How can I swap out meals?

The recipes you are given in your library have all the nutrition facts for each ingredient listed out. The recipes are done this way so you can personally change the ingredient portions to fit your needs. The example recipe that you are given is a foundation you can build off of. It gives you a layout of what an ideal day will look like for you. In order to make the calculation process easy download the MyFitnessPal app to enter in the ingredients listed in the recipe and appropriate target portions. This app will make your macro counting easy and will be your new best friend throughout this fitness challenge. By logging in your meals through the MyFitnessPal app, you will see how many calories, protein, carbs, fats are in the foods you are eating. Many people do not realize how many calories are in the foods they eat day to day. Having this visual will not only help you achieve your results but will set you up for future reference.

This program is designed to give you the results you want but in order to maximize your results, logging in your meals is going to be essential.

Why Do I Need to Take Vitamins and Minerals?

If you’re not getting the essential amount of fruits and green vegetables in your diet every day there is absolutely no reason for you to expect to have sustained sharp mental acuity, lasting energy, a healthy body, and a long life free of disease. There are very few people that we know of, whom on a consistent basis eat 5 cups of fresh fruits and vegetables every day, that’s a problem. The best solution to this problem is to implement fast, easy, effective, highly nutritional dietary supplements.

The best way to consume the majority of your nutritional supplements is in powder form and in the morning on an empty stomach – unless the supplement specifies to take with food.

After sleeping for 8 hours, any food in your stomach from the night before has already digested and your body signals that you need more fuel. This is the one window of opportunity in your day to flood your blood stream with the fruits, vegetables, vitamins, and nutrients it will need and use all day to keep you functioning at optimal levels and feeling great.

Why Should I Drink Apple Cider Vinegar Before My Big Meals?

Apple Cider Vinegar has long since been known to have a multitude of amazing health benefits for your body. Drinking 1 Tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with 1 cup of water, will naturally activate your body’s enzymatic pathways before you eat.

It will improve your body’s ability to use your food to build muscle, balance your pH levels, help with absorption of nutrients, cleanse/detoxify, and cause fat burning.

Two to five minutes BEFORE your big meals of the day drink in 1 cup of water, 1 Tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar (Bragg’s) “with the MOTHER”, and a squeeze of lemon.

What is Chlorella and Why Should I Take it?

Chlorella is a blue green sea algae and one of the most super nutrient rich green foods on the planet.

Many top researchers decided to tap into the unexploited sea resource. Institutions have researched the algae, including the Carnegie Institution, the Rockefeller Foundation, the NIH, UC Berkeley, the Atomic Energy Commission, and Stanford University, discovering health benefits of the algae such as weight control, cancer prevention, and immune system support.

Chlorella is an attractive potential food source because it is high in protein and other essential nutrients. Chlorella provides a plethora of benefits to the human body such as activating enzymatic pathways, regulating the digestive system, helping your body absorb nutrients out of the food you normally eat, and more. We highly recommend implementing this super nutrient green food into your daily diet.

What Are BCAA’s?

Branched chain amino acids (BCAA) are leucine, isoleucine and valine. The BCAAs are among the nine essential amino acids for humans, accounting for 35% of the essential amino acids in muscle proteins and 40% of the preformed amino acids required by mammals. BCAAs along with essential amino acids are found in protein and are what your body uses to rebuild your skeletal muscle tissue to become stronger after tearing as a result of strength training.

BCAAs, particularly leucine, also affect the mTOR pathway, signaling two regions of the brain that decrease food intake and increase basal metabolic rate. These results lead to developing a healthy method for controlling weight gain in humans. The potential that nutrients have to signal changes in metabolism is exemplified by how BCAAs increase muscle repair.

BCAAs are what the majority of your muscle tissue is made of. It’s important to keep BCAAs circulating to muscles through your bloodstream between meals if need be and also during your exercise. BCAAs will greatly decrease the rate of muscle degradation helping your body to promote growth as well as preservation of your muscle tissue.

How Long Should I Wait to Eat My Next Meal and Why?

Eating smaller portions will ramp up your metabolic rate and utilize food for fuel rather than storing it as fat. Wait no longer than 2 ½ to 3 hours before eating your next meal. Going longer than 3 hours without eating is going to trigger your body to store food as fat. This is a survival mechanism. Your body starts to become unsure of how frequently it will be fed, your metabolism slows down, shifts into storage mode, and stores food as fat in your body to be used in case you need energy later but don’t have food.

This process of storing food as fat was developed back in the days of cavemen when it was needed in order to survive. Because meals where so infrequent the body did not know when it would eat next and as a result it developed this mechanism that takes place in order to ensure your survival. However now that we understand how and why this process takes place, we use it to adjust our meal frequency in order to keep our metabolism in high gear, use the food we eat for energy, and keep from storing unwanted fat.

What if I’m Allergic to or Don’t Like One of the Foods on My Plan?

If you are allergic to any of the foods on your plan DO NOT EAT THEM. As a rule of thumb if for any reason you want to substitute out a protein or carbohydrate source from one of your plans meals feel free to do so as long as the substitute is the same quantity in grams. As long as you’re within a 5 gram tolerance the alternative is acceptable.

Exact protein and carbohydrate values are listed below for your reference however it’s safe to figure that every ounce of Chicken, Tilapia, Tuna, Salmon, Beef, and Turkey has about 6 grams of protein.

Any protein source you see from meat throughout your diet can be replaced with Chicken, Tilapia, Tuna, Salmon, Beef, or Turkey as long as the alternative weighs the same because all of these protein sources have around the same protein content.

