Can I eat the same foods at every meal?

Yes, but this is a highly flexible plan, and there’s no need to do so. While this can make meal prep easier, adding different veggies, spices and herbs for each week can go a long way towards infusing your diet with variety, which plays a key role in ensuring that you consume ample vitamins and minerals to support your health.

As such, we strongly encourage you to rotate in at least a few staples for each major nutrient.

EXAMPLE:

Nutrient	Week 1	Week 2
Lean Protein	Chicken, ground turkey	Pork tenderloin, salmon
Healthy Carbs	Brown rice, whole wheat pasta	Sweet potato, quinoa
Healthy Fats	Avocados, almonds	Peanut butter, olive oil

How often can I have a “cheat meal”?

The more often you have what we like to refer to as a “free” or “cheat” meal, the slower your progress will be. Moreover, because they “give us a taste” of the foods we’ve been craving / missing, free meals can cause rebound hunger pangs, which you worked hard to get over when you first started your diet. So, we recommend as few of these as possible during a fat loss phase. During muscle gain, free meals are A-OK, but only if you finish your programmed food first!

Can I still eat out while on this plan?

Absolutely, although if your goal is fat loss, then it’s recommended to keep dining out to a minimum for the time being. Key tips to stay on track include:

Look at the menu online ahead of time and narrow down a few options.
Match your meal plan recommendations with your ordering options.
Only drink water or a no-calorie beverage.
Skip out on appetizers.
Focus on eating protein and veggies first, as this will help to keep you full, and prevent overindulging on carbs and fats.

If your plan calls for protein, veggies, and healthy fats, do your best to keep healthy carbs to a minimum.

Find more information here.

How can I stay on track during a vacation?

A strategy we have found to work well is condensing 6 meals into 4 larger ones, to help keep you feeling full. You can just re-program your app diet for this purpose when needed by selecting different meal amounts than you currently have. Some prefer to do protein and a lot of veggies (think large salad) for 3/4 meals, and then have some healthy carbs/fat at the other meal. Also, staying hydrated helps with satiety, bigtime.

If you usually have 25g of protein per meal, you will increase to 35-40g per meal. If you have access/desire to train, great: continue to include the workout shake. If not, continue to do your best to be active during the day.

These recommendations notwithstanding, our best advice on this matter is to time your fat loss diet such that you’re NOT on vacation when on it. Now, once you’ve completed your fat loss diet, go on vacation and enjoy your new physique!

I am traveling this week/weekend. How do I stick to my plan?

You can absolutely still work toward your goals while traveling. Do your best to utilize the hotel fridge/microwave (call ahead to inquire if present) as well as the continental breakfast to grab specific items such as fruit, oats, bagels, and peanut butter, if offered.

Convenient travel snacks include: whey/casein protein, Quest protein bars, Quest protein chips, beef jerky, lean deli meat, low-fat Greek yogurt, oats, fruit, nuts, seeds, nut butters.

What if I get sick (ill)?

For diet purposes, there are two basic kinds of sick: peripheral and systemic. Being peripherally sick means that you might have a runny nose or sore throat or a slight cough, but you don’t have much or any fatigue, no fever, and generally feel ok other than the “cold-like” symptoms. If you’re peripherally sick, please feel free to keep doing the diet as instructed. If you’re systemically sick, it means that you’re not just having local symptoms (like a runny nose), but whole-body symptoms as well, such as fever, chills, joint pain or body pain, notable fatigue, and other such maladies. If that’s the case, we highly recommend ending any muscle gain or fat loss diet and switching to maintenance. Once you’re 100% better (and also taking it easy in the gym during maintenance will help this a lot), you can start another fat loss or muscle gain diet and type in the number of weeks or weight you had left to lose before you got sick. Even if you are only peripherally sick but just not feeling your best, switching to maintenance for week or so can often be a better choice than just grinding through a muscle gain, and especially, a fat loss diet, so please consider that.

Do I need to count condiments that I add to meals?

