Action Items

• Have more veggies and lean protein
• Have less refined carbs (white rice, white bread, pasta, chips, sugary foods)
• Have a moderate amount of fat (from meat, sauces, olive oil) and whole grains
• Do not snack if you aren't hungry

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Ray's Take

Nutrition is the bedrock for all health objectives. It serves every single goal whether you want to look better, build muscle, or prevent disease.

It also doesn't need to be that complicated. Our goal here, is to give you an actionable nutrition plan, in 10 minutes.

Who I am

I'm Ray, a doctor that is obsessed with making food taste way better than any restaurant, while being as healthy as possible. My mission is to help you build your own unique health program.

How you win

In sports, you want to win the game. To win the game, you have to score more points (or goals) than the other team/player. That's how you win.

For us, we need to know what game we are playing, and that is your own personal health objective. For the sake of this article, let's use two generic objectives - "look better" and "be healthier."

If you have a different objective (or even the same), add it to your health program.

Add a health objective to your program

To "look better" usually means to lose fat and gain muscle. We win the game by lowering body fat %, and increasing lean muscle mass. We can also win by looking at ourselves in the mirror (or photos) and seeing that we look better.

To "be healthier" usually means to have lower cholesterol and better metabolic health. We win the game by lowering apoB (best cholesterol biomarker), and lowering insulin/glucose in our bloodstream.

Strategy to win

Now that we know what it means to win, how do we get there?

I'll give you some knowledge I'm very sure about:

• Eat more veggies and lean protein
• Eat less refined carbs and added sugar
• Eat moderate amount of fat and "healthy carbs"

We can argue about carbs, fat, keto vs low fat, fruit, dairy, gluten free, bla bla forever.

However, I'm very sure that veggies and lean protein are good. Have more of those.

I'm very sure refined carbs (white bread, chips, pretzels, candy, ice cream, anything else that is processed in a package with high carbs, low fiber) are bad. Eat less of those.

If you want to lose fat, you should reduce excess fat. This isn't to say fat is bad, but it does contain a lot of calories..and that matters for weight loss.

The same goes for "healthy carbs" like whole wheat bread, brown rice, and sweet potatoes. They are fine in moderation, but just be aware not to eat a ton.

This is all the nutrition knowledge you need to get started this week.

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Executing the strategy

What should I eat this week?

Simply have what you were already going to have (getting it the same way), but increase the % of lean protein and veggies, and reduce the % of fat and refined carbs.

Said my normal way, you should eat max veggies and lean protein, a moderate amount of fat and carbs, and only have refined carbs aka "bad" foods if its truly worth it to you (should not be worth it this week).

Note - Protein usually comes with fat. Simply choose proteins you like and don't eat visible, excess fat.

I would personally have cauliflower rice instead of brown rice, low-carb tortilla instead of regular tortilla / bread, shirataki noodles instead of normal pasta. This is because the low-carb replacements truly make me happier. I can make it taste really good, and its higher fiber / lower calorie.

What you do is up to you. Many studies have shown you can eat some carbs and still accomplish your objective.

RayAI can make you a meal plan. Ask from the AI tab or create an entry on "My Program" and ask from there.

You can also ask RayAI any questions you aren't sure about IE what should I order at Chipotle, what sauce should I have with my chicken, etc. This elimination of all doubt is huge.

As a bonus, I'd try to cook at least 1x this week. It's definitely worth learning how to cook (and you can do it).

How much should you eat, and when?

The simplest rule of thumb is, eat if you are hungry, and don't if you aren't.

You can try intermittent fasting if you aren't hungry in the AM (I'm not hungry so I don't eat in the AM), but no eating pattern is guaranteed to work. Don't feel pressure to fit into something someone else is doing.

That said, I would follow these two rules if possible:

• Don't snack mindlessly. Don't even have a "healthy snack." Go for water, tea, coffee, or something else with 0 calories - It's vital to build habit to not snack mindlessly. Be especially wary of "healthy snacks" like nuts bc they are SO EASY to eat too much of. If you have to snack, make it pure protein IE jerky, turkey slices, low sugar protein bar, protein shake)
• If you are eating a meal, once you are satisfied, stop. This means being at a 7 out of 10 for fullness.

You can ask RayAI questions on portion sizes.

Do you have to track your food?

No. Tracking food is tedious. You also have to weigh your food to track accurately. Neither are sustainable long-term.

I would say most people can just follow their instinct on food choices and portion sizes, and measure progress weekly (see below) to ensure everything is all good.

That said, if you want to weigh and track food for one week, it is valuable to understand how many calories are in what you are actually eating. You will probably be surprised and I would recommend it.

If you want to track your food, buy a food scale and track on our app by telling the RayAI the weight of exactly what you ate. He can give you all calorie and macro information.

Why this works

By following the simple framework above, you are:

• Eating more protein -> Protein builds muscle, and does not turn into fat
• Eating more veg -> Veg is basically fiber and water. It is low calorie, and makes you feel full
• Eating less refined carbs -> Refined carbs make you fat and make you hungry
• Eating a moderate amount of fat and good carbs -> These taste good and should make you happy

This results in eating good tasting food, that makes you feel full, while automatically eating less calories, and giving your body the resource it needs to build muscle (protein). This will help you make progress on "look better."

You are also keeping insulin levels low, and reducing triglycerides in bloodstream. This will help you make progress on "Be healthier."

How do we know it's working?

Get a baseline, right now (if you haven't done it already)

• Take a photo of yourself now, and put it in our app.
• Weigh yourself today, and put it in our app.
• Schedule a lab test and DEXA scan asap.

We will redo these periodically, to make sure your nutrition program, is producing measurable results.

Bonus

Write down how you are feeling about the foods you eat on the "My Program" stream. This will help RayAI give you better recommendations!

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Why?

Your mission is actually to find foods that you love. I can only love a food if I like it (obviously), but also having it helps me make progress toward my health objectives.

I love everything I eat. And I know the workflow to get it from the grocery store, into my mouth, efficiently.

It's my mission to help you find foods you love and a workflow that works for you.

More resources:

• Obvious nutrition
• How to learn how to cook
• Primer on protein, carbohydrate, fat metabolism
• How to eat to get a 6 pack
• How to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time
• What I eat on a normal day
• There are also a ton of recipes and resources on learning how to cook here

You can use our app to add new knowledge you learned, and what you want to try.

Add notes to your health program