There are a lot of common misconceptions about food and nutrition such as you can never eat junk food or have a cheat meal, ‘fasting is the best way to burn fat’, eating before bed will make you gain weight. Now, although there can be some truth behind these all I ask is that you don’t take them literally and conduct some of your own research before buying into them, or you can read on…
The most important factors to consider when choosing a diet is hitting your protein target every single day (1g-1.5g of protein for every 1lb of bodyweight), consume 5 fruit and vegetables a day, having a calorie count specific to you and your goals, as well as sufficient hydration throughout the whole day.
Nutrition is such a key part of day-to-day life and activities especially when it comes down to exercise and fitness, it can be the make or break of your performance and that’s why it’s so important to not only have a nutrition plan but also to understand the impacts of poor vs great nutrition.
The first element I would like to speak about is PROTEIN. This is not because I’m a muscle man who loves lifting heavy weights it’ for several reasons, the first of which relates to weight loss. Protein should be a stable part of everyone’s diet because it is satiating, meaning it ‘fills you up’ and leaves you with less cravings due to this. Furthermore, protein is absolutely essential in the process of building muscle and muscles aren’t just to look good they provide us with strength for basic movements such as standing up and sitting down, even lifting your kids up! Another reason to be consuming a high protein diet is to optimize recovery, you can have the best night’s sleep, a sports massage, hot and cold therapy but none of these are going to optimize your recovery without the basics, PROTEIN. Finally, protein is not stored or kept in the body unlike carbohydrates and fats meaning it has to be regularly consumed in order for the benefits to be seen, I’d recommend servings of 30-50g of protein 4x a day depending on your goal and current body composition.
FUN FACT: protein can even be found in vegetables such as spinach and beansprouts!
Fruit and vegetables provide us with many benefits such as boosting the immune system, from citrus foods such as oranges and red bell peppers which provide you with Vitamin C. Additionally, they can be beneficial for brain function, which can come from foods with healthy fats such as avocados and coconut oil. Another benefit of fruit and vegetables is to provide help with the removal of waste from sources of fibre such as artichokes, parsnips and even brussels sprouts.
Calories is a very controversial terminology used in the fitness world as there are varying opinions on the use of calories as a means for losing/gaining weight. Ultimately you can’t escape calories because everything you consume contains them, the processes of changing your body composition are hugely influenced by your calorie intake vs calorie expenditure (fancy for calories in vs calories out). To build the foundations of healthy eating habits it is important you track your calories so you can have a good understanding of how much you actually consume on a daily basis and how this should be influenced depending on your fitness goals; if you’re looking to gain weight you should be in a small calorie surplus of 200-500 calories providing your weight is increasing at 0.5-1lb of bodyweight per week, and for a calorie deficit of 200-500 calories providing your weight is decreasing at 0.5-1lb per week.
FUN FACT: Protein contains 4 calories per gram, Carbs contain 4 calories per gram, Fats contain 9 calories per gram
Hydration is so important when we know that water makes up around 2/3 of the human body, however hydration isn’t simply water. When we become dehydrated from the heat, excessive sweating, diuretics (drugs which increase urine excretion) we don’t just lose water we also lose electrolytes and it’s so important to replace these with sources of magnesium, sodium, and potassium rather than just water as that will only further dilute your blood and cause more de-hydration. A couple of easy ways to do this are by adding sea salt to your water as well as squeezing lemon juice into your water, another way is to drink coconut water as that is a great source of potassium. All of these tricks will help to regain balance when it comes to hydration and help you to perform to your best again!