Meats and Cheeses

A charcuterie board filled with different types of cured meats and cheeses is one of the easiest crowd-pleasers at any party. In fact, you can even treat yourself to a platter at home on a Friday night with a good glass of wine.

As an Italian kid, I grew up eating cured meats like prosciutto, capocollo, salami and pepperoni, and I feel like it is part of my DNA. It’s also very convenient that cured meats offer a high protein and low-carb food option that helps me build muscles.

With more people learning to love these meats, it’s now widely available in supermarkets and even convenience stores.

But what’s cured meats without good cheeses? This pairing has been a classic for many years and what makes cheese go so well with cured meats is that it’s low in carbs and very delicious. The downside, however, is that both cured meats and cheeses can be high in fat, so you need to keep your consumption in check.

If you follow by Muscle-Building Rules and Dieting 101 meals plans, you know that I always recommend getting roughly 2-3 times as much protein than dietary fat daily to lose body fat and build muscle at the same time.

Cured meats and cheeses usually have more fat than protein, which is contrary to this principle because it could easily throw you off your macros.

The trick here is knowing how to always keep your meat and cheese intake in check. To help you, I’ve created a guide on choosing your cured meats and cheeses, which is called my 50/50 rule.

What is the 50/50 rule?

This concept is fairly simple: the meat or cheese that you’re consuming should be no more than 50% fat and at least 50% protein. When choosing meats and cheeses on your platter, you need to go for those with more protein than fat or at least an equal amount of each.

For instance, if a cured meat has 10 grams of fat per serving and only 5 grams of protein, you should look for a leaner option that offers at least a 1:1 ratio of both. But if your choice has 5 grams of fat and 10 grams of protein, then you’re good to go.

How can you choose the best meats and cheeses using the 50/50 rule?

When shopping for cured meats and cheeses, it’s very important to look at the Nutrition Facts label to know if you have the fat-to-protein ratio that you’re looking for. Some of the most popular cured meats and cheeses that are within the 50/50 rule include:

• Capocollo (47/53)
• Prosciutto (27/73)
• Serrano (33/67)
• Swiss (50/50)
• Cheddar (56-44)
• Mozzarella (55/45)

Unfortunately, most of the cheeses that are readily available in the market are either borderline or they exceed the ideal 50/50 rule. But you can still enjoy them by looking for low-fat versions of these cheeses.

What if you’re on a keto diet?

Then, there’s this question about the ketogenic diet and applying the 50/50 rule to it. Personally, I’m not a big fan of keto for building muscle and being lean mainly because of fat loss plateaus.

Keto diet does wonders for people who want to lose weight quickly because you drop your carb intake drastically, which makes you lose those extra pounds within just a few weeks.

The downside is that sooner or later, you’ll experience fat loss plateau, which means that you won’t be able to drop those carbs no matter what diet you’re following. So, if dropping your carbs is the easiest way to lose body fat, how can you get over a plateau?

You’ll have to choose between dropping fat or protein, which are both essential for building muscles and maintaining optimum health. This is why it really pays to choose a diet that will allow you to enjoy good results for years, not just months.

The primary goal behind my Dieting 101 protocol is to being with “the highest possible carb intake” that still allows you to lose body fat. When you hit that plateau, you still have enough room to drop your carbs so you can also lose more body fat.

It’s also very important to follow a diet that’s sustainable. Sure, keto is very interesting because it allows you to lose weight fast. But it’s also very challenging to stick to long term because, who doesn’t love carbs anyway? You could find yourself giving in to a slice of pizza or donuts and crave for them even more. At that point, your keto diet is completely ruined.

With my Dieting 101 plan, you still get to enjoy high-carb foods every once in a while. In fact, I implement a weekly cheat day for you to indulge yourself. Even on non-cheat days, I still gave enough wiggle room for some carbs in your diet.

 

Read my guide on protein powder here.