There are 2 important factors that will dictate what and when you eat pre-training. The first factor is your training goal and the second one is your own individual taste and digestive system.We’ll look at the individual aspect today and while we’re doing it we can also have a very basic look at how the body uses fuel for energy.

When you’re training really hard in short, explosive bursts (like sprints, high intensity intervals or lifting close to maximum weight) the body prefers to use creatine phosphate as fuel.For high intensity work lasting between 10 and approximately 90 seconds, the body will then switch to glycogen (stored sugar in the muscles and liver) to fuel the workout.

These fuel sources get transferred into usable energy relatively quickly but don’t last too long. That’s why you can only sprint at top speed for about 10 seconds before the pace starts to drop off.

However when the intensity is much lower (steady jogging, slower cycling or even walking), the body will use oxygen to break down carbohydrate and stored fat as its fuel of choice. This process takes a lot longer and it doesn’t generate as much power. However most people have a LOT of stored energy and therefore it can last a very long time providing we keep the intensity low.

For strength and performance improvements, and also to promote fat loss, high intensity intervals and weight training sessions have been shown to work best. Therefore if you wish to train at this intensity, it is crucial that your sugar (glycogen) and creatine stores are full, and that means eating at some stage before training.

And this is where it can get confusing. Many years ago, I attended a Fat Loss Seminar where World Class Strength & Conditioning Coach Charles Poliquin said that if you don’t feel nauseous after about 20 minutes of your training session, then you’re not training hard enough.

The reasoning behind the statement is that high-intensity work creates a lot of lactic acid which can lead to feelings of nausea.  However, this lactic acid is very important because it stimulates the release of Growth Hormone, which in turn encourages muscle growth and fat loss.

But although you’ll need your fuel tank full, it should be obvious that if you’ve had a feed of bacon, spuds and cabbage 20 minutes before doing some High Intensity Interval Training, the chances are that the meal is not going to stay down for too long.

On the other hand if you starve yourself pre-training in order to avoid talking to God on the Big White Phone, then you simply won’t have the energy to complete the session.

Unfortunately there are no hard and fast rules that will suit everybody, and this applies to most aspects of nutrition and training. The best bet is to make note of the following options and tweak them according to what works best for you.

Allow enough time to properly digest your food. For most people, one and a half to two hours before training should do the trick.

Include some protein in your meal. Eggs and fish will digest faster than a large beef steak, so they are a better solid protein option. If you’re tight for time, a whey protein shake will do the job.

Avoid High Sugar Foods Before Training. These foods tend to give a fast boost of energy followed by an equally fast slump. For a more prolonged release of energy, go for some vegetables with your protein meal. Where fruit is concerned, it is generally better eaten after your session, but berries are probably the best pre-workout fruit option.

Stay Hydrated.  There’s no point eating the best food in the world if you forget to take on board some fluids before and during training. For sessions under 60 minutes, water will do the job – especially when fat loss is the goal. Sports drinks are usually only required for long distance endurance events or when the goal is improved strength or performance.

Experiment. Try some different food and timing options and decide which combination allows you to train at your best. Make note of it and then make it part of your training ritual!

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As I’ve mentioned previously, this is a fairly simple process. At its most basic level it’s a case of “Eat Less, Move More.” Although most people accept the “move more” part of the equation, the “eat less” side tends to cause problems.

While there are hundreds of different fat loss diets and nutrition plans, the underlying principle of all of them is that there is some degree of calorie control: in other words, you are usually required to eat less food than you’ve become used to.

Calories are important, but quality of food, and timing of meals also play a crucial part in the success of a healthy nutrition programme.

There are lots of clichés that try to highlight the importance of good nutrition compared to regular exercise: “You can’t out-train a bad diet” and “Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym” are 2 of the most common and they certainly contain an element of truth.

Over the last 14 years I have worked with many hundreds of people in group classes, as members of sports teams, and as individual personal training clients. My own experience backs up what all the research states: physical training, without a healthy nutrition plan to support it, is a very poor method of weight-loss.

I’ve lost count of the number of people who train hard but who refuse to address their poor food choices and eating habits. They may become fitter and stronger, but their body shape rarely changes to any significant degree. This can be very frustrating for both the client and the trainer.

However, I’ve also worked with many clients who could not train regularly due to illness or injury, but who lost a significant amount of body fat simply by improving the quality and quantity of their food.

