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5 Easy and Healthy Eating Habits For Weight Loss
This article will be a number of things:
Practical
Easy to implement
Realistic
Balanced
Nutrition is a very complex topic - and within that complexity, someone who is simply searching just to try and make a small change for their health by looking to improve their diet can easily be led off track and left feeling very very confused about all of the conflicting information out there and what it means to “eat healthily” especially when it comes to weight loss.
I will cut through that.
Today, I will tell you easy-to-implement things, to make your diet as simple as possible, and as healthy as possible to help you achieve your goals, leaving you with the knowledge and ability to improve your healthy eating habits.
I would also love to invite you to join my Free Facebook Group:
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR: 5 Easy and Healthy Eating Habits For Weight Loss
The Importance Of Healthy Eating Habits?
Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Habits
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits?
- Structured Eating
- No Black or White Thinking
- Increase Protein & Vegetables
- Healthy Snacks
- Plenty of Water
The Importance Of Healthy Eating Habits?
Habits are the building blocks of change and if losing weight is your goal, then change is what is required.
Changing something so integral to your existence like your diet is also a really hard thing to do - and to make sure that change is long-lasting and effective enough to help you reach your goals comes down to your ability to implement habitual change.
The reason “healthy” eating habits are so important isn’t that you should eat “healthy” all the time - in fact, you really shouldn’t do that - its because if you have habitually created the “healthy” eating if it is an automated process in your life, then when you feel like you have “fallen off the wagon” or “skipped on your diet” then getting back on track is the easiest thing possible.
As you know exactly what to do and how to do it.
Another importance of creating and having “healthy” eating habits is that helps you to stop focussing on only the negative aspects of what you are doing. It is so easy to beat yourself up for eating in an “unhealthy” way when you feel like that is all you do.
This creates a negative spin within you that can constantly feel like you will never be able to turn around, and therefore the cycle goes on and on now not only is your physical health decreasing, but so is your mental health.
By having automation in your day, covering your bases if you will, it makes the more enjoyable foods feel less significant, in the bigger picture of your life, and therefore it reduces any guilt you may have from eating the more “unhealthy” foods.
I want to help make sure that you are doing the best you can, with what you have available to you.
I also want to make sure that you have the ability to keep your diet in a place that dones’t swing from one extreme to the other all of the time, because when that happens you actually make no progress at all - my goal is to help you iron out the creases so that progress is achievable for you - and the habits I lay out in this article are important to make sure that is exactly what happens to you.
And then you will make the progress you desire.
Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Habits
You may have noticed that in this article so far I have put parenthesis around the words healthy and unhealthy.
This is because I never like being dogmatic when it comes to your nutrition - and to simply say that this is healthy and that is unhealthy, with no further context, could be misleading for someone.
I think we can all agree that vegetables are healthy.
Personally, I happen to know that Fruit is also healthy.
But believe me, there are people out there who would happily tell you otherwise.
I would also put forth an argument that a Pizza, a Donut or a Birthday Cake can be healthy when you view it in the correct context.
For example, if you are at a Birthday Party, and they serve your favourite Red Velvet Cake, everyone around you is enjoying it, and you happen to have said “No” because you view cake as unhealthy food, that is going to have an impact on your enjoyment of the occasion.
Food is community.
Food is family.
Food is nourishment.
Food is emotional.
Food is simply not as simple as healthy or unhealthy.
Food is not one thing or the other.
What might be healthy for the soul, might not be healthy for the body and vice versa. I have known many people in my life who have created extremely unhealthy bodies by only eating healthy food.
There will always be debates and arguments around what is healthy to eat and what is unhealthy to eat - and to be quite frank - I just think these waste peoples time.
Arguing over the effect of Gluten, Fructose or how to control your Insulin is actually nutritionists and personal trainers just trying to show off how big their brain is.
Whenever someone I follow or am engaged in conversation with about nutrition starts talking about having an extreme stance on one aspect of their diet, cutting out sugar or carbohydrates, for example, my respect for them dies away immediately.
And yours should too.
Because these people aren’t trying to help you, they are trying to convert you.
They have never walked a day in your shoes, and to simply say that “sugar is killing you” is not going to actually help you resolve what you need to resolve in your diet, as it will just cause more guilt and frustration within you.
I will now share with you 5 things you can do to really improve your eating habits in a healthy way - they may not be what you was expecting to see, but believe me, if your goal is to improve your health and to lose weight, or if your goal is just one of those options…
Continue reading…
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Structured Eating
This is front and centre for a reason.
You probably weren’t expecting the first habit that you need to work on is in fact eating more regularly.
I know I too would be surprised if I Googled “What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits?” then I would not expect to see this as number one. I would expect it to be something simple like “eat less processed foods”.
However, without structure, everything else falls apart. You cannot build a house on sand, and you equally cannot build healthier eating habits on a poor structure.
Not only will a better structure improve your diet overall, but it will also improve your relationship with food as well.
There is a very common denominator with people I work with online and in person, who have a very keen desire to lose weight, and they very often have no structure in place with what and how they are eating.
They are simply winging it.
This has a couple of knock-on effects:
They have absolutely no idea how many calories they are eating - despite saying “I eat really healthy”
They react more emotionally to food.
They aren’t able to see that their overconsumption of food in isolated moments is related to the constant missing of meals.
They end up frustrated and walking down the path of looking for fat burners and other quick fix solutions.
Lets draw a line under it all.
And get you focussed on having a proper structure with your meals.
READ MORE ON IMPROVING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD RIGHT HERE:
The format for structured eating, it could also be described as intuitive eating, is as follows.
Three Meals a day that all fit onto one plate.
Two snacks a day - one of which should be fruit.
If you have an alcoholic beverage the night before - try and take away a snack the next day - but this isn’t essential.
If you can iron out your food intake to more regular moments with food, in a structured manner your body will respond well. It will enjoy the rhythm and pattern of knowing when it is being fed, and your hunger hormones, grehlin and leptin, will respond in a much better way because they will have a structure.
The other thing that is really important in having a better structure with your food, is spending time with it.
Try not to eat on the move, or watch television. Try not to work and eat.
Respect your food, and respect what it is designed to do for your body - without this food so much of your life would be turned upside down - don’t take it for granted.
There are so many people in the world who don’t get the privilege to eat the food that you and I are able to eat - and we should be grateful for that every time we get to sit down to eat.
I’m not saying go all ga-ga, but at least give the moments you have to eat the respect it deserves.
This structure with your diet and respect for your food will improve your relationship with food, and there aren’t many more healthy habits you can deliver to yourself than improving your relationship with food.
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - No Black or White Thinking
Call it what you want.
Diachotamus thinking.
Good food.
Bad food.
Black and white thinking.
Basically stop looking at your food in these terms.
Food doesn’t have a moral value. Calling your apple good, and a banana bad is the same as calling your sofa good, or your bed bad. It makes no logical sense.
When you label foods in this way you punch a hole in your ability to find balance and happiness in your diet, and therefore compromise your own happiness.
It also ceases your ability to actually lose weight.
As a study from the Journal of Health Psychology [1] points out:
“Results showed that eating-specific dichotomous thinking (dichotomous beliefs about food and eating) mediates the association between restraint eating and weight regain. We conclude that holding dichotomous beliefs about food and eating may be linked to a rigid dietary restraint, which in turn impedes people’s ability to maintain a healthy weight.”
