7 Foods To Help Get You Ripped

I often get asked how much does training contribute to physique results versus diet and nutrition. The best answer I have heard to that question is that training is definitely 100% of your success, and nutrition makes up the other 100%.

You cannot have a ripped physique without making significant changes in your diet, both in terms of what you eat as well as how you prepare it.

Chris Bumstead talks about eating shredded lettuce to get shredded, even weighing his salad portions in some videos.

Check out the top foods I have found make significant improvements to my nutrition and body composition as a result.

Broad Beans
Meal prep takes a lot of time, so having frozen vegetables can just throw in some boiling water and have them ready in minutes makes life a lot easier. Broad beans are an amazing vegetable as they are filling (good fibre content – 3.6g per 100g) and have equal amounts of protein and carbs so you can keep your macros in balance easily. They don’t have a strong taste either, so can pretty much go with any meal/

Skyr
Skyr is an amazing alternative to yoghurt for people who want to keep their carb and fat intake down. Skyr is a fat free Icelandic strained yoghurt which is super-high in protein and low in sugar. Switch this out from greek yoghurt to seriously reduce your fat intake. Skyr with fruit included brings the sugar content up, unless you can find Isey Skyr with Baked Apples.

White fish
Fish like cod or halibut can be cooked really easily in a number of different ways and are a super lean protein source. Also, the science shows that eating cod can help increase weight loss when compared to a diet without seafood which is great news if you are looking to lose weight. Add some white fish to a tin of chopped tomatoes and add some beans for a tasty stew or bake it in the oven then grab some salsa and lime to make your own fish tacos. There are lots of recipes for cod on the internet, such as this one from Delish.

Sugar-Free Coffee Syrup
Some drinks from your favourite coffee shops can have over 500 calories. Eliminating milk and sugar from coffee can help reduce your calorie intake significantly, but that doesn’t mean you just have to drink boring black coffee all day. There are some great tasting sugar free syrups available that can keep your sweet tooth satiated without hitting your waist line. Check out The Skinny Food co’s website for examples of zero calorie coffee syrups, as well as a few other products you might be able to substitute.

Sugar-Free Lemonade
Eliminating sugar from your diet is essential to not just reduce calories but also your insulin levels to help avoid storing body fat. Swapping out sugary drinks for sugar-free alternatives is a simple solution, but often the ‘healthier’ options cost a lot more. It is great to see supermarkets (especially in the UK) offering sugar free soft drinks at a sensible price, with many offering budget versions that are cheaper than drinking water (see the Stockwell & co range at Tesco).

Spinach
Spinach is great for adding volume, fibre and nutrients to dishes. I add it to my morning omelette, anything that uses chopped tomatoes such as a chicken and bean stew, or just have it as a side salad with any grilled meat. As a salad, it has a lot more nutritional value than lettuce, being high in fibre and protein, and tastes even better with a splash of balsamic vinegar on top.

Smoked Paprika
Often time you have to use sugar or fat to make food taste good, and this goes against all the rules of dieting. Luckily, smoked paprika seems to make everything taste amazing. Sprinkle it on your meat before you grill it, add it to a fish stew to make it taste like paella or a cajun dish. This is my go to spice when cooking lean meals.

So that gives you a little look into my kitchen habits. Hope this gives you some ideas on how you can change your diet to get a little leaner. Don’t forget, portion sizing is still essential to ensure you stay in calorie deficit, but at least eating lean doesn’t always have to be boring.