The following are some of the methods that I use with clients who want to shape up. If weight loss is your goal, try them out. They work!

Record What you Eat.

It’s the item that I’ve found causes most resistance, but it’s also the item that is the greatest indicator of success. The clients who consistently complete a food and lifestyle diary get the best results. I see it all the time and research backs it up. The biggest advantage of keeping a food diary is that it creates awareness of our eating habits. Most people overeat due to the fact that they are distracted, and are almost on autopilot while eating. In a situation like this it’s very easy to over-eat. It’s also very easy to forget how much junk food you’ve consumed, and to convince yourself that you actually eat a very healthy diet!

For the hi-tech clients, there are lots of apps that can be downloaded to help you record what you eat, or you could take photos of each meal. Alternatively you can simply write it down in a notebook. Awareness of what you eat – compared to what you think you eat- is the first step to improving your diet.

Remember Beradi’s Law of Nutrition.

According to Dr. John Beradi of Precision Nutrition: “If a food is in your house, you will eventually eat it!” Most people realize that in order to lose weight and improve their health and fitness, they need to eat less processed and junk food and eat more protein, vegetables and fruit. That being the case, it would make a lot of sense to clear your cupboards and fridge of the junk, and replace it with all the healthier options. After all, you only ate that packet of biscuits and 3 chocolate bars last night “because they were there!”

Change One Thing At A Time.

It can take a while to develop a habit. Eating a healthy diet is not one single habit but rather a series of habits, which include planning, grocery shopping, food preparation and cooking. It can be overwhelming to try and do everything at once, so pick one item that you feel confident you can do successfully, and when that becomes a habit, move onto the next item. It may take a little longer, but this method will achieve more long-term success than any “crash diet”.

These simple strategies are a great first step to achieving long term health and fitness through nutrition. Starting with any one of them will also help you get the most from your training.

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However, even if your current diet doesn’t fit that ideal, there are still some ways that you can get the most from your food without piling on the pounds.

Chew Your Food. There’s a saying that “You Are What You Eat”. This is not quite true. A better version is “You Are What You Digest and Absorb.” Although it’s not quite as catchy, this saying is far more accurate.

Digestion, which is the breaking down of food, actually begins even before you start eating. In many cases the mere thought of eating can cause the release of saliva in the mouth which helps to break down food.

However, a much more significant way of breaking down food in the mouth is by chewing it well. The idea is to chew your food until it has a soup-like quality and this has a number of advantages: The very act of chewing will work your jaw muscles a little harder and burn a few extra calories.

By breaking down the food into smaller pieces, your stomach and intestines will then have an easier job breaking it into even smaller molecules. This extra chewing will also slow the time it takes to eat your meal and will usually result in your feeling full by the end of the meal.

Relax While Eating. This is another way to support the absorption of nutrients from food. Natural foods contain vitamins and minerals to help support our health. But they can only be released from food and taken into the body’s cells if the food has been properly broken down and we are in a relaxed state of mind.

Unfortunately the tendency nowadays is to eat on the go, while we are trying to do 3 or 4 other things at the same time. This leads to food being wolfed down, which tends to cause a stress response and means that the digestive system can’t function properly.

A better option is to take approximately 20 minutes to eat in a relaxed setting, where the focus is entirely on the meal. By allowing time to eat properly, the chances are that you will feel better and more refreshed to carry out your other tasks.

Slow Down. This is closely linked to the previous 2 points but it’s main purpose is to avoid over-eating. It’s been estimated that it takes approximately 20 minutes for the signal that you are full, to go from your stomach to your brain. If you are eating like your mouth is a vacuum cleaner, then the chances are that you will eat a lot more calories than you need before your brain gets the signal to walk away from the table.

A simple way of applying this method is to put your knife and fork down in between every mouthful. Eating in relaxed company (not a business lunch) can also help reduce the amount of calories consumed.

Choose Smaller Plates. Most of us were taught as kids to finish what was on our plates, and this type of conditioning can last into adulthood. By putting your food on smaller plates, you can reduce the amount of food you eat without feeling like you’re a disgrace to your Mammy.

Avoid Eating in front of a screen. These days it has become the norm to munch away while staring at a laptop, tv or mobile phone screen. The problem with this type of mindless eating is that our attention is captured by the screen and it almost guarantees that we will eat too much and too quickly. A much better option is to switch off, have your snack or meal and then resume your emailing/surfing or tv viewing.

