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 In order for us to get the best out of our bodies we must put the best into our bodies. We need to regularly fuel our bodies and try to get foods as close to their natural source as possible. When we process food it loses vital nutrients. So stay away from pre made foods like micro wave meals, pre made sandwiches and pre packed chicken as much as possible. Instead buy frozen chicken breasts, tinned tuna, and lean mince and prepare your food and meals yourself. This way you will get much more nutrients and benefit from the food you eat.Meal Planning Each and every meal should contain lean protein, complex carbohydrates and vegetables/fruit. This will give your body every thing it needs and help fuel it for 3-3.5 hours, as most proteins take this long to fully digest, which will keep blood glucose/insulin levels constant fuelling your body with the essential nutrients it needs. Eating little and often will allow your body to fully digest and benefit from the food we eat and will also keep your metabolism up turning your body in to a fat burning machine. We should be looking at a 5-6 meals per day. Knowing what foods to choose from to make up your meals is important. You will see, proteins and fats are pretty easy to understand and follow. Carbohydrates break down into the two categories of simple and complex. Both eventually convert to sugar but it’s the simple sugars that cause the body to dump large amounts of insulin into the blood stream. For optimal results you must avoid the simple carbohydrates. The insulin generated from foods of this category typically ends up being used to shuttle the extra sugar to the cells in your body where it can be stored. When simple carbohydrates are eaten, the sugars enter the blood stream at a very rapid rate. When this occurs, the insulin is far more likely to transport the sugars directly into fat cells resulting in fat storage. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day it kick starts your metabolism and after 8-10 hours without food your bodies is in a state of famine and needs nutrients. You increase your risk of obesity by 450% by skipping breakfast! Start by firstly getting in 3 quality meals in a day breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and every1-2 weeks try to add in another meal and try a new food. By slowly implementing this into your daily routine you are more likely to stick to it. Allow yourself one meal a week to have whatever you want, yes whatever you want. This is reward for all your efforts but remember it is only one meal per week! Protein (per g 4 calories) Our bodies require essential amino acids which we get from protein, things such as chicken, fish and dairy products. These amino acids are vital for our bodily processes. We also use protein for growth and repair so it should be an important part of anybodies daily nutrition. Whether you are looking to build muscle or lose weight protein is essential for maintain and increasing muscle (this is the only way to increase your metabolism), and as you can see it has the same amount of calories per g as carbohydrates but is harder for our bodies to breakdown so it gives us a slower release of energy keeping us feeling fuller for longer and also burn more calories through the thermal effect of food. We can only digest 30g of protein at one time so your protein intake you be spread out through out the day accordingly. PROTEINS - Fish, including Salmon, Tuna, Cod and Sole, Chicken and Turkey Breast, Egg Whites, Whey and Casein Protein powders, Lean Red Meats, Cottage Cheese Carbohydrates (per g 4 calories) We use the guideline of a fist size of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are not essential but it is our source of fuel. Therefore it is important that we include it in our daily nutrition so that we have energy to perform everyday tasks and also exercise. Try to have complex carbohydrates as they will help give a slower release of energy to help us feel fuller for longer. CARBOHYDRATES - Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spinach, Green Beans, Courgette, Mange Tout, Squash, Celery, Asparagus, Sweet Peppers, Tomato, Brussels Sprouts, Onions, Aubergine, Cucumbers, Kale, Mushrooms, Rye Bread, Quinoa, Sweet Potato, Brown Rice Cabbage, Watercress, Rocket, Romaine, Apricots, Apples, Oranges, Peaches, Berries, Plums, pears, Lemons, Limes, Grapefruit. Fruit & Vegetables Fruit and vegetables are high in all the macro nutrients (vitamins and minerals) that our bodies require. Government guidelines are ‘5 a day’, this was set as they saw 5 as an achievable number. We should be getting in 11 a day. We should try to have some at each and every meal throughout the day and I would advise you aim for 11, at least if you don’t reach 11 you’ll hopefully get to at least 5, where as if you aim for 5 more often the not you’ll achieve 1 or 2. There are no bad types of fruit or vegetables so take your pick but try to have a variety of colours as it is the different vitamins and mineral that give the fruit and vegetables their different colours. Fats (per g 9 calories) As you can see per g fat has the highest number of calories so by reducing the amount of fat we have in our diet we can reduce the amount of calories significantly more so than reducing carbohydrates and proteins. However our bodies require essential fatty acids so we need fat in our diet. So fat free is not always the best option. The average person’s weight has increase by 10lbs since the introduction of fat free products and ‘fad’ diets such as Atkins. We need to look at getting our fats from natural sources like Semi Skimmed Milk, Cheese, Eggs (yolk), Avocadoes, Peanuts and other nuts. FATS: - UDO’s oil, Flax seeds, Borage Oil, Fish oils, Lecithin Water Water is another essential component of any daily nutrition plan. Our bodies require water for nearly every bodily process and inadequate water intake will lead to water retention under the skin sometimes referred to as ‘water weight’ which in some cases can be up to 8-12lbs. We need to get 2 litres of water in per day minimum and the 1 extra litre of water per hour of exercise. The water in tea, coffee and squash all count towards your 2 litres of water but there is nothing better than pure water. Always carry a bottle with you. Good luck!! Ben Lauder-Dykes Specialist Trainer and Nutritional Advisor Tel: 07843252884 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it www.bfittraining.co.uk
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Issue 3. Cover - Photographer - Moritz Stragholz
Model - Cathy Brown
