The Nutrition Cheat Sheet
Your diet is a super important thing to get right when you’re trying to lose weight (or when you’re not, honestly). But healthy eating is hard! :frowny-emoji-with-hands-on-hips-looking-down-angry-she-kinda-annoyed-but-oh-no-now-she-existential:
Don’t fret, my friend. We’re here for you.
In this post, we’ll be covering some health eating basics: benefits of healthy eating, nutrition fundamentals, tactical recommendations, and some tips and tricks!
Scroll right on to whatever is most interesting or applicable to you. (We won’t be offended, promise.)
Alrighty, here we go 🥕
Part 1: Benefits of a Healthy Diet
Reduced Risk of Disease
Cholesterol, blood sugar, inflammation, triglycerides—if you didn’t care about these in Bio class, you should care about them now! When these guys run amok, chronic health issues usually follow—things like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and even dementia. Eating a health diet is one of the best things you can do to keep your levels in check.
Improved Mental Health
Sunday scaries? Eat some cherries! Okay maybe that’s not how it goes. But a healthy diet is indeed strongly correlated with reduced risk of mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. A healthy diet has also been shown to improve mood, mental clarity, and overall mental energy. Woot!
Healthier Skin
Gone are the days of drowning your oily teenage face in Cetaphil and Proactiv. But that doesn’t mean skin care isn’t still important. We all want skin as soft, plump, and radiant as a baby apricot’s butt, don’t we? Turns out, eating healthy foods, particularly those rich in antioxidants and healthy fats, can help reduce the prevalence and severity of skin issues - like acne and rashes - and leave your skin looking amaze.
More Energy
Say goodbye to the afternoon slump! And the morning slump. And the evening slump. And all the other slumps that happen when your diet is not-so-great. When you eat healthy foods, you provide your body with long-lasting, stable (i.e., not crash-inducing) energy. A healthy diet has also been linked to improved sleep quality, making it a no-brainer for improving energy.
Easier Weight and Appetite Regulation
Minimally processed foods have more nutrients and less calories per volume, take longer to eat, and are less “addictive” and craving-inducing than their processed counterparts. So yeah, you can lose weight by eating unhealthy foods, but eating healthy ones makes the process SO much easier. (And like you also get all those other cool things we talked about earlier, so... win win.)
Part 2: Health Eating Foundations
“Eat [whole] food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” -Michael Pollan
Most people jump straight to calories, but we think diet quality actually comes first. Why? In short, 2000 calories of milkshakes and ice cream is very different than 2000 calories of whole, unprocessed foods. It requires soooo much less willpower to stay on track calorie-wise when you eat healthfully (potato chips are far more addictive than celery). Also you’ll just feel better overall -- mentally and physically -- which makes any personal development effort (like weight loss) much easier.
Whole Foods
A whole food is an unprocessed food—it's in a form you would find in nature. Whole foods are full of the goods—fiber, vitamins, and minerals (oh, my!). Try to get in as much as possible—the majority of your diet should come from whole, unprocessed foods.
Not Too Much
Self-explanatory. Honestly, it’s pretty hard to overeat when you’re eating whole foods (ex: 3 pounds of carrots is less than 600 calories and that’s like so many carrots), but you still want to keep your overall calorie target in mind. (Also going ham on carrots would undermine the whole “balanced diet” thing and potentially lead to nutrient imbalances so let’s not do that.)
Mostly Plants
Animal foods can absolutely be part of a healthy diet, but you should def emphasize our plant friends! Plant foods are rich in pretty sweet phytonutrients— nutrients that can only be found in plants—that have all sorts of amazing health benefits. Fruits and veg are particularly awesome, and dark leafy greens are like particularly particularly awesome.
Sleep
“Huh? What’s this guy doing in here?!”
I know, I know, a lil out of place, but very important! Sleep impacts your hormones, which in turn impact hunger, cravings, and metabolism. Also, sleepy humans just don’t tend to make the best decisions. We have less energy to engage in healthy behaviors (like exercise), we’re moodier (cue the comfort food), and our willpower is totally sapped. So yeah, improving sleep quality can make a world of a difference for losing weight.