All of the above are very easy to include in your daily eating habits and can help you get the most from your current diet, regardless of its quality.

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As you’re probably aware, there are dozens if not hundreds of different diets that are promoted as being the ultimate weight-loss plan. Although they may be different in content, the one thing that they will all have in common is that they’ll encourage you to “reduce calories”. In other words, eat less.

Some will give general guidelines while others may be specific enough to require that you have your kitchen scales and calculator nearby in order to weigh and measure your meals.

So what exactly are calories, and how much do we need to focus on them? We can start by understanding that a Calorie – also known as a Kilocalorie- is simply a unit of measurement of energy. It’s actually the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of I kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius.

Therefore we can measure the food we eat in terms of the amount of calories -or energy – that it will provide. Likewise, physical activity is rated in terms of how much energy or calories we use up while doing it. As mentioned earlier, all successful weight- loss diets rely, to some degree, on creating a calorie deficit, which means that you’ll be using up more calories in daily activity than you’ll take in through your food and drink.

However creating this deficit is not an exact science and your body is not some kind of calorie bank or accounting system where deposits and withdrawals lead to a predictable, “statement” at the end of the week or month.

There are a number of reasons for this:

Calorie labelling is questionable
According to the Precision Nutrition website, a study in Boston found that some frozen food manufacturers underestimated calories in their products by an average of 8%, while the average underestimation at selected restaurants was 18%. The researchers had deliberately chosen items that were labelled “low-Calorie”. Anybody who ate this food regularly because of its supposed low calorie content was bound to be in for a nasty surprise when they stood on their weighing scales!

All Calories are not created equally
Some diet plans say that you can eat “whatever you want” as long as you keep within your calorie target. This assumes that a calorie is a calorie regardless of the source. However this does not account for the Thermic Effect of Feeding (TEF). This is the name given to the amount of energy needed by your body to digest and absorb the food you eat. Protein has the highest TEF at around 20-30%, followed by carbohydrates at around 5-10% and finally fats at 0-3%.

In other words if you ate 100 calories from protein, 20-30 of them would be used up in digesting the meal, leaving you a net intake of 70-80 calories. However if you eat 100 calories of “carbs”, only 5-10 of these calories are used to digest it. That would leave you with 90-95 calories of carbs to be used as energy to move or else to be stored as fat.

And it’s not only the different food groups that create different levels of TEF. A 2010 study showed that a cheese sandwich made from multigrain bread and real cheddar cheese had a significantly higher TEF than a sandwich made from processed bread and cheese.

This was partly due to the higher content of fibre and protein in the “Wholefood” sandwich, but mostly due to the fact that processed food requires your digestive system to do less “processing” and therefore has more calories that can potentially be stored as fat.

Estimation of Calorie requirements are even more complicated (and inaccurate)
If you think the numbers I hit you with today are hard going, you should see some of the equations used to work out your Resting Metabolic Rate! These estimations of your daily calorie requirements are at best only accurate to within 10% either way. So you may require 2000 calories a day to maintain your current weight or it could be 1800 or 2200!

It’s for all of the above reasons that I don’t encourage calorie counting for weight-loss clients. Life is too short to get hung up on such an inexact science.

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Like many widely-quoted phrases, it contains a large element of truth. The suggestion is that as long as you’re eating a healthy diet, you will be healthy. However this is not quite accurate.

The inaccuracy lies in the fact that this phrase assumes that you will receive all the proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals from your food, and that they will go to the parts of your body that require them to give you abundant health and energy.

In other words, it assumes a digestive system that works correctly. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. According to leading Functional Medicine Expert Dr. Bryan Walsh of Fatisnotyourfault.com, it would be much more accurate (although probably not as catchy) to say “You are what you eat, digest, absorb and don’t excrete!”

To understand this a little better we can take a brief look at how the digestive system works, what can go wrong and how we can prevent or else repair the malfunction.

Digestion is the process of breaking the food that we eat into smaller particles that the body can use. Protein is broken down into amino acids, carbohydrate into glucose and fat into fatty acids.

The stomach is the location where most digestion takes place although the process is usually said to begin in the mouth when we chew and break down our food into smaller particles. Dr. Walsh makes a valid argument for the point that digestion actually starts in the brain when we begin to THINK about eating. This stimulates the release of saliva which contains the enzyme amylase that helps break down carbohydrates.