That depends:

Additions such as mustard, soy sauce, and vinegar do NOT need to be counted because they have zero or minimal calories.
If using a low calorie / low carb dressing or condiment, you do NOT need to count it if one serving contains less than 5 grams of carbs. However, if you use MORE than one serving, or it has 5 or more grams per serving, you need to count it. Same goes for fatty dressings. More than 5g fats, and you must count the fats.

Can I use herbs and spices?

Absolutely. There is no limit or restriction on these, as herbs and spices contain zero calories.

Is there a sodium restriction on this plan?

No. Unless you’ve been specifically told by a physician that you need to reduce sodium intake due to high blood pressure or another specific medical condition, there’s NO reason or need to limit your sodium.

Your body loses a lot of sodium via sweat, especially if you live in a warm climate. It’s important to replenish sodium to support rehydration and for proper execution of essential functions within the body. A healthy individual is able to efficiently purge all of the sodium s/he consumes.

I noticed my weight is +/- a few pounds different than yesterday, despite following the plan 100%. What’s going on?

Many variables impact your morning weigh-in: the previous day’s food/fluid/sodium intake, stress levels, sleep schedule, and for ladies, menstrual cycle. Keep in mind that the numbers on the scale are only one piece of the progress puzzle. Do NOT get hung up on the results of one weigh-in, as it is common to fluctuate a few pounds on any given day. This is why we recommend tracking your morning weight multiple days per week.

What’s more important, at least in regards to the scale, is to see a trend over time that corresponds with your fat loss or muscle gain goal. Additionally, energy levels, gym performance, body composition, confidence, a better understanding of nutrition, and a general sense of wellbeing are major progress gauges too!

Before you start using it to measuring your diet progress, make sure that your scale is reliable and accurate!

A simple way to calibrate your scale is by weighing an object with a known weight to check that the scale is reporting it as such.

What’s the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance?

A food allergy is characterized by an immune system response that results in antibodies attacking your own cells. Often, this is a very serious medical issue that usually means you can’t ever eat the food you’re allergic to. A food intolerance is generally met with minor side effects, most notably gastric distress like bloating or diarrhea, and can be managed by either avoiding the specific foods that cause such symptoms entirely, or, more often, by simply reducing the amounts of these foods eaten.

Do I need to be on a gluten-free diet?

Most likely, no. A gluten-free diet is required for those diagnosed with Celiac Disease. People with Celiac disease have an autoimmune disorder that causes a severe allergic reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. Side effects include severe gastric distress, bloating, headaches, and diarrhea. The reason it’s unlikely that you need to be on a gluten-free diet is because it’s estimated that only 1 – 1.5% of the population has Celiac disease, so odds that you’re one of them are statistically low. The reason so many people report “feeling good” when going gluten-free is because they eliminate a lot of the junk and processed foods they were eating before they started this diet.

A small percentage of people have a gluten intolerance, meaning they may experience minor aforementioned symptoms when they consume too much gluten. If you suspect gluten intolerance, an allergy specialist is best to confirm its presence and severity.

Should I be eating only organic and non-GMO foods?

There is no nutritional difference between organic/non-GMO and non-organic/GMO produce, meats, milk, eggs, or any other foods. Choosing to eat organic/non-GMO is an individual choice based solely on your belief system.

I heard I should avoid tuna because it has mercury. Is this true?

Mercury may be found in tuna in miniscule amounts. If you eat tuna in moderation, your risk for mercury poisoning is very small. Moderation is key. However, if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, or thinking about becoming pregnant, you should aim to have no more than two servings of (any) fish per week.

I’ve noticed frequent headaches since starting this plan. Why may this be happening?

It’s common to skimp out on hydration habits when starting a new diet plan because you invest all of your time and energy into nailing the food portion.

Dehydration is a major cause of headaches during the day. Your brain itself is mostly water, so a lack of water leads to irritability, decreased cognitive function, inability to focus, and ultimately a nasty headache. To help reduce headaches, reassess your hydration habits moving forward.

Sometimes the headaches are from eating less total carbs - or just less total food - than compared to before you started the plan. These almost always go away within several days to several weeks of starting the plan.