When you assign morality to food, you are doing a number of things. Firslty you are putting those who eat in a way you view as “good” onto a Moral High Ground that you know you naturally can’t attian. Then when you eat foods you view as “bad” you are not only beneath others in society, you are also putting yourself down and dmagaing your self esteem.
You are also likely to be viewing foods as good and bad through the framing of “Diet Culture”, as in:
“If I eat good foods, I will lose weight”
But as the study above shows, that is actually counter itnuative, as it leads to an over restriction, then an over indulgence - perpetuating binge eating episodes and disorders.
Making the elusive weight loss even more elusive for you.
To help overcome this, there a few things you can do:
View your diet as a whole, don’t just focus on one or two aspects - keep a wide angle lens on and give equal respect and objectivity to everything you eat.
Listen to your hunger and fullness cues, try to tune into your body more, and question the feelings you have.
Ask yourself where your hunger or lack of satisfaction from eating has come from…are you really wanting more food or are you in need of human connection?
Look at all foods as nourishing. Nourishing your health and your body, nourishing your emotions, nourishing your mind. Every food can nourish you, and ask yourself what needs nourishing right now…and seek foods to that end.
Prioritise non weight loss based goals - like getting stronger and more confident (wink wink nudge nudge: The Strong & Confident Program).
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Increase Protein and Vegetables
This is one of my Five Awesome Rules for Fat Loss Life.
Well the actual rule is “Protein and Veggies at every meal”
But increasing them from where they are right now will more than likely do you no harm at all, and it will indeed increase your likelihood to lose weight.
This occurs for a number of reasons, the first being, that the extra fibre in your system from the Vegetables will indeed keep you fuller for longer. Secondly, you can eat a lot of Vegetables in terms of volume, and take on relatively few calories compared to other foods.
For example, 100g of Carrots has 41 calories in it, compared to 100g of Chicken Breast which contains 165kcal.
My point here is that you will feel more full, and take on fewer calories, allowing you to adhere to your calorie deficit in a much more sustainable way.
Protein is one of the most satiating macronutrients there is.
As a study published in the BioMed Central Journal [2] states:
“The hierarchy for macronutrient-induced satiating efficiency is similar to that observed for diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT): protein is the most satiating macronutrient followed by CHOs and fat, which is least satiating”
Again this will lead you to feel fuller for longer, and more satisfied after eating as well as helping you recover from your exercise sessions in a much more efficient way.
For my clients on the Strong & Confident Program, I work on them increasing Protein to 100g a day if they are a meat-eater, and 80g a day if they are vegetarian - like me!
One of the best ways to implement this piece of advice is by having a DAS.
A “Daily Awesome Salad”
Just get your protein source, add it to some salad bag of food - and the job is done!
If you do this every day you will soon start reaping the benefits in terms of losing weight and building a more healthy eating habit.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT STAYING FULLER FOR LONGER BY READING MY BLOG POST THAT HAS
HELPED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WITH THIS EXACT ISSUE
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Healthy Snacks
If I had a pound or dollar for every time I get asked the following question:
“What healthy snacks can I have?”
And I look at the person who has asked me that question and simply say:
“You know the answer”
They look at me bewildered, and confused - because surely it’s not that simple is it?
And sadly, it is. It really is.
What is wrong with fruit being a snack?
In terms of a “snack” fruit literally ticks all of the boxes. It is convenient, it is cost-effective, it is filling and it is relatively low calorie compared to other kinds of snacks.
I also don’t know anyone who has food guilt over eating a banana. But eating a bag of crisps or a doughnut might trigger you. It doesn’t have to…but it might.
You can snack on vegetables too, however, they take more preparation and have a much higher barrier to entry to execute on.
I know it’s not exciting, I know it’s not sexy and I know when someone asks for a healthy snack they are wanting something like a Bounce Protein Ball or some kind of superior Kale Chip.
But again, they are very expensive and they won’t fill you up as much as an apple or banana.
There are plenty of exciting things you can do with fruit as well - if you have the time.
Other healthy snack ideas could be:
Trail Mix: grab a mix of any nuts, seeds, dried fruits savoury mix-ins like chickpeas, and just put it all together. The combinations here are endless.
Nuts: Be careful with nuts, as they are quite high in calories and may hinder your weight loss if over-consumed - and they are very easy to over-consume, but they do have many other benefits as well.
Seaweed Snacks - my fiancee eats seaweed all the time - and some of them are really tasty, but they don’t fill you up much.
The bottom line with “healthy snacks” is that if you want to avoid the obvious in terms of fruit, the preparation of these snacks can be quite a time-consuming exercise, and that negates the efficacy of the “snack”. Also, just because something is healthy doesn’t always make it the best option for weight loss, so always view these snacks in the realm of your calorie allowances.
Here are some of my favourite snacks from recipe books I send out to my clients:
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Plenty of Water
This again features in my Five Awesome Rules for Fat Loss Life.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people are under-hydrated when they are trying to lose weight.
And it never ceases to amaze me how many people don’t recognise the amazing benefits of water in their ability to eat in a more healthy way for their diet.
I always ask my clients on the Strong & Confident Program to drink around three litres of water a day, which is quite a lot, but there are very few drawbacks to drinking enough water.
And that compared to the drawbacks of being dehydrated makes it well worth focussing on.
Water helps with cognitive function, muscle function, digestive function, complexion, joint function and energy levels throughout the day.
Water also has zero calories in it, therefore in terms of weight loss, it is really useful.
When you are dehydrated you will feel low on energy, might have a headache and generally won’t feel your best, which will lead you to consume more calories.
Don’t go from zero water to three litres immediately, build up slowly, and you may begin to notice the benefits on less water than three litres a day.
5 Easy and Healthy Eating Habits For Weight Loss
And that’s it…
Remember, to lose weight, you must be in a Calorie Deficit and to improve your eating habits you need to move away from the thoughts of certain foods being good and others being bad.
Having a “healthy” diet is different to everyone, but balance is the key to all things, and that means something different to all people.
One of the best things you can do to make your eating habits more healthy will be to stop trying to live up to the expectation of healthy eating you see on Social Media, and making sure you work hard on allowing your diet to work in the best way for your life.
And as always if you have any questions you only have to ask me.
To be able to do that don’t forget to send me a Friend Request by filling out the form below, and then you can email me your questions.
It would be my pleasure to answer them.
You will also get my book “27 Ways To Faster Fat Loss” sent to you for free.
I hope you found this article useful and that my tips help you improve your eating habits.
I cannot wait to see you again soon…
Coach Adam
References:
Palascha A, van Kleef E, van Trijp HC. How does thinking in Black and White terms relate to eating behavior and weight regain? J Health Psychol. 2015 May;20(5):638-48. doi: 10.1177/1359105315573440. PMID: 25903250.
Pesta DH, Samuel VT. A high-protein diet for reducing body fat: mechanisms and possible caveats. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2014 Nov 19;11(1):53. doi: 10.1186/1743-7075-11-53. PMID: 25489333; PMCID: PMC4258944.