The stomach digests food through a combination of the muscular action of churning the food and the chemical action of HCL (Hydrochloric Acid). HCL has 3 major functions: it sterilizes the food by killing bad bacteria, it stimulates the production of enzymes that breaks down protein in the stomach, and it also stimulates further digestion to occur in the small and large intestines.

Absorption is the process of taking the nutrients that are broken down and transporting them to where they are required, and most of this takes place in the intestines.

When this system is working well and we are eating a healthy diet, we are almost guaranteed excellent health, high energy levels and low body fat. But this obviously isn’t happening for most people so what tends to go wrong? The following are two of the more common causes of dysfunction in the Digestive System.

1. Eating On The Go
Due to the stress and pressure of modern life, fewer people take the time to sit down, relax and actually eat their meals in a mindful and enjoyable way. It’s much more common to wolf down food while trying to concentrate on getting the kids to school, driving or checking e-mails.

In an ideal world, you should relax and chew your food until it is almost liquid. If you have a tendency to inhale your food rather than chew it, you are going to cause your stomach to work a lot harder to break it down. And, just like any other system, if it’s worked too hard it is more likely to malfunction.

One simple way to avoid this is to give yourself enough time to sit, relax and chew your food much more than you’re currently doing.

2. Low Hydrochloric Acid
There are many causes for this situation. As we get older, HCL production naturally decreases. But low stomach acid may also be due to medications or nutrient deficiency. Regardless of the cause, the effects will be similar: reduced digestion of food, especially protein and a greater risk of bacterial infection in the stomach and intestines.

There are a couple of simple and inexpensive tests that can determine if stomach acid levels are low and if this is the case some dietary changes can help the situation. Eating a bitter leaf salad may stimulate acid production, and avoiding drinking liquids at meals will also help the situation. Taking supplemental HCL may also be an option.

One of the best ways of improving overall health is to improve the health and function of the gut. Using the recommendations above is a good start on the path to extracting as much nutrition as possible from the food that you eat.

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The thing to remember is that almost all of those eating plans have worked for somebody at some time and achieved the desired results. In my opinion, problems arise when the people who are pushing a particular “diet” insist that their way is the only way to look good and be healthy.

So then, which eating plan/system is actually the best?

From my experience a healthy eating plan will meet the following criteria:

1. Calorie Control/Reduction: Yes, in most cases it really is that simple. If you eat more calories than you require you’ll gain body fat, if you eat less than you require, you’ll lose body fat. Calorie reduction is best achieved by a combination of diet and exercise: Eat Less, Move More.
2. Allows Daily De-toxification: De-toxification is similar to the little puppy – it’s for life, not just for Christmas. With a healthy lifestyle, nutritious food and clean water, the liver will be able to de-toxify efficiently and body fat is burned as part of this process. When we fill our plate with processed food, artificial ingredients and chemicals, the liver can’t cope, and often the offending toxins are stored in fat to prevent further damage to our bodies. This results in weight gain and poor health.
3. Controls Insulin: Insulin is known as a fat storage hormone and is one of the very few hormones over which we have conscious control. When we eat a diet high in carbohydrate/sugar, we activate insulin to bring that sugar to the working muscles. However if we’re not moving, that sugar is more likely to be stored as fat. Therefore, the best way to control insulin is to limit the rush of carbs to a short period of time during, or immediately after, a tough training session or alternatively, to avoid meals containing a lot of carbs.
4. Achieves Health, Body Composition And Sports Performance Goals: In my opinion, there’s no point having six-pack abdominals or fitting into a size zero dress if your cholesterol levels and blood pressure are through the roof, and you barely have the energy to get out of bed. Your eating plan should let you drop body fat in a way that allows you to preserve muscle, have abundant strength and energy, and keep your blood sugar levels, cholesterol and blood pressure within the healthy ranges.
5. Sustainability: Often, I start working with new clients weeks or months before special occasions when they want to look their best: usually weddings, christenings or summer holidays. These clients are usually highly motivated and will overhaul their food and exercise regimes – often to an excessive degree. There are even instances where I’ve had to tell people to take a break from training or go have some carbs!

However, on too many occasions, as soon as the goal has been reached, it’s back to business as usual: junk food and minimal exercise.

