Evan Hand 1
// Troy Cos Diet Guidance & Fitness Overview //
Overview:
First things first; the diet is the backbone of any fitness regimen. You can work as hard as you
can in the gym but if your diet is not on track, you will not see the results you want. So, it is
important to be conscious of what you are eating. Personally, when I was in the thick of losing
weight, I was extremely strict with my diet. No junk food, always tracking my macros, etc. The
stricter you are, the faster you will see results. But do not be afraid to have some cheat meals
here and there. Seriously, it will not kill you. Nobody likes the picky eater at a dinner party. If
you have these things in moderation, you will be fine. I have 1 cheat meal a week on Fridays,
and I always get back on track; not falling for the tricks of how amazing it tastes and how I
would love to eat it every day.
BOTTOM LINE – If you want to lose weight, you need to be burning more calories than you
are eating. This is called a calorie deficit. If you want to gain weight, you need to be eating
more calories than you are burning. This is called a calorie surplus.
MACRONUTRIENTS (MACROS):
Macronutrient’s aka “Macros” are the 3 main nutrients that you receive from foods. These are
Proteins, Carbohydrates and Fats.
Proteins are the building blocks of your body. They promote healthy muscle development,
aide with recovery, promote fat loss and even help build strong bones and hair. Personally, I
believe that protein is the most important macro in this list. Generally, you should be getting
about 1 gram of protein for each pound of bodyweight per day. I weigh 200 pounds, so I aim for
about 200g of protein each day.
Carbohydrates are the gas that your body runs on. The premium gas you get at the gas
station. Contrary to popular belief, they are NOT bad for you. Carbs are an essential part of your
diet and should be utilized as so. They help with your heart, kidneys, brain, digestion, feeling
full, and cholesterol. I recommend getting some carbs in about an hour and a half before your
workout to fuel your body.
Evan Hand 2
There are two types of carbohydrates, Simple Carbs and Complex Carbs. However, fruits will
fall into both categories. Generally, you want to eat Complex Carbs rather than Simple Carbs.
The easiest way to look at it:
Simple Carbs are sugars that fuel our bodies fast. These include sugars, glucose, high fructose
corn syrup, honey, agave, milk, and fruit.
Complex Carbs are essentially anything that comes naturally from the ground. These include,
vegetables, nuts, legumes, whole grains, whole wheat products, and whole fruit.
Fats do many things for the body, but they mainly aide in your body storing the energy that it
needs for activity. Now, there are four different types of fats that you need to be aware of.
1. Monosaturated Fats – Good for you!
a. These include nuts, legumes, vegetable oils, Avocado oil, avocado, peanut
butter, almond butter.
b. I am allergic to nuts; however, I know that a lot of peanut butter has A TON and I
mean A TON of sugar in them. I recommend low/no sugar peanut butter, or a
powdered substitute called PB2.
2. Polysaturated Fats – Also good for you! Omega-3 & 6 Fatty Acids
a. Salmon (!!)
b. Herring
c. Walnuts
d. Flax Seeds, Chia Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Sesame Seeds
e. Canola Oil, Corn Oil, Sesame Oil, Sunflower Oil
f. Soft Margarine
3. Saturated Fats – Eat in moderation
a. These include fatty cuts of beef, pork, lamb.
b. Dark chicken meat
c. Some dairy foods (whole milk, butter, cheese, sour cream, ice cream)
4. Trans Fat – NOT GOOD
a. Fried foods
b. Margarine
c. Baked goods
d. PROCESSED FOODS!!!!
Evan Hand 3
THINGS TO HELP:
There are many available resources for you to use to help in your journey. I will list a few of my
favorite resources below.
1. MyFitnessPal App
a. MyFitnessPal is a free app that you can download that helps you track your
macros. It is capable of much more, but I think it is best used for food tracking.
You can set personalized goals within the app for your macros and overall
calories. Tracking is also extremely easy. There are millions of foods you can look
up and it has the macros already written in for you. The only thing you need to
do is change the serving size that you had. Also, there is an option to scan the
barcode of whatever you are eating. So, if you have a protein bar, you can scan
the barcode and it will automatically put in the macros for it. Just be sure that
the serving size is correct. There is a bit of a learning curve to it, but once you
figure it out it is extremely easy.
2. Food Scale
a. I do not think this needs much explaining, but in general, it makes the process of
knowing your serving size and macros much easier.
3. Whoop Fitness Wristband
a. My personal favorite. An absolute godsend for all the fitness junkies out there.
Now, it comes at a price, but I genuinely believe that it is 100% worth it. The
Whoop is a light wristband that you wear 24/7, 365. It charges right on your
wrist within an hour and lasts up to 5 days depending on usage. I kid you not, It
tells you just about everything about your body other than your blood type.
