**This is part 2 of a 4 part series. In part 1 I laid out some foundational guidelines for how to look at answering the common question, “What should I eat?” Here is the quick recap.

The five food guidelines to follow…
1. Eat real, whole foods. Not processed food products.
2. Limit your ingredients.
3. Strive for SLOP (seasonal, local, organic and pastured).
4. Flavor with herbs and spices.
5. Prepare and cook your own food.

Apply those guidelines to your choices from these food types…
1. Plants
2. Animals
3. Cultured and Fermented
4. Traditional Beverages
5. Comfort Foods

How do I approach nutrition? Pretty much just as I laid out in the above guidelines. I try to eat from the 5 food types, I pick good versions of them whenever I can, make the best when I have to and indulge from time to time. Personally, it works for great for maintenance. If I ever need to train for an event or drop my bodyfat %, then I clean up the indulgences (drop the coffee with added sweetener, limit the chocolate and other high energy density foods, e.g. nut butter) and focus on simple one ingredient foods for a week or two. In the mean time, for everyday life, here’s what works for me…

Keep in mind- I am not “perfect”, nor do I strive to be. I meld (what I consider) smart choices with real life. Some weeks result in very “clean” eating, other weeks include more indulgence. That’s the way I like it.

The following foods are what I eat the most frequently. If it’s not listed it just means I don’t usually eat it, not that it’s necessarily unhealthy. The things that I consider unhealthy you’ll see listed under the “foods I avoid” section on the alternate link at the end of the post titled “Foods I Eat.”

By Food Type (as outlined in part 1)

Plants
Vegetables (nearly all vegetables at some point during the year)
– Spinach, mixed greens, peppers, broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, celery.
Fruits (more in the summer/fall months)
– Berries, coconut, avocados, bananas, kiwis, apples, oranges, olives. Also, lemon/lime juice, coconut oil and olive oil.
Roots/tubers/bulbs (mostly post workout for roots/tubers)
– Yams/sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onions, garlic, and carrots.
Herbs and Spices (still expanding & use fresh when I can)
– Salt, pepper, onion, garlic primarily but also regularly use oregano, tumeric, cumin, chili pepper, red pepper, thyme, cilantro, basil, rosemary.
Nuts/Seeds/Beans/Grains
– Macadamia nuts, almonds/almond butter, cashews, pistachios and brazil nuts. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Black beans, chickpeas and peanut butter occasionally. Rice and corn.

Animals
Meat off the bone (when I can, but I often eat leaner cuts of meat when I can’t get pastured meat)
– Beef, pork, eggs, chicken, turkey, fish/seafood, and bison. Sausage, bacon, chorizo, salami, roast beef and beef jerky are also used.
Organ meats (still working on including others)
– Sausage or chorizo with liver or lymph nodes and liverwurst.
Bone broths and marrow
– Bone marrow (occasionally) and bone broths, mostly for salad dressing, soups and rice.
Dairy (try for raw when I can, organic often, conventional occasionally)
– Heavy cream and butter daily. Half and half and cheese somewhat regularly. Raw milk every once in a while.

Cultured and Fermented
– Cultured coconut milk/kefir. Greek yogurt (plain) occasionally. Cheese regularly. Wine every once in a while.

Traditional Beverages
– Water mostly. Kombucha a few days a week. Coffee/green/black tea occasionally.

Comfort Foods
– Dark chocolate (90% cocoa), dark chocolate covered almonds/cashews.
– Occasionally: Protein powders, frozen yogurt, buffalo wings, chips and salsa. A few treats (cookies/cake/pizza) every once in a while.

Here is an alternate breakdown, plus “foods I limit” and “foods I avoid”…
Foods I Eat

Also, as and example, here is what I ate last week…
Week of Meals

There you have it, my food in a nutshell.

Next up, in Part 3, I’ll take a look at grocery shopping and how to navigate making the smartest choices possible.

Thanks for reading, have a great week!