The problem tends to be that they see their regular routine as “normal” and the healthy lifestyle as short-term and “being on a diet”. Although there are certainly times when a severe elimination diet can be justified on the basis of identifying foods which cause an allergic reaction, or when a more radical de-toxification is required, it should be noted that these situations are the exception, not the norm.

What I propose to all clients is to think of food as being part of a long-term, sustainable lifestyle which, as stated above, will allow improvements in body composition, health, fitness and strength. This means that 80—90% of the time the individual will eat clean, healthy, nutritious food, while still allowing themselves some “treats” that they can enjoy guilt-free. The long-term effect is that healthy eating becomes a habit and there is no sense of restriction or deprivation.

If your current eating plan falls into the above categories, congratulations, you’ll reap long-term benefits. If it doesn’t, consider making some changes!

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The word supplement has been defined as something that “adds to or makes complete”. Therefore nutritional and sports supplementation should be in addition to your regular food or should complete your nutrition if there is something lacking.

And that’s a very important point that’s lost on many people, because they treat their supplements as their main source of nutrition and their regular meals as top-ups to their supplements! A situation like this is likely to lead to all types of health and digestion issues that will reduce any benefits that the supplements may have been offering in the first place.

In order to survive and thrive, your body needs macronutrients in the form of Carbohydrates, Protein and Fat. If these nutrients are of a sufficient quantity, quality and proportion you should get all of the vitamins and minerals that your body requires.

But, here lies the problem: while those in the anti-supplement corner will argue that a healthy diet removes all need for supplements, what exactly is a healthy diet?

Most people will guess that it includes lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meats, healthy grains and plenty of water. And most people would be right. But unfortunately that’s a little bit too simplistic, because it assumes that all of the above are top quality to begin with, and cooked and prepared under ideal conditions.

A vegetable that’s been pesticide-sprayed, and then transported half-way around the world to sit in a supermarket warehouse for days, before finally hitting your kitchen table, will only have a fraction of the nutrients of an organically grown veg that’s eaten within a couple of hours of being picked!

Therefore, all vegetables are not created equally. Just as important is the method of cooking. In most cases eating raw veg will usually guarantee the highest amount of vitamin and mineral absorption. The best cooking methods would be steaming and boiling. As far as using the microwave goes, you’d probably get more nutrients from eating the shopping bag. So although you might think you’re getting all that you need from your diet, the truth might be very different.

And of course, all of the above assumes that you’re one of the very few people who regularly eat veg, fruit and healthy sources of lean fish and meat.

These days, too many diets are made up of processed foods containing excessive amounts of sugar, salt, hydrogenated fats and ingredients with unpronounceable names.

For this reason I always recommend that my clients make gradual changes in their diet and supplement with a good multi-vitamin to act like an insurance policy. This makes sure they’re getting at least their minimum vitamin and mineral requirements.

Another supplement which I strongly recommend is Omega 3 fish oils. Numerous studies have shown that it has a whole range of health benefits. Some of these include:

• Reduction of blood triglyceride levels, which are a greater risk factor for heart disease than elevated cholesterol levels.
• Reduction of inflammation which can be helpful in cases of arthritis.
• Improved mood and reduction of episodes of depression
• Reduction of blood pressure.
• Promotion of body fat burning.

Quality control, or lack of it, has been a problem with some supplements over the years. However it does bring us back to that well used quote “Let the Buyer Beware.” As I have said before, I believe that it is up to each individual to take responsibility for their own health through regular exercise and a healthy diet. And so, if you decide that you want, or need to take supplements, please get as much information as possible about the product beforehand. And remember that supplements are supposed to be an addition to your regular diet and not a replacement.

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Your body is made up of a variety of tissues that make up muscles, bones and various organs. And each of these tissues is made up of cells. So, in order for the entire system (you) to be healthy, the cells need to be healthy.

OK, so what has this boring science lecture got to do with you fitting into that little black dress at Christmas? It’s very simple, because if your body is healthy at a basic, cellular level, it’s going to be in a much better position to provide you with the energy to perform your daily tasks and also have some left over to do a meaningful training session. It will also allow you to burn more body fat.

It’s a little known fact that the more toxic you are (i.e. your cells are unhealthy), the less you will be able to burn body fat. Regardless of the amount of training you do.

Therefore the obvious solution is to fix things at a cellular level before you waste your time and frustrate yourself by training while still eating a crappy diet. Thankfully, your cells are un-demanding little creatures and all they want from life is a good supply of vitamins, minerals, oxygen and water. And all of these are available in abundance in a healthy, well-balanced diet.

