Meglio's Kitchen

I hope everyone’s having a great week! Sorry I have not posted in a few days. I have been crazy busy training and practicing. Before I get into what is in my kitchen, I would like to thank all the Moore Catholic baseball players that came to the Underground Strength Gym tonight. They killed it!

If you have not read my post on How to Get Ripped, make sure you do so before you read this one. Even if you are trying pack on serious muscle, I still recommend you follow the 8 rules of nutrition I included in that article. Now without any further ado, here is a snapshot into my kitchen, my dorm room.

Fruits- I eat 2-3 servings a day. Favorite times to eat fruit is first thing in the morning, 1 hour post workout and whenever I am on the go or miss a meal with veggies
-Bananas
-Apples
-Pineapples

Vegetables- I try to eat 2-3 cups with every meal. One of my favorite things to do is throw 2-3 cups in the wok and mix it with hot sauce or throw it all in a salad with chicken.
-Broccoli
-Baby Carrots
-Lettuce
-Sweet Potato
-Peppers
-Cucumbers
-Cauliflower
-Mushrooms
-Tomatoes

Meat- I can’t help but eat meat, probably more than I should.
-Thin sliced chicken breast
-90% or 96% ground beef
-Turkey Sausage
-Turkey Bacon
- Lean steak

Condiments and Sauces
-Hot Sauce-I am addicted to hot sauce. I will mix it with veggies, chicken, meat, eggs, rice or about anything you can name
-Cinnamon-I throw cinnamon in my tea, oatmeal, protein shakes and on top of sweet potatoes. Cinnamon is great for jacking up your insulin sensitivity.
- Organic Extra virgin olive oil- I use this on may salad and on my low carb days
-Apple cider vinager- See above
-Red wine vinager- See above
-Mrs. Dash seasonings-Great for seasoning meat, chicken and veggies.

Nuts- I use nuts on my low carb days. P+F meals.(protein + fat meals)
-Raw Almonds
-Sliced Almonds
-Pistachios
-Organic peanut butter (chunky and smooth)

Carbs-P+C meals (protein + carb meals)
-Oatmeal
-Organic rice cakes
- Brown rice
-organic whole wheat pasta

Beverages
-Water
-Occasion tea, coffee and crystallite
-Almond milk

Foods to avoid
-All soda
-Packaged and processed foods
-junk foods

While this is not an all inclusive list, these foods make up the majority of my diet. A lot of the food is influenced by my college cafeteria. Whatever they don’t supply, I make sure I have it in my dorm room at all times. Also, for those wondering how many times a day I eat, I usually eat 6-8 times a day. If I am not eating in the cafeteria, I bring food back to my room or cook on the George Forman. You have to make do with what you have. No excuses! I hate when other college students use the excuse that their cafeteria has no “healthy food”. I will also share with you a few tips when it comes to food shopping and eating “healthy”.

Additional Notes

- Never have any foods in your kitchen that will temp you.
-Eat less at restaurants, business meetings and other social gatherings. These arrangements usually have horrible food choices and thus you should try to prepare as many meals at home as possible.
-Remember you want to eat like a CAVEMAN. Keep packaged foods to a minimum. If these foods are healthy, why do you need to be convinced that they are healthy? Do what your mamma told you and eat your fruits and veggies!
-Always keep your kitchen stocked up. If you start to run low, you will be tempted to change your good habits. Don’t let this be an issue. Shop in bulk if necessary. Wholesale stores like Costco or Sam’s Club are great options.
-Cook P+C meals or P+F but never F+C. Fat +carb meals are a recipe for disaster.
-Don’t say “I can’t do this”. Don’t make excuses! Take action and take control of your nutrition.
-Consistency, dedication, and motivation will lead to good eating habits and a lifestyle change.

Lift Strong,

So You Want to be Ripped?

8 Principles for Getting the Body YOU Want

The following guidelines are simple guidelines to follow, however for some reason most people fail to follow these rules and thus wonder why they cannot lose body fat. There is no magic bullet or supplement when it comes to loosing body fat but instead like most things in life it takes dedication and consistency. Now without any further ado:

1. Eat every 2-3 hours. This means you should be eating AT LEAST 5 meals a day and up to 8 meals. I do not want to hear you do not have time, because we both now that’s bullshit. Prepare your meals ahead of time! Plan meals for the times you know you will be on the go or at work.

2. Eat like a caveman. Avoid all processed and refined food, hence any food that comes out of a box or wrapper. If you need to be convinced by a commercial or an advertisement that a specific type of food is healthy, you must avoid it! Do you hear the media try and convince you that water, fruits and vegetables are healthy? No, this is because it is common knowledge and most people are looking for easier solutions than eating their greens. So what type of food would a caveman eat? Lean meat, eggs, nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables. The list does not end here however it is a start!

3. Eat, lean protein, fruits and/or vegetables with each meal. Any meal that does not contain lean protein, vegetables and or fruit should be considered a cheat meal. Don’t cheat yourself!

4. Cycle your carbohydrates. First let me say if you need to lose 20 or more pounds diet down first before you cycle your carbs. Carb cycling is an excellent approach for anyone who is already pretty lean (10-12%BF) and is looking to lose those last 10 pounds that are covering their abs. In a nutshell, carb cycling divides each day of the week into either a low, medium or high carb day. Your activity level for each day will determine how many carbs you will take in. For more in dept information please check out this article from T Nation.

5. Drink only water. Cut out all soda, Gatorade, and any beverage with calories in it. Once you do this try to cut out all diet soda. Get use to drinking water!

6. Eat whole foods. Avoid consuming a ton of protein bars and shakes. There is a time and place for shakes (see below), but whole foods are the way to go.

7. Be sure to eat a big breakfast and consume a during and post workout shake. I mention breakfast, during workout/post workout shake, in the same rule because these are the times of day where our bodies can actually handle carbs. Upon waking, our muscles are desperate to take in large amounts of calories and are less likely to store carbs as fat. Furthermore having a big breakfast will speed up our metabolism for the rest of the day. The same goes for during and post workout. During this time our glycogen stores are shot and we need quick digesting carbs and protein to refuel and build muscle. For Post workout the best carbs include a combination of Dextrose and Maltodextrin or Waximaize. Personally I use Advocare Post Workout Recovery for during and post workout.).

8. Avoid mixing foods high in fat and carbs. The only time fat and carbs should be mixed is when the carbs are coming from fruits or vegetables. AVOID mixing starchy carbs with saturated fats at all times!

There is your list of 8 rules to follow. Until you follow all 8 rules there is no need to use a “fat burner” or to try and other magic diet. In reality, most people know how to lose body fat however they believe there is some sort of unknown secret. While I said these rules are simple to follow, simple does not mean easy. It takes a lot of dedication and consistency to reach your goals.

Joe Meglio

Performance Enhancement Coach
www.MeglioFitness.com
www.MeglioNutrition.com
Joe@MeglioFitness.com