Choosing the right kind of diet could get extremely confusing, given the number of options available. Fitness enthusiasts often struggle and end up switching from one plan to another with no guaranteed results and unfulfilled goals. That’s why exercise scientist Dr. Mike Israetel devised the ‘Simplest Diet Plan’ to ensure people are up to date on their basics.
The advantage of being on a simple diet is not only does it eliminate any confusion about various ingredients and gives a consolidated view of nutrients to intake, but it also is quite easy to follow. Taking into account regularly available foods, Dr. Israetel divided them into four broad categories:
- Lean Protein
- Vegetables
- Fruits and grains
- Healthy fats
He listed these in order of priority, meaning that lean protein held utmost importance quickly followed by veggies, fruits, grains, and fats. The bottom line of this segregation was to include all of these elements in any form of food in the appropriate amounts. To ease consumption and prepare these foods at home, Dr. Israetel even gave some tips to save time.
“Batch cooking a bunch of food at the same time or even take out! Going to Chipotle and asking for…some cuts of chicken and some rice…? No problem! The flexibility…is immense because perfectionism is down to almost zero.”
Apart from this, he also talks about portion control and how, unless the goal is to become a bodybuilder, one doesn’t have to strictly measure their calories. Fists and fingers were plenty of tools to dish out portions of foods that were also helpful in determining appropriate amounts of calories according to one’s body.
The idea is to keep one’s diet flexible enough to go with a nutritious, fulfilling option for the most part and occasionally wind down with a relaxed set of options. It was also important to distribute all this into four meals throughout the day, spaced out consistently.
“That being said…meal number and timing together is a very small part of the effect for the diet. It matters, but it matters very little.”
Lastly, he wrapped up the segment by talking about how supplements didn’t necessarily need inclusion unless one was planning on going on a serious aesthetic-heavy journey.
Hydration also didn’t have to be very stringent as long as one consumed enough quantities of non-caloric fluids, including coffee, tea, diet sodas, etc. Dr. Israetel often had hot takes like this to dish out and debunk misinformation, especially surrounding diet and nutrition.
Dr. Mike Israetel once talked about the benefits of consuming egg yolks for fitness
It’s a common practice to separate the yolks from the whites when the goal is to get fit due to the fear of the presence of fats in the yellows. Bodybuilders, especially, are known to follow this practice religiously to amp up their protein consumption.
Dr. Israetel debunked this, promoting the consumption of yolks and claiming that they were actually beneficial for fitness. They contain carotenoids and Omega-3 fatty acids that aid several body functions. Moreover, the catch in the entire situation was how the yellows contained a significant amount of protein compared to the whites, which beat the purpose of separating them.