The following 3 very basic nutrition tips will help you to support cellular function which in turn will improve your energy levels and increase your fat-burning potential.

Have some vegetables with every meal

We could fill a newspaper with the benefits of increasing your vegetable intake. They provide an abundance of vitamins and minerals to help support cell function while also helping you to feel full. The fibre content helps improve bowel function which removes those nasty toxins from the body. The recommendation of 5 servings of fruit and veg per day is often misinterpreted. Please be aware that fruit has quite high natural sugar content and if consumed in excess will lead to increased fat storage. Fruit smoothies and juices are a particularly bad idea because you’re getting all of the sugar with practically none of the fibre. For that reason consider having 5-7 servings of vegetables compared to 1 or 2 servings of fruit.

Have a lean source of healthy protein with every meal

Every now and again there are reports linking excess consumption of red meat with all types of disease and ill-health. As usual it’s a little more complicated than the sensational headlines would suggest. As with most things in life it all depends on the quality of the product. Highly processed, cheaper cuts of meat that are filled with preservatives and other chemicals will have an entirely different effect on your health than organic, grass-fed, lean beef. The same also applies to eggs, chicken, turkey and fish. The word Protein derives from a Greek word meaning “First” or “Of Prime Importance”. Our bodies need a regular supply of healthy protein in order to function at their best. Protein also has the added benefit of keeping us feeling full for a lot longer than your average sugar-filled snack.

Avoid processed food

In general you will be much healthier if you keep your consumption of packaged, processed food to a minimum. These foods tend to have a lot of sugar, salt and fat to make them taste better. It’s very unfortunate that processed, junk food is relatively cheap, while better quality, organic products tend to be more expensive. I am very aware that the quality of many people’s diet is dictated by their weekly budget. Where possible I would suggest that you spend more on quality, whole natural food and eat less of it.

These are very basic dietary recommendations but I find that the best way to improve somebody’s lifestyle is by making small, gradual changes. What we’re looking to do here is to make some lasting changes as opposed to a short-term quick fix. We’ll address dietary issues again over the next few weeks but these changes alone can help boost your energy levels and fat-burning potential.

Which is just as well because next week we’re going training!

The post Back to Basics Simple Nutrition Part 1 appeared first on Body and Mind Fitness - Personal Training Ennis.

If you are one of the many people who trains regularly but has not seen any significant change in body shape as a result, this week’s article will be of interest to you.

Numerous research studies have confirmed that You Cannot Out-Train A Bad Diet. It may surprise you to hear (coming from a Personal Trainer), that exercise, without proper nutrition and lifestyle support, is almost useless when it comes to long-term weight loss.

Of course, many people drop body fat when they go from doing no exercise to walking or jogging a few times a week. But unless they also address their diet and lifestyle, these gains are minimal and very short term. There are numerous reasons why this happens. The main one is that they rarely have a good nutritional strategy to support this extra activity. So then, what exactly is Good Nutrition? As a Precision Nutrition Certified Level 1 Coach, these are the guidelines that I give to my clients.

Good Nutrition is said to meet the following four criteria.

1. Controls Energy Balance: The phrase “Energy Balance” represents the relationship between “energy in” (calories consumed in food and drink) and “energy out” (calories used in daily living and exercise). Negative Energy Balance (Energy Out Greater than Energy In) will tend to lead to weight loss. On the other hand Positive Energy Balance (Energy In Greater than Energy Out) will tend to lead to weight gain and if it continues uncontrolled can also lead to obesity-related diseases like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The problem is that increasing your activity/training level is only one side of the equation: calorie reduction in the form of eating less food is the critical part.

2. Provides Nutrient Density: Nutrient dense food provides a lot of vitamins, minerals, fibre, healthy fats in a typical serving. On the other hand, calorie density refers to the situation in which there are a large amount of calories in each serving. To put it simply we need to increase our consumption of nutrient dense foods like vegetables, lean meats, fish, eggs and fruit, while reducing processed, sugar-filled junk.

3. Helps Achieve Health, Body Composition & Performance Goals: It’s actually very easy to lose weight. Some nutrition plans or “diets” may achieve weight loss but can negatively affect health and sport/training performance and recovery. A diet that’s based on sound nutritional principles will allow you to lose body fat, while helping you to improve your overall health, physical and mental energy levels and sports/training performance.