Diet vs Exercise To Lose Weight: What Is More Important?
Sometimes I like to think I have a secret.
A secret that no one else in the world will ever know.
A secret so important for the well-being of mankind that I’m scared to share it because it will just blow the minds of everyone and create a new world order.
This secret might be bigger than Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
It might change the world more than when Sir Isaac Newton discovered Gravity.
Heck, it might just change your life.
This is actually far more important to me than changing the world - which is the premise of this Blog Post. I can’t change the world at once - but I certainly can change the mind of one person at a time through words like these, and slowly over time that might help make a change in the world.
But if it doesn’t - at least we had this moment. You and I. And that means an awful lot to me - so much in fact that I would love to have a few more moments with you.
Without sounding too creepy - I just wanted to ask you to be my friend.
As your friend, I will send you some very important things, like educational material, inspirational material and maybe just some stories from my life which you can enjoy reading with a coffee, beer or glass of wine.
See - I told you we could be friends.
If you would like to send me a friend request then please just fill out the form below and I will be in touch once you have finished this article.
Table of Contents for:
What's more important Diet vs Exercise vs THIS to lose weight?
How does Diet help you lose weight?
How does exercise help you lose weight?
My secret: How does Imperfect Action help you lose weight?
Being Optimal is a privilege
To Conclude…
How does Diet help you lose weight?
I have failed to see a scientific study that doesn’t look at the topic of weight loss and explains that in order to create weight loss a Calorie Deficit must be achieved.
And I have read a lot of these studies:
“Health professionals recommend that individuals with overweight and obesity lose weight by reducing energy intake while maintaining a healthful diet” [1]
“Individuals interested in losing weight should continue to be advised to regularly self-monitor energy intake and expenditure as well as to create a consistent daily energy deficit” [2]
“Individuals can lose body weight and improve health status on a wide range of energy (calorie)-restricted dietary interventions” [3]
“With the increasing obesity epidemic comes the search for effective dietary approaches for calorie restriction and weight loss.” [4]
“Overall, for significant safe weight loss, an energy deficit was required, which was commonly achieved by reduced fat intake” [5]
“An energy deficit is the most important factor in weight loss” [6]
*She* sadly I don’t get to make sure GIFS are balanced…so please don’t get offended if you are a female reading this.
But I think you get my point when it relates to just how important a Calorie Deficit or Energy Deficit is for losing weight.
Being in Energy Balance you will maintain your weight.
Learn how to maintain your Calorie Maintenance Level in my blog post that has helped thousands of people so far
To create a Calorie Deficit you will need to do one of three things:
Adjust the energy in (what you consume through diet).
Adjust the energy out (what you burn).
A combination of both.
When I set a client up, who has a weight loss goal, I will always work on their dietary intake to create the calorie deficit first.
It is incredibly easy to overeat due to a number of factors.
Emotional Overeating:
It is not uncommon for us to use food to soothe our emotional state and thus compulsively overeat without realising it to meet unmet needs from our childhood [7].
Food is Addictive:
This sums me up pretty well, sat here, in a coffee shop, writing this post.
A study called "Food Addiction: Implications for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Overeating” concluded that:
“There is evidence to suggest that, for some individuals, food can induce addictive-type behaviours similar to those seen with other addictive substances” [8]
With this pretty awesome graphic attached:
This graphic also gives us great insight into other reasons we can easily overeat:
Stress
Social Difficulty
Cravings
Vulnerability
Impulsivity
Other emotional responses both positive and negative
You can see the complex web of why, when looking at weight loss as a goal for someone, we must always address Energy Intake.
There are also many studies that advocate for all different types of dietary control to aid weight loss.
Whether that is:
The Keto Diet (please do not do this and find out why here)
Intermittent Fasting
Low Fat, High Carb
Low Carb, High Fat
High Protein
Slimming World and Weight Watchers
Paleo Diet
Vegan Diet
Carnivore Diet
Vegetarian Diet
Celery Juicing
Essentially it doesn't matter what diet you do from a purely physiological point of view - if it gets you into a Calorie Deficit it will work.
This does not mean I am advocating for all of those dietary behaviours - I am simply informing you that they are all designed to create a calorie deficit. In fact, of that list, I would probably advocate for only one or two of them in general terms.
cough - I am a vegetarian - cough
But in terms of being able to adhere to it for long enough, to protect your relationship with food, or at the very least rebuild it, many of the diets I have listed will be absolutely damaging to you regardless if you achieve your goal or not.
And this is why diet is so very important in the discussion of weight loss.
You will eat every day, and relatively speaking it is easier for you to manage your food intake throughout the day to create an energy deficit than it would be to exercise.
Let us say you are working on a 500kcal deficit diet each day.
All else remaining equal, that is simply not having the Venti Iced Mocha with Whipped Cream at Starbucks each day which comes in at ~450kcals.
That’s an easier thing to adhere to than getting into the gym each day to try and burn 500kcals.
Its easier to learn an element of portion control and increasing lower calorie foods in your diet than it is to show up to the gym for 75 mins a day to burn calories.
It is better for your overall well-being to increase your vegetable and fruit intake to help create a calorie deficit each day than it is to panic about getting to the Spin Class at 5 am when you have a family at home - or a stressful job to go to.
How does exercise help you lose weight?
I’m not sitting here, denying science.
Exercise does burn calories.
But it doesn’t burn enough calories for you to get into a deficit each day irrespective of your food intake.
It is also incredibly hard to know how many calories you are burning in a workout. Believe it or not having a watch on, made by a computer company, isn’t that scientifically accurate, in fact, this study [9] found them to be up to 60% inaccurate.
The other issue I have with using the Gym to burn calories is that it creates a hamster wheel scenario.
When you get into the habit of burning calories in the gym, you also get into the habit of demonising food - and you end up on this perpetual path of trying to undo the calories you ate, which destroys your relationship with food and exercise.
In an average strength session, you will be lucky to burn 300kcals.
On a Cardio Machine you will burn more in the moment, but less over time - and the more you eat the more time you have to spend burning calories.
Which only damages how you feel both on the inside and the outside.
This is why it is incredibly important to separate the two.
Allow your diet to dictate your Caloric Deficit and make sure you exercise to get strong.
Not just in the body, but in your heart, in your mind, in your soul.
When working out, ask yourself:
Does this exercise make me feel stronger?
Do I feel accomplished for completing it?
Do I want to get that feeling again?
And if the answer is yes, regardless of calories burned, then you are exercising in a way that will make you feel good.
And that is what is most important in this scenario.
Exercise can help you lose weight in other ways too...but these take time.
Preservation of Muscle Mass
By lifting weights, you will preserve or potentially increase your muscle mass. Which over time will increase your metabolism because muscle is more efficient at burning calories than adipose tissue (fat).
When you only diet and eat fewer calories to lose weight, without exercise you will lower your metabolism by up to 20% [10].
As you lower your calories to lose weight, you need to work against this as a lower metabolism will not help you in the long run - and the best way to prevent this lowering from occurring is by lifting weights.
Regulation of Hunger Hormones
Our two friends: Leptin and Grehlin.
Grehlin is like a little gremlin that sits in your stomach and whinges at you telling you that you’re hungry - even when you aren’t.
Grehlin = Gremlin.