Note: Sleep is not the only non-food factor that impacts our weight loss efforts (e.g., stress is another), but it’s a biggie!
Drink Water
Okay also not part of that Michael Pollen quote, but very important for so many reasons. With regard to weight loss, drinking water can increase satiety and reduce cravings, making it easier to sustain a caloric deficit. Also, dehydration is often mistaken as hunger! Try drinking water next time you feel hungry and see if the hunger subsides.
Part 3: Nutrition Basics for Weight Loss
Brought to you by a really, really tall and skinny pyramid. (Keep scrolling for more more deets on all these things.)
Once you got the food quality (the whole “whole foods”) thing down, we can focus on the next set of things…
Calories
We all burn calories just by existing—fewer for things like sleeping, more for things like a HIIT class. A caloric surplus (consuming more than you need) will lead to weight gain; a caloric deficit will lead to weight loss. Though def not required, calorie tracking can be a helpful starting point to develop awareness around portions and consumption.
There’s actually quite a bit of nuance to the whole “calories in vs. calories out” equation. This article and this one are great starting points to learn more. In short, a healthy diet and lifestyle (well-managed stress, adequate sleep, etc) are important pieces of the puzzle!
Macros
Carbohydrates, protein, and fat constitute the macronutrients. A good place to start: 0.8-1g protein and 0.5g fat per pound of body weight; the rest from carbs. Adjust those numbers to suit your needs and preferences. In particular, you may want to start with a lower protein target and work your way up — that “gram of protein per pound body weight” thing is no joke… v challenging for many. But it’ll go a LONG way in keeping you feeling full. Promise. Also, the high dose helps preserve muscle mass! Woot.
USDA recommendations: 45-65% daily calories from carbs, 10-35% from protein, 20-35% from fat
Micros
Vitamins and minerals constitute the micronutrients. The less processed the food, the more nutrient-dense; by eating a varied diet rich in whole foods, especially fruits and vegetables, you’re setting yourself up for success! If you have dietary restrictions, you may need to supplement with specific nutrients (e.g., B12 for vegans). A daily multi-vitamin is also not a bad idea for most.
Timing
All the hullabaloo around intermittent fasting, eating or skipping breakfast, late night snacking, etc, is really just hullabaloo. As long as you hit your calorie / macro / micro targets, timing of your meals will not make or break your weight loss. You do you; whatever helps you stick to your diet is the way to go.
Extras
Supplements, juice cleanses, superfoods, all the things... Honestly, don’t worry about it. If you’re an athlete trying to maximize performance, there are a small handful of specific “extras” that may help. Otherwise, you’re fine.
Part 4: The Nutrition Spectrum
Bottom line: The closer a food is to its “whole”, unprocessed form, the better for you. Try to opt for foods on the left side of this spectrum. If you eat a lot of guys in that right column, think of changes you can make to slowly nudge yourself over to the left, little by little :)
Creds to Precision Nutrition. Thanks, guys!
All the Things!
If you want even more examples of things that fall under the “whole” category...
Veggies: artichokes, asparagus, beets, bell peppers, broccoli, bok choy, brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, kale, mushrooms, onion, romaine, spinach, squash (butternut, delicata, kabocha, spaghetti), sweet potatoes, swiss chard, zucchini
Fruits: apples, avocados, banana, berries, cherries, cranberries, dates, grapefruit, lemons / limes, mango, oranges, pears, persimmons, pomegranates
Legumes: adzuki beans, black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils
Whole grains: amaranth, brown rice, buckwheat, farro, millet, oats, quinoa, spelt, wheat berries, wild rice
Nuts & seeds: almonds, cashews, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts
Part 5: Tips & Tricks
Take Baby Steps
Don’t stress about trying to overhaul your entire diet right now!! Instead, embrace baby steps: what’s one small step you can take today, or this week? As an example, maybe you focus first on improving your breakfast, leaving your other meals alone. Maybe you simply add a serving of leafy greens to your usual dinner. Maybe you try cooking one homemade, plant-based recipe.
