Those Portions
by the PN Coaching Team

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"A goal properly set is halfway reached."

-Abraham Lincoln
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HOW MUCH DO I EAT?
It's the most common question we get around here. After detailing the 10 Habits, the principles of Nutrient Timing, and a host of other anti-calorie counting strategies, the last frontier of perfecting the intake is this one. And for good reason, it's pretty critical.

Eat too much relative to your exercise expenditure, and you'll either gain weight or you'll reside in maintenance-land. This is fine for a lot of folks. But if you're interested in weight loss, you'll need to make sure that you're eating less than your exercise expenditure.

So, how do you do that without counting calories?

Well, first, you can use trial and error. You simply eat set meals and portions and see what happens. If you're losing on that intake, you keep doing what you're doing. If you're gaining or maintaining on that intake, you've gotta eat less.

Sure, you all know this. But do you actually do it? Do you actually drop your calories systematically when you're stagnating? If you do, that's awesome. If not, you've gotta get on the program.

The next question is this - where do I start? In other words, for that initial intake, what does my meal plan look like?

Well, in today's lesson, you're going to get to see a host of meals "in action" so to speak. In fact, you're going to get a peek into a single day of eating courtesy of the Lean Eating Coaches.

As you can imagine, each of your coaches lives the Precision Nutrition lifestyle. So, instead of writing a long article on portion sizing, we decided to simply let you see what these two coaches and mentors eat.

FROM THE COACHES
For starters, you should know that your coaches are excellent examples of healthy, fit people. Of course they are, that's why they're your coaches. To illustrate this, here are Erin's stats:
• Age: 36
• Weight: 137
• Height: 5'6"
• BF%: 12%
• Exercise time per week: 5-7 hrs per week
• Current goals: maintain body fat and health, improve strength and muscularity
Samples of Erin's Meals
1st Picture
Eggs, goat cheese, salsa, red and orange peppers, pineapple, coffee
 

2nd Picture
Sirloin steak, Sweet Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes (GN V2) with added zucchini
 

3rd Picture
Chicken Fajita Salad: Chicken breast, romaine lettuce, grilled peppers and onions, organic cheddar cheese, salsa and olive oil
 

4th Picture
Post Workout Shake: Unsweetened almond milk, pineapple juice, vanilla whey, cinnamon
 

5th Picture
Post workout meal: Chicken breast, quinoa, strawberries, pineapple, baby carrots
 
So, there you have it. That's what Erin eats in a day, on average. Each day may vary from this plan. But they're all pretty similar.

Note: the plates used in Erin's photos are not standard 12" diameter plates. They're 7" plates. While this might not seem like a big difference, it's an important psychological one. Erin gets to fill her plate at each meal and eat all the food.

Hopefully this gives you some idea of what your meals should look like, in general, tweaked for your own body size and activity levels.
Here are Krista's stats:
• Age: 35
• Weight: 128 to 142 lbs (depending on the sport and the training phase)
• Height: 5'4"
• BF%: 5 to 12% (5% for competitive bodybuilding; 10-12% for powerlifting)
• Exercise time per week: 5 to 10 hours
• Current goals: combined strength & physique goals - competing in both powerlifting and bodybuilding in 2009.
Samples of Krista's Meals
A Powerful Start to the Day

Every morning, I start the day with a dose of morning supplements and nutritional powerhouses such as this combination of Maca powder (an adaptogen), Greens +, glutamine, cinnamon which is all shaken together with chilled tea and freshly squeezed lemon.

Breakfast usually follows 30 minutes later. One of my favorite breakfasts is Healthy Pancakes made with egg whites, oatmeal, cottage cheese and pumpkin puree. Depending on what type of competition I am preparing for, I may or more not have it with maple syrup. If not, a dollop of organic plain yogurt and pumpkin puree satisfy me just fine.

Snack or Meal?

Snacks for me are just another feeding of protein, veggies and essential oils. This day that happens to be a few hard boiled eggs and a side of tabbouleh salad. I drink chilled tea throughout my day. This time, I am opting for some chilled chai tea, one of my favorites.

More traditional "snacky" snacks for me are a protein shake with Greens + in almond milk or chilled tea and a handful of nuts and seeds.

Main Meal are Interchangable

Main meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner, are interchangable - again consisting a variety of lean proteins, steamed or raw veggies and healthy fats such as olive oil, fish oil, ground flax or nuts and seeds. This particular day, lunch comes around about an hour or so after a workout so I have refueled with a extra lean beef patty, sweet potato salad and mixed greens. Dinner consists of ground turkey and a generous side of steamed mixed vegetables and a splash of olive oil.

Final Feeding of the Day

My evening snack, often a few teaspoons of nut or seed butters such as almond butter, pumpkin seed butter or cashew butter and raw veggies such as carrots, celery or anise, is something I really look forward to. I may even stir in 1/2 a scoop of chocolate protein powder for an extra yummy bedtime snack.