The protein and carbohydrate values listed below are reference tools for you to use in case you want to know exact gram amounts or for substituting one protein/carbohydrate source for another.

Protein in Grams:
1 Whole Egg = 6.29 grams
1 Egg Whites Only = 3.6 grams
1 Scoop Protein Powder = 30 grams
8 oz Chicken (boneless without skin) = 44.29 grams
4 oz Chicken (boneless without skin) = 22.15 grams
8 oz Ground Turkey = 42.6 grams
4 oz Ground Turkey = 21.3 grams
8 oz Salmon = 45.11 grams
4 oz Salmon = 22.56 grams
8 oz Tuna = 54.86 grams
4 oz Tuna = 27.43 grams
8 oz Tilapia = 45.54 grams
4 oz Tilapia = 22.77 grams
8 oz Ground Beef = 41.64 grams
4 oz Ground Beef = 20.82 grams
8 oz Steak = 38.8 grams
4 oz Steak = 19.4 grams

Carbohydrates in Grams:
1 Cup White or Brown Rice (Cooked) = 44.08 grams
¾ Cup White or Brown Rice (Cooked) = 33.06 grams
½ Cup White or Brown Rice (Cooked) = 22.04 grams
1 Rice Cake (Lungren) = 14 grams
1 Cup Oats (Dry) = 54.27 grams
¾ Cup Oats (Dry) = 38.05 grams
½ Cup Oats (Dry) = 26.37 grams
1 Cup Mashed Sweet Potato (Baked) = 53.86 grams
1 Cup Mashed White Potato = 33.01 grams
3 oz Sweet Potato = 17.11 grams
4 oz Sweet Potato = 23.49 grams
1 Cup Whole Wheat Pasta = 37.16 grams
1 Cup Regular Pasta = 43.20 grams

Why Do Some of My Recommended Meals Have Carbs While Others Do Not?

Your plan is customized specifically for you according to your answers on the assessment. The reason that some of your recommended meals have carbs while others may not is because if your goal is for example to build mass, the quantity and frequency of carbohydrate values will be much higher from someone looking to lose weight whose recommendation may include eliminating carbs in the evenings while consuming the right amounts and kinds of proteins and healthy fats to encourage their body to utilize stored fat for energy.

How Do I Maintain My Diet When I Have School or Work During the Day?

We at Apex Human strongly recommend that you set aside one afternoon during the weekend to pre-cook all of your meals for the upcoming week. This will put you in control of your nutrition instead of waiting till the last minute and settling for whatever food that you can find. All of us have busy lives and may sometimes feel overwhelmed. This is why it is so important to maintain a healthy diet in order to have the energy we need to perform at optimal levels. Having reusable storage container will become an essential for you when meal prepping. Having a prepared meal to take to work will help since you won’t have to worry about missing a meal. Going too long without eating will cause your body to store more food as fat than you normally would by keeping your meal frequency consistent.

When you don’t have proper nutrition you feel sluggish like your tank is half-full. This causes many people to pick-up energy drinks, candy, soda, or multiple cups of coffee throughout the day just to keep them alert. Unfortunately all these nutrient deficient items put even more stress on your mind and body. The caffeine or sugar works you up initially into extreme highs then drop you down to extreme lows, an energy roller coaster ride. Before you know it the extreme high wears off causing you to need more of caffeine or sugar. This is how sugar addiction is created and eventually wreaks havoc on the body in the form of diabetes, high blood, pressure, heart disease, etc.

We want a consistent energy balance throughout the day achieved by consuming nutrient rich foods, to keep us feeling great while performing at optimum levels instead of the extreme highs and lows that control your mind and body through the addictive receptor sites established by sugar and caffeine. That’s why it is so important to prepare meals that you can take with you to school or work in travel containers to have ready when it’s time to eat in order to maintain a steady balance of energy throughout your day.

Is My Diet Plan Compatible with My Exercise Plan?

You’re diet plan has been specifically designed according to your individual body type, personal health and fitness goals, and all the questions answered in the complex algorithm supported questionnaire. If you received an exercise plan it also is professionally customized to intentionally focus on that which corresponds synergistically to your diet protocol in order to maximize your efforts and results. Once you’ve reached your desired body composition you can simply maintain or you can use our complex algorithm supported questionnaire to create new plans if you so desire.

Your diet plan has been specifically engineered to your particular body type, exercise plan, and personal health and fitness goal. Once you begin you will start to notice amazing results!

Which Energy Drinks are Good for Me?

Stay away from drinking beverages with sugar in them like Gatorade, Vitamin Water, Monster, Red Bull, or any other energy drink with a lot of caffeine. These drinks may momentarily boost your energy levels by spiking your body’s insulin however the sharp spike is soon followed by a drastic drop, an energy roller coaster ride which will cause you to experience extreme high then low energy. Too much caffeine may likely cause you to develop severe headaches during your exercise. When your body’s cortisol (stress hormone) levels are raised too high, this paralyzes your body’s physical productivity and can even damage cells rendering your exercise as counterproductive.

Having just the right amount of caffeine before you exercise is a good thing (100 mcg) which is the amount you’ll find in any good pre-workout supplement formula. However as we all know, too much of a good thing will have negative effects. It is very important to balance your daily caffeine intake because too much caffeine can lead to stress and anxiety.

Legal Disclaimer

The aim of Apexhuman.com is to provide timely accurate information on nutrition, diet, supplements, and exercise for health professionals, athletes, and the public. The contents of your customized diet plan are not intended to offer personal medical advice. You should always consult your personal physician or other qualified health providers before starting any new exercise, supplement, or diet plan and with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.