What s up guys, Jeff Cavaliere, Athleanx.com. When it comes to being lean, what you put in your body
is what matters the most, not necessarily what you do in your workouts. You see,
nutrition determines body fat levels, and to me, I take nutrition very seriously. So,
with that said, I want to share with you 17 foods, yes, that I eat every single day to make sure that
I stay on point and lean all year round. Now, one very important note here, remember,
these are my personal choices. I understand that your preferences may differ. But do realize you
likely pick a limited amount of foods even in what you eat. Like you probably have
your three or four favorite breakfasts that you rotate through or your lunches that are
kind of your go to foods or dinners. The idea is, if I can help you to settle in on better,
healthier choices here, or at least in terms of building more muscle and staying lean,
then it might actually open up the horizons for you and make that goal more achievable.
And so, we'll kick off this list where we kind of kick off our day at breakfast. And one of the
foods I have every single day is egg whites. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against
the yolk. The reason why I choose egg whites is because I could just pour them out of a container,
get six of them, and be off and running. The fact is the eggs give me a good source of
protein in the morning and there aren't really a whole hell of a lot that fit my meal plan.
Sure, there's bacon and there's sausage, but I don't eat a high fat meal plan, so I don't really
include those. My eggs will provide me that 24 grams of protein for six egg whites. It's a good
start to my morning and it's one reason why it's always going to be part of what I do every single
day. Sticking with breakfast here, the next food I actually committed to a long time ago was oatmeal,
because I looked through all the bodybuilding magazines and I saw the one common thread,
maybe as a cousin of egg whites, was that they all had oatmeal in the morning.
And so, I took that leap from Trix and Lucky Charms to something better. Or at least I
thought. Because the wrong oatmeal was actually these packets of oatmeal, the Maple Brown Sugar
Quaker Oats that had 28 grams of sugar in them. So maybe a better step than the sugary cereals,
but not really all the way. Until I realized the value of just plain old fashioned,
slow cooked oats. And that's when things started to change for me. I noticed I had
more energy. I noticed that muscle cramping, which was the thing that I kind of struggle
with for a while decreased tremendously because of the magnesium. And again, with the zero-sugar
found in this form of oats, I didn't have the crash that I normally did after breakfast.
The next thing you won't see me go a day without drinking is skim milk. Wait,
Jesse, that's not skim milk. Jesse: That's the best I could find.
I can see the fat running right through here. Actually, guys, I'm not necessarily against the
fat, I don't think fat is unhealthy. However, the fat is going to contribute calories in the
amount that I drink this every day. That would actually add up. I have between 40 and let's
say 50 ounces of skim milk every single day. Whether it be in my oatmeal or as a glass alone
or at night or with my shakes. I have a lot. And realizing that the skim option gives us less fat,
I'm only choosing it because of the calorie impact that it would have. Now, if you're not drinking a
whole hell of a lot each day, then go ahead and have whole milk, we get a lot of benefits from
it. I would say to choose the fortified option, if possible, because they add extra vitamin D,
something that we all could benefit from. Especially here in the Northeast when I tend
to stay indoors a lot in the winter, I could benefit from some of the vitamin D,
I'm not getting from being out in the sun. But again, my reasoning for choosing this is really
for that extra protein boost throughout the day. And with up to 50 ounces, like I said that I'm
drinking every day, that would be an extra 450 calories if I chose the whole milk version. Again,
when you're trying to stay in a certain caloric range, having that much could do some damage.
Next up for me are one of those intangibles that oftentimes get overlooked, you know when
we're talking about foods. Because this is a food ingredient, and we're talking about cinnamon. Now,
I'm not talking about any kind of cinnamon. There's an important difference between Cassia
cinnamon and Ceylon cinnamon. And actually, one of my YouTube subscribers pointed it out to me
a long time ago when they were looking out for me because I eat a hell of a lot of cinnamon
every day. As a matter of fact, I put it in my oatmeal along with the skim milk. You can see
we start to combine these things to become a lot more efficient with our food choices, too. But
the difference is that Cassia cinnamon has some negative side effects. If you eat a lot of it,
you can get coumarin toxicity, which can actually lead to some liver damage, not something I wanted.
