This is some notes about how I eat, and why.

Major Ideas

Mostly vegan (plant-based diet)

People who eat a plant-based diet live 7 years longer.

It’s hard for me to go completely vegan (I like my seafood and dairy), so I try to go for vegan meals most of the week, with 1-2 dinners non-vegan.

From what I read in Blue Zones (above), eating meat once a week still helps you get a lot of the longevity benefits.

High-protein

I found out about Peter Attia in 2022: who has been an awesome source of information for longevity.

One of his ideas is that the current recommendation for protein (50g / day) is much too low, and doesn’t enable enough nutrient availability for optimal muscle hypertrophy (alone with lifting weights). Low lean body mass is one of the biggest indicators of poor health and longevity.

Peter recommends 1.8-3 grams / kg / day. For me, at 83kg, that would equate to 150 grams of protein minimum.

I don’t go that extreme at the moment, but I do strive for 120 grams.

With a vegan diet, that number is likely higher: vegan proteins are not always complete, and may not be in an easily digestable form unlike meat.

Targetting 1700 kcal / day

I’m currently in the middle of trying to lose weight: my last Dexa scan in 2022/10 put me at 21% body fat, which is much higher than I’m hoping. My current target is 15% body fat, which means I have to lose 12 lbs of body weight.

To that end, I’m looking at some minor caloric restriction: at 1700 kcal / day, and assuming I can build up a daily caloric expendature of 2100 kcal, that would be me at 3500 / (2100 - 1700) ~ 8.75 days to lose a pound of weight. And ideally I could my weight in 108 days (~4 months).

I’m mixing that with lifting weights to try to guarantee muscle hypertrophy.

In reality my caloric intake is often higher due to limited self-control, but I’m working on that.

Daily Routine

Breakfast: Protein Shake

From Layne Norton, a nutritionist, the likely best times to ingest protein is in the morning and evening: after and before large fasting periods to ensure protein availability.

I currently consume Huel protein shakes (vegan) of 40g, at roughly 220kcal.

Lunch: Huel Hot and Savory

Huel aims to provide sustainable, plant-based meals cheap. Their normal offering is a meal replacement shake, which I can’t get myself to consume regularly. I like their “Hot and Savory” meals because:

  • easy to prepare and clean up: you just throw some hydrated food in and add water.
  • extremely filling. I eat a 400 calorie amount and I’m full for hours (noon until ~4-5pm).
  • plant-based

“Hot and Savory” is amazing for that: I’ve fiddled with various plant-based lunch combinations and found it impossible to find something filling.

In 2022 I started mixing with with Huel unflavored protein powder to bulk it up to 40g / protein / 400 calories.

To further promote weight loss, I’m reducing my lunch down to 200 calories.

Dinner: whatever, usually vegan

For dinner I’m pretty loose, since the rest of my meals are quite regimented. A majority are vegan or minimal animal-based (grain bowls, veggie burgers and fries, phad thai), and sometimes things like sushi, grilled salmon, past, etc.

After-dinner snack: protein shake

Following up with protein availability again before the largest fastest period, I consume 40g of protein.

Totals

Overall:

Calories (kcal) Protein (g) Item
220 40 Protein shake
100 0 Coffee Drink
200 20 Huel Hot and Savory + Protein Powder
100 0 Snacks (generally fruit)
600-800 10-50 Dinner
220 40 Protein shake
TOTAL - -
1440-1640 110-150 —

Tips on portion control

Portion control has been really hard for me. I’m still looking for the right way to try to curb the amount that I eat and snack on a given day.

Eating a bite every 2 minutes

With such a lower calorie count, it’s very easy to be starving at the end of the night and need to eat.

To curb that, I’m trying to eat a bite every 2 minutes: a study showed that it takes ~20 minutes to feel full (having trouble finding the source). So if I eat a bit every 10 minutes, that’s only 10 bites and I’ll start feeling full and my hunger begins to subside.

Eat half of what you regularly do

If you eat huge dinners or snacks, try to halve the portions. You still get the flavor, but avoid all of the calories.

Decide on the portion you’re going to eat beforehand

Sometimes you can eat too much food without thinking about it. If you decide on your portions beforehand you can get grab the portion and stop yourself, rather than have a fuzzy amount that you end up exceeding anyway.

Other Tips

Sucralose may cause NAFLD

When I started eating four servings of Huel protein powder a day (to try to up my protein intake, those 80 grams help) along with drinking a sugar-free sweet coffee daily, I found that my ALT and AST numbers have grown significantly (11->16 and 17->25, respectively over 10 months).

I’m not sure the precise cause, by after doing some research I found some research in mice that shows sucralose and stevia (and regular sugar) consumption increasing ALT and AST.

Correlation is not causation, but I’m currently (2023/04) trying to lower my Sucralose consumption significantly to see if my numbers change at all.

Eating Fruit not bread or dairy

I’ve been trying to lower my apo(b), as recommended by Peter Attia. I haven’t tried to do it via medication yet, but health-wise I’m trying to cut out saturated fats as much as possible.

As part of that, I’ve been looking for something that minimizes my saturated fat intake. Fruit is high in fiber, low in saturated fat.

I’m trying to have that replace my snacks of crackers and chips (high in saturated fat).