then you can be happy with everything.Express gratitude as often as possible. Say gratitude when you wake up. Say gratitude when you sleep. Say gratitude that you have a job to go to on Monday. Say gratitude for the roof over your head, the kitchen filled with food, and the car that may or may not be running outside. It's impossible to be grateful and stressed out simultaneously.I'm extremely grateful I suffered from physical ailments early on. Had it not been for those misfortunes, I would not be here typing out pages upon pages of nuggest of wisdom.What are you grateful for right now?As you take your next breath, someone out there is having their last. Millions of people are dying to have the body you have.When someone judges you, it says more about them than you. As we grow up, our parents, friends, and the world tell us what is perfect and what is not. If someone told you when you were young that you're imperfect, that probably changed the way you view the world.From that point, you will judge others based on that newly adopted belief. It's all programming caused by others. It's unfortunate, but there's an upside.If it's all programming caused by others, then you have the power to reprogram yourself too. You can start by choosing reject those limiting beliefs. You can decide to adopt more empowering beliefs that make you feel good. Start by letting go of limiting beliefs and what people have said you should be likeHow you do anything is how you do everything. How you love yourself is how you love others. How you judge others is how you judge yourself.If you only love yourself under certain conditions (I'll love myself when I'm skinny. I'll love myself when I'm pretty. I'll love myself when...), then you subconsciously apply the same conditional love to your friends, your family, partners, and childrenOnly when you accept yourself and your imperfections can you begin to accept others and their imperfections. It starts with you.Forgive your parents, your family, your friends, the middle school kid who called you ugly, fat, and/or stupid. Self-acceptance begins with forgiveness.That kid didn't intend to hurt you. Someone had defined to her what perfect was and she tried to make you fit into that image. She didn't know any better. She didn't choose to take on that belief.Try not to make assumptions. Try not to take anything personally.When you forgive, you empower yourself. When you resent and act out of anger, you give away all of your power away. Resentment is like drinking poison hoping the other person will die.When you resent someone, she controls you and your thoughts. You acknowledge that the world has done you wrong and you cannot or will not do anything about it. You become a victim.You'll never win with a victim mentality. We can choose to be a victim or empower ourselves. We are always at choice. Always.Final ThoughtsOnce you've developed a good understanding of health and nutrition at a micro level, widen your scope of consciousness and consider health and nutrition at the macro level, which is the entire supply chain of where your products/foods come from and where they end up.Nutrition 2.0 is about consideration of the production side of food and sustainability.Where does your food come from? Where do your cleaning products come from? Are they environmental safe or toxic? Where do they end up?A product's story doesn't end when you throw it away in the garbage. Recognize that someone or something will take care of it. It may end up.Hope this was helpful. Best wishes to you and achieving the body you want. We're all working our way up Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. I know when your needs are taken care of, then the next level you'll want to achieve is betterment for your friends, family, community, and planet. That's when real fulfillment will be achieved. :)If you're interested in reading more similar advice, visit my site at www.evanvpham.com.Email me at [email protected] if you want to chat any further. Happy to geek out further. I can tell you what I personally do day to day and why.