While we love training in the gym, it’s important that all the other parts of a healthy, happy lifestyle get a look in too. Our diet being one of them.
Now diet is a touchy subject, so we’re just gonna start with the fundamentals of nutrition, namely, what are carbohydrates, proteins and fats?
So a carbohydrate is basically a sugar. It doesn’t matter if it’s “complex” or “simple”, your body will break it down into sugar. Grains, fruit, veg, haribo, etc. these are all carbohydrates.
They’re basically burnt as our first energy source, and take care of our exercise demands. As a rule, the more active you are the more fuel you need. Generally speaking, for guys, about two cupped handfuls of grains starches, beans or fruits. For ladies about 1 cupped handful. Or, about 1/4 of your plate, presuming you have half your plate covered in nice leafy and colourful vegetables.
Protein is used to build and repair muscle, and it’s really vital we get enough in, especially if we are performing vigorous exercise and our body needs to recover. For guys, it’s two fist sized servings of meat/fish/chicken each meal. For gals, it’s generally one.
Protein comes from any animal product for the most of us. For vegetarians or vegans, green peas, quinoa, etc, can provide the source.
Fat helps us to absorb nutrients, it is also a component of the membranes in the brain and nervous system so its pretty important to our body and generally doesn’t deserve the bad reputation it gets. In fact, whenever you see something as “fat free” you can bet it’s gone through quite the chemical process to make it that way, and has probably had a whole bunch of other nasty shit added to it to make it taste remotely okay.
Sources of fat include meats, dairy, nuts, nut butters, avocado, olives, coconut milk etc. A thumb sized portion with each meal is a good way to go.
If you’d like to learn more, why not book a Nutrition Appetiser Consult with us?