And in people with higher-weight bodies, their ability to control the production of grehlin is reduced - and their sensitivity to listening to it is increased.
This study called: “Acute Exercise and Appetite-Regulating Hormones in Overweight and Obese Individuals: A Meta-Analysis” [11] concluded:
“An evidence synthesis of the six studies on overweight/obese individuals indicated that a moderate reduction in acylated ghrelin occurs after acute exercise”
By exercising, the effects of grehlin are reduced and therefore over time will help you achieve a calorie deficit.
Now onto Leptin.
Leptin is the hormone that tells you you're full.
And its tricky. The more Adipose Tissue we have, the higher levels of Leptin in the body - but when levels are increased for so long, we develop a resistance to it.
Creating a “Leptin Resistance”.
This resistance is more prevalent in Obese Individuals and inherently runs through families [12].
And as you can expect…Exercise might be one of the best ways to combat Leptin Resistance as this study from the University of Oslo confirms [13]:
“Long-term changes in lifestyle consisting of decreased intake of dietary fat and increased physical activity reduced plasma leptin concentrations in humans beyond the reduction expected as a result of changes in fat mass.”
Which is a conclusion I love for two main reasons.
“Long Term Changes in lifestyle” is something I am on board with. There’s little point, to try and change things quickly for a short period of time hoping those changes will last a lifetime.
Engaging in long-term physical activity and reducing your dietary fat in the long term has better results for your Leptin Resistance, and probably your overall health (a fair inference) than just losing weight.
How I Like To View Exercise For Weight Loss
Use it as your guiding light, as a signal for you to stay on track with your diet.
I used to play badminton with my best friend - and after every session, he would want to go for a beer - which made no sense to me.
Yes. I enjoy Beer like the best of them.
But, I used to think to myself what was the point of slogging it out on a court for 90 minutes to then harm all of your recovery efforts with a couple of Beers.
I used the movement as a way of improving my willpower and my desire to keep my diet in better place.
And if you can do that over time - you will then see the effects and benefits of weight loss as a result of your movement.
Because it will lead to better dietary choices.
It will reduce stress which will lead to better dietary choices.
It will help your Mental Health which will lead to better dietary choices.
But either way, you are looking to use exercise to improve your dietary choices and create a better balance in your life in favour of your goals.
My secret: How does Imperfect Action help you lose weight?
This secret is the greatest superpower you will need in this whole “weight loss thing”
It is understanding the concept of imperfect action.
I think, it is fair to conclude that to lose weight you need to combine both Diet and Exercise to help you.
But knowing this doesn’t necessarily help.
Because as you can see, the complex hormonal balance in your body just from Leptin and Grehlin is a hard thing to control, combined with the fact that not everyone finds the ability to, or the enjoyment out of exercising in a manner that might be “optimal”.
I was on a call with one of my online Clients on the Strong & Confident Program the other day and I was explaining this concept to him.
He is a very high Politician in the UK - and as you can imagine he, therefore, has a very crazy life. He also sits on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee - and at the time of writing this - Europe is at War.
Nonetheless, he has big goals and wonderful aspirations and it is my pleasure to help him.
And at the moment, helping him the most is putting the brakes on him.
Telling him not to work out, rather than do more.
He wants to try and aim for four workouts a week - and I am having to tell him not to. I am a fan of four workouts a week, truly I am, but not when it means that you will only be able to do it for a few weeks, and missing workouts will have a bigger negative effect on your feelings of accomplishment and strength than only doing three workouts a week.
But no one needs perfection. You need consistency and setting up a system that
will inspire consistency over perfection is imperfect action at work.
I know one thing to be true for him, if he gives up, nothing will change - and therefore making sure that he is set up in a way that will not make him feel like he can’t stay on top of everything will lower the likelihood of him giving up.
There is a point of diminishing returns in all things we do.
When doing more, is actually counterproductive.
MRV stand for Maximal Recoverable Volume.
You want to get the best bang for your buck - especially if you struggle with adherence over time. Therefore staying where the curve is steepest is best.
Doing more isn’t worth it - and what determines what is recoverable is dominated by one thing: Stress. The more stressed you are, the lower the amount of maximal recoverable volume you will be able to take on.
And how much exercise do we know to be too much?
That’s determined by time - not necessarily the amount of workouts.
Previously I stated that I like clients to do 4 workouts a week - Upper, Lower, Upper, Lower.
However when I program this, I don’t program four hours of workouts.
I try to keep my workouts to 30mins of working to intensity for my clients. This would be the time outside of a warm-up and a cool-down, but from the load, they will really need to recover.
You need to keep between two and three hours a week.
That’s all you need to do.
Examples of Imperfect Action
Can’t get to the gym for an hour? Go for 30 minutes.
Can’t get to the gym for 30 minutes? Go for 20 minutes.
Want to have pizza for dinner? Order a massive salad with it too.
Have a night out? Maybe substitute Pints for halves. Mixers for Soda Water. Large Glasses of wine for Smaller ones.
When I was at Drama School we had to write our own film - and they bought in two professional writers to help us learn how to do it.
The very first thing, and most useful thing that these two writers told us was:
“Don’t get it right, get it written”
And that is the best way I can sum up Imperfect Action.
Nothing needs to be perfect or exact. Nothing needs to be optimal.
It just needs to be done.
If getting it done means it might not be perfect….then get it done anyway.
Do you know how many of these blogs I have written with spelling errors in them?
A fair few.
Because if I fretted over getting everything right all the time, I just wouldn’t get as much work done as I need to and I comprehend that the quality of what I write and how I help people is more important than the odd spelling error.
Over time, all of these imperfect actions add up. They compound within you, inspiring more action, more results and more motivation.
You see, no one gains weight from missing one workout, no one gains weight from eating one McDonald’s.
It is the build-up of these behaviours over very long periods of time that creates weight gain.
And therefore the reverse is true.
It is the opposite of the all-or-nothing mindset you need to approach this with, because all-or-nothing mindsets always lead to nothing - if that wasn’t true - you wouldn’t be sitting here reading this.
Tick off and sweat the small stuff more.
Being Optimal Is A Privilege
Privilege is a word that is banded around a lot these days. I do feel that sometimes it’s on the verge of being overused.
However, this concept is very important to understand when it comes to imperfect action.
In fact, privilege is important to understand full stop. I remember when I first grappled with this idea during the Black Lives Matter protests and it took a lot of interesting and eye-opening conversations to understand the concepts set behind my privilege.
I also remember my birthday in 2021 was almost ruined by being attacked online for “not understanding my privilege” when I commented on a post about how progressive overload works.
I was described as an “SIS White Man, who has a genetic advantage over the rest of the world and has never had to worry about his health and therefore has no right to comment or to help those who have had struggles I would never understand”.
I have a 7-inch scar down my chest, which I have had my entire life because I have to worry about my health each and every day. In fact, I was born with a condition that means I will have had to have gone through open-heart surgery twice in my lifetime - and at the moment, I am just waiting for the day I am told “let’s go in again”.
Never judge a book by its cover.
When you are on the Socials seeing people “succeed” you have no idea what privilege is afforded to them that isn’t afforded to you:
Genetic
Societal
Family
Occupational
Health - Mental and Physical
Financial
I used to struggle with this.
