Food and Nutrition

Nutritional Facts

Diet: The Basics

Controlling Calorie intake is essential to burning fat. In terms of preventing weight gain, we have all heard the old saying “Calories in = calories out”. Basically this is true. However in order to burn fat AND safely fuel our muscles with all the required nutrients for optimal health and training efficiency we need to do a bit of macronutrient manipulation. Macronutrients is the collective terms for the the 3 big molecules that make up our diets: Protein, Fat and Carbohydrates. Each of these are essential to our diets but we must get the balance correct. A diet that contains 70% fat, 10% protein and 20% carbs will produce very different results from a diet containing 40% protein, 20% fat and 40% carbs.

Drink 2-4 litres of water a day

It is important to stay hydrated. For every molecule of protein, fat or carbohydrate, you need one molecule of water to digest it. If you do not have enough water to digest all your food properly you will not be able to preform well during a workout and therefore will not burn as much fat and muscle recovery will be inefficient. Obviously leading to a lack of results and a waste of time. Water also provides the feeling of fullness without added calories. Thirst is often mistaken for hunger, so drinking lots of water regularly can help prevent over eating. If you keep a sports cap bottle of water with you at all times you will soon get into the habit of drinking regularly. Especially if you work at a desk and begin to get board and reach for the biscuit tin. Just have a long drink of water instead!

Cut Out Process Foods

Insulin Control

Insulin secretion dampens the fat burning process. By controlling its release we can decrease fat gain and and increase fat loss. The best way to do this is by choosing low glycemic index (GI) carbohydrates. These type of carbs release energy at a slower rate and in turn you do not get a sudden surge in insulin. This leads to stable blood sugar levels, improves energy levels and mood! Low GI carbs include porridge, potato (sweet is slightly better than white but both are good. Leaving the skin decreases the GI level), carrots, broccoli, courgettes, asparagus, spinach, brown rice, apples, pears, to name a few. In fact your main source of carbohydrates should come from vegetables. It is widely under estimated just how much veg we need in our daily diets. Not only do they provide us with the essential vitamins and minerals, they are also an excellent source of fibre, needed to aid digestion! I try to eat at least 200g of green vegetables with each meal, in addition to approximately 50g of potato, carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, beetroot or another more starchy vegetable. The exact requirement for each person varies depending of how active they are, their weight and their target weight. So if you are trying to loose weight try replacing the starchy veg for some green veg.

Protein

In order to gain lean muscle you need to eat enough protein to sustain creation of new muscle proteins. Protein is made up of amino acids, the building blocks of many tissues in the body, including muscle. Certain amino acids are “essential”, which means the body cannot make them and they must be obtained through your diet. When you workout, you breakdown muscle tissue. In order to repair that muscle tissue and gain lean mass and become stronger, you must give the body protein to supply the amino acids needed for recovery. If you do not get enough protein in your diet your body will not have enough amino acids, specifically essential amino acids, to work properly and recovery from workouts. Where will it get these amino acids you are lacking? That’s right, from muscle tissue! All that hard work will be wasted! In addition to being required to recover from workouts, protein and amino acids are important for many reasons, such as:

• Supports immune system function.
• Promotes healthy connective tissue, hair, nails and other tissues.
• Supports energy levels.

Now that we know why protein is so important, let’s find out how much protein a woman needs. The recommended daily allowance of protein for SEDENTARY adults is 1 gram per kilogram of bodyweight (1g/kg). One should note that the recommended protein ratio is the same for both men and women. However if you train then you will need more!

Protein Facts

The International Society of Sports Nutrition’s recently released its current stand on protein intake:

1. Vast research supports the contention that individuals engaged in regular exercise training require more dietary protein than sedentary individuals.
2. Protein intakes of 1.4 – 2.0 g/kg/day for physically active individuals are not only safe, but may improve the training adaptations to exercise training.
3. When part of a balanced, nutrient-dense diet, protein intakes at this level are not detrimental to kidney function or bone metabolism in healthy, active persons.
4. While it is possible for physically active individuals to obtain their daily protein requirements through a varied, regular diet, supplemental protein in various forms are a practical way of ensuring adequate and quality protein intake for athletes.
5. Different types and quality of protein can affect amino acid bioavailability following protein supplementation. The superiority of one protein type over another in terms of optimizing recovery and/or training adaptations remains to be convincingly demonstrated.
6. Appropriately timed protein intake is an important component of an overall exercise training program, essential for proper recovery, immune function, and the growth and maintenance of lean body mass.
7. Under certain circumstances, specific amino acid supplements, such as branched-chain amino acids (BCAA’s), may improve exercise performance and recovery from exercise.” (Campbell et al, 2007). From this we see that active women would benefit from consuming 2 grams/kg of bodyweight, which is about 1 gram/lb of bodyweight. For a 60kg woman, this means that she needs 120 grams of protein per day. Ideally your protein should be spaced out throughout the day. If you eat five meals a day, this would be 30 grams of protein per meal.

Good Protein Sources

• Eggs and Eggs Whites
• Chicken
• Turkey
• Lean Beef
• Fish (tuna, sea bass, salmon, sword fish, halibut)
• Protein Powders such as MyProtein Impact Whey Isolate.
• Tofu
• Beans, pulses and nuts (nuts have a very high fat content so do not eat more than 9 if you are trying to reduce body fat!).

So, if you want to progress in the gym and reach your goals for the body of your dreams, eat your protein and don’t let anyone tell you that women don’t need to eat protein!