Strength, Health, and Fitness

Nutritional notes for clients looking to assist weight loss by diet

Let's start by saying this is not a 'diet' the term simply refers to what you put in your body as an overview. In my ever growing experience, people who go on fad 'diets' might loose a lot of weight on an extreme diet but they can't keep it up, most of them last about 12 weeks and give them another 12 weeks eating how they would call 'normally' they tend to end up bigger and with more body fat then when they started. In two years working at Studio 121 I might have come across about a dozen clients who have followed that cycle, for some only once was bad enough, others have 'yo-yo dieted' for years, each time ultimately getting bigger and bigger at the end of each cycle. This is not about how long can you live of celery and tissue paper. It's about eating healthy and making the most of your diet, to make it enjoyable and get you eating real nutritious food.

The danger of calorie counting: As a personal trainer, I may be in the minority here. I know lots of very experienced and knowledgeable personal trainers who swear by the calorie deficit balance for themselves and clients. To really explain this I would have to get quite deep into what a calorie is, a little bit of science about food digestion and the science behind how calorie expenditure is measured or for a better word calculated. Maybe at some point with some people I will have to do this and write it down, if you reed this and want to quiz me about it no problem. My base points are that the science behind calculating how many calories your body needs in a given day is based on an equation that dates back over 40 years now, also it based on an assessment of activity of which there are only three options. It is not accurate in my opinion, also when people try to record how many calories you eat in a day is almost impossible as you are only given partial information by packaged food. To do this properly you would need to constantly be strapped to a heart rate monitor that can accurately predict the calories burnt in the day and weigh your food knowing exactly it's macronutriant content. Otherwise you are guessing!

The principle of calorie counting: The principle behind calorie counting has a good basis in solid and sound nutrition and IS THE ONLY WAY people loose weight, but you just don't need to count it! The principle is you use food for energy, if your body receives more energy through diet than it needs, it stores it as fat to be used at a later date. If your body receives less energy than it needs through diet it uses some of it's stored fat for energy to make up the deficit. However this is only the principle, the reality of it is a little more complicated and involves that word all my PT clients here me bang on about endlessly, metabolism! As you can see, looking at the principle, in theory if you simply didn't eat or ate very little, you might assume you would get very thin very quick. This doesn't happen for two reasons. One it's very hard to live off nothing and your body craves food, this is why people who start on 'very low calorie diets' end up binging and get massive weight gains after the diet. Secondly, your body is a thinking machine, and it starts to know what's going on. We are conditioned to save body fat when food is scarce and what happens is the body stops burning fat to make up the deficit and starts doing two things that are bad for weight loss, firstly it starts to reduce the calories it needs, by shutting down processes and being too starved for activity that would demand calories, secondly it starts using other food sources than fat for energy and this is very bad for weight loss, as the next source is goes to is protein from first the working skeletal muscles and the liver, than from other body organs.

This goes on to one of my biggest reasons for not advising calorie counting, you can do yourself more harm than good, this goes on to my biggest principle in diet and training, focusing on body fat reduction and building an effective metabolism.

Effective principles in burning body fat: This is the part we really want to focus on, you can take person X who weighs twelve stone and has a body fat percentage of 30% in twelve weeks of training they might only loose half a stone to a stone, if they can get their body fat down to under 20% they will have a completely different body shape. More importantly they would be more able to keep loosing the weight and not put it back on as the diet is not unrealistic and the fitness levels and metabolism have all increased. If they simply ran lots and cut the eating by 60% of calories they would loos more weight to start with but not as much body fat and as the metabolic rate will have slowed. Give them a further 12 weeks and you could bet money they would be at least back at twelve stone 30% body fat or worse.

