Throughout my physical and mental improvement process, I have gone from one diet to another, from one strategy to another. After a long time, I have learned a thing or two about how to manage my nutrition and, above all, how to make it key in achieving my goals, whether it is cutting or bulking.

WARNING: Everything mentioned in this post is based on my own learnings, which are based on pure empiricism from my side. I do not recommend taking what I say as if it were written in stone. I suggest doing your own research and consulting with professionals.

I remember the first time I tried to diet and lose weight. My logic was, "If I have to consume a certain number of calories, why not eat less and track everything I eat so as not to exceed it, and do A LOT OF CARDIO?" This was the logic I followed the first time I lost weight. I used the MyFitnessPal application to track everything I ate. I did about 1 hour of treadmill every day, which allowed me to lose weight very quickly. The problem was the infamous rebound effect.

What I had lost, I regained and doubled in less time. Then, I went to a nutritionist who was a friend of my mom. She showed me how to eat based on portions. It was very simple. She gave me a table that included different food groups such as meats, dairy, vegetables, fats, etc. The table had a number that represented how many "points," so to speak, I could exchange at each mealtime. The table also included various examples of food and their costs.

It was like buying things. With this number of points, how much can I eat at each meal? This method was very beneficial for me at the time. I feel that it is much more friendly, educational, and sustainable in the long term. Because here's the thing, theoretically, if you want to lose weight, you simply have to be in a caloric deficit. It's not rocket science. The key is how you achieve that caloric deficit.

For example, if you have to consume a maximum of 1800 calories to be in a deficit, let's say you eat a 500-calorie chocolate bar in each meal. You are creating a caloric deficit. The catch is that obviously you won't feel satisfied with just one bar per meal. In addition to the nutritional value of this food, you're just adding sugars and fats, things that won't help you much in terms of energy and will only end up causing breakouts.

For a long time, I used this table. But as always, I have come to realize that over time and after making mistakes, one learns how to stabilize. That's why I say, "If your goal is not to lose weight overnight or to compete," you don't need super strict diets. Give your diet a little margin and enjoy life.

However, when you want to improve physically and are willing to make changes to achieve it, things get interesting. For a long time, I didn't consume protein powder or supplements. I had the mindset that "Those things are not natural." For me, those things were cheating, a quick way to get something that shouldn't be easy to obtain. But in the end, I discovered that both protein and creatine are not harmful supplements, and on the contrary, they bring long-term benefits.

In the summer of this year 2023, I started consuming protein powder. I always take it with water because, in my opinion, the taste is not bad, and it doesn't upset my stomach as much. I started using creatine at the beginning of the year. One day, I went to my aunt and uncle's house, and my cousin Rafa noticed that I had started going to the gym, so he asked me, "Don't you take any supplements?" My parents said no and that it was all natural because they didn't like the idea of me taking supplements.

Out of nowhere, my cousin got up, opened the pantry, took out a bottle of creatine, and said, "Take it, it's about halfway full." I remember I couldn't believe it. For me, supplements were like something taboo, and if I consumed them, I would no longer be natural. But as I mentioned earlier, these two supplements have no problem. Thank you very much, Rafa :)

For a long time, I would take creatine in a glass of water separately. I would add 2 scoops, stir them, and drink them. Then, during the summer internship, my colleague Mateo asked me, "Why don't you do a dry scoop?" If you don't know what that is, it's simply the act of taking the scoop, putting it in your mouth without trying to swallow it, and then quickly drinking a glass of water so that the creatine dissolves with the water. Since then, I take creatine that way.

If you are going to try this, make sure someone is with you in case something goes wrong. Always have water on hand in case you make a mistake.

That same summer, I started doing meal prep. If you want to know more about the story of why I started, you can click here. The point is that I started doing meal preps based on the dish from a Korean fried rice restaurant that I used to go to every day after work.

At first, I followed the exact recipe from the restaurant. The recipe is as follows:

• 2 cups of rice
• Bacon (one package)
• 5 zucchinis
• 4 bell peppers
• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 red onion
• 3 green onions
• Sesame seeds

Before starting to cook, I dice all the vegetables into small cubes and separate them into the Ikea containers I bought in the summer. After chopping everything, I begin preparing the rice and then sauté each of the vegetables separately in a pan. I leave the proteins for last, the chicken and bacon, and at the end, I add sesame seeds to the mixture to give it a little crunch.

This amount is enough for 10 portions spread out over 5 days of the week, but they are only for lunch and dinner. In the mornings, due to classes, I often end up buying something on campus since the idea of carrying a lunchbox or food in my backpack doesn't convince me completely.

Throughout time, I have been adding and removing ingredients from this dish. For example, when my goal is to define, I remove the bacon since it is not a food that benefits me. Similarly, I can remove the sesame seeds, which don't contribute much. I also started replacing rice with potatoes since potatoes satisfy you faster and have fewer calories and a decent amount of protein. Based on my experience, I recommend dicing the potatoes and just frying them. Once I tried replacing all the rice with mashed potatoes for better texture.

That was the worst iteration of this recipe to date. The mashed potatoes would lose flavor when stored in the refrigerator. The lack of rice and sesame seeds made the dish less textured and more lumpy without any crunch. So, if you plan to incorporate potatoes into this recipe, I highly recommend not eliminating the rice completely and not mashing the potatoes unless you do it on the same day and as a complement.

I also started adding egg whites after my friend Javier mentioned that they are a good source of protein without many calories. Personally, I tried using the cartons of egg whites that you can buy at the supermarket, but in my opinion, they taste worse than fresh egg whites. They have a more artificial taste.

I recommend separating the whites from regular eggs instead. I also tried adding the egg whites to the entire mixture and storing it in the refrigerator. This didn't cause any problems, but I think it's a risk of getting sick, and the taste is worse. So, it's better to add the egg whites on top of your portion and mix everything.

Also, during the summer, I realized that most of the time when I was hungry, I used to grab some bags of potato chips that I kept at home. Over time, I discovered that this was not a very good habit, so I decided to replace the chips with seedless green grapes. They are a food that I can eat anytime. They are mostly water and have fewer calories, which helps satisfy my hunger.

If you are a student at Tec de Guadalajara, after several semesters, I have discovered one of the best options for what you can order on campus. This is the mushroom pasta with bacon from Güich. You can do the same as me and ask them to add 2 scrambled eggs to the pasta. If you are cutting, you can ask for only the egg whites, but if you are maintaining, save them the trouble. If you are not on campus, this dish has very good macros and is excellent for breakfast, in my opinion :)

As for what I drink during the week, with breakfast, along with the pasta, I usually have flavored water. During meals, I decided some time ago to prepare lemonade. I used to avoid making it because I found it tedious to make lemonade for each meal of the day. But in the end, I decided to buy a plastic jug and keep the lemonade in the refrigerator. Instead of sugar, I use honey because I find it a more natural solution.

I always make sure to take the protein and creatine right after returning from the gym and before eating. 2 scoops of protein and 2 scoops of creatine. Before going to the gym, I sometimes take a spoonful of honey to quickly gain energy in a natural way. Pre-workout drinks and Monster energy drinks are something I have tried, and they work wonders, but I prefer not to build up resistance to caffeine and save them for important or special occasions.

This is my diet for the week. It must also be admitted that there are days when I prefer not to eat the same and have Chinese food, hamburgers, tacos, etc. But since I consume the same things most of the time and stay on track, these indulgences go unnoticed and eventually fade away.

I hope you liked this post. Thank you so much for reading :)