From day strain, heart rate variability, exact hours, minutes, SECONDS of sleep
you got, type of sleep, training behavior, physiological response to training. I
cannot express how amazing this thing has been for the last 6 months that I have
used it. In my opinion, it is leaps and bounds better than the Apple Watch when
it comes to fitness related insights.
Evan Hand 4
FOODS TO EAT:
PROTEIN
CARBOHYDRATE
#1 Rice & Rice Cakes
#1 Avocado
EGG WHITES! Beef, Turkey,
Pork, Salmon, Tuna, Lamb,
Halibut, Tilapia, Veil, Shrimp,
Turkey Bacon.
MOST fruits. Quinoa, Oats,
Whole Grain bread, Kidney
Beans, Chickpeas, Sweet
Potatoes, Whole Wheat
Products, Black Beans,
Spinach, Asparagus, Brussels
Sprouts, Cauliflower,
Broccoli, Squash, Carrots
Cheese, Eggs with Yolk, Fatty
Fish (Salmon, Herring), Nuts,
Legumes, Seeds, Extra Virgin
Olive Oil, Avocado Oil,
Coconut Oil, Greek Yogurt.
#1. Grilled Chicken
FAT
(Any natural vegetable)
Beware of high sugar foods. Sugar is what causes your body to store your food as fat rather
than immediate energy. Sugars hide in a lot of things and once you start looking at the labels on
your food, I think you will be surprised on how much sugar these brands put into their foods.
For example: many condiments have outrageous amounts of sugar in them. I highly
recommend any condiment manufactured by G Hughes. Tasty and ZERO sugar.
Eggs are a staple of any healthy diet. However, the yolk in the eggs are very high in fat and
cholesterol. If you want to avoid that, you can buy a carton of egg whites. Extremely low calorie
and straight protein.
If you are eating a lot of avocados, be careful. They are very very dense and contain a lot of
calories from fat.
Also, many of your day-to-day foods have healthy substitutes. For example, bacon is extremely
high in saturated fat and the grease alone is cause for concern. A good substitute for it is turkey
bacon. Delicious and nutritious.
If you have a sweet tooth, let me know and I can hook you up with a ton of healthy foods and
recipes.
Evan Hand 5
THE SCALE:
Many people are intimidated by the scale, and they are relying solely on what the number says.
I advise you to lock that scale away for at least a month. Everyone has preconceived
expectations in their head, and if those are not met it becomes easy to get discouraged. Put the
scale away and focus more so on how you feel and how you look. The number is literally just a
number. Since we will also be doing some strength training, you will likely gain muscle which is
a very dense substance compared to fat. Look up 5 pounds of muscle versus 5 pounds of fat.
You will be astonished.
YOUR MACROS:
Macros are different for everybody. So, there is not just one set of numbers that will work for
everyone. As you said, you are looking to put on some lean mass. Do not do the dirty bulk
because then you have to lose all of that dogshit weight you put on. I would say a lean bulk with
a shitload of protein, moderate carbs, and moderate fats. The calculator will tell you better
than I can.
Go to https://www.calculator.net/macro-calculator.html and insert your information. Once
calculated, it will give you a fairly accurate layout of your macros. Stay around those numbers
and you should be fine.
SUPPLEMENTS:
If you want to get into some supplements, I recommend only 2. Whey Protein and Creatine.
There are thousands of supplements out there that promise to “Shred 3% fat in 7 days!!!” or
“Lose weight 2x faster while taking this!” or “Add 5 pounds of pure muscle in a week!” Quite
frankly, they are all (excuse my language) bullshit marketing tactics to make you spend money
on placebos or vitamins. I do not touch them, and I tell my clients to stay away as well. Stick to
the basics. I have no opinion on Mass Gainers. I don’t remember if you told me you were taking
it or not but you can easily hit your daily macro goals without it. You will just need to put down
a ton of food.
Evan Hand 6
Whey Protein will help you hit your protein goals. Drink one shake a day after your workout. I
personally use the brand Optimum Nutrition. However, some types of protein powders can
have some mild side effects (mostly gas or stomach aches) so it is really a process of trial and
error on finding the right brand for you.
Creatine Monohydrate is a supplement commonly used in the fitness industry. It is completely
safe and has undergone numerous tests by reputable sources and is approved by the FDA.
Creatine is naturally ingested into your body through various types of meats and is used by the
body for the following reasons: Improving strength, lean muscle mass, aide in recovery,
increase metabolism and burn fat.
However, creatine can cause bloating, higher levels of water retention and mild weight gain. So
if you’re strictly fixated on the number the scale says, I would recommend holding off on this
supplement for the time being until you are ready to let your weight fluctuate a bit.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Obviously, there is a lot of information in this document, and I do not expect you to retain
everything immediately. Yet, it is still much easier than following all these fad diets out there,
keto, paleo, etc. They may work but keeping it simple is the best course of action in my opinion.
Be conscious of what you eat, think of food as your fuel rather than pleasure. You would not
put regular unleaded gas in your Ferrari.