So, for me, Ceylon cinnamon is the choice. You might have to go to a specialty store to buy it,
but it's definitely worth the effort if you're going to be eating a lot of it.
The reason I eat it is because not only do I enjoy the taste of cinnamon, but I also realize
it's blood sugar stabilizing capabilities. It can help improve insulin sensitivity,
which again, when your goal is to stay lean or if you have aspirations for fat loss,
it's just an easy add on that you shouldn't overlook, and I certainly never do any day.
Next up in a food that I have every day at lunchtime is Greek yogurt. And we know the
benefits of yogurt. You probably have been told many times before that it helps to boost your
immune system. It helps with the probiotics in it for digestive health. But I actually choose
it once again as another really good solid choice of protein. And when we're talking about around
15 to up to 25 grams of protein per container. Now, there's one caution here. Some will tell you
that this is great because it contains all nine essential amino acids. But you have to realize
that not all of them are in adequate levels. So, if you want to make this a real complete protein,
you can boost the levels that are lacking in Greek yogurt by adding a little bit of chia
seeds or a little bit of pumpkin seeds on top, which is something I oftentimes will do.
Guys, I have a sweet tooth. I've revealed that to you before in many videos. How do I keep myself
from indulging in that too often? By not depriving myself completely of the things that taste sweet
to me. Now, again, with some modifications, I don't eat ice cream every day. I choose a lower
calorie option with less fat. Again, the calories will matter if you do something every single day,
this is something that I indulge in. I do it every single night after dinner, a glass about that
tall, full of frozen yogurt and yes, with whipped cream on top. If you can find something that you
really, really enjoy and it helps to keep you on track because you don't feel deprived, then it
needs to be in your daily eating plan. And again, this is something that works for me. Find the
thing that works for you, but also works to keep you at the goals that you want to achieve.
Which brings me back now to the non-sweetened portion of my meal plan, and we're talking about
lean protein like chicken, fish or beef or meat. Because again, when you're seeking new muscle
gains, it's a very important part of what you're putting in your body. Now, that being said, I long
ago gave up the idea of the boring body builder approach to my proteins. You won't find me eating
boiled chicken with steamed broccoli, it's just not going to happen. Especially because it's not
necessary. There are so many things that we can do to enhance their flavor that don't commit you to a
lifetime of eating boiled, dry, bland food. But when building muscle is your goal like it
is mine, some protein in your diet is going to have to be there, it's an inescapable truth.
Where you reach for yours is up to you. This is where I go on a daily basis. Now,
this one might catch some of you by surprise because you probably didn't expect this to be on
my plate at least one time every single day. And guess, what? It is for one very important reason,
because I love it. I grew up an Italian kid in a house with a grandfather who prepared the seven
fishes on Christmas Eve. When did you think I was not going to eat pasta the rest of my life?
Even being lean, you can still eat pasta. And that's the thing I want to get across
to you guys. You have to have a respect for these complex carbohydrates, but you can still eat them,
or at least I believe you can, because I think it's important fuel for your performance. And
for me, it's worth my entire life. As long as I remain active, I can eat these things. But again,
I have to have a healthy respect. So how I do it is with how I divide the portion of these
on my plate. And I talked about that in my plate division method video where I showed you that yes,
that one third was occupied by the protein we just talked about, but then one third of the
remainder of the plate came in the form of my complex or starchy carbohydrates. Again,
allocating a certain amount of space because I know that these foods can easily be overeaten.
But you're never going to convince me that these should be replaced entirely. I understand
there's alternative methods for fueling your body. I'm not an advocate of those. For me,
carbohydrates will always be the source. So, pasta was the yin to my diet. Then the yang is going to
come in the form of the fibrous carbohydrates, things like Bok Choy, Brussels Sprouts,
cauliflower. But we can lump them into a category called cruciferous vegetables.
And it's one that I make sure that I have some form of on my plate every single night.
The reason for it is because I know the benefits that they provide. Rhonda Patrick is somebody that
I have a high respect for, and she goes into great detail how the cruciferous vegetables
have something called sulforaphane in them that allow us to do a lot of interesting things. Not
only do they provide amazing anti-inflammatory benefits and again, for someone training hard,
that's a win-win. But they also have the ability to inhibit myostatin. And myostatin
is something that will break down muscle in your body or at least signal the breakdown of
muscle. If you inhibit that, you have a better opportunity to experience new muscle growth.
