Monthly Archives: October 2015

Quality Of Food

Have you ever heard the term

“You are what you eat”

Well, I have to say its such a true statement

One thing I am seeing regularly when starting to work with people is the real lack of education when it comes to foods

A lot of this is coming from the really poor advice diet culture has been giving them over the years and also the crap people regularly read and hear in the media

When was the last time you dieted and actually thought about the quality of food you are eating?

Seriously, just think about that for a second

Actually seriously thought about the foods you are consuming and whether they are going to benefit you nutritionally?

When I use to follow Weight Watchers they ran a points system

I could eat 27 points a day if I remember correctly (this may not be exact)

A 2 finger kit kat was 2 points so technically I could eat 13 x 2 finger kit kats across the day and hit my points total and lose weight

I also never use to eat,  would go days eating very little and just grazing and then binge on the weekends!

So where would my nutrients be coming from!?

Now ok, im not saying weight watchers were telling me to eat 13 Kit Kats a day, that was my choice but that’s how I understood the guidelines

As long as I was hitting my daily points I would lose weight

Then I stopped losing weight and got very frustrated!

This is the major floor in most diets

Most people don’t follow the guidelines 100%

They squeeze all the naughti’es into their diet that made them gain weight in the first place and end up very unhappy when they don’t get the results.

What im also finding is that people are fighting hunger in a big way every day

This again comes down to quality of food

Chocolate Bars, Crisps, Biscuits, Cakes, Sweets are never going to fill you up and breaking the habit of eating these things daily is key to you winning long term.

You have to understand why these things don’t fill you up

In fact, these things will actually make you hungrier in the long run due to the effect they have on blood sugars

So, how do you address this?

Education

There is no 2 ways about it

You have to start taking responsibility for the foods and drink you are putting in your body and learn about the reactions food have in your body

This is where coaching comes in and it’s a big part of what we do at Live Young Bootcamp

We educate clients on why we want them to follow a certain structure and certain foods and also the reason for eliminating certain foods from the diet.

Is it just a case of asking people to avoid all of the bad things

NO

Its not that easy

However, there are certain things you can introduce that will have a dramatic effect on how your body feels on a daily basis

 

Structure

Structure is a big part of getting on top of your diet and breaking bad habits

It all starts with your first meal of the day

Protein (Meats, Fish, Eggs, Quorn, Whey Protein Powder) is a filler in your diet and helps maintain insulin levels so you don’t get any blood sugar spikes (the main cause for sugar cravings).

It simply keeps you full so its important to involve it in every main meal and extremely important to involve it in your breakfast.

This is the biggest mistake we see clients making on a daily basis.

Most people choose a carb based breakfast of cereals or toast which lacks in protein and they end up hungry again within an hour.

Planning how you are going to eat each day also plays a huge part in breaking habits.

Too many people go into each day unprepared and not knowing what they are going to eat and when and end up grabbing food on the run. The foods that you are going to end up grabbing are going to be of poor structure and poor quality and will almost certainly have raised sugar and salt levels leading to cravings later.

Plan your meals each day and how often you will eat.

My suggestion is 5-6 times a day ( 3 Main Meals and 2-3 snacks) eating every 3-4 hours.

Just by increasing the protein levels in your main meals and eating more regularly you will notice you will be fuller and have less cravings for junk.

Now, the important part.

Your nutrients

Basing your meals around a decent hit of protein leaves you with just a big old serving of Meat/Fish/Quorn/Eggs etc, so what do you put with it.

This is where your Fruit and Veg come in.

Packed with nutrients and a big part of a healthy balanced diet.

So make sure you are getting a minimum of 4-5 Veg across the day.

Fruit needs to be limited each day and we take clients back to just the berry family due to the increased anti oxidants they have in them (Strawberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Kiwi’s and Grapes)

A couple of servings of these fruit each day on top of your 4-5 Veg will give you a huge boost nutrients and help keep you full.

The last part of your main meals is Carbohydrates which I will explain in a separate blog post as this is a subject in itself.

 

Summary

Start looking at how your days worth of food compares to what I have talked about above.

Is it way off?

Are you relying on junk to get through the day everyday?

Are you getting enough Protein and Vegetables each day?

Are you spending everyday fighting hunger and generally unhappy with your diet?

Are you actually following your diet clubs guidelines or are you bending the rules slightly to fit in those extra foods you want?

 

One thing is for certain, once you sort out your structure you will not only be eating better quality foods, have a better structure across each day, be fuller for longer, lose those sugar cravings and will also start to lose lbs and inches from your body.

 

If you need any help please feel free to join our Free Female Fat Loss Group On Facebook via the link below

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1509467029374330/

If you would like to contact me you can do so via the email address below

ross@liveyoungbootcamp.co.uk

 

Thanks for reading

 

Ross
Live Young Bootcamp