Today in order to tie up the nutrition section of the beginners training plan, we will be covering some additional information around nutrition. We will cover the following topics:
. Diets
. Nutrition myths
. Nutrition splits
Diets
As previously mentioned, I am not a fan of this term due to the negative thoughts it induces towards food however we do need to discuss how these work and the common theme across them all.
I will now list some common diets and in brackets I will label who/how they can work, under that I will provide a short description on what they are:
The Paleo Diet (Health concerns like diabetes and heart disease)
The paleo diet emphasizes whole foods, lean protein, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds, while discouraging processed foods, sugar, dairy, and grains.
The Vegan Diet (Ethical and health reasons)
In addition to eliminating meat, it eliminates dairy, eggs, and animal-derived products, such as gelatin, honey, albumin, whey, casein, and some forms of vitamin D3.
Low-Carb Diets (Diabetes and insulin response)
Low-carb diets emphasize unlimited amounts of protein and fat while severely limiting your carb intake.
The Ultra-Low-Fat Diet (Health and fat loss)
An ultra-low-fat diet contains 10% or fewer calories from fat. The diet is mostly plant-based and has a limited intake of animal products
The Atkins Diet (Fat loss and improved insulin response)
The Atkins diet is split into four phases. It starts with an induction phase, during which you eat under 20 grams of carbs per day for two weeks.
The other phases involve slowly reintroducing healthy carbs back into your diet as you approach your goal weight.
The Zone Diet (Fat loss and blood sugar control)
The Zone Diet recommends balancing each meal with 1/3 protein, 2/3 colorful fruits and veggies, and a dash of fat — namely monounsaturated oil, such as olive oil, avocado, or almonds.
How these are all related
As you will notice, all of these diets promote removing something from your current diet. This is to reduce calorie consumption and induce fat loss.
Novel idea - if it is about calorie reduction. Why don't you resume your current eating but reduce the amount so that you are now in a calorie deficit?
How these diets can work
Some of these diets have fantastic ideas how to reduce calorie consumption, here are some great ideas:
. Reduction in eating animals
. Less processed foods
. Less salt
. Eating a varied diet
. Reducing bad fats
All of these are great ideas, both ethically and nutritionally - I would just focus on incorporating some of these into your current eating.
Nutrition Myths
. Protein is bad for you - nope!
. Protein will make you muscular - it aids recovery not building muscle
. Carbs are bad for you - nope again! It is your primary source of energy
. Fats are bad for you - well yes and no. Trans fats are bad which is in processed foods
. Egg yolks are bad for you - they contain great cholesterol but are higher in calories than whites
. Red meats are bad for you - they do contain more calories but are a great source of protein
. Salt is bad for you - salt is essential for fluid control but too much can cause health problems
. Bread is bad for you - it will not make you fat, it is higher in calories than other carb sources
. Fresh is more nutritious - frozen veg is quickly frozen so actually holds most of its nutrients
. Fat free is better - usually substituted with sugars.
There are loads of myths out there so I may revisit this at a later date.
Nutrition splits
These are less important than total calorie consumption but I would recommend making sure that your splits include the following:
Protein - 1.2-2g per kg of bodyweight (4 calories per gram)
Carbs - around 40-50% of total daily calories (4 calories per gram)
Fats - remainder (9 calories per gram)
How to calculate split:
Step 1 - pick desired protein level/kg bodyweight
Example - 1.5g/kg bodyweight for 80kg individual would be 120g a day
Step 2 - multiply protein (g) by 4 (calories)
Example - 120g x 4 calories = 480 calories
Step 3 - take percentage of total calories you want to give to carbohydrates
Example - 50% carbs to total calories
2000 calories/50% = 1000 calories
Step 4 - Divide carbohydrate calories by 4
Example - 1000 calories/4 = 250g carbohydrates
Step 5 - Work out remaining calories for fats (total daily calories - protein calories - carb calories)
Example - 2000 - 480 - 1000 = 520 calories
Step 6 - take those calories and divide them by 9
Example - 520 calories/9 = 57
Therefore by the calculations the example will have the following macros:
Protein - 120g
Carbs - 250g
Fats - 57g
Quick tip - you can calculate it like this or using myfitnesspal you can put in your total calories and change the % split to your liking.
Be your best!