Add Before You Subtract
Think of *adding* to your diet before you think of *removing*. Instead of saying “no more pasta!”, maybe you *add* a big helping of broccos (🥦) to that pasta dish. Instead of cutting out your favorite breakfast pastry, maybe you start your meal with an apple (and shave the pastry serving down by just a smidge). Over time, you may realize you want the old stuff less and the new stuff more, naturally, without forced (and exhausting) restriction!
Eat Mindfully
Challenge yourself to eat at least one meal a day mindfully. No multi-tasking; just eating. Focus on the flavors and textures of your food; chew thoroughly; notice feelings of hunger and later satiety and fullness. Eating in this way helps us enjoy our food more, aids digestion, and improves our ability to assess hunger and fullness (which helps disrupt the mindless/hunger-less snacking habit).
Make High-Leverage Changes
Focus on making changes that give you the biggest bang for your buck. For example, swapping from canned beans to homemade isn’t going to move the needle as much as swapping from fried chicken to baked chicken. I’d also argue that focusing on, say, including a hefty serving of leafy greens with each meal is going to get you farther than diligently tracking every calorie consumed.
Explore and Adventure
Food is deeply intertwined into our behaviors and lifestyles. Food is the platform for many a social plan, it’s often the thing we seek out to cope with difficult emotions, it’s built into traditions and celebrations, the list goes on. Point is: changing your diet is a multi-faceted, complicated endeavor. But it can also be an exciting prompt to try new things and enrich your life holistically. You can try new hobbies, propose activity-based social hangs (hike? go ax throwing? find and pet some chickens?), experiment with cooking new foods, etc.
Yay 🍎
So yeah I mean this all sounds great, but I’m overwhelmed. Can’t you just do it for me?
Totes! Okay, maybe not exactly — I can’t like actually eat for you, as much as I might want to. But I can totally help you out.
Whether you’re looking for someone to hold you accountable, to provide a sounding board as you work through things, or to create a customized plan, with step-by-step guidance, just for you, I got you covered. Check out our wellness services here.
And if you’re looking to really maximize your results, you can explore semaglutide! Pairing this with healthy lifestyle behaviors (most notably, healthy eating and exercise) might just be the perfect approach to finally get you the results you want :bicep:
Yup, semaglutide is the key that unlocks weight loss. But there are two catches: it’s expensive, and it works best with some hard work . Lucky for you, ZipFit makes things a whole lot better.
- Ozempic® (brand name for semaglutide) can cost ~$1k / mo, and it can be pretty difficult to get it covered by insurance when prescribed for weight loss.[*] At ZipFit, we keep the prices down.
- Semaglutide can be effective for weight loss on its own, but the best results are seen when paired with healthy eating and exercise. “But healthy eating and exercise are hard!” Darn right they are. Which is why ZipFit offers a comprehensive wellness program—with check-ins, resources, and personalized coaching—to help you achieve your wildest dreams.
* Ozempic® is FDA-approved for diabetes only, not weight loss. It’s safe for weight loss and thousands of doctors prescribe it for weight loss alone, but insurance only kicks in for diabetes patients.
Disclaimer: The content in this guide is not intended to be medical advice, but rather is meant to inform and inspire you so you can implement positive and sustainable lifestyle changes. ZipFit, in this article, is not acting in the capacity of a doctor, licensed dietitian, or nutritionist, psychologist, or other licensed or registered professional, and the advice provided in this guide is not meant to take the place of advice by these professionals. Any statements or claims about the possible health benefits obtained from any foods or supplements mentioned in this guide have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Any dietary changes or potential dietary supplements use should be discussed with your doctor, and you should not change or discontinue usage of prescription medications without first consulting your doctor.
