As you all know I’m all about simplicity. This is especially true about diet planning.
I think this is an area where people over-complicate and it brings out the OCD in almost everyone. People OBSESS about the minutia on diet even more so than training and I hate to see that. It’s stress in your life, where you don’t need it.
So stop counting out your blueberries!!!
One thing I like to do for my clients is give out a menu of “pre-assembled” meals that they can choose from at any time that fit their rough protein and carb needs.
One of my “menus” consists of what I call “50/50” meals. 50/50 meals are great for your “average guy”. They’re approximately 50 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbs each. 4 of these meals per day is 200g of protein and 200g of carbs. So for you average 200 lb guy looking to build some fat free muscle this is a decent starting point.
If he needs more or less carbs for more growth or more fat loss it’s quite easy to scale the carbohydrate sources up or down. Simply doubling up on the carb source on one meal will now put you at 200g protein / 250g carbs. If you need to trim down a bit, then cut all your carb sources in half. Now we’re at 200g protein / 100g carbs.
This is a very very simple way to program diet and adjust as needed. Going in 25-50 gram increments is fine for most of us. If your diet says you need exactly 234 g of protein and 337 grams of carbs you are gonna drive yourself nuts trying to be overly precise with your counting, weighing and measuring.
I got news for you. It’s all estimates anyways.
What our body needs day to day? An estimate
How many grams of carbs are in that potato? An estimate
How many calories we burned in our workout? An estimate
How many grams of protein are in that scoop of whey? An estimate. (You really thing every scoop is EXACTLY 22g?)
So don’t worry about being so exact with everything that you make yourself (and everyone around you) insane. Relax and know that all your numbers are ambiguous anyways. Get as close as you can, eat high quality foods, and be consistent.
So without further delay….here are 10 Stupid Simple 50/50 Muscle Building Meals you can plug into your nutrition plan today.
(All meals are +/- about 5g of carbs/protein either way. Depending on your source it varies)
Meal #1: 6 whole eggs w/ 2 oz cheddar cheese. 2 packets of Instant Grits
Meal #2: 6 oz cooked chicken breast. 1/2 cup of white or brown rice (measured dry). 1 medium/large Orange
Meal #3: 2 scoops of Whey Protein mixed in Water. 1 cup Oatmeal (measured dry)
Meal #4: 1 scoop of Whey Protein mixed in 24 oz (3 C) of Milk. Blended w/ 1 small banana. (maybe closer to 60g carbs)
Meal #5: 8 oz of Ground Beef (90/10) mixed with 1 1/2 cups of cooked Couscous.
Meal #6: 8 oz of Sirloin Steak and 2 small baked potatoes (red or gold potatoes bought in the bag)
Meal #7: 8 oz Salmon filet and 2 small sweet potatoes (about 5 inches in length)
Meal #8: 10 oz of sliced Roast Beef from deli counter. 2 slices whole grain bread. 1 apple. (Breads vary a lot so read labels. This meal assumes about 12g carbs per slice)
Meal #9: 2 cans of Tuna. 1 cup cooked elbow macaroni. 1/2 cup marinara sauce.
Meal #10: High Protein Chocolate Pudding w/ Pineapple side. 1 Cup Cottage Cheese mixed with 1/2 scoop of chocolate protein powder. 2 cups of chunked pineapple. (this is only about 40g of protein, but if you use an entire large scoop the pudding can be kind of gritty. Mix to your taste, protein scoop sizes vary a bit).
Obviously that is just 10, and there are dozens of combos you can create with just this menu or you can create your own meals. But as with life, keep things simple and easy and you’ll have greater chances of success.
Great ideas. I will put these to good use. Thanks!
So what would be the target numbers for a 150 lb woman?
Depends on whether you want to gain, lose, or maintain. If you want to use THESE meals then I’d use 3 of them a day and aim for 150g protein, 150g carbs. And if you are lifting hard then you’d also want to make sure you are getting in fats from your protein sources through things like whole eggs and ground beef. Then you just have to monitor for a couple of weeks and see what happens. If cals are too low you may need to add in supplemental fats to meals through things like olive oil or snack on things like almonds between meals.
If you have a hard time consuming large amounts of food in one sitting then you could opt for like 5 “30/30” meals through the day. So same pro/carb but aim for 30gs of protein / 30 g of carbs at each meal. Same thing with fats here. Make sure at least a few of these meals use higher calorie/higher fat sources of protein like eggs, fatty fish, or beef
And here’s your grocery list:
PRODUCE
Banana
Pineapple
Orange
Apple
Potatoes –white, sweet
MEATS
Salmon
Chicken breasts
Sirloin
Ground Beef
Deli Roast Beef
DAIRY
Eggs
Cheddar cheese
Milk
Cottage Cheese
STAPLES
Bread
Oatmeal
Grits
Macaroni
Couscous
Rice
Pasta Sauce
Tuna
Protein Powder
Do you think that someone following your 8-5-2 program with one lift per day still needs the 1g/pound body weight? I would have thought that the degree of muscle building would be a fraction of that while doing SS. But I keep hitting the same wall over and over again and then losing a lot of strength. For instance, I’ve hit a 5RM for Bench @ 240 about 4 times now, but what always follows is several weeks of getting weaker and weaker. And then I work back up to 240.
I’m probably getting about half the protein recommended and I’m starting to wonder if this is why.
Yeah, you still need the 1g/protein. That’s a minimum on any strength program IMO. Your issues may be related to that but probably some programming issues in there as well.
Sigh, OK, thanks. I find the protein shakes a bit nauseating, but I might have to increase it to two a day.
If I ever decide that I have enough muscle, will I need to maintain this protein intake for the rest of my life in order to keep it?
The need for protein actually increases with age….so yes. Its not that big a deal. Stir up a shake and pound it.
Thank you! Awesome ideas. Usually, when I Google healthy meal ideas, I get a bunch of “easy” recipes. I’m not looking for recipes! This list is perfect. Much appreciated.