Wellness

Go to our homepage and search for nutrition or recipes for more great nutrition tips.

First, remember that eating healthy goes beyond “reducing your carbs”… you also have to balance your total calories. Keep a food diary for a few days using a helpful tool like CalorieKing.com.au.

Second, there are some healthy things that happen to your body as you train. You may be losing body fat, but gaining weight with an increase in blood volume and a change in cells (allowing more oxygen to get to your exercising muscle), an increase in muscle mass and supporting connective tissue (you are stronger), and an increase in calories stored as carb fuel called glycogen. Glycogen is naturally stored with water, another weighty factor. So fear not! Don’t worry about kilograms on the scales if you are fitter and stronger. Over time you can use your new-found fitness to increase your threshold intensity so that you use more energy during workouts and metabolise stored body fat.

You probably don’t drink enough water. Tiredness and headaches can be reduced by drinking minimum water requirements.

• 75% of our brain is water.
• 70% of our muscles are water
• 82% of our blood is water
• 25% of our bones are water

From this you can see why dehydration leads to headaches and fatigue.

Water is more important than food because complete starvation in adults leads to death within 8-12 weeks, but without water you will be dead in between 1-8 days depending on temperature.

Eat a MINIMUM of 15 different plant foods each day (aim for 20)

• The 2 key words here are ‘minimum’ & ‘different’ (encourage a variety of colour)
• Unprocessed is preferred
• Eg’s: fruit, salad, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grain, fresh juice.

Phytochemicals are naturally occurring, biologically active chemical compounds in plants. They function as antioxidants by protecting our bodies against free radicals and some forms of cancer and heart disease. Amino acids from the variety of foods, find each other and link up to provide longer amino acids & provide the building blocks for essential structure, hormone levels and repair.

Think Protein first, at every meal

Protein provides a powerful signal to the brain providing a longer sense of fullness. The right source of protein is essential to controlling your hunger with fewer calories and necessary to maintain your lean muscle mass.

• Base each meal on protein, then build your plant foods from there
• Can’t be converted into fat like carbs
• Takes longer to break down, so your metabolism has to work harder
• Stimulates glucagon hormone and inhibits effect on insulin spiking

A practical example:

• Breakfast: Eggs + plant foods
• Snack: Protein shake + fruit
• Lunch: Chicken + salad
• Snack: Yoghurt + plant foods
• Dinner: Fish + plant foods

You must eat proteins and carbohydrates regularly throughout the day with each meal. This helps keep your insulin levels steady, therefore keeping your blood sugar levels stable and giving you sustainable energy all day long. Regular protein maintains your ‘amino acid pool’ (building blocks of protein) for protein synthesis.

Healthy Foods

These foods should make up about 80% of your daily diet and you should be eating many of these foods each day, not simply picking one or two selections to eat all the time.

Protein

• Fish: salmon, tuna, cod
• Eggs
• Chicken breasts
• Cottage cheese
• Milk protein isolates
• Whey-casein blends
• Lean red meat

Carbohydrates

• Vegetables
• Mixed beans/pulses
• Low GI fruits
• Oatmeal/oatbran
• Mixed grain bread
• Wholegrain rice/pasta
• Salads

Fats

• Flaxseed oil
• EPA/ DHA
• Olive oil
• Nuts
• Fish oil
• Avocado

Foods to avoid

Protein

• Fatty meats
• Fatty dairy
• Most lunch meat
• Large amounts of milk
• Large amounts of soy

Carbohydrates

• Regular bread
• Added sugar
• Most cereals
• Soda
• Fruit juice
• Bagels
• Fruit bars
• Lollies

Fats

• Margarine
• Vegetable oil
• Corn oil
• Heated/fried oil

To summarise:

• Eat every 2 – 3 hours (5 to 8 meals per day)
• Include a lean protein source with every meal (~30grams for women, 50-60 grams for men)
• Eat fruit and/or vegetables with every meal (more veggies than fruit)
• Eat either protein/carbohydrate OR protein/fat meals
• Eat the majority of your protein/carb meals during the morning/early afternoon and pro/fat meals in the evening
• Carbohydrate sources should be limited to fruit (not too much!) & fibrous/green veggies (exceptions post-workout shakes/meals)
• Drink only non-calorie containing drinks (water or green tea are the best choices. Protein shakes an exception)
• Ensure that no single meal contains greater than 33% of your daily caloric intake
• Fat sources should make up between 25–35% of your total caloric intake. Split between saturates (animal fat), monounsaturates (olive oil) and polyunsaturates (flax-seed, salmon, fish oil etc)
• You need to understand the need for food exercise balance.
• The type and frequency of food is important and dependent on activity.