Army Tough: Warrior's Workout Diet

 

Decorated military vet Tim Kennedy serves up his top 10 nutrition principles.

For his diet, Kennedy, the former Greeen Beret war hero, works with registered dietician PR Cole. He’s an exceptionally disciplined eater whose success, Cole says, can be attributed to choosing real foods over processed products—along with several other strategies they’ve devised to help him stay healthy, ripped and strong. 

Kennedy's Top 10 Nutrition Principles

• Eat breakfast every day, and never go more than three hours without fuel to keep your metabolism active.
• Fuel your body with a high-carb, moderate protein snack before workouts.
• Post-workout, eat a meal with both carbs and quality protein to promote an anabolic response and repair lean tissue.
• Minimize your intake of inflammation-promoting saturated fats from full-fat dairy and meats. Incorporate unsaturated fats like omega-3 from foods like wild salmon to restrict inflammation and boost cardiovascular health.
• Stay hydrated. Never lose more than 2% of your body weight in sweat. This will keep your core temperature low and help ward off fatigue.
• Eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables every day to add fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
• Avoid artificial sweeteners. They cause unwanted cravings for sweet snacks.
• Take a standard multivitamin supplement while losing weight and training hard.
• Plan out a day’s worth of meals and snacks in advance so there’s no question of what and when you eat.
• If you’re cutting weight before a fight, opt for a low-sodium diet in the days leading up to weigh-ins to encourage your body to lose water weight.

See Kennedy's sample one-day diet

Sample Diet Day

BREAKFAST


1 serving of oats prepared with water, topped with 1 sliced banana and served with 6-oz nonfat Greek-style yogurt

LUNCH

• Thai Style Cabbage
• 2 cups shredded cole slaw mix
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 3 oz diced chicken breast (cooked)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• ½ tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp garlic

Sautée all ingredients together until peanut butter coats everything.

PRE-WORKOUT SNACK

• Toasted whole grain English muffin 
• topped with ½ cup mashed blackberries
• 2 egg whites, on the side
• POST-WORKOUT SNACK
• ¾ cup cottage cheese
• 1 cup berries

DINNER

• Salad
• 2–3 cups fresh spinach
• ½ medium tomato, chopped
• ¼ medium red onion, thinly sliced
• ¼ cucumber, thinly sliced
• Balsamic vinegar and lemon juice dressing
• ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 2 tbsp chopped garlic
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• Juice from ½ lemon
• 4 6-ounce wild salmon steaks

Dinner Preparation: Mix the soy sauce, orange juice, garlic, mustard, tomato paste, and lemon juice in a bowl, then pour into a plastic bag. Place the salmon steaks into the bag and marinate in the refrigerator for four hours. When ready, place the salmon steaks on a grill for approximately five minutes on each side. Serve with steamed asparagus and ½ cup of brown rice.