Healthy Eating for Life
NOTE: The information provided is not to replace advice given by your dietician or doctor.
It has become increasingly difficult for people these days to have a clear understanding of what they should and shouldn’t eat for health and fat loss. We are bombarded with magazines, tv ads, the latest celeb diet etc etc and it’s a mine field out there.
More and more people are becoming obese, including our children, it’s a sad fact! People, these days, seem to have busier lifestyles trying to juggle both work and family. For many, finding time for exercise and food preparation is low on the list of priorities. More often than not our health and wellbeing is ignored because we are too busy. It only becomes apparent that we have been neglecting ourselves when we start to feel uncomfortable in our clothes, waistband become a bit tighter; we become exhausted when walking up the stairs; we don’t like the way we look or a health problem crops up. It’s at this point that people think to themselves ‘I need to do something about this,’ which is great! The only problem is we as a society are impatient and want results now! Off we go in search of the latest fad diet on the market, it works for the celebs, the magazines say so, so it will work for me!
These diets do work short term and weight will come off. I use the word weight because what really happens is that you will loose a mix of body fat and muscle. Your body is very clever and will try to reserve as much body fat as possible. The body recognises there has been a significant reduction in calories and switches into survival mode. It will do its very best to keep its fat reserves in place and will begin to break down muscle tissue to use as fuel. Thus, having a negative effect on what you are trying to achieve.
The problem with quick, fix diets is that it doesn’t take long for the weight lost to be put back on with usually a bit more than you first started with. Below are some simple to follow guidelines that will help to get you on the road to permanent fat loss. Everyone’s needs are different. It may be that you can only handle a few changes to your eating habits which is fine. Making small changes progressively, is a move in the right direction. It could be a simple change of replacing two cups of coffee for two cups of water or green/herbal tea or even just including breakfast which you didn’t have before.
Food Preparation
Preparing your food in advance is a good way of making sure you have all you need for the day, this way you are less likely to make the wrong food choices whilst out at work or wherever you maybe. This can be done when you cook your evening meal; make double quantity and refrigerate, its ready to go with you the next day and it will save you some cash too, eating out is expensive.
Meals for the day
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and should include protein and carbohydrate. Put in simple terms, carbohydrate for much needed energy and protein to prevent the breakdown of muscle tissue.
Some examples of a good breakfast:-
- Porridge oats made with water, berries and a scoop of protein powder or porridge made with low fat milk, berries and cinnamon.
- Eggs (scrambled or poached) on wholemeal toast with a thin spreading of butter.
- No added sugar muesli with Greek yogurt and berries
- Veggie omelette
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Mid-morning/afternoon snack |
- Apple with handful of almonds or cashew nuts or seeds (almonds are perfect and have been shown to help with fat loss).
- Greek or natural yogurt and berries
- Protein shake or protein bar
- Boiled eggs, carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumber sticks (perfect for nibbling whilst at your desk)
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- Protein source with salad and small potato
- Wholemeal seeded bread with a chosen protein source and plenty of colourful salad.
- Wholemeal pasta with protein source with steamed veg and a dash of olive oil.
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- Protein source with steamed/stir fried veg, potatoes, small amount of carbohydrate.
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How much food do I need?
This is a very good question and a difficult one to answer. The number of calories required by an individual will very much depend on what their activity level is; their size; how much muscle they carry and indeed what their goal is.
For the average person just looking for fat loss and following a 3 x per week exercise regime a good starting point would be to split the portion sizes. For example: a dinner plate should consist of ¼ protein, ¼ carbohydrate and ½ filled with colourful salad or vegetables. For breakfast fill ½ of the breakfast bowl. For snacks i.e. nuts only a small handful.
Water also plays a major part in bodily function and fat loss, limit tea, coffee and alcohol. Aim to drink at least 2L water per day which can include green or herbal teas. Dehydration has a negative effect on fat loss and can also limit your performance in the gym. |
