By Pete Cataldo
Stop the calorie counting and finally get control back of your diet with these healthy eating habits that will simplify nutrition for good.
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I remember the frustration and confusion of trying to find a diet that worked for me. I embarked on this journey for years.
I’m not exaggerating.
There was the Paleo phase where I swore off all grains and tried to eat according to some mythical ancestors from tens of thousands of years ago.
There was low carb.
There was the phase where I just tried to “avoid sugar” and “eat clean” all the damn time. Misery.
I’ve tried fasting for one to two days per week.
Then the internet said the best way to fast was to do it daily for 16 hours. So, I did that, too.
I’ve worked with coaches.
One coach had me eating close to 1,400 calories per day with 180 grams of protein and 50 grams each of carbs and fats. Poverty.
Nothing ever stuck for me. I’d see some results. But the effort it took to see those results would just lead to more frustration because I couldn’t sustain it.
I’d burn out. So then I’d just stop. And look for another solution.
I’m grateful that I never gave up. Because I can truly relate to the people that just throw their hands up and say “Fuck this, it doesn’t work, I’ll just eat however I please.”
Today, I’m going to show you how I finally beat that cycle to develop my own habit-based system for simplifying nutrition without counting calories.
Let’s get into it.
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The biggest obstacle you face is to building healthy eating habits is lack of patience
I’ve been coaching in some fashion for almost 20 years now and I see it all of the time: letting one small thing screw up the whole thing, forcing you to start over.
Tracking calories a few days per week, then going off the rails on the weekend.
Going out to dinner and having no clue how to track it, so just saying Fuck it, YOLO and blowing up the entire diet because one meal was untrackable.
No one wants to try and figure out how many calories are in that serving of hollandaise on their Eggs Benedict at brunch.
So they don’t track it.
Falling off the consistency wagon after a trip or vacation, then taking an entire month to get back to consistently tracking again.
If the system is not something you can do for at least the foreseeable future, then stop trying to fit a square peg into a circular hole.
You can find another way.
Counting calories is not required for weight loss
Bruce walked up to me at the gym one morning looking for some advice on how to train effectively.
I noticed he’d been side-eyeing me for some time. He’d crank out the cardio while I’d go through my strength training sessions.
(And I know what you’re thinking, so yes: Before I started all of this calisthenics stuff and working out exclusively in my own Brooklyn apartment, I did frequent the gym. True story.)
Like any noob, he was a bit lost and needed a Gandalf to guide him along his journey.
So we started working together.
Fat loss was Bruce’s overall goal so while the workouts that I designed for him were indeed effective, it was the nutrition aspect where he needed the most work.
Bruce is project manager for a major construction company here in New York City.
His work includes long days on the job, but since he’s a higher-up, most of his workday is pretty chill and not the back-breaking, labor-intensive work that you’d typically associate with construction.
In other words, he was desk-bound like most people.
I mention this because the nutritional approach we developed for him will still apply to you if you relate to a more sedentary workday like Bruce.
Calorie counting was not something that he was interested in. Nor did I think it would be a proper solution for this trainee because Bruce would eat most of his lunches away from home by picking up something from the local Bodega or Deli.
No worries. We still made it work by applying some key nutritional rules to his plate.
Pun intended.
We worked together for a solid year and over the course of that year, yes I did shift him from cardio based workouts to progressive overload focused strength training.
But I’m more proud of the work that he put in on his nutrition.
The result was over 20 pounds lost without a single calorie counted; instead, we implemented a system of healthy eating habits that allowed him to be consistent.
I’m going to share exactly what we did with Bruce to help him simplify his fat loss nutrition so you can do the same.
First let’s talk about how to lose weight in the first place
Specific foods do not lead to weight loss, or weight gain. It’s how much total food you take in over the course of a day that will determine eventual weight loss/gain. Energy balance.
As a result, almost all fitness coaches (especially in the online space) will immediately assume that calorie counting is thus the only way in which to control your calories for weight loss.
