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Diet Science

There is a vast amount of information available today regarding diets and nutrition. Much of this information is conflicting and can be confusing and overwhelming and ultimately can do more harm than good. We attempt to explain here very basically why you should aim to eat healthily and present the facts about dieting that you NEED to know to give you the knowledge you need to succeed in your goals.

Why eat healthily?

Eating healthily and getting a wide range of nutrients from a well balanced diet has massive benefits on your health and self confidence. Eating healthily will help reduce the risk of obesity, heart attacks, strokes and many other ailments. Eating healthily combined with a training programme will go even further, improving fitness levels and reducing stress levels.

What is Dieting?

The ultimate goal of any diet is to change the body composition or weight for a specific goal. In this section we look at how dieting works to achieve this goal. First lets look at the facts:

• Your body requires food for energy

• Energy is supplied from food in units which are known as calories

• There is a minimum amount of calories required daily to supply the right amount of energy which will in turn maintain a stable body weight. This amount of calories is specific to you and is known as your basal metabolic rate

• Other factors influence the amount of calories required to maintain a stable weight such as activity level, metabolism and genetics

• Eating different quantities and types of foods will supply different amounts of calories and ultimately have an effect on your weight

Summary

From the information above we can see that eating that in-taking more calories on a daily basis than your basal metabolic rate and activity level require then you will gain weight. If you are in-taking less calories than this then you will lose weight. Of course it is a little more complicated than this and so we now attempt to explain how the body stores fat and builds muscle through the types of food that you eat.

Calories

Calories are essentially units which we use to assign to food, they are units of energy. Calories are derived from foods and there are three types of sub groups of calories. They are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Each gram of carbs / fat or protein will yield a different amount of calories. Carbs and protein yield 4 calories per gram and fat yields 9 calories per gram.

Carbohydrates are derived from non animal foods. Examples of healthier carbohydrates include rice, pasta, beans, breads, potatoes yams and fruit. All carbohydrate foods are eventually digested, broken down and absorbed as sugar - sometimes called blood glucose. The body keeps a tight check on the amount of sugar in the blood.

For the body to function normally, the concentration of sugar within the bloods remains fairly stable. As sugar levels rise the body will attempt to balance the levels and takes the excess sugar out of the blood and stores it into muscle tissue or fat tissue. If sugar levels fall too low then the body releases a liberating hormone which pulls sugar out of the muscle and and drags it back into the blood.

When more calories are consumed than the body needs each day, and especially carbohydrate calories, the amount of sugar in the blood rises. When blood sugar levels rise the body will kick up its production of insulin (storage hormone) and store some of the carbohydrates so they can be used later. In general the body stores the excess carbohydrates in the muscles as muscle glycogen or in the liver as liver glycogen. Glycogen is really nothing more than a storage tank for sugar. Once your glycogen levels are full then excess carbs will be stored as body fat.

Proteins are mainly found in animal foods, dairy products, nuts and lentils. Proteins derived from animal foods are known as complete proteins as they contain all of the essential amino acids. Proteins supply the building blocks of life - amino acids are used for thousands of reactions in the body. They are necessary for  things such as immune support, hormone production, strong teeth and hair and muscle growth.

Fats have the greatest reputation as a fat storer. Gram for gram fats produce more energy in the body than carbs or protein. Fats are present in many foods and it is easy to overeat fat on a daily basis. The distinction must be made between saturated fats and EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids). Saturated fat must be monitored to insure we do not eat too much however fats sources that contain EFAs are very helpful to the body and should be eaten in abundance.

It is generally accepted that to burn a pound of fat through cardiovascular exercise you need to burn off 2500 calories. Please see the Training Guide for information on Cardiovascular exercise.

Nutritional Strategies

The fact is that if you want to look and feel better, lose fat, gain muscle, improve sports performance or just get through the day with more energy, an effective nutritional strategy has to be in place. Training with weights and/or cardio is the easy part Think about it, most of us train 3-4 hours a week, however its what that goes for the other 164 hours that counts.

Also, how many times have you blamed exercise for a lack of results e.g. fat loss or muscle gain. No, the latest crazy bicep exercise won't add that extra inch to your guns nor a 'guaranteed abs in six weeks cardio routine'. ONLY FOLLOWING A STRUCTURED NUTRITIONAL PLAN COMBINED WITH EFFECTIVE TRAINING WILL

But what does an effective nutritional strategy look like I hear you ask! Below is the nutritional strategy that we use as a base at fitness.uk.net, although if you order a personalised diet then your plan will be specific to you and may contain more or less meals.

7:00am Meal #1 Breakfast
10:00am Meal #2 Snack/Shake
12:00am Meal #3 Lunch
3:00pm Meal #4 Snack/Shake
6:00pm Meal #5 Dinner
9:00pm Meal #6 Snack/Shake

To further support this please see the following information from research carried out by fitness.uk.net:

To promote efficient recovery between training sessions, you should divide your food intake into several small meals, all low GI (Bean, 2001). In addition, frequent feedings tend to produce more stable blood sugar and insulin levels, promote efficient glycogen storage and increase metabolic rate (McArdle et al, 2001).

Just a point - more stable blood sugar = more energy, less tiredness and less mood swings! Increased metabolic rate = greater fat loss/calorie usage! Efficient glycogen storage = faster recovery from training and more energy!

Furthermore, for optimal energy restoration, ‘muscle building and fat loss effect, you should consume approximately six meals or snacks throughout the day’ Bean (2001, p.173). Thus, the need for all athletes, bodybuilders or any one who wants to build muscle muscle or decrease body fat levels to have an effective nutritional strategy is great. The point to take away from this - by eating frequently (every 3-4 hrs) and regularly (5-6 meals per day) you will maximise your training results.

The diets that we produce at fitness.uk.net are tailored to your individual statistics and goals and are designed to keep blood sugar and insulin levels stable to promote fat loss and muscle growth when used in conjunction with an appropriate training plan.

fitness.uk.net provide diet/nutritional plans specific to you, please click here to see how we create these plans.

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