4. Honest and Outcome Based: Our nutrition plan needs to be accurately recorded and also needs to achieve the desired goals/outcomes. Research studies have shown that, in general, people tend to overestimate the amount of healthy food they eat while underestimating the amount of junk food they consume. My Personal Training and Bootcamp clients are given a weekly food/lifestyle diary to complete. That’s not to say that they all do it! But without doubt, the clients that get the best body composition improvements are the ones that fill in the diaries and make the recommended changes on a consistent basis. Those that merely train without handing in their diary tend to stay in weight-maintenance mode.

Today we’ve taken an overview of a healthy diet. It’s not rocket science and I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but it’s extremely important to achieve those medium and long-term goals. And, in my opinion, one of the most important aids to eating well is keeping a food diary.

So what I’d like you to do this week is to record everything you eat and drink – you may be surprised at how often you eat un-healthy foods and how little nutrient-dense food you consume. In order to make it a little easier for you, please feel free to email me and we’ll send you an electronic version of our Food/Lifestyle diary.

Next week we’ll be more specific on what to eat and what to avoid.

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On Thursday, day 9 I tried cabbage for the 1st time on the detox, and maybe overdid it a bit, as my stomach did not take to it so well. I had a bad reaction to it, which lead to me not eating that evening or the next morning. That night the girls and I made Chocolate Rice Krispies Squares for the school sale of work the next day, which I can tell you was not easy. I have never made anything nice without tasting it or being able to enjoy eating afterwards. I didn’t stick a finger, spoon or knife in my mouth the whole time, which amazed me. This from the woman that would fight the kids to see who gets to lick the bowl.

On Friday, day 10, I trained and thought I was going to die for the first 2 rounds of the class, but then I got a little bit of energy towards the end. I got back on track with eating that day and started to come round again.

On Saturday, day 11, I woke up all stuffed up, coughing and I felt like crap. I’m not sure if it was part of the detox or if I had just caught a cold, as I did feel extra chilly all week. I just put the cold feeling down to the fact that I was losing all my insulation (my extra layers of fat). So it was a glass of vitamin C and back up to bed for me to try to recover. Later, I had a clove of garlic mashed into my cauliflower and broccoli, and got to sit on the couch in peace catching up on a lot of TV programmes.

So, Sunday morning I woke up nearly all back to normal and was very impressed that I was not miserably sick. But I was tired and around midday I just decided that I had done enough and was going to start eating some solid protein. I started with salmon and on Monday I got to have carrots with my dinner. Yippee, they were yummy. Today I’m on turkey and tomorrow I get to try another type of veg – I’m deciding between peppers or tomatoes.

From the very beginning this has not been about weight loss for me, it was about cleaning out my body and starting fresh. I am amazed at what I have learned about myself over the last 14 days and I now have a whole new attitude towards food as a result. Which to me is equally important as the other results. Now I don’t think of food as being there to comfort me, it’s there to keep me healthy, fit and strong. I lost nearly 6kgs over the 14 days (some of which will go back on as I begin to eat more normally) but I will work very hard to keep it off.

The thing now is to find a balance between eating healthy and enjoying life and food. There’s a big part of me that’s afraid that I will just get sucked back into old bad habits like sitting on the couch and munching my way through a big bag of crisps, chocolate and half a bottle of wine, but I know you have to have some fun too, so that will be my goal now to find a happy medium.

This detox is not suitable for everyone as it is extreme, but it does not stop anybody from doing some type of detox, even on a smaller level. A detox is simply giving your liver a break from working so hard and can be any length, even as little as 1 day.

I had tried a similar 7 day detox, back in Oct 2010 and didn’t even last 5 days and was absolutely miserable from it, so what’s the difference now? Since January last year I have cleaned up my diet so much, by making a small change every week and learning to choose the healthier option. By the time I started this time, I was really only eating meat and veg for dinner anyway, with my “bad” carbs being rice cakes and chocolate.

I’m so delighted that I did this and feel extremely proud to have lasted so long. I’m also very grateful for the fantastic support that I got from everybody, people on Facebook, other class members, friends, family and people that didn’t even know me. A very big thank you to all of you.

The post Diary of a Detox – Part 3 appeared first on Body and Mind Fitness - Personal Training Ennis.