The monotonous diet

I promised never to use the word diet in this blog. I should have specified that what I meant was "diet" in the sense of a "time-limited change in eating habits aimed at rapidly losing weight".

Lentils rule

What I mean by "monotonous diet" is a permanent eating pattern whereby the number of different food items consumed is limited to a minimum covering all nutrition needs.
I have been following a monotonous diet, for the last 20 years. When I go to the supermarket, 99% of what I buy is exactly what I have been buying for ever. Here is the list:

1. no-fat, no-sugar quark or yogurts
2. reduced-fat cheese (gruyère or similar)
3. avocados
4. veggies: green salad, radish, tomatoes, Brussels sprout, spinach, broccoli...
5. sauerkraut
6. fruits: apples, oranges, bananas, berries and seasonal fruits in the summer  (peach, apricot...)
7. unprocessed frozen fish (salmon, tuna, herring...)
8. canned fish (sardine and mackerel)
9. unprocessed frozen turkey or chicken breast
10. eggs
11. unsweetened rye bread or high-fiber whole wheat/rye cracker bread (e.g. Wasa)
12. unsweetened muesli cereals (for god's sake, stay away from kids cereals)
13. oatmeal
14. wholewheat pasta
15. plain tomato sauce
16. soy milk (unsweetened)
17. beans (re-fried beans, black beans)
18. pulse (lentils, split peas)
19. nuts (raw almonds or walnuts in small portions)
20. olive oil (or less frequently walnut oil)
21. tea

That's it: about 20 items, all of which unprocessed or minimally processed.

Conspicuously absent from this list:

• sugar or anything made with refined sugar
• salt (I get enough from the bread I eat daily)
• red meat (beef and pork)
• coffee (I am not an anti-coffee crusader though, coffee is simply not good for me)
• any kind of alcohol (except on special occasions a few times a year, and then only good red wine)
• Bottled water (this one has to be the most extraordinary marketing scam of all times, unless you live in Flint). I only drink tap water that I carbonate with a sodastream appliance.

Some may be surprised to find frozen food and cans in the list. Let it be known once and for all that frozen food is more often than not of equal or even higher quality than its "fresh equivalent". Similarly, canned food (especially fish) can be extremely valuable if consumed in reasonable quantities.
In addition to being healthy, this shopping list will save you thousands of dollars (none of these items are expensive, except maybe avocados) and countless hours at the supermarket each year.
I make no claim that this constitutes a perfect diet for everybody (especially if you are not physically active). But it is close enough to serve as a basis for your own shortlist of food items.

The monotonous diet I have been adhering for over 20 years is the main reason why I have not put on any weight since my early 20's. The second reason, which is actually closely related to it, is that I rarely eat out.

Experiments conducted on animals have clearly demonstrated that rats given a variegated diet systematically put on weight whereas their monotonously fed brethren stay lean. The simple reason is that variety sustains appetite, be it in rats or humans. One understandably gets bored of eating the same thing all the time, which largely contributes to curbing any tendency to overeat. 

Of course I can hear you sigh that this monotonous diet, like anything monotonous for that matter, is no fun. Then again, the purpose of this blog is not to sugarcoat the reality of staying fit for life.
There are other ways of controlling one's food intake, such as eating a more variegated diet but scrupulously keeping tabs on the quantity and calorie content of each food item consumed on a daily basis (think weight watchers' cards). Honestly, that option is a lot of work if you want to be rigorous.
That is why I found the monotonous diet to be both the most convenient and most reliable way of achieving my fitness goal. As far as I am concerned, this is well worth the small pleasure trade-off.

How much protein should you take per day?

One of the most frequent questions I am asked about nutrition and sport is the optimal protein intake per day. This is a relevant question because, without enough protein, it is impossible to maintain, let alone increase your muscle mass.

Many figures are bandied about, some of which are grossly exaggerated. And as far as proteins are concerned more is not always better. Proteins are not a miracle ingredient that can only be used by the body for building muscle. If you eat too much protein, be it through food or supplements, you will put on fat instead of extra muscles (remember that every gram of protein contains 4 calories, which is the same as sugar).

Weekly periodization rules for resistance training

Most of you already know that after the first few months of practice, anybody who is serious about resistance training should work on different muscle groups on each session instead of working out the whole body every time.

What is less well-known is that there are additional rules for combining muscle group workouts between 2 successive sessions.



MATURE ATHLETES NEED LONGER RECOVERY TIME
These rules are especially important for mature athletes because it takes significantly more time for their muscles to recuperate from a given workout than young athletes' (keep in mind that the very principle of resistance training involves tearing up muscle fibers).