A lot of folks have been asking about what I have been eating, what my diet looks like and more. My last post ( https://www.captdylanhubbard.com/weight-loss/) had a pretty thorough detail about the overarching intricacies of my day to day. However, I didn’t go into depth about my diet and it seems some are interested. I can tell you this is an area I know enough to be dangerous and I am learning more daily but I want to preface this post letting you know I am in no way claiming to be an expert. I will be happy to tell you what has been working for me and what I find sustainable.
Navigating Weight Struggles: From Youth to Adulthood
This is the key to me, sustainability, the ability to repeat and keep the process going. My entire life I have struggled with my weight from middle school and beyond going really big, getting healthy and then going back. Sometimes I would spend years healthy and fit like later in high school and into college but moving home in a happy relationship and getting into unhealthy habits I quickly put weight back on especially after becoming less active behind a pretty severe back injury from mostly being young, dumb, and lifting improperly for many years and lifting things on and around the boats improperly and unsafely
Starting Small: The Foundation of Lasting Change
This really became a focus for me when I began this journey and has really been a huge pillar to my success along my path… focusing on sustainability and finding things I can stick to. Meaning, I started slowly, started small, and built upon that foundation slowly. I didn’t go from not working out to doing 12k steps a day. I didn’t go from eating like crazy to fasting and limiting caloric intake. I did go from drinking heavily nearly daily to not drinking at all, and same with vaping almost incessantly to stopping immediately. However, I feel both of those were more immediate fixes I needed to help me focus on managing my stress, anxiety, sleep issues and blood pressure problems I was having at the end of last year.
Boosting Mental Sharpness with Intermittent Fasting
Sustainability means to me… I am not here counting calories, macros, or carbs. I am not worrying over the numbers on labels and asking the waiter or waitress for ingredient lists. I am simply choosing the healthiest possible options, eating less, and then eating less time of the day. One big focus of my journey was managing stress and anxiety so at the start, a cool book that really led me down a healthy path was ‘Limitless’ by Jim Kwik. That really inspired me to read, get healthier, and do a lot of learning, and really inspired a renewed sense of hunger for knowledge I haven’t really had since middle school.
Long story short, along that book or perhaps in his vast podcast library I kept hearing about BDNF or brain-derived neurotropic factor and this was elevated or increased when you did intermittent fasting. I have really found it to be helpful in increasing my recall, decreasing stress and anxiety, and helping me overall to be more sharp when I am fasting in the morning.
I have now focused on this 16/8 intermittent fast which means I do not eat between 8p and noon. So when I wake up till noon I do not eat anything and only drink black coffee and water, then at noon I start eating a smaller meal if you could call it that… then snack a bit then eat a medium to large meal for an early dinner then try and stop eating by 6-7pm or sooner. This allows me plenty of time to digest food before sleeping.
A Dive Into My Daily Eating Habits
This is how my daily diet looks. Typically for lunch, while at work its mixed nuts (focus on almonds and walnuts), protein shake (phormula-1), protein bars (level-1), and or protein sticks. I have always tried protein powders, protein bars, and assorted meat snacks through the years but I have never found better-tasting products then I have at 1st phorm. I use their proteins, greens, reds, omega-3, and vitamins (https://1stphorm.com/CaptHubbard) and I have been since early this year around February when I found them. For lunch, I will also sometimes eat hardboiled eggs, carrots and guacamole, or chicken. Something fairly small that I can eat easily on the go because I find when I have a big meal at work I get super sluggish, slow, and can’t think as well.
After my initial ‘meal’ I will occasionally have a snack of more mixed nuts or another protein drink, bar or stick. Essentially the snack is something from the ‘lunch’ list I haven’t eaten yet.
Then when I go home, I eat another medium meal of broccoli, eggs, or chicken. Something I can grab easily while the kids are eating something. I may even steal a bite or two of their meal as we are always making them something I am trying not to down myself!
Then comes dinner which is typically some sort of salad with lots of veggies, leafy greens, avocado and chicken, fish, or beef. I will also do steaks often, or chicken and rice, or ground turkey and stuffed peppers or lettuce wraps. Something super high in protein, low in carbs, no gluten, limited dairy.
Caloric Control: A Practical Approach to Meal Structure
I will not count calories, or try and weigh things. No meal prep with containers galore, but I will try and remain as disciplined as possible. Nothing we do from day to day has a bigger effect on our biology, microbiome and overall health and wellness as what wee decide and choose to put into our bodies does.
Processed sugars, processed wheats, essentially anything that has ingredients you can’t pronounce well or don’t readily identify as food… that isn’t something that is conducive to your health overall.
Resisting Temptations: How I Overcame Cravings
People often talk about a cheat meal, cheat day, or something like that and I can tell you for me that isn’t a reality. Its not possible for me to have any slack or weakness in my mentality when it comes to this process. If I know well one cheat meal is cool it is a lot easier to become two, then three, and so one or one cheat day a week easily becomes two. For me, I treat it as the workout stuff. Start slowly, start small, but keep it sustainable and repeatable and keep building momentum.
You build confidence by keeping the promises to yourself. At first, yes it was really hard to dodge cravings for sugar, alcohol, and pizza. Now though I don’t even blink really and I am almost starting to feel repulsed. I have faltered at times, I am not perfect and I am the first one to admit that.
Mind and Body Connection: How Food Affects Mood
However, those falters have really proven to me the importance of my path and how well it’s working for me. Around Easter, I had a glass or two of whiskey at a family party and again around May during a family vacation. Both times I immediately had anxiety, stress, sleeping issues, and even lethargy returned in an instant. I was really taken aback and just knew how much I had changed my body and mind to become so in tune to sense that change.
I noticed the same with food, at one time we had a big family event and my weaknesses Thai food, sushi, and Indian food were all present. Needless to say, I went a little wild and I felt poorly for days exceedingly eating and eating a bunch of oily carbs and some fried foods really messed me up.
So in summary, find something that works for you but for me its intermittent fasting, eating cleanly without processed foods in the mix whenever possible, and then maximizing protein while limiting (NOT ELIMINATING) carbs. I also try and focus on lots of healthy fats with eggs, avocado and nuts. Then limit calories by only doing essentially one normal meal a day with two very small meals or just one. (for example, small lunch at noon, small after-work thing 3-5p, and limited dinner 5-7p)
Here is all the products that I currently use!
Find all their products here if your looking for something else, they have it all from pre-workouts to fat burners, to apparel, and in my experience all their products, service and selection is top notch!
- 1st phorm protein powder called phormula-1 (chocolate and mint chocolate my favorite)
- 1st phorm protein bars called level-1 bars (peanut butter lover, chocolate crunch, and mint chocolate are all nuts)
- 1st phorm meat sticks (jalapeno are my favorite)
- Greens supplement
- Reds supplement
- Omega 3 supplement
- Microfactor vitamin packs
