Introduction
Food is the fuel of life. It provides our bodies with the energy it needs to perform not only the activities we enjoy such as jogging, biking and lifting weights but also many unconscious functions such as the beating of your heart, the contraction of postural muscles as well as breathing.
This section will explain how nutrition can affect the body, and teach you to adjust your diet to optimize your training or simply to live healthier!
Why is Nutrition Important?
Nutrition is extremely important for your skin, brain, organs, immune system, lean body mass(LBM), metabolism or BMR (basal metabolic rate). A good nutritional plan gives the body all the micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals) and macro-nutrients (protein, fats and carbohydrates) it needs to function properly. Without the correct balance of those you may suffer unwanted long term damage to its DNA.
Nutritional Reminders
1. Eat 4-6 meals per day. Three main meals should contain complete protein (3x a day), complex carbohydrates, good fats and varied colorful vegetables.
2. Only drink water, dark teas, red wine (one glass a night at the most) and coffee.
3. Plan out your meals every week on one day (aka The Sunday Ritual). It will allow you to stick to a plan and save money in the process.
4. Stay away from boxed or packaged goods, no matter what type of marketing they have on them.
5. Marketing terms like 'natural' and 'organic' doesn't necessarily mean it is good for you.
6. Red meat should be restricted to once per week (max 300g as per the Netherlands new guidelines)
7. Limit protein meals to a max of 20g per meal
8. Your carbohydrates should be mostly complex carbohydrates
9. Fats should mostly be from good fat sources (nuts, seeds, oils)
Printable Food Logs
Charts are a great way to help yourself become accountable. Get yours to print now.
Breakdown of Foods
The nutrients derived from foods can be broken down into three main categories:
1. Carbohydrates
2. Lipids (fats)
3. Proteins
These, along with vitamins, minerals and water are metabolized (broken down) by the body in order to satisfy all of its energy needs.
What is the correct ratio of nutrients?
You should be ingesting the following:
30% Protein (majority being complete protein or combinations of incomplete protein food to create a complete protein)
40% Carbohydrates (majority from complex carbohydrates)
30% Fats (majority from rich DHA and EPA food sources. i.e. Wild Pacific Salmon)
What is a Calorie
What is a calorie? A calorie is a measurement for the
amount of energy that is obtained from foods.
Calories are used to measure the energy in foods but also the energy stored by the body in the form of fat - commonly called adipose tissue.
Cool fact: One pound of body fat is equivalent to approximately 3500 calories!!
Learn more about calories in food here
