Food choice is right at the top of my list of things I miss about home. When I was living in Vancouver in particular (though L.A. qualifies too) the sheer variety of available healthy foods on offer across the city’s food markets and restaurants was always great. What this guy is eating matches my pre-China regime pretty closely, and I realise as I type this just how much I miss all the gluten/wheat alternatives, and the coffee shops that sell the muffins and cookies made with them! Wheat free pizza’s too… Oh boy I miss those bad boys, loaded up with stacks of meat, goat feta, and avocado’s! Slabs of fresh Salmon… 🙁
On the protein front, I shoot for an average of 1g per llb body weight minimum, which for me is 220g+/- daily, but there’s a simple way to deviate from that and make it less of a chore: If you lower your carbohydrate intake for 5-6 days a week and focus on protein and fats, you can up your carbs on the other day/s and not worry so much about hitting your quota. Carbs are naturally protein sparing, but as always you have to pay attention to the type of carbs you’re eating and stay away from sugars, and high glycemic sources like white rice and bread. Have a higher carb day/s the day after a (hard) workout and you’ll add muscle fullness too, then return to low carbs & moderate-high fats the next day again.
I know most of you won’t have the discipline to consider this, but your acid/alkaline balance is a major factor too. In an alkaline state your body needs considerably less protein to perform repairs, while in acid state that need raises exponentially, as well as depriving you of vitamins and minerals. One of the easiest ways to achieve a good alkaline balance is to consume a large variety and volume of vegetables, at a ratio of at least 2-1 vegetables/protein. Also once you get away from eating trash carbs you’ll find that veggies taste much better than before, making it easy to eat healthily more often.