The reality is that most people are incredibly overweight. They are beginners in this space and need entry-level approaches to dieting.
Calorie counting is an advanced skill for advanced trainees.
If you have 40, 50-plus pounds to lose … it’s not about counting every calorie. Instead it’s about building healthy eating habits.
As a result of this push to count calories, people end up frustrated and find it incredibly difficult to stay consistent. Usually because the calorie targets they are striving for are far too low to keep up.
I’ve said it before and will say it again: 1,200 calorie diets are stupid and unnecessary for like 98.67 percent of the population (yes, that is the scientific number that I came up with in my brain just now).
Your body requires energy (aka, calories) to function
You need energy to power your eyeballs to read this article. You need energy to digest last night’s pizza. You need energy to chase your toddler on the playground.
Much like an automobile needs fuel to function, your body needs to power itself through the food you eat.
When you take in enough food to fuel all of your body’s energy needs throughout the day, this is called energy balance.
If you take in slightly less fuel than required, we call that a calorie deficit. Over time, if you consistently consume fewer calories than required, you will lose weight.
If you take in slightly more fuel (or calories) than required, this is commonly referred to as a calorie surplus. Doing this for an extended period of time leads to weight gain.
The type of energy you consume can make things easier or harder on you and your body composition goals.
It’s not just about calories, there are other pieces to the puzzle
Eating enough protein and nutrient dense foods will help the body run properly.
It’s like loading up your car’s gas tank with premium fuel versus dumping a bunch of watered down cheap petroleum.
You want to maximize your potential to process the right energy sources so you feel better.
This much, all experts in the nutritional field can agree upon.
We can’t agree upon much else, but we do all agree that properly fueling your body is important.
Some of us don’t even agree on the whole energy balance situation, instead relying too heavily on the premise that what you eat makes the difference between weight loss and weight gain.
However, the truth is that you cannot lose weight without being in a calorie deficit
That’s just how science works.
But oftentimes, once we hear this calorie deficit situation, we immediately assume that means calorie counting is the solution.
And because human nature is to be impatient as fuck, we try to rush the process by eating far fewer calories.
If you learned that you need 2,000 calories to lose weight, you get freaked out because you think that’s too big of a number and you want faster results so you target 1,500 calories instead.
This is one of the major reasons why I no longer push my clients to count calories. I no longer do this myself.
Instead, we manipulate the energy balance equation by managing the following principles. The principles that just about every expert will agree on.
So the principles of proper nutrition break down as such:
1. You need adequate protein
Protein is the building block of muscle.
You need protein to preserve that muscle, which is especially important when you are in a negative energy balance (aka, calorie deficit) because when paired with strength training, it is a signal to the body to burn off fat and keep that hard-earned muscle.
This is how you eventually get that lean and toned look and don’t end up as a skinny fat, smaller version of your current self.
Protein is also more satiating than carbs and fats. Which is fancy for … it’ll fill you up for longer.
It’s also a fat loss cheat code because it burns more calories in digestion. In other words, your body needs to expend more energy to digest your steak than it does to process your biscuit.
Every time you eat, make sure that you have some protein.
Yes. Every time. Even snack time. Get creative. But make it happen.
2. You need more nutrient-dense food
The argument against the Calories In vs. Calories Out (CICO) path to weight loss is that you can eat junk all day and still lose weight as long as it fits your calories. Obviously if that was true, it would be a terrible method that would not help properly fuel your body.
The truth is, unfortunately, that as long as you are in a calorie deficit, weight loss happens.
This is evidenced by the popular Twinkie Diet experiment where college professor Mark Haub lost 27 pounds on almost nothing by Twinkies.
Interesting side note: Haub still consumed protein shakes with his Twinkies because of the importance of getting enough protein.
Here’s the deal, though:
Eating mostly processed, low nutrient foods (like white bread, pasta, sugary snacks, etc.) is going to lead you to feeling and performing like crap.
Remember the car analogy. You could opt for premium gas or you can settle for watered-down crap. Which one would you choose to put into your brand new Lambo?
Exactly.
Treat your body like an expensive luxury car. Fuel it well.
We settle this by ensuring that each meal has some kind of plant along with that protein source.
Plants (vegetables and fruits) are going to supply some fiber to help keep you full along with that protein.
They are also lower in calories. No one ever got fat eating mostly plants.
For the lower carb enthusiasts, plants are decidedly lower in carbohydrates.
3. You need to eat proper portions
All of the protein and plants in the world won’t mean much unless we control the total amount of energy coming into the system.
This again is where people unfortunately assume that calorie counting must be the solution.
Not so fast.
While you cannot just expect to eat everything in sight and lose weight, you don’t have to meticulously weigh, measure, track every single bite of food that you eat in a tracking app, either.
Instead, we look to manage portion sizes of your food at each and every meal.
How does this look in action?
And that’s why I like my 3P System.
Introducing the 3P System to Portion Control
The three “Ps” of simplifying nutrition for life break down to three simple questions you’ll ask yourself every single time you eat:
- What’s my protein?
- What’s my plant?
- How do my portions look?
Now you don’t have to count the calories in that Eggs Benedict. But, you can still eat it knowing that when you portion your food properly, the calories are still being considered for that hollandaise sauce.
For the low carb enthusiasts, with this approach you’ve cut back pretty heavily on super high carb eating while also ensuring adequate protein, fiber and tons of nutrients.
It’s incredibly effective and a much more lifestyle-friendly solution to eating for super busy people like you and me.
And yes, you can lose weight this way.
Putting it all together so you can make the 3P System work for you
My simple approach is through a Plate that is divided into four quarters. And you’ll fill that plate by asking yourself three questions before each and every meal:
What’s my protein?
In one of those quarters, you are going to add your protein source.
You should have a goal to include a protein source every time you eat.
Yes, this includes snacks, too.
It can be whatever protein you prefer, but leaner proteins will help keep the calories in check.
But I don’t want you to go all protein obsessed. Because to be honest, there’s just not a ton of accurate science around consuming super huge amounts of protein at each meal.
Even a little bit goes a long way.
My general rule of thumb is to make that protein source about a quarter of your plate.
You can opt for lean cuts of poultry or meat.
Or you can go plant based with something like legumes.
Heck, even something like dairy from greek yogurt (a quarter of a plate of yogurt is hard to measure, so let’s just set a general rule that it will be close to a cup).
This is going to give you about 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal.
At the end of the day, this will satisfy my recommended target of about 100-120 grams of protein per day once you account for any additional protein found in snacks and other foods––whole food sources like potatoes carry a few grams of protein.
What’s my plant?
Two of those quarters, or half of your plate, you will add your plant.
You’d be surprised how many grown-ass adults are not into veggies. So, I’m loosening up the rule here to allow for fruit.
At the end of the day, even fruit is going to be far more nutrient-dense, filling and lower-calorie than a half plate of buttery pasta, right?
Right.
What you want to do is make sure that you have plants at every meal. This will raise the volume (amount) of food you’re eating while lowering the caloric value.
The fiber content found in those fruits and vegetables will work well together with your protein to stave off additional hunger pangs in between meals.
How do my portions look?
Just because calorie counting is not the practice, it does not give you free reign to just eat everything in sight.
The size of your portions helps further control the amount of energy (aka, calories) you are taking in at each meal.
Calories must be accounted for; and that happens by controlling how much you eat through portioning.
- If one half of your plate at mealtime is covered by plants;
- and one quarter of your plate is reserved for proteins;
- then (quick math here), that leaves one quarter of your plate remaining.
And with that final quarter of the plate, you have some freedom.
This is where I typically recommend adding your carb source where your plate at major meals will look something like this graphic:
If you are lower carb, you can opt for a fat source (like an avocado).
