Just Tell Me What To Eat…

Talk To Me Johnnie – After reading the information on fats and ketogenic diets, I am confused. Can you just tell me what to eat?


It seems that I needed some counseling, so I did what any intelligent individual would do, I contacted Chuck Norris for his views on nutrition. I asked for an accurate prescription for what I should be eating. Chuck responded and delivered the information via a mechanical winged messenger given as a gift by the Gods of Olympus.

Eat with abandon: meat, fowl, fish, seafood, eggs, vegetables, roots, tubers, bulbs, herbs and spices as well as animal fats, olives & olive oil, avocados, and coconut (meat, oil, flour) and dairy*.

*Dairy is a gray area, while it is a powerful tool in the strength and weight gain category you have to be smart. Individuals with autoimmune disease should avoid dairy products of any kind. For those without autoimmune diseases, dairy from grass-fed animals is permissible. Dairy from grain-fed animals will not have an ideal omega 3 profile. Heavy cream, butter, and ghee should not be problematic. Occasional consumption of fermented dairy options such as cheese and yogurt is acceptable. Experiment with milk but eliminate it if it is found to be problematic.

**Pasteurized whole milk from grain-fed cows treated with rBGH offers an increased anabolic environment for the consumer.

Limit: nuts, seeds, and fruit.
Better choices in the nut category include macadamias, cashews, and hazelnuts. Almonds aren’t terrible. Seeds are generally rich sources of linoleic acid because they can be eaten in large quantities (the serving sizes are typically in the tablespoon to 1/4 cup range and can be misleading). Sunflower and sesame seeds are a terrible choices in the seed category. Soaking nuts prior to consumption is recommended but not necessary.

Reduce the serving size if you are going to pick a fruit that has a high metabolic fructose content.

Avoid: Cereal grains including: all varieties of wheat (spelt, einkorn, emmer, durum), barley, rye, oats, triticale, corn (maize), rice (including wild rice), sorghum, millet, fonio, and teff and legumes.

Grain-like substances or pseudocereals including: Amaranth, Breadnut, Buckwheat, Cattail, Chia, Cockscomb, Kañiwa, Pitseed Goosefoot, Quinoa, and Wattleseed (aka aacacia seed). Pseudocereals are the seeds of broad leaf plants whereas grains are the seeds of grasses.

There you have it, simple to read and in an easy to follow format.

We can save the amounts for next week when Chuck sends us his thoughts via Bubo the Owl.

Thank you Chuck Norris!

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22 Comments

  1. Eric Lepine
    Posted June 27, 2010 at 11:43 am | Permalink

    Coudn’t have put it any better or clearer… If I may add one evidently obvious and general “don’t” to complete the list, it would be: as much as possible, stay away from foods with bar codes!!! In line with your “vending machine” foods principle I suppose…

    Oh, and stay away from beans also!!!!

    Thanks John… And Chuck too!!!!

  2. John Pavlic
    Posted June 27, 2010 at 2:43 pm | Permalink

    The most expensive special effects scene in movie history!

  3. Zack J
    Posted June 28, 2010 at 5:21 am | Permalink

    Bruce Lee v. Chewbacca

  4. Posted June 28, 2010 at 9:49 am | Permalink

    I’m surprised the universe didn’t explode after that display of badassedry.

  5. Ling
    Posted June 28, 2010 at 5:18 pm | Permalink

    John, what’s your take on sunbutter, which is made from specially roasted sunflower seeds, and is peanut, tree-nut and gluten free?

  6. Clinton Canaday - 24/6'3"/225
    Posted June 28, 2010 at 8:42 pm | Permalink

    Question…What’s the deal with gluten-free pasta? How does that fall into the “grain” category? I know that Robb Wolf is anti-gluten, so what’s the consensus? Thanks.

  7. Eric Lepine
    Posted June 29, 2010 at 5:52 am | Permalink

    @Ling… Go back to the article titled “Saturated Fats”… “The one fat that is a problem in the diet is the polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid called linoleic acid. Food sources of linoleic acid include: corn oil, soy oil, cottonseed oil, grapeseed oil, oats, peanuts and peanut oil, rice bran, safflower oil, sesame seeds and oil, sunflower seeds and oil, walnuts, wheat products, brazil nuts, pine nuts, hemp, pecans, and pistachios. ” So, sunflower seed butter being made with sunflower seeds would be a no-no :)

    @Clinton… No-gluten pasta is just that: no-gluten pasta. One of the culprits is gone, but you’ll still be dealing with a food made of a grain or pseudograin, so consisting mostly of starch… So, you’re dealing again with a food from John’s “Avoid” category… Unless you can find a no-phytate, no-lectin, no-starch pasta, no-etc. (you get my drift) pasta, stay away from the stuff!!!!

  8. Posted June 29, 2010 at 7:02 am | Permalink

    Eric – Yes! Great job taking the information and making it work for you. You are well armed.

  9. ehayes
    Posted June 30, 2010 at 7:10 am | Permalink

    Clinton-
    Put a grass fed pork butt in the slow cooker for 12 hours. Shred it into strands. Pour some tomato sauce on top and voila, gluten free, phytate free, lectin free, omega 3-6 balanced, “pasta” that you can eat with abandon. Spaghetti Squash is your other option, but the pork butt sounds really good.

