I’m often asked about what I eat, and while the basics are probably obvious by now—I favor nutrient density and shoot for an animal emphasis above all, but still eat some carbs and a few of my favorite plant foods (see the Carnivore Scores chart for details)—it’s been hugely important for me to remain open-minded about food, instead of getting stuck on one rigidly structured way of eating. I’ve tried a lot of different things over the years—keto, fasting intentionally, fasting unintentionally and still ending up eating two meals a day, eating too much popcorn at night and then having to go back to low-carb, but a recent episode of Ben Greenfield’s podcast with Energy Balance founder Jay Feldman resulted in a major light bulb moment for me. Hearing Jay talk about how fasting turns on stress hormones prompted me to switch things up and try something different: now, instead of fasting until lunchtime/the afternoon, I start my days with some fruit and a nutrient-rich protein smoothie—to great results, most noticeably in my energy levels, especially post-workout.
Two other diet-related questions I still receive frequently from listeners are 1) how to stay healthy when you don’t have time to meal prep or plan ahead? and 2) if I have any go-to snack foods or healthy meal replacements to recommend. This is a problem I have a lot of experience with personally, one that led to me relying on basically just various nuts and seeds when I needed something nutritious and fast in the past, but let’s be honest, eating plain nuts and seeds all the time can get seriously boring, and nutritionally speaking, not all nuts are created equal. Plus, I’m sure most people can relate to the issue of not even having the time to prepare something healthy to take on the road,which leaves the remaining options of either eating restaurant food or picking up something seemingly “healthy” from the health food store hot bar—a no-go for me, since everything is cooked in canola oil anyways.
The lack of options I faced when it came to finding healthy snack/to-go food led me to start experimenting in the kitchen a few years ago—I started with a selection of some of my favorite health foods, like macadamia nuts, walnuts, coconut, and cacao, eventually coming up with a creamy, nutrient-dense, delicious mixture I now call the Macadamia Masterpiece. This high-quality product couldn’t be more different from your typical heavily-processed, industrial seed oil laden nut butter. If you want an easy, healthy, delicious snack, I truly believe you can’t get any better than the Macadamia Masterpiece.
Of course, I’m not saying to eat this morning, noon, and night, but you can’t beat it when it comes to finding a delicious and satisfying treat—and especially fuel on the go after a long day of hiking or another kind of adventure. It’s also a great dessert option, and it can be really handy to just have a big spoonful of it instead of a meal if you are going for a Two Meals A Day kind of lifestyle or trying to stay low carb. And while there may be tons of different gluten-free chips and crackers available in stores these days, (some even cooked in healthy oil like avocado or olive), remember that these products are still highly processed foods. They’re not just considerably high in carbs, they are also not nearly as nutritious as a nut butter blend like the Masterpiece. Another important added bonus is you will be way less likely to binge on something like Ben & Jerry’s when you have a sweet tooth when you have a healthy option like this around…If you haven’t tried it yet, click here to check it out!
