Message from Chuck Rudolph – Our R.I.P.P.E.D. Challenge Nutritionist

From Chuck Rudolph, MEd, RD:

It is an honor to be working with you over the following weeks to educate you on nutrition and healthy eating habits. Please note that I am your PERSONAL DIETITIAN for the length of your program. You can contact me at anytime if you have any questions at all.

DIET EXPLANATION: Each meal provides a number of servings from various categories (Fruit, Carbohydrate (starches), Meat/Protein, Vegetable, Milk and Fat – Optimal Food List provided). When I calculate your caloric totals, my formula provides me with total calories for Daily lifestyle needs based on the Activity Factor (AF) I choose. Activity Factor ranges from 1.0 (bed rest) to 2.0 (training for marathon). After workout day training/intensity and non workout day activity is discussed, I then can apply an activity factor to calculate your daily caloric needs. What I do then is get the grams of protein I want based on how you are training, and then I select 25-35% fat and the rest I make up in carbohydrates.

The way the plan works is there are 2 master meal plan pages, 1 for Workout Days and 1 for OFF days. It is very critical that body see different caloric intakes per day. Different calories will keep the body guessing vs adapting. ALSO, every 14-15 day is a CHEAT MEAL. This means you eat your normal day UNTIL THE LAST MEAL then you go out and have fun. After this, the next 3 days at the gym you owe me an additional 15-20 minutes of cardio, just for those 3 days. Each meal allows for certain number of servings from respective food categories (see document High Performance Nutrient Selection). If meal 1 says 4 servings from carbohydrate (starch) category, and we look at the High Performance food list under carbohydrates (starches) and find that 1/4 cup oatmeal dry = 1 carb serving and ¾ tbsp honey = 1 carbohydrates serving then we can have ½ cup oatmeal and 1.5 tbsp honey or 3 tbsp honey or 1 cup oatmeal. HOWEVER you choose to distribute the carbohydrates for your preference. You will also see on the Example Meal Plan pages that there are 3 options per food category (followed across) ALREADY measured out for you. You just have to physically measure and eat. The goal of the Example meal page is to select 1 food of each color. This allows for up to 18 different meal combinations for every meal of the day. The MAIN GOAL is to EDUCATE portions control. The first 1-2 weeks CAN BE DIFFICULT as you need to learn various portions and learn to “eyeball” them. As for the other servings from other categories, they follow exactly the same plan. Please note all meats are measure AFTER COOKED.

Making it Simple: You will also see on each master plan page that each meal provides a total calorie per meal. This can be utilized for eating out options or just for simplicity. Note, it may not be the most optimal or healthiest, but its better to eat within your calories for the meal rather than NOT KNOWING and eating too much or WORSE CASE not eating and slowing down your metabolism. Please see the Making it Simple food list that can help you working in ANY foods into this plan.

I design your plan for Lean Body Mass increase not just weight (scale) loss. If we have more lean body mass we will burn fat more efficiently and have longer lasting energy. My main goal is to BALANCE insulin levels through calories per meal, meal frequency as well as nutrient selections per meal. If we can balance insulin level we get stable energy all day long, reduce risks of heart disease and reduce the probability of STORING BODY FAT.

Breakfast is the most important meal. It provides food energy as well as wakes up the bodies hormones. You may know that if you do not eat breakfast, you are likely able to go all the way to 1-2 PM and then you feel hungry. Problem is at that time your blood glucose is so low you crave sugary carbohydrates and the viscous cycle begins. My diet plans balance this insulin response and provide the proper calories to NOT ONLY LOSE body fat but build Lean Body Mass as well. The more Lean Body Mass the more apt your body is to BURN BODY FAT on daily basis.

No diet is easy but you will NEVER hear me say “you can’t have this or that”. I may recommend eating a certain food at a different time where the servings allow it, but my goal is to EDUCATE YOU on SERVING SIZES. This way you NEVER have to count every calorie. I count the calories for you. Your toughest goal is the first 1-2 weeks where you should measure out foods based on the serving recommended. What this does is provides you with a idea of what 1/3 cup cooked rice looks like or 3 oz lean chicken looks like. This way, you are able to eat out with friends and family yet still stick to your Lifestyle meal plan (if you so choose too) and not only get but MAINTAIN the body and health of your dreams.

The plan I made for you is one I would refer to as MOST OPTIMAL. My expectations are high for all of my clients. I provide all the needed communication so there should be NO EXCUSES. This is a LIFESTYLE modification; this is not just for 4 weeks. I expect you to learn about nutrition and take this information with you. This experience and education should be gratifying and completed with GREAT RESULTS.