Meal Building 101
Dan Wilcox
Director of Football Performance Nutrition BYU, ELITE FUELING, BYU Baseball & Women’s Volleyball nutrition, TEAM USA Softball Nutrition, UCLA Football Nutrition, Former PGA golf Professional.
With all the conflicting information in the world of nutrition it’s easy to get caught up in the hype and lose focus on one of the most important nutrition fundamentals. Creating meals is one of the most important nutrition skills you can learn and yet it remains the one area that people are most confused about. Some people find meal building to be complicated, while others are simply at a loss for ideas. Putting a meal together is simple and doesn’t need to be complicated. The choices are almost endless.
You don’t need bust out a calculator and worry about your macronutrients. In fact, if you use a simple template based meal creation system, you will keep your macronutrient profile in check. All you need to do is tweak your portions based off of your results and feel. As you progress and become a seasoned veteran you can play with the macronutrient and caloric values all you would like. If you’re into that…
This meal building template is easy and works like a charm even when you go out to eat. There are 3 parts to building a balanced meal:
Lean protein. Protein is a building block and must be your first choice.
Fibrous carbohydrates. Look for non-starchy veggies or whole fruit.
Starchy carbohydrates. Look for a complex carb first then a simple carb second.
These three foods are the foundation of an ELITE meal. This system is a simple 1-2-3 method. First, find yourself a lean protein. Second, find yourself a fibrous carbohydrate. Third, find a starchy carbohydrate. Simple right?!? All you need to do is keep your portions consistent and make sure your choices fall into this 1-2-3 system and you’re off and running. Go to the party, go out to eat be a human with taste buds and get results!
Wait little man, what about the science, the macronutrients and calories!?!
All of that may come when your body needs it, if it needs it. If you don’t have this simple fundamental dialed in and in-tune with your body and brain you will never maintain the results you may achieve playing the games.
Develop your fundamentals.
Discover your ELITE.
Dan