Interesting subject….massive subject actually, people can and do make a career from nutrition, diets, etc….
Best shape i was ever in was a few years ago, aged 30 and kickboxing twice a week (2 x 2 hour long sessions), i’d eat 2 weetabix with milk for breakfast, have a sandwich at lunch, a banana mid afternoon and a simple evening meal (typically tuna and pasta or chicken and rice), alcohol only at the weekend and no sweets, crisps etc….if i went for a meal i’d always skip desert, drank plenty of water too.
Pretty spartan existence but i’ve never felt or looked better, my fitness was the best since school too….this really isnt rocket science.
A few simple pointers:
Calories are simply units of measurement, you cannot hold a calorie in your hand….it works like this: 1 gram of fat contains roughly 8 calories (of energy), 1 gram of protein has roughly 4 calories and 1 gram of sugar/carbohydrate has roughly 4 calories also.
Therefore high fat foods are calorie dense foods….that doesnt mean they’re bad though…some fat is still required for healthy body functions….it just means go easy with it as its very easy to exceed your daily calorie requirements very early in the day by eating fatty foods.
Carbohydrates are chains of sugars….essentially they are one and the same but your body will break down a simple sugar quickly (instant energy) but will have to work harder on the chains of sugars (carbohydrates) in rice for example, giving you sustained energy.
Protein is protein….bodybuilders get funny about the bio availability of the stuff and prioritise whey protein over most others, then chicken, eggs, turkey, beef etc….pork is considered poor quality but for the lay person it doesnt matter….protein in needed for tissue repair….in extremis you body will use protein for energy if it isnt getting sufficient calories from sugars and carbs first.
Excess calories (from any foodstuff – fat, sugar, doesnt matter) will be stored as adipose tissue….body fat in other words.
If you want to lose fat then create a calorie deficit, your body will then eat into your fat reserves….easy….really really easy….but requires will power and seeing as most of us (me included) enjoy eating the it becomes a chore and we fail.
Cut back on the calorie intake too quickly and your body will go into shock and slow its metabolism down to a crawl making weight loss even harder….cut calories slowly to avoid this crash, a cup of coffee in the morning helps to get things moving too.
Cutting calories by excluding an entire foodstuff is bad news….the Atkins diet works but having no carbs in your system will leave you lethergic and seeing as your brain can only fuel on sugar alone you will likely be mentally jaded too….a mate competes in bodybuilding shows and during the last few weeks of his contest prep he cuts carbs from his diet altogether and its like talking to somebody with brain damage.
Th old expression about ‘anything in moderation’ pretty much holds true….if your diet mainly consists of sugars and you are not particularly active then cut back and add some protein instead….likewise if you eat a lot of fat cut some out and instead stick some slow burning carbs/sugars in there instead.
Basically if it looks fatty, greasy, tastes sugary, tastes salty etc then its probably junk and part of the reason most of us are overweight….trouble is these foods smell and taste good.
Dont get hung up on the sugars/carbs in fruit, yes some of them are very simple and will be metabolised almost instantly….this is no bad thing….a good burst of energy pre ride for example….plus the amount of calories in fruit is so small that you’d need to be grazing on the stuff from morning to night to get fat on fruit!
In short, take regular exercise, create a small calorie deficit, even up the ratio of carbs to protein you eat each day and reduce your fat intake….when you reach your desired weight slowly increase the carbs again until your weight remains static…simple.