Not to mention the sulforaphane itself is a powerful antioxidant, which we again can
always benefit from more of. The key is that you don't forget to do it. We've all been told by mom,
eating our green vegetables is important. Well, now I have some more reasons to make
sure that you do. Now don't be confused by the shameless plug behind me of the best tasting
protein on the market with, of course, an industry leading 30 grams per serving.
Now, the fact is this is one of the easiest ways for you guys to get more protein in your
diet on a daily basis. And it's through the use of a protein shake. And yes,
it's one of those body builder approach remnants that I believe should still stick to this day.
Because having a high-quality protein shake is one of the easiest, most digestible,
most convenient ways to get the additional protein that will help you to meet your
daily protein goals. For me, it's a staple of what I do. Every single day when I leave work,
the first thing I do when I get home is I make a protein shake. Because for those of
you that follow me on Instagram, you know that I don't work out until very late at night. So,
I don't have my dinner until after I'm done training. That could be 11:00 or even 1130.
So, I have my shake. And for me, of course, I'm going to reach for Pro30G because it's our
brand. And not because I don t like any other brands. It's just that I know that I can vouch
for this one because I put my damn name on the bag. The fact is, it comes in both vegan and
regular whey formulas. You have to find the one that's right for you. Maybe it's not this one,
but you should find a place in your daily diet for a high-quality protein shake
because it's going to help you immensely. And now, piggybacking off of that protein shake
recommendation, I'm going to go with blueberries every single day, literally. Because what I do
is I take blueberries and I throw them into my protein shake because I know the many benefits
that blueberries provide. Not only are they a powerful antioxidant, but they actually
help in the gym, too. They help speed up muscle recovery. And if you're going to train naturally,
the most important thing you can do is try to figure out a way to improve your body's
ability to recover from your hard workouts. And blueberries help here. They actually have been
shown to decrease the amount of oxidative stress and damage to human muscle progenitor cells.
Basically, what that means is if you're trying to add new muscle and you can get less damage to
those new muscle cells, well, we're in business. They're also very portable and they contain up
to 25% of the daily recommendation for vitamin C. But here's the one point that kind of sticks
in my craw a little bit. When people say that they don't eat blueberries or for that matter,
many fruits, because it makes you fat. Guys, there's only 0.8 calories in a single blueberry,
which means you could eat 100 of them and it will only cost you 80 calories. Believe me,
eating blueberries never will make you fat. So why don't you indulge because the many
benefits here will far overshadow the reasons why you're not eating them right now.
And so if I'm going to share with you the foods I eat on a daily basis,
I couldn't make it through the entire video without talking about my nuts.
Jesse: Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut. What? And so in any video of me sharing the foods
that I eat on a daily basis, I'm going to have to talk about my walnuts, because walnuts have unique
benefits, especially when compared to other nuts. Number one, they have the highest concentration of
Omega-3 fatty acids. And we know that omega three fatty acids can help to control inflammation and
speed up muscle repair and recovery. And just like the Oomega-3 fatty acids found in fish,
the same benefits can apply here to you in terms of improving your blood lipid profiles and
cholesterol levels. And I mentioned consolidating those foods to make sure that I get all these in
on a daily basis. This is where I put my walnuts in my oatmeal every single day. Or it's where
I kind of pair them up with that omega rich fish that I talked about eating before.
I know how important dietary fats are to me. I spent the early part of my life avoiding fats
because I read all the information that told us to do that. I paid the price for that. I will never
do that again, I have to make sure I have them in my diet. This is a great way for you to do it,
and it's an easy way to do it, too. And so, if pasta was my all-time favorite
carbohydrate, well, this might be tied because I love sweet potatoes. And maybe you could tell
by the orange color of my hands. I eat them a lot, every single day, but it's
because I know the benefits of them. They're a better form of carbohydrate for me. Again,
they're lower on the glycemic index, they make me feel good, they give me good energy to support my
heart training. But most of all, I enjoy them. I mean, I literally love sweet potatoes. To me,
it's almost like a dessert. And again, when I have that sweet tooth that will never go away.
It's something I just sort of rely on to give me some of that satisfaction throughout the day.
