The perfect diet*

Easy, energizing, and healthy.

I am not a nutritionist.

However, I’ve tried in the past years to fine tune my food intake and I’ve gone through many different iterations of my daily food plan.

I have four main goals:

• Feel good: I think that food plays a crucial role in our general well being, thus by being careful about what we eat we can feel better.
• Gain muscular weight: nothing too extreme, but I workout and I am careful about assuming the needed amount of protein each day.
• Feel energized: One key aspect of my food plan is to eat something that doesn’t make me feel tired; I also tend to limit my caffeine intake and I never drink energy drinks, thus it is crucial to do the best on the eating side.
• Meal prep has to be quick: I don’t particularly enjoy spending too much time every day on meal preparation; furthermore the easier your diet is, the easier it will be to follow.

I also need to point out that my daily caloric intake has to be around 2500 to 3000 kcal; however I generally tend to listen to my feelings: if I don’t fell hungry I won’t overeat just to meet my daily caloric intake goal.

So here is a breakdown of my diet:

Breakfast — 7 AM

I used to eat something sweet for breakfast, but I’ve realized that I don’t necessarily enjoy that and sometimes it even made me feel sick. Thus I usually eat 3 eggs, some bread, and two freshly squeezed oranges. I don’t need too many calories in my breakfast as I am going to snack throughout the morning. This breakfast also takes about 10 minutes to prepare, so, even if you’re in a rush, you can manage to do it.

Snack — 10:30 AM

For my snack I’ll usually have 40g of Parmesan cheese and 50g of almonds.

This gives me some more fats (in addition to the ones in the eggs) to consume and provides me with lots of calories without making me tired. This meal requires virtually no time to be ready and can also be taken with you if you’re on the go. If you don’t need as many calories as me cut definetely cut down on the almonds.

Sometimes I’ll mix it up and eat something sweet, especially if I plan to run later on the day, but I mostly try to avoid it.

Lunch — 1:30 PM

Lunch is a crucial meal, as we need to assume enough calories to get us through the afternoon but most of us don’t have the option of a two hour siesta before getting back to work.

I’ll usually eat raw ham, mozzarella, ricotta, or meat. I also eat around 8 breadsticks or fresh bread. As for the quantities you will mostly need to find out for yourself as our response to food can differ largely, however what works for me is 100 to 200g of the proteinic food of the day.

Snack — 4:30 PM

This is the sweet moment. I will have a sweet food of my choice, but I will not overeat. It is precisely this self-imposed scarcity that makes me appreciate the sugar I’m eating.

Dinner — 7:30 PM

As any respectable Italian would do, in the evening I eat around 100g of pasta. Make sure you’re buying high quality pasta as it truly makes an enormous difference. This is really an open meal, as you can create so many dishes based on pasta, by adding vegetables or a wide range of toppings.

Fruit and vegetables

As some of you may have noticed I pretty much haven’t mentioned fruit or vegetables in my diet. That is because I eat them when I am feeling hungry or when I need something refreshing. I try, however, to consume around 5 portions of vegetables or fruit during a typical day.

Conclusions

This is not something that will last forever, and I am fully aware. I think that feeling good and healthy is a continuous journey of self-knowledge, that if we learn to observe our inner feelings we can do a very good work of self-improvement.

I also believe no one should follow this plan to the letter. This is just a starting point to be fully customized to your preferences.

Thank you for your time.

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Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash.