I ordered Grappling Nutrition the other week, but of course it hasn't gotten here yet because of how slow FPO shipping can be. To get myself ready I've started following Berardi's 7 habits (sometimes referred to as 10 habits, when a few misc extras are thrown it), which are supposed to make the core of any eating program.
They're in the sticky but in case you didn't read it:
1)Eat every 2-3 hours
2)Eat complete protein with every meal
3)Eat fruits and veggies with every meal
4)Ensure that all your carbs come from fruits/veggies (except for post work out shakes)
5)Get enough fat (25-35% of calories)
6)Drink 0 calorie beverages
7)Eat mostly whole food.
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/...on/7habits.htm
The extra 3 in case you were wondering are: get variety, plan your meals, and cheat 10% of the time.
All I can say is wow. I'm feeling great. My energy levels are high and my workouts have been great. I'm eating a lot more than I used to because I used to get lazy and skip meals, but now I'm forcing myself to eat every 3 hours. My weight went up a bit at first because of this but has came back down. Today was the first day I was actually lighter than I was before I started eating this much. I'm really looking forward to seeing what else is in the book.
My standard approach to getting in shape has always been to just cut carbs. Up the protein, drop the sugars, stick with fruits and veggies... That was pretty much the extent of my effort and it used to always work for me. My weight would drop and my workouts wouldn't suffer, but that hasn't been the case the last few times around. I dunno, maybe I'm getting old. My weight has been (very) stubborn and my energy levels seemed to have dropped lately when I try that approach.
I really think these 7 rules should be emphasized more in the sticky, or get their own sticky, because of how much of a difference they can make. I've tried creatine (still taking it, actually). I've added EFA supplements to my diet. I use post work out and pre work out shakes. I even use green tea supplementation. But no change I've made has improved my overall energy better than sticking to these habits.