I honestly used to believe that if Chris Pratt could change his body the way he did, then I should be able to too.
But what that doesn’t take into account is the fact that I have a very different life to him.
He has chefs who manage his food each and every day.
He has Personal Trainers paid for by Hollywood Studios in order to make sure he changes the way he needs to.
He also has the allure of being able to put in the work because at the end of it is a $3m bonus, on top of actually being contractually paid to workout and change his body.
I do not.
He has a significantly greater privilege than me to help him manage his change.
And that’s not his fault, that’s not my fault.
Its just fact.
You may not have the ability to execute what is optimal - and understanding the concept of Imperfect Action is a release from the pressure of making sure you are “doing everything right”.
You need to do what you enjoy.
And setting yourself up for an optimal diet, an optimal workout plan and an optimal weight loss journey is more than likely setting you up for failure.
Because you simply do not have the privilege that is required for an optimal environment.
To Conclude…
To lose weight your diet is the driving force.
To help make that process easier. and more maintainable exercise is the driving force.
To make the journey as easy as possible with self-compassion and taking pressure off of your shoulders…
To allow you to coach yourself through the journey and to talk to yourself with self-love…
To keep your mindset in the place that will help you most…
Imperfect Action is the driving force for long-term sustainable habits that will build up over time and make it easier as you go.
The National Weight Loss Registry [14] is a database of over 10,000 members that have lost over 30 pounds and maintained that for one year or more.
They conclude:
98% of Registry participants report that they modified their food intake in some way to lose weight.
94% increased their physical activity, with the most frequently reported form of activity being walking.
There is variety in how NWCR members keep the weight off. Most report continuing to maintain a low-calorie, low-fat diet and doing high levels of activity.
78% eat breakfast every day.
75% weigh themselves at least once a week.
62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week.
90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day.
If you want to lose weight, I urge you to not look at the picture of one vs the other.
Diet vs Exercises.
This isn’t a competition.
It’s a blend of behaviours that create a bigger picture over time.
Balance everything always.
What’s Next?
I hope you found this article useful, and that you feel a lot better about your struggles at the moment.
If you would like to join my free Facebook group: Straightforward Fat Loss then click below:
Added to all of that, if you would like a Free Calorie and Macro Calculator then just put your email here:
References:
Tatiana Andreyeva, Michael W. Long, Kathryn E. Henderson, Gabrielle M. Grode, Trying to Lose Weight: Diet Strategies among Americans with Overweight or Obesity in 1996 and 2003, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 110, Issue 4, 2010, Pages 535-542, ISSN 0002-8223,
Robert A. Carels, Kathleen M. Young, Carissa Coit, Anna Marie Clayton, Alexis Spencer, Marissa Hobbs, Can following the caloric restriction recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans help individuals lose weight?, Eating Behaviors, Volume 9, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 328-335, ISSN 1471-0153, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2007.12.003.
Thom G, Lean M. Is There an Optimal Diet for Weight Management and Metabolic Health? Gastroenterology. 2017 May;152(7):1739-1751. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2017.01.056. Epub 2017 Feb 15. PMID: 28214525.
Johnstone A. Fasting for weight loss: an effective strategy or latest dieting trend? Int J Obes (Lond). 2015 May;39(5):727-33. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2014.214. Epub 2014 Dec 26. PMID: 25540982.
Ramage S, Farmer A, Eccles KA, McCargar L. Healthy strategies for successful weight loss and weight maintenance: a systematic review. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2014 Jan;39(1):1-20. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2013-0026. Epub 2013 Nov 4. PMID: 24383502.
Kim JY. Optimal Diet Strategies for Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance. J Obes Metab Syndr. 2021 Mar 30;30(1):20-31. doi: 10.7570/jomes20065. PMID: 33107442; PMCID: PMC8017325.
Miller KD. Compulsive overeating. Nurs Clin North Am. 1991 Sep;26(3):699-705. PMID: 1891402.
Adams RC, Sedgmond J, Maizey L, Chambers CD, Lawrence NS. Food Addiction: Implications for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Overeating. Nutrients. 2019 Sep 4;11(9):2086. doi: 10.3390/nu11092086. PMID: 31487791; PMCID: PMC6770567.
News.iastate.edu. 2020. Activity Trackers Not As Accurate For Some Activities, ISU Study Finds • News Service • Iowa State University. [online] Available at: <https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2015/08/19/activitytrackers> [Accessed 22 June 2020].
Fat facts. (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2022, from http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/fatfacts.html
Douglas JA, Deighton K, Atkinson JM, Sari-Sarraf V, Stensel DJ, Atkinson G. Acute Exercise and Appetite-Regulating Hormones in Overweight and Obese Individuals: A Meta-Analysis. J Obes. 2016;2016:2643625. doi: 10.1155/2016/2643625. Epub 2016 Dec 27. PMID: 28116150; PMCID: PMC5223036.
Lee, J., Reed, D. & Price, R. Leptin resistance is associated with extreme obesity and aggregates in families. Int J Obes 25, 1471–1473 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801736
Reseland JE, Anderssen SA, Solvoll K, Hjermann I, Urdal P, Holme I, Drevon CA. Effect of long-term changes in diet and exercise on plasma leptin concentrations. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001 Feb;73(2):240-5. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/73.2.240. PMID: 11157319.
“National Weight Control Registry.” Nwcr.ws, nwcr.ws/default.html
The Ultimate Guide: What To Eat When Working Out
I went back and forth on the image I was going to use for this article.
I had the classic “woman in the Gym drinking a protein shake” and then I went completley to the other side and considered a lovely image of someone eating Pizza.
But the issue with both of these images is they promote one extreme and then the other.
They don’t promote balanace - and I am all about balance!
The reason balance is so critical - is that the fulcrum can always move as you change and grow through your fitness journey - and that is a beautiful thing.
This is a tough article to write because the reasons that someone is working out is always very different:
Mental Health
To Lose Weight
To Build Muscle
To be part of a community
To enjoy yourself
To develop a skill
To train for a challenege
Therefore what I am going to do is stick to principles that will work across the board for you.
There are principles that can fit into the scope of any of these outcomes the only difference is the energy balance equation.
To build muscle you need to be in a caloric surplus of about 110% of your TDEE.
For more information on that head here: How To Gain Weight
To lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit which is a window between your BMR and your Goal Bodyweight in LBS multiplied by 12.
For more information on that head here: What is a Calorie Deficit Diet Plan?
For your mental health having balanced nutrition is also critical. Having a varied colourful healthful diet with balance and flexibility is important. But then again that’s important for life.
As the study Food and Mood [1] in the British Medical Journal states:
“This message supports the idea that creating environments and developing measures that promote healthy, nutritious diets, while decreasing the consumption of highly processed and refined “junk” foods may provide benefits even beyond the well-known effects on physical health, including improved psychological wellbeing.”
In this article, I am going to take you through all three Macronutrients and how much of them you should eat and why. In each section, I will point to you about your workouts and managing nutrition around that, but in truth, the differences aren’t that huge.
