I Invented a New Diet this Week
"Create a life you don't need a substance to enhance." - Justin Wenzel
I invented a new diet this week. Introducing... The P:Cal Diet. Short for the "Protein:Calorie Ratio Diet".
The basics: - Prioritize the ~30 whole foods that have the "best" protein:calorie ratios - Complete your meals with unlimited fruits and vegetables - Only low/no calorie beverages allowed
What do I mean by "best" protein:calorie ratio? Think high protein / low calorie - the whole foods with the most amount of protein per calorie. To qualify, a whole food needs to provide at least 10 grams of protein per 100 calories. That is a really good back-of-the-envelope rule to consider when evaluating nutrition facts.
The most normal, readily available high protein/low calorie foods: Chicken, turkey, lean beef, pretty much any whitefish or shellfish, salmon, tuna. Egg whites (but not whole eggs). Nonfat yogurt, cottage cheese, lowfat mozzarella. Tofu for plant protein people.
Make these foods the centerpiece of every meal. Add 1-2 fruit or vegetables at every meal to fill out your plate. Make water your primary beverage and add in any low/no calorie beverages as desired. A well made coffee with a little milk works. Diet sodas have zero calories. Sparkling waters like Spindrift and Topo Chico definitely work.
Important Considerations: - This diet is for weight loss. If you're trying to gain weight, this is not the one for you. - This diet is more restrictive than I'd like. I eat a ton of foods not on these lists all the time (pizza, pasta, bread, etc.). - I view this as a short term framework to drop a quick ~10 lbs in 1-2 months without needing to track calories or macros. - For my clients focused on fat loss, I'm thinking about implementing it for the first 4-6 weeks, then transitioning into tracking food in full which allows for more flexibility.
Summer is still young. If you're not where you'd like to be from a weight perspective, try out the P:Cal Diet starting this week.
Stay well, Hal the Health Coach