So how do you burn body fat effectively, get fit and change your shape and keep it off? You manage it two ways, one you exercise in a way that challenges muscles and CV system enough to build a fit strong engine and produces lean muscle mass (not bulk) as this has a massive demand on the energy level and gets the body demanding more and more energy. Secondly you construct a diet that improves the rate at which the body burns body fat to produce the fitness and muscle improvements the training demands. Sounds complicated, don't worry too much about the training, that's my job. This will help you do yours at home:

Things to avoid:
1)Saturated fat. This is the obvious fat everyone knows is bad, it is essentially fat that is solid at room temperature. It is found in red meats, fried foods, fast foods. It is slightly healthier than hydrogenated fat which is commonly found in MSG products as the body has a limited use for it. Why do we avoid this? Because it is calorie dense and also usually comes along side chemical preservatives and products that clog up your system, getting in the way of your body's ability to repair itself from stress caused by training. So your shooting yourself in the foot twice. Once for eating calorie dense food and twice for lessening the effect of your training at helping you burn fat. Some of these are obvious and some of these are subtle, so here's a list of those you should know better and some that might surprise you:
1) All quick junk food- from kebab to burgers to chips to the big brands 2) Cream based sauces and pasta sauces 3) Cheese based sauces 4) Alcohol (not many people know alcohol itself is highly fattening) 5) Red meat 6) Poor quality meats (sausages + fried chicken sold packaged) 7) Chocolate 8) Crisps 9) Ice cream and milkshakes 10) Butter
2)'Cheap Carbs' I call cheap carbs anything that comes high on the GI scale. Carbohydrates in whatever form they come in, from sweet potato to jelly and ice cream are essentially glucose (a form of sugar). Glucose is turned into glycogen in the body which is used for energy, if the body gets more of it at any one time than it needs, it stores the rest as fat. So you can do two things here to help yourself, eat your carbs when the body is likely to need it, (mornings and after training) and eat carbs that take a long time to be broken down (digested) into glycogen these are what we call low GI carbs. Unfortunately 'cheap carbs' come in so many subtle and appealing forms it's hard to know what tasty treats to avoid, so here's a list of my top ten (get ready to moan):
1)Cake and sweet deserts 2)Processed Chocolate (chocolate cake very big no no!) 3)Fizzy drinks 4) Crisps or corn snacks 5) White bread 6) White pasta 7)Fruit juice 8)Sugar in tea and coffee 9) Chocolate and sugared cereals 10) Lager and alcopops
3)'Fast all day, binge all night' I have this a lot with people in the office or on the go all day. 'I don't have time to eat' the answer is simple you must make time to eat. Two things happen when you go twelve hours without food. Your metabolism slows down after about six hours so you slow the rate at which your body turns fat into lean muscle. The second thing is you get home and over eat, telling yourself it's okay because you were so 'good' during the day. Here you eat twice as much as you should and again slow down the metabolism. You also physically expand the stomach making you more able to stuff yourself with more food next binge. In addition your choice of food is typically worse when previously being starved. You must eat 4-6 small meals a day!!!!!
4)Not having a healthy kitchen – How many times does this happen. You get home ready to make something healthy and then you open the cupboards and only have some old cereal and a tin of beans to make dinner. Your too tired to go shopping and so find yourself reaching for the takeaway menu and giving it to me the next day as an excuse. "We only had chippy cuz there was nothing in, so we HAD to!" You need to keep healthy food in the cupboards that will keep, dry foods and tins that can make a quick meal when plans go to pot.
5)"I can't afford to eat healthy." It is a misconception that healthy food has to be organic chicken and fresh veg. I won't lie organic is in my opinion better, but compare the price of any takeaway meal for two (plus the alcohol that goes with it.) Go and compare it to a salad, some fresh value chicken, an onion a pepper and some wholemeal pitta bread even with some sweet chili sauce thrown in it's cheaper. This works on the bigger scale too. It has been estimated that you can save over £3,000 per year on healhty food than pre packaged meals and here are a few tips:
1) Buy meat and veg frozen (if you can go to a wholesale do) 2) Keep a few healthy version ready meals frozen when you feel the need for a chinease or indian to save on a takeaway. 3) Bulk buy the treats and have the discipline to use them sparingly. One crate of beer over 3 months costs £9-15.00 one four pack a week costs on average £16-22.00 3) Let yourself have one vice and enjoy it. Not only are is it more healthy but imagine not having to pay for sweets, crisps, oven chips, pizza and fish fingers but really enjoying a hot chocolate at the end of the day, (hot chocolate costs about £2.00 max and can last nearly 2 months) So get rid of sugar, portion packaged treats, takaway menus and see how much you save (maybe enough for a kettlebell!)
6)"I don't know how to eat healthy!" Well now you know what not to do, here's six points to get you in the right direction

1) Drink at least 2 litres of water a day. I say it every time, to everyone, who thinks they are doing everything right and can't loose weight. I'll say it again, drink two litres of water a day. This is because water flushes the system, the system normally has crap in it, and that gets in the way of the body repairing itself. You can't increase your metabolism without your body repairing the damage from exercise and lifestyle. Remember your body (and brain) is 70-80% water, how long would you expect a car engine to work well for without changing the oil? Drink at least two litres of water every day. At least!