If you’d like a slice of toast with your eggs and bell peppers, awesome.
Maybe it’s a helping of pasta to go with your chicken and squash, fantastic.
Perhaps you’ve got some steak and would like some potatoes to fill out your plate, as long as it is portioned well with another half of the plate going to plants, you’re good.
Or you’ve even got a hankering for a cookie to go with your yogurt and berries, knock yourself out (don’t do that all of the time, though).
You’ll do this at your three major meals for the day.
If you are a larger individual, you might want to aim for four of these meals.
And you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone, anyone, who consistently eats 3-4 meals a day with this approach and does not have control of their weight.
Here’s how to avoid getting fat with the 3P System
The real weight control happens in between the meals.
Ideally, you’ll eat this way at all meals, see incredible results and brag to all of your friends and family about how simple this is while explaining how this dude Pete Cataldo is a fucking genius.
I know better, though.
Birthdays happen. Weddings happen. Happy Hours happen.
Long days of work and wanting to drown your face in a pile of pasta because that’s all that’s left in the kitchen and you’re tired and hangry and need all the carbs just happens.
Why? Because you are a human and not a robot. The AI overlords haven’t taken over just yet.
So the key to making this work all relies on how consistent you’ll be. Which is why we’ll turn to the 80/20 Rule.
Focus on eating with the 3P System at least 80-percent of the time and you’ll be fine.
This means five or six days out of the week, most if not all of your meals should include protein, plants and be properly-portioned.
The remaining 20-percent you’ll likely have some leeway and be okay.
But.
(There’s always a but)
You must test this yourself because everyone is different. Calories still matter (remember what we discussed about properly losing weight).
If you’re practicing this stuff 80-percent of the time and results are not happening after a solid 3-4 weeks of testing, then you might need to tighten up a bit closer to a 90-percent commitment.
Treat your health and fitness not as some biohacking fascination, where you’re obsessed with the newest and latest fad that will have you jumping from diet to diet again.
Instead, I teach my clients to think of this as a science project. You’re testing things out to see what works for you.
And that means making small tweaks to one or two variables, then testing again to see if that works. Not just blowing it up and starting it all over. Again.
Keep your meals mostly consistent to make things easier.
Try to eat at similar times each day to help avoid random spikes of hunger.
But what about snacks? How do snacks fit in the 3P System?
Ideally, you’ll be stuffed from all that protein and fiber 3-4 times per day and you’ll be totally cool without having a snack.
But, again, you are a human and not a robot.
We can still make the 3Ps work for snack time, though.
Include a protein source. It doesn’t have to be much, a simple stick of cheese from your kids’ lunchbox works, or even some greek yogurt.
Grab a plant. I love berries, apples, bananas, any piece of fruit can do the trick.
Check the portions. In this case, you aren’t eating a full-on meal, so a nice guideline is to make sure that your snack fits in the palm of your hand.
Test out how it feels to eat this way for a good three to four weeks before making slight changes (remember science projects don’t introduce a ton of variables all at once).
Then adjust accordingly.
Get help building healthy eating habits
As much as I can simplify this stuff in a newsletter article, it’s human nature to be confused or to overthink the situation.
That’s where the extra dose of accountability comes into play.
If you’re looking for help on how to make the 3P System work for you, that’s where I can help with my Lean4Life Coaching Program. You can learn more about that here.
Until then, I invite you to test out this framework for nutrition over the next few weeks. Resist the urge to give up immediately and dive right back into calorie counting only to start that yo-yo dieting cycle of suck once again.
I’ve been there before. And I’m so damn thankful that I broke that wheel once and for all. I know you can do the same.
Hope you found this helpful. If so, be sure to share with a friend.
And if you’re new here, be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter for more doses of awesome sauce on lifestyle design, productivity and health at the link below.
Now it’s your turn. If you’ve got any questions or just wanna chat, let’s connect.
I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “healthy eating habits” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.
Until next time,
Pete