Intelligent eating is the cornerstone for all goal reaching success.

A lot of you having been asking me for this — so here it is! These are the foods that I consumed today, with some thought to nutrients.

Example Eating Plan:

9 AM: Carbo/Protein Break feast

Hot oatmeal. Add one tablespoon of coconut oil and one tablespoon of almond butter for flavor, energy, and healthy cardiovascular system. Additionally, a scoop of pure Whey Protein powder to ensure positive protein balance in the muscles.

Result: A slow digesting meal that fills you up, provides loads of energy, and promotes a healthy overall system. The oatmeal will slowly refill your muscle glycogen stores, which is especially important for athletes when they need energy.

Supplement addition: Vitamin D — all athletes need it.

11:45 AM: Pre-workout Drink

Carbohydrate/Protein drink.

Ratio of simple carbs to protein is 2:1 — may also add extra creatine and branched chain amino acids.

Result: A quick digesting energy drink that boosts insulin in order to shuttle protein directly into the muscle tissues. Moreover, simple carbohydrates are vital for optimal blood glucose levels during weight training and athletics. If you don’t have enough blood glucose and you’ve run out of muscle glycogen, then your performance will suffer and you may have to end the workout early.

1 PM: Post-workout Drink

Carbohydrate/Protein drink.

Consume the same thing as your pre-workout. Except instead of giving you energy, the purpose of this drink is to aid in muscle recovery. Following the stress from the workout, your body is ready to uptake simple carbs in order to refill muscle glycogen at an accelerated rate. In other words, the simple carbs go straight into your muscle and NOT onto your belly. Thats GREAT news — but this is only the brief period following intense exercise. Timing is everything here.

Result: Increased recovery, reduced soreness, higher anabolic lean muscle development. Remember that simple carbs act as a transporter to get the protein (amino acids) into the muscle at a faster rate  — so a 2:1 ratio of carbs/protein seems to be ideal.

2 PM: BIG Lunch

Lentils with raw saurkraut, vegetables, and salmon burger. (Large serving sizes since it is first solid meal after workout)

After I get home from the workout, I put the lentils on the stove and let them cook for 30 minutes or so. I’ll steam the vegetables as well, or microwave them if I’m pressed for time. Once the lentils are finished and cooled to tolerable temperature, I’ll add the raw sauerkraut (because high heat kills enzymes) and maybe some Braggs Aminos for flavor.

Result: Lentils are a wonderful source of slow digesting carbs that will continue to refill your muscle glycogen stores, but without adding any body fat. We want to keep the glycemic index of our foods relatively low for the rest of the day in order to minimize potentially adding body fat. Since lentils are high in L-Tryptophan, a precurser to Serotonin, I usually feel very balanced after this meal.

The salmon burger adds Omega-3 essential fatty acids along with a great source of protein. Of course, the vegetables contribute vital antioxidants that are even MORE important for athletes. And the raw sauerkraut contains enzymes to decrease the load on your pancreas and help digest food — not to mention the billions of probiotics.

5 PM: Fruit Snack

Apple, a Pear, and Branched Chain Amino Acids supplement to stay in anabolic mode.

Result: Do I really need to tell you why fruits are good? I typically eat fruits in between meals because I don’t like mixing fruits with proteins. Fruits provide essential nutrients and are vital to the immune system. Your performance in the gym (strength and force output) is very closely related to your immune system. In other words, to perform, you need to be healthy…and fruits help you do that.

7 PM: Dinner

Beef and vegetables

Actually, I was at a catered training at the Super Supplements headquarters, and they typically offer delicious meals. The beef was moist and tender — thank you Naturade for providing that.

Result: Continue protein synthesis and a delicious meal.

9 PM: Healthy Fat Snack

Walnuts, Almonds and Cod Liver Oil

I like to get my fats in at night time, away from carbs. The nuts contain healthy fats and some protein, while the Cod Liver Oil contains essential Omega-3 fatty acids to keep me smart and sexy.

11 PM: Night time Snack

Raw Kefir

The goal of a late night snack is to provide your body with protein and nutrients to use through out the night. My preferred night time snack is Kefir, which contains slow digesting protein and billions upon billions of probiotics. Moreover, Kefir contains plenty of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and enzymes which all contribute to recovery and make me feel wonderful in the morning.

These foods are just an example.

With thousands of different healthy foods out there, the key is variety and nutrition. We can modify the times of day we eat certain foods, and realize that certain combinations of foods work better together than others.

The overall goal of nutritious eating is:

• Healthy, functioning immune system
• Antioxidants to protect cells from damage
• Protein (amino acids) for maintenance and building lean muscle
• Carbohydrates for energy — refill muscle glycogen stores depleted from workout, and have steady stream of slow burning carbs to use as blood glucose energy.
• Optimal cholesterol and blood pressure — often by consuming those healthy fats, but foods like lentils help too.

As a result of this healthy eating, you allow your body to thrive and to grow into an unstoppable resilient force of nature. If you follow my advice and become incredibly sexy as a result, don’t blame me for the attention from opposite sex — I warned you.