2) Try to eat less – It is true, the only way to loose weight is to consume less calories than the body will spend. Se we exercise intensely to make the body demand calories and try to eat less to give it less. It's just not that simple or easy to do, however easy it looks on paper. Eat too little and exercise and health will suffer. We should aim to loose about a kilogram (2 ½ pounds) of body fat a week, no more. My best bet to do this, eat moderately throughout the day to fuel the body's fat burning process (repairing the muscles and CV system after exercise) and cut portion size. Most people eat too much, too quickly, too late at night. Dinner even when socializing should be the healthiest and most simple meal of the day.

3) Some foods do help you burn more fat than others. Here's a list of ones that help burn body fat: 1) Green tea 2) Coffee 3) Lemon juice (fresh) 4) Berries (black and blue are the best 5) Raw veg -particularly carrots and peppers 6) fibre rich cereals like bran flakes 6) egg whites

4) Cut out two foods you might be allergic to and see if some of the weight was bloating. ¼ of the UK is allergic to either or both of wheat and lactose, the best clue is to give up bread and normal milk for two weeks and see how much better you feel and less bloated the stomach is. I use lacto free substitutes for my calcium and can't remember the last slice of bread I've had. It makes such a big difference even if you aren't allergic to give up bread as it's such a high GI food at least swap to wholemeal or brown.

5)I have a saying of when to eat what. 'In the morning eat like a king, in the middle of the day eat like a prince, in the evening eat like a beggar.' Most people do the opposite and it's such a bad way to live. Your metabolism can switch off an on quick. At the end of the day it starts to slow down (particularly if you train in the morning) If you have to give the body a treat, do it before 2pm and then get strict. You still need to eat later in the day to keep the metabolism burning, but eat blander and stricter, more slow burning foods (like cottage cheese) here is a typical diet a bodybuilder gave me and while on this diet he managed to actually keep his body fat at 8%

6:45 AM – 4 whole egg omelet, 2 rounds toast, 1 porridge, 1 protein shake 1 coffee
10:00 AM hand full of nuts, banana, 1 coffee
12:00 AM pre work out protein shake
2:00 PM post work out protein shake with a can of coke
3:00 PM Steak with broccoli, tomato and peppers
6:00 PM Salmon fillet with olives
8:00 PM Protein shake
10:00 PM pre bed, small portion of cottage cheese

6)You can see the principle, you can get away with more, earlier in the day (please note this body builder was still on a high calorie diet this is not a suggestion of a weight loss diet plan!). I took a few things from this that I liked, one I changed the can of coke for lucozade or fruit to give some quick carbs after my work out when my body needs it and you can satisfy your craving for sweets then too. Secondly I reduce portion size and steadily eliminate all carbs after around 4-6pm. In addition I really like loading up of carbs in the morning it really keeps me going through a busy day.

7) Keep a few basics in the cupboards that don't go off quick, then you make up meals quick that stop you going for takeaways. I like the following: Cans of tuna, beans, sweetcorn and chopped tomatoes. Mayonnaise, and sweet chili sauce in my fridge and some brown pasta, rice and potatoes in the cupboards. In my freezer I keep a variety of frozen veg and chicken fillets that I defrost. Armed with this I can make a quick tuna pasta with sweetcorn and mayo, a sweet chili chicken with veg and rice or a jacket potato depending on if I have half and hour to eat and be out the door or an evening to myself that I don't want to spend on crisps and beer (you will also never find my fridge empty of cottage cheese)!

8) "Never hungry, never full." To do this you MUST keep something on you at all times, in your locker, in your bag, at your desk, in the car. A meal replacement bar, or a banana or even if need be a sandwich. Never go more than 4 hours without eating something, even if it's just a piece of fruit. When your body eats in small amounts you have burn calories to digest food, too much in one go will bulge the stomach and slow the system down (you will actively feel this) you also stretch the stomach making it