  10. Clinton Canaday - 24/6'3"/225
    Posted June 30, 2010 at 4:03 pm | Permalink

    “If man made it, don’t eat it”, and “if it tastes good, spit it out.” – Jack Lalanne

  11. Posted October 13, 2010 at 5:36 am | Permalink

    John,

    Thanks so much. I’ve been Paleo for about 1.5 years – pretty strict too: no grains and no dairy. Recently, I decided to start mixing things up w/ my fitness and started following CFFB. After reading the CFFB prescription for eats, I started getting grass-fed whole milk from a local farm. No bad effects as far as I can tell. For example, my fight gone bad score increased by 40 points in 1.5 months and I was doing the dairy thing. I had noticed a bit of congestion – in my lungs and attributed it to seasonal change. I am so anxious about it sometimes. I love the milk in a smoothie with some high quality protein and after workouts. Anyhow, I just want to say thanks for this blog and for this note on eats, especially the disclaimer on Dairy. I am going to tread lightly…

    SP

  12. Chris Savage
    Posted December 8, 2010 at 3:28 pm | Permalink

    Hey there, I have 2 questions:

    1) Are oats really that terrible? I understand about avoiding cereal/grains but I thought oats were quiet low GI, slow release and a good thing to have for breakfast?

    2) I try to eat paleo most of the time but after a workout I use a carb supplement called Vitargo, which is fast release for quick recovery. I only use it for this purpose. What is your opinion?

    Look forward to your response. Great article! Chris, Belfast, Ireland.

  13. Cliff
    Posted January 14, 2011 at 8:56 am | Permalink

    What form of carbs are you allowed to eat if any.

  14. David
    Posted January 26, 2011 at 4:07 pm | Permalink

    “**Pasteurized whole milk from grain-fed cows treated with rBGH offers an increased anabolic environment for the consumer.”

    Could anyone elaborate on this? I’ve been trying to decide on a good milk brand to stick with as I aim to put on some size, I know there is a lot of BGH controversy and it’s limited in most places.

    Thanks!

  15. Andrew
    Posted February 27, 2011 at 10:49 am | Permalink

    That video has to be stretched to death they look like Aliens!

  16. Matthias
    Posted March 9, 2011 at 10:14 pm | Permalink

    “Pasteurized whole milk from grain-fed cows treated with rBGH offers an increased anabolic environment for the consumer.”

    Can you please explain why that is?

    I added a gallon of pasteurized milk to my paleo diet and lets just say it was not good for my digestion (read: mud butt). Sorry, I had to say mud butt.

    Yes, pasteurized whole milk from grain-fed cows treated with rBGH offers an increased anabolic environment for the consumer. Now put rBGH into google. Do some research. I would say that your “mud butt” is a good indicator you should not drink milk. I guess you get to miss out on the effects of drinking milk.

    On a personal note, I am amazed that some who uses the term “mud butt”, would read this blog. I usually equate that terminology with 6-7 year old children and my college football teammate Kirsten Sheriden.

    John

  17. Novan
    Posted June 7, 2011 at 9:02 pm | Permalink

    Great post. This is more or less paleo, correct?
    My main concern is: does this only suit people of Scandinavian, Celtic or Anglo background i.e white Europeans? Would this be just as effective, or less effective, for those of south-east Asian background like myself?

    If anyone could point me to any literature regarding a more appropriate paleo diet guidelines for Asians and non Europeans, that would be very much appreciated.

    Not sure if it is paleo but that is of little concern. I was not aware south-east Asians were a different species. I thought they were homo sapians. Asians still have live off spring, are bipeds and have opposable thumbs, dont they? Interesting. I will have look into Asians being descended from Aliens and not Andi and Ardi.

  18. Jake
    Posted July 5, 2011 at 5:37 am | Permalink

    The expression is “eat WITHOUT abandon”.

  19. Aaron
    Posted July 21, 2011 at 3:53 pm | Permalink

    First I would like to say thank you Johnnie for CFFB! I love the program and greatly appreciate the work you out in to make us better. your program has actually lead me to a job at a local gym in my area. They saw me working out and asked if I’d be interested in a job as a trainer.
    With that said I hve a few questions. I follow the paleo + dairy diet that you recommend and have great success in the strength gain department. But I have notice lately that my progress has slowed. I know you recommend roots and tubers as part of the diet but that is completely against Robb Wolfs advice. Why is it you recommend them and he doesn’t? How often do you recommend eating them? Also, how often do you recommend we eat? Right now I’m eating a 400+ calorie meal every 3-4 hours but I’m thinking about going to every 2 hours.

    Thanks for the help,
    Aaron

    Robb Wolf recommends you not eat tubers and bulbs???? I am not sure about that as last time I had dinner with Robb we ate about 6 large japanese yams. I am pretty sure Robb recommends better carb choices like roots, tubers and bulbs.

    I would say 4-5 meals a day is plenty. Just get your daily caloric intake.

    John

  20. Max
    Posted October 12, 2011 at 3:12 pm | Permalink

    Hey John,

    what do you think about low fat Quark aka curd cheese? Not sure wether both really means the same. I guess it’s not really a “cheese” and I really would like to know your opinion. I’ve read “Paleo for Athletes” and “The Paleo Solution” but couldn’t find any answer. Robb just wrote, that he don’t want to talk in detail about milk, because he could write the same about it like he did in the grain chapter.

    greez

  21. Jackson
    Posted December 20, 2011 at 11:59 pm | Permalink

    What about beans? Black beans, kidney beans, etc.

  22. Posted December 22, 2011 at 2:15 pm | Permalink

    Look under avoid.

    legumes are a cool way of saying beans.

    So if you re-read the AVOID it says to keep away from cereal grains, pseudo grains and legumes.

    Legumes would be beans.

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