In actual fact, “what to eat when working out” isn’t really that different to what you should be doing with your nutrition towards your goals anyway. There are some timing and optimal things you can do around your diet and training, but this is about 10% of the work you actually need to do to achieve your goals. I will take you through supplementation too - but this is really a plan for anyone who is now wanting to engage in and live an active lifestyle.
I love educating and informing people just like you in this way all about fitness. In fact, I love it so much, it would be awesome if you wanted to become my friend. You got this far…so it would be remiss of me to not extend an invitation out.
Now if you do decide to become my buddy, I do have a warning for you…I will send you things:
Helpful things (Blog Posts, Workout Manuals, Calorie Calculators)
Insightful things (New Research, thoughts of the day, stuff about my life)
Educational things (much of the above fits into this category)
and
Some inappropriate things (I better not list them here as Google might get suspicious)
But that’s what being friends is all about right? And I fully expect you to do the same back to me…
Therefore if you would like to send me a friend request then just fill out this form:
Table of Contents: The Ultimate Guide: What To Eat When Working Out
What Protein to eat when working out?
- How much Protein do you need? | Protein and Workouts | High Protein Meals
What Carbohydrates to eat when working out?
- How many Carbohydrates do you need? | Carbs and Workouts | Are Carbs Good? Bad? Or just Misunderstood?
What Fats to eat when working out?
- A Final Word on Fats…
What Supplements to have when working out?
How To Structure Your Diet
What Protein to eat when working out?
Here is the good news - you DO NOT NEED TO BE DOING WHAT THIS MAN IS DOING.
I don’t even know why he would do that himself? Maybe he thinks he is Gaston from Beauty and the Beast?
Who knows?
Protein.
Is it important? Yes.
Why is it important? It is the main building block of your body.
Other key features of Protein are:
It keeps you fuller for longer
It takes longer to digest - hence increasing your Thermic Effect of Food (basically increases metabolism)
It builds muscles, tendons, organs and skin.
How Much Protein do you need?
This is a debate that rages and rages.
And honestly, we could get very technical. But I am going to assume you are at least semi-interested in being active and fitness, like most of my clients, and therefore because of the complexity on this topic, over the years I have had to simplify my view on Protein significantly.
One key feature with protein, which I have noticed working with hundreds of people throughout my career, is that they think they are eating more than they actually are.
And eating “enough” is really bloody hard for most people.
Science states lots of different things on this topic.
I have always maintained you need: 0.8-1.1g of protein a day per KG of total body weight.
When I weighed 82.8kg I had 71kg of Lean Body Mass - which meant I “needed” 91.8g of protein as I was calculating it on my LBM in KGs.
But there is great variance in the best suggestion here. Some sources say 2g/kg of bodyweight. Others say 1g per pound of bodyweight.
This means I either need to eat:
91.8g of protein a day, 165g of protein a day or 182g of protein a day.
Now others will ask you to base it on your Lean Body Mass or Fat-Free Mass.
These figures are given as: 1.1g per LB of Lean Body Mass
This changes the numbers again…meaning I would need to eat:
171g of protein a day.
It is confusing. But don’t worry. I do have a very simple solution to the question of how much protein you need to eat a day.
It’s important to remember that everybody is different and not everyone has the luxury of knowing their Lean Body Mass either - and you don’t need to have that information to get this right.
When I weighed 82.8kgs, I don’t think I ever hit numbers like 170g of protein a day - and I still managed to build muscle, get to my goals and achieve what I wanted to achieve.
Like with most things in fitness - you must always balance what is optimal with what is possible.
I did try to actively increase my protein, but not to the detriment or worry of anything else. Added to that I’m a Vegetarian, so I was already aiming a little lower. I’m under no illusions, I know I’m not the bulkiest, most muscly person - I’m not ever going to be a bodybuilder and nor do I want to be - I work out for many reasons that are not aesthetics - but this photo shows that by trying to increase protein consistently - you can still make really good progress.
This is also the most “Daniel Craig” I think I will ever look…
PHOWAAAARRRRRRRR
So here is my simple solution to protein:
Work towards 100g a day and if you are a Vegetarian 80g a day will suffice
There is little negative effect to having more protein in your diet. If you can get more in then great, but you don’t necessarily have to.
In terms of weight loss, and weight gain. This study [2] found that:
“Thermogenesis at 2.5 hours post-meal averaged about twofold higher on the high protein diet versus the high carbohydrate diet, and differences were significant after the breakfast and the dinner meals (p < 0.05)”
and concluded:
“These data indicate an added energy-cost associated with high-protein, low-fat diets and may help explain the efficacy of such diets for weight loss”
Therefore not only is protein awesome for building your body, it’s also awesome at helping you maintain and work on weight loss too.
100g a day is also the system I implement with most of my clients - and it seems to be a good figure for them to aim for regardless of their composition.
It’s pretty incredible.
And working towards 100g means you don’t have to be there every day - again it’s that word: balance.
Protein and Workouts…
Speak to most “personal trainers” and they will tell you to eat post-workout a combination of “protein and carbs”. This is to maximise something called muscle protein synthesis. This is known as the “Anabolic Window”.
Which to you and I basically means refill your muscles with protein so they grow.
There is a modicum of truth to this.
But…and it is a big but…
Don’t sweat it.
The advantages to maximising muscle protein syntheses in comparison to just hitting your protein target each day is insignificant.
The most important thing you can do is just hit your numbers over a day as this study [3] concludes:
“With respect to hypertrophy, total protein intake was the strongest predictor of Exercise Strength magnitude. These results refute the commonly held belief that the timing of protein intake in and around a training session is critical to muscular adaptations and indicate that consuming adequate protein in combination with resistance exercise is the key factor for maximizing muscle protein accretion.”
I think this is also where I pitch my coaching services which involve “resistance exercise” and is called The Strong and Confident Program
All of this being said…I personally do consume a protein shake after each and every workout - for the simple reason that it's a good moment to get some protein in, quell my hunger and rehydrate me.
My workout is almost a reminder to keep working on this part of my nutrition, and I enjoy having it post-workout - usually when I am swimming.
One thing with nutrition is that habit can be your best friend and your worst enemy. In this instance, I use it to my advantage - and it could be a strategy for you as well to get a nice helping of ~20g protein in throughout your day.
Some High Protein Meals:
Now I am a Vegetarian, so what I am sharing with you here are not necessarily the foods I eat - but they are from the Recipe Books that I give to my clients - because not all my clients are Vegetarian (in fact I think none of them is).
What Carbohydrates to eat when working out?
The more I write these Blogs the more I begin to realise that Schitt’s Creek literally knows everything about life.
Now please repeat these two sentences after me:
Carbohydrates do not make you fat….
No one gained weight from eating too many fruits and vegetables…
In fact, Carbohydrates and protein have the exact same calories per gram in them - 4kcal per gram.
Therefore the very oversimplified premise that carbs make you fat is just a downright lie, and I would be very wary of anyone who says that to you - simply because it so much more complex than that.
How many Carbohydrates Do You Need?
The biggest issue with carbohydrates is that we can eat an awful lot of them in one go. It’s not uncommon to eat three servings of rice at dinner, or have four portions of oven chips without realising.
Do you know how many oven chips one serving actually is?
Please sit down for this…the results are that shocking.
And within that portion is 154 calories. Now, quite rightly, I do not know a single human being on the planet that will only eat 7 chips with their dinner.
