Evolving Diet and Sample Day

I have made it no secret on my blog that I prefer a diet rich in fat. As an athlete who has done a fair amount of "guinea pigging" myself, I have found that I feel better when my diet is comprised of at least 50 percent fats. I have known for over a year now that I prefer this method of nutrition, but what I have been experimenting with lately is what types of fats do the best job.

I like to think of my high fat diet as continually evolving as I put into practice new things. A while back, I posted a snapshot of what I ate one day. After an interview with Ben Greenfield (will be posted later on the Ben Greenfield Fitness website), I would like to do that again, but with a few tweaks I have been trying.

First, when eating nuts (almonds, say) I now look for raw almonds. Second, when buying meat, I take a trip to the farmer's market. I have found that things like liver are actually cheaper at the farmer's market. I pay a bit more for grass-fed beef, but I feel the tradeoff is worth it. I am more concerned with the fact I am putting money into the pocket of a hard working farmer, who takes pride in the quality of his or her product, rather than a big company who values dollars over consumer health. Third, I have been trying to reduce the amount of dairy I consume on a daily basis. When I do eat dairy, I try to find a raw version (something that has not been pasteurized or homogenized). If I can get it for a reasonable price, I like to get goat milk products. I was listening to a podcast a while back, and an argument was made that goat milk products are better received by the human digestive system, because the size of an adult goat mother is close to that of a human, the theory being that the milk she produces is designed for a human-sized creature (baby goats weigh about the same as human infants).

Below is a sample day of exercise and food consumption that I recorded. Like last time, keep in mind this is a one-day snapshot, and in no way are these the only foods I will or do eat. I have a large group of foods I eat routinely, and these are the ones that got picked on this particular day.

Thanks for reading!

Sample High-Volume Day

Workouts

• AM: 15 miles
  • 3 mile warm-up
  • 5x 1 mile repeats (5:30/mi) with 1 mile recovery jog between
  • 3 mile cool-down
• PM: 7 miles easy, 30 minute stretch/circuit routine

Food

AM Pre-Workout

• Coffee w/ Tbsp butter, Tbsp coconut oil, tsp raw honey
• Vespa concentrate

Breakfast

• ½ avocado
• 1 sweet potato
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup wild-caught salmon
• 1 medium carrot
• Small bowl of spinach
• Unrefined sea salt (liberal amount)
• 1 oz sharp cheddar (preferably raw)
• 4 Extreme Endurance, 1 Extreme Omega, 1 Extreme Joint, 3 Extreme Immune, Extreme Gut (probiotic), 1 NOW K2+D3, 1 NOW CoQ10, 1 NOW Magnesium, 1 NOW kelp, 1 NOW blue green algae

Lunch

• ¼ cup flax seeds
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 oz sausage
• 1 oz sharp cheddar (preferably raw)

PM Pre-Workout

• ½ cup raw almonds
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Unrefined sea salt (liberal amount)

Dinner

• ¼ cantaloupe w/ cinnamon
• 4 oz fresh calf liver
• 6 slices bacon
• 2 cups cabbage
• 3 Tbsp sour cream
• Turmeric (liberal amount)
• Oregano
• Unrefined sea salt (liberal amount)
• 1 avocado
• 1 Tbsp butter
• Herbal tea with coconut milk, ½ Tbsp honey
• 4 Extreme Endurance, 1 Extreme Omega, 1 Extreme Joint, 3 Extreme Immune, Extreme Gut (probiotic), 1 NOW K2+D3, 1 NOW CoQ10, 3 NOW Magnesium, 1 NOW kelp, 1 NOW blue green algae