Not only do they have 4 to 6 grams of fiber per potato, but they have something called
carotenoids. Basically, all the orange foods have carotenoids. And they're free radical scavengers
that can go out there and kind of break down the cells that sort of advance or accelerate aging.
So that's what makes me look young after all these years. The fact is, guys, there's so many reasons
why I love my sweet potatoes. And if you ever try them and get into them yourself, I'm sure
you'll have the same love affair that I do. This next one is another one of those green
vegetables that I make sure I don't miss on a daily basis, but it's not one of the cruciferous
vegetables, it's asparagus. And you may know someone who eats asparagus because you could smell
them from a mile away, or at least if you walk by the bathroom after they go to the bathroom,
you can smell them from a few rooms away. But it's got so much more benefits than just the ability to
turn people away. It has the ability to create a skin tightening effect. This is actually a
food that bodybuilders rely on as almost nature's diuretic to help them remove excess water weight.
And it all starts with low levels of body fat, because if you're sitting at 25 to 30% body fat,
all the asparagus in the world probably won't make a visible difference. But
you'll still probably enjoy it because it's a great tasting vegetable and it's one that
I make sure I include every single day. So, this next one might trigger a few people
because they're not a big fan of soy. And I actually didn't think I was either, because if
you believed everything you read up to this point, you might have avoided it like the plague. But I
don't anymore. And I eat it every single night in the form of edamame. It provides 17 grams
of protein per cup. It's the only vegetable that provides all of nine essential amino acids. Now,
a lot of people will avoid soy in any form because they're worried about the testosterone
lowering effects and the increases in estrogen. But recent research has actually found that a
lot of people are contesting whether or not that's true. It's something I've eaten every
single day and experienced zero estrogenic side effects. So at least in my case, I'm going to
continue eating it, what you do is up to you. I mentioned earlier the other orange foods. Well,
my other orange food of choicethat is absolutely something I eat every single day is canned
pumpkin. And I put it in my oatmeal, as you've probably seen in my pumpkin oatmeal recipe. But
I could eat it just like this because I know how powerful it is in terms of being a superfood. It
has high levels of Vitamin A, But as I mentioned, again, back with the sweet potatoes, you have to
be careful about how much you're ingesting because it could leave your skin a little tad orange.
But again, as a powerful free radical scavenger and anti-ager, it's something that I'm going to
find a way to put into my diet every single day. Another good point here,
this is one of those lower calorie options when it comes to the orange foods. Remember, sweet
potatoes are going to be more calorically dense, this not nearly as much. So, if you're looking
for something that's going to be a little bit light on calories and still give you the chance
to have the orange foods every day, this is the one you're going to want to reach for, too.
If there's a food I've become a more recent believer of it's been ginger and I
incorporate it every single day and it's pickled form. We're talking about almost zero calories,
and I get to experience the benefits we know it can provide in just about a pinch. But one
of the best things that Ginger provides is a blood sugar stabilization effect because it
can increase insulin sensitivity. The other thing it does is it can improve our ability
to withstand hard workouts. In fact, there's a recent study that showed it could decrease
delayed onset muscle soreness by up to 25%. And again, unlike some of the other foods we covered,
the amount that you have to ingest is so minimal, I feel like everyone can do it.
Now maybe you don't like the taste of ginger, but you can do it in so many different forms,
this just happens to be the one that I choose. I highly recommend it guys, and I make sure that I
put it in my diet every single day. Wait, Jesse, they're not supposed to see this one. Well, okay,
listen, I'd be remiss if I didn't at least admit to this, because this is also a part of my daily
eating every single day. I put it on my oatmeal, I put it on my regular yogurt, Greek yogurt, and I
put it on my frozen yogurt at night. No, I'm not scared of the calories here. The point is, it's
another one of those things get keeps my sanity and keeps me enjoying the foods that I eat.
Speaking of that, guys, if you want to see my whole day of how I put together all of these
meals, you can check out my full day of eating video here. I highly recommend it.
A lot of people have asked me, Jeff, how and what do you eat? that reveals everything in a
nutshell. If you look at for a full program, guys, and includes a meal plan, you can find
it at Athleanx.com and it haven't done so click Subscribe, turn on your Notifications
so you never miss a video when we put one out. All right, guys, see you soon.