Chips are yummy. They should be enjoyed properly (with ketchup), and I fully expect a person to not have one portion of them. But you can begin to see, how one portion can become three portions when you serve dinner.
Many people who say to me “I’ve gone low carb and feel great” upon further examination have actually just bought their Carb intake into line with the amounts outlined below.
They aren’t “Low-Carb” they are simply eating an accurate amount for their individual body - as opposed to overeating them.
The amount you need is dependent on your goals - like with all food - it all has to be viewed within the context of calories.
To Lose Weight: 0.5g - 2g per pound of body weight per day
To Gain Weight: 1g - 3g per pound of body weight per day
If we take 82kg me again…this means I should have been eating around: 330g of Carbohydrates a day as I was trying to lose weight at that time. This is 1323kcal/day from Carbohydrates.
There is no one size fits all, because guess what…we are all different.
But a good rule to go by, which the CDC suggest is that you should aim for about 50% of your daily calories to come from Carbohydrates. Other sources say between 45% and 65% of your daily calories should come from Carbohydrates.
So ~50% of your Calories seems like a good place to start to me.
This doesn’t mean if you eat more than 50% you are failing. Like with most things “calories” working in flexible windows is always a good idea.
There is also a study [5] that backs this up. Published in the Lancet in 2018 it was a Meta-Analysis of 420,000 people in 20 countries and found the following:
“a percentage of 50–55% energy from carbohydrate was associated with the lowest risk of mortality.”
And interestingly went on to conclude:
“Our findings suggest a negative long-term association between life expectancy and both low carbohydrate and high carbohydrate diets when food sources are not taken into account. These data also provide further evidence that animal-based low carbohydrate diets should be discouraged. Alternatively, when restricting carbohydrate intake, replacement of carbohydrates with predominantly plant-based fats and proteins could be considered as a long-term approach to promote healthy ageing”
Carbs and Workouts
Carbohydrates are essential for your ability to work out.
Your muscles use the glucose from Carbohydrates to move - and as you move, the tank of energy you have gets depleted.
As this study states:
“During short, heavy exercise it may be the only energy source for the working muscle and may be derived exclusively from the glycogen stores within the muscle fibres themselves”
This is why, very often, when you workout and haven’t fuelled your workout correctly, you can just run out of energy, experience unusual fatigue or feel shaky - it is not because you have done something wrong - its simply because your body is running on empty of Carbohydrate.
This is also why, when looking into what you “should” eat after a workout many people will say a combination of Protein and Carbs.
As the study: International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: nutrient timing [4] states:
“Post-exercise (within 30 minutes) consumption of CHO at high dosages (8 - 10 g CHO/kg/day) have been shown to stimulate muscle glycogen re-synthesis, while adding PRO (0.2 g - 0.5 g PRO/kg/day) to CHO at a ratio of 3 - 4:1 (CHO: PRO) may further enhance glycogen re-synthesis.”
So you need carbohydrates post-exercise - with some protein too. You need to restock your energy in your muscles - otherwise, you will grind to a halt.
Remember what I said about protein muscle synthesis? Well, that’s true of glycogen (Carbohydrate) too.
This is one reason that when you are in a Calorie Deficit and training properly, but not eating enough, your Metabolism can drop so much. You stop moving as much throughout that day because your muscles aren’t filled with the ability to move your body.
This can slow your metabolism down by up to 15% [5].
The frequency of your training will dictate how much attention you need to pay to all of this. The more you train, the more you might need to make sure that you are being sensitive to these needs, the less you train, the less sensitive you need to be.
If you workout most days - then give this a little more attention. If you workout 1-2/week then it is far less important.
This is all in relation to an ideal world - and having worked with many people - an ideal world is far from how you actually live. Now that you know the why’s and wherefore’s how would this look practically?
For example, the only time you have to get to the gym is at around 6 am - your stomach doesn’t do too well eating very early - but you want to get the most out of your workout knowing that you need that glucose in your muscles, because the last thing you ate was at 6 pm the night before…
What on earth do you do?
With most of my clients, I will simply ask them to eat some fruit.
It’s that simple. A banana, an apple, some grapes. Whatever takes their fancy - but some fruit should be more than enough for a 30-60min session - even if you are on an empty stomach.
If they have a little more time and don’t need to worry about driving and eating, then I might suggest some Greek Yoghurt with the fruit.
Are Carbs Good? Bad? Or just Misunderstood?
Carbs…are classy. They are a treasure trove of healthful nutrients - but sadly they have been let down by fad diets and society at large.
All Fruits (with the exception of an Avocado) and all Vegetables are Carbohydrates - and if you are willing to sit there and tell me that these are damaging to your health, then I am afraid that you are on the wrong Blog.
I do think that the demonisation of Carbs in our Society is wildly correlated with how much more sedentary we are as well. Simply put, the more muscle you have on your body, the more carbohydrates you can eat - because you have more room for it to be stored in your muscles to be used up as energy, as opposed to it having to be stored as fat in the body.
READ MY BLOG POST WHICH IS HELPING HUNDREDS OF OFFICE WORKERS GET MORE HEALTHY
As a Vegetarian, I know this to be true. My Diet had to go from a bigger protein base to a bigger Carbohydrate base, but my physique didn’t change that much for two reasons:
I had an awful lot of muscle on my body (72kg of muscle on an 82kg body)
I remained active
No food is good or bad. They can contain more calories or fewer calories. They can affect your body in a different way depending on who you are - but this does not denote their moral value.
And by attaching moral values to food - you are attaching judgement to the foods you eat - that will erode your relationship with food over time. I understand it’s almost common to describe a doughnut as bad, and an apple as good. But neither is true - and the more you learn to frame it as just food, which has an energy value contained within it - the better everything will become for you.
Why do we misunderstand Carbs?
There is no denying it.
If you want to lose just Scale Weight quickly - reduce your Carb intake. This will without a doubt bring the scale down, as every time we eat 1g of Carbs we retain 3g of Water.
As this study [6] from 2015 confirms:
“Our findings agree with the long held notion that each gram of glycogen is stored in human muscle with at least 3 g of water. Higher ratios are possible (e.g., during REHFULL) likely due to water storage not bound to glycogen.”
When you go “low-carb” the scale weight you see drop is just water leaving your muscles - its not body fat dropping. This also goes a long way to explaining why the scale goes up after you have had a night out on Italian Food!
The other great misunderstanding about Carbs is whether you are actually overeating eating them or not. Oftentimes its not the Carbohydrate content in a food that makes it scrummy and delicious - its the combination between Carbs and Fats.
These are the greatest flavoured crisps that have ever come into existence.
And when you look at them - you probably think - its a big old bag of Carbs.
But when you break it down to its nutritional caloric values - its actually predominately a bag of dietary fat.
This bag per serve has:
123kcals, 6.5g of Fat which is 58.5kcal and 14.3g of carbohydrate which is 57.2kcal.
Let’s look at a “more sugary” piece of food = the greatest donut of all time:
The Krispy Kreme Original Glazed.
190kcals, 11g of Fat which is 99kcals, 22g of carbohydrates which is 88kcals.
