Hey Cavepeople,
The diet for the caveman isn’t complex at all. In fact, it’s quite simple. Simply put, nothing that was created in a lab should be put into the body. If a food label has words like refined, enriched, flour, hydrogenated, dyes, etc, then the caveperson has no business putting it in their mouths.
The caveman had to practice principles such as carbohydrate cycling (freezes killed his carb sources) out of necessity. However, later on, I’ll explain how we’ll use days or weeks of higher than normal intake, followed by restricted intake to improve body transformation (fat loss, muscle gain/maintenance). For now, let me put down some simple rules for your nutritional program. These are the basic guidelines. There are exceptions for different goals in different phases of the Caveman Nutritional Program, but these are the rules that will get you up and running.
-Don’t forget to drink PLENTY of water. Before, during and after every meal and workout. That means all the time. The goal is 1oz per pound of bodyweight. The caveman didn’t have beer or soda, and you don’t need those things either. Water is life - hydration is key to performance and optimizing metabolism, energy levels and repair to the body. Hydration is a 24 hour process and should be treated as such. Drink regularly throughout the day.
-For fat loss, eat at LEAST 5 meals per day. Our cave-ancestors might’ve eaten once every 2-3 days and they looked like absolute hell. Increasing resting metabolism is the single most important thing you can do to become leaner, and this is an excellent way to do so.
-Sugars, juices, sodas, and sports drinks are a big NO (maybe a sports drink + protein post-workout, but at no other time). They’re empty calories and they WILL MAKE YOU FAT.
-Alcohol? Only if you want your fat burning to come to a complete hault for 72 hours after your drink. Stop it, cut it out, and don’t do it. If you want it once per week, we can live with that, but you’re better off without it. There’s a reason that it is referred to as a “beer gut”. Look, it doesn’t matter what you drink of choice is: wine, water and vodka, etc. It isn’t all about the simple caloric content of alcohol, but what the alcohol itself does to the body at the hormonal level.
-Foods are simply grouped under their 4 headers in the previous post: protein, carbs, veggies, and healthy fats. I realize that some things actually have protein and carbs or proteins and fats - in my caveman diet, that is irrelevant. Each food is under one heading. Don’t overcomplicate this! When a meal calls for a protein + carb, that means a source of protein and a source of carbs from the above lists, not “A glass of milk”.
-Center each and every meal around protein. That means every single meal must have a portion of protein from the above list. How big is a portion? For simplicity’s sake, it’s the size of your closed fist.
-In most phases of the Caveman Lifestyle Program, three meals MUST have one portion of carbohydrates: breakfast, the meal immediately before your workout (within 2 hours) and the meal immediately following your workout (within ONE hour).
-No carbs in the final meal of the day (unless it’s immediately after you workout).
-Veggies are unlimited and can be eaten during every meal and used as snacks. This is VEGGIES only, not fruit.
-You will NEVER eat a source of carbs without protein. Never, ever..
-Do not combine fats and carbs in the same meal. One or the other.
More to come…
Boyd