The reason these foods are so damn tasty isn’t because they have Carbs in them. Instead, it is the potent combination of Carbohydrate AND Dietary Fat.
All of these years you have been slamming yourself for eating Carbs…when the truth is…you have been eating more Dietary Fat than you actually realised - which, if you are considering going “low-carb” to lose weight - think again - you actually need to cut down
Now, why might this be an issue…
What Fats to eat when working out?
Fats have 9kcal per gram within them. This means calorically they are worth more than double Carbohydrates and Protein.
Now, this is a real friend when trying to gain weight or maintain your weight - but when trying to lose weight, this can be a big reason that success eludes you.
Similar to Carbohydrate this is why it is very important to manage your portion sizes well.
Fats are very good for you - despite their Caloric density - we do need them in our diet for a whole multitude of reasons.
The World Health Organization states that total fat intake needs to be around 20-35% of total caloric intake [7] - and other Health Bodies say similar.
Dietary Fat allows our body to absorb the essential ADEK Vitamins into our system - they are Fat-Soluble Vitamins - whereas all other Vitamins are Water Soluble.
Now Fats can get very confusing because there are so many sub-categories of them…but I am going to try and make it as simple as possible for you.
Fats that are to be limited:
Saturated Fat - often found in things like Butter, Cakes, Sausages, Bacon and Cheese - can have a negative outcome on health if eaten to excess. Think Animal Fats, whole Fat Diary and Coconut and Palm Oil.
Trans Fat - this is nearly the only category of food I will allow people to discuss in a negative manner. These are foods with hydrogenated oil in them. Usually your fried foods, fast foods, margarine, pastries and processed snacks.
All other Fats are to be enjoyed moderately within your goals.
Poly Unsaturated Fats: Fish, because they contain two types of Fatty Acid - Omega 3 and Omega 6 which are great for heart and brain health. Tofu also contains these fats as well as, soybeans and pumpkin seeds.
Mono Unsaturated Fats: Nuts, Olive Oil and Avocado.
In terms of strictly speaking for your workouts, I would say prioritise Poly Unsaturated Fats as the Omega 3s and 6s are very good for your joint health.
As these studies [8, 9] show when it looked at the role of Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) and the effect on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) prevention it found that:
“Growing evidence demonstrates a role of PUFAs in chronic inflammation of RA and this is well established in many types of animal models of inflammatory arthritis” [8]
“The results suggest that omega-3 PUFAs are an attractive adjunctive treatment for joint pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and dysmenorrhea” [9]
A final word on Fats…
Olive Oil could be regarded as the “Healthiest Fat” on the planet.
It is probably the most powerfully healthy food we have available to us. The supreme benefits of Olive Oil are thus:
Rich in Mono Saturated Fat
Large Amounts of Antioxidants [10]
Reduces Inflammation due to its Oelic Acid content [11]
Helps prevent strokes [12]
Reduces Heart Disease by reducing Cholesterol [13] and Blood Pressure [14]
Helps you Maintain Bodyweight when calories are controlled the same [15]
Helps with Insulin Sensitivity [16]
Can reduce Cancer risk [17]
Now I am not expecting you, nor do I want you, drinking Olive Oil like it is water. Try to make sure you get Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The best way in which to ingest Olive Oil is in its uncooked form, so maybe drizzle it on your salads and vegetables.
Although the benefits are impressive, you need to make sure that you aren’t having more than what meets the recommended intake of between 20-35% of your total caloric intake for the day.
What Supplements To Have When Working Out?
Supplements not to have…
Supplements are a very intriguing world that is highly unregulated. Supplement companies sell you the quick fix and the shortcut to your results…and 95% of them are just rubbish - and are just designed to take your money and exploit your insecurities.
Remember if it is a shortcut to success, it wouldn’t be a shortcut - it would simple be known as the way to do things.
To create a supplement you do not need any approval from a governing body - which is a little terrifying. There was a fantastic documentary on this called “Bigger, Stronger, Faster*” where they looked into the world of steroid use and dietary supplements. This is how easy it is to make a supplement:
Terrifying right?
Supplements you don’t need are:
BCAAs
Pre-Workouts
Ketones
Apple Cider Vinegar
Laxatives
Diuretics
Fat Burning Pills
Detoxes
Cleanses
Slimming Teas
Any MLM Products
And a quick note on Branch Chain Amino Acids or BCAAs as they are getting more and more popular as a supplement.
This systematic review of 12 studies found that:
“BCAA supplementation seems not to improve performance and gain of strength and muscle mass.”
Therefore it would appear that so long as you are getting a well-balanced diet - as outlined in the rest of this article - you are not “losing gains on the Gym floor” by not drinking BCAAs.
What about Multivitamins?
In terms of Multivitamins and Vitamin Supplementation, I am not an expert - and many people enjoy having these in their nutrition. On occasion when I lived in the UK I did take Vitamin D3, and in the Winter here in Australia I do have a multivitamin during winter. But with regards to this - you do you - it’s not my remit and I’m not here to judge what you are supplementing yourself with in terms of vitamins.
Many people need many different things for many different reasons.
And that is going to have little or no effect on your ability to workout.
Supplements that are useful…
Whey or Vegan Protein Powder: Getting in your 100g+ of Protein can be quite hard sometimes and this is where Whey Protein or any other kind of Protein Powder can come in handy. It’s a simple, quick hit of protein that will help you get those numbers up as you need. As I alluded to earlier I have my Protein Shake after each workout or run - because I often need something to eat, and I really enjoy having it at that time. There is no magic effect of having it immediately after - it’s just a good moment to make sure that you are getting your protein in each day.
Creatine Monohydrate: The benefits of Creatine Monohydrate are slowly being more and more realised by science. It is widely considered the best supplement out there to help build muscle and strength and is one of the most researched and studied supplements of all time. It is also naturally found in the body already,
It’s also incredibly affordable and lasts a long time because you only need 3g of it a day.
I just put it in my protein shake - and you don’t even know it is there.
The benefits of Creatine Monohydrate almost can’t be overstated. It helps with muscle development of sedentary people, elderly people [18] and elite athletes. It also helps with brain function and potentially could help slow down the onset of Parkinsons’ Disease [19] and a whole host of other brain conditions.
Creatine is also very useful if you are like me, a vegetarian.
If you are going to buy some Creatine Monohydrate make sure that you read the label, and follow the dosage requirements.
Caffeine: This will boost your performance in the Gym [20] and is equally pretty safe to use. I always enjoy a coffee before I work out. You must be careful though, especially if you are working out in the evenings. Caffeine stays in your system for a long time, and it will inhibit your ability to get deep REM sleep - whether you have worked out or not. Therefore the benefit of what you gained from your workout from having caffeine will be negated the next day due to inadequate sleep.
You can find out more about it right here: Why Does Sleep Affect Your Weight Loss?
What’s Next?
I really hope you found this article useful, and you feel a lot more comfortable about your diet and nutrition when ity comes to your workouts.
I also have some other articles you might find useful to help you navigate your nturitona lot more on your Fitness Journey:
Added to all of that, if you would like a Free Calorie and Macro Calculator then just put your email in here:
You are also more than welcome to join my Free Facebook Group:
Thank you so much for being here - it means an awful lot to me.
Have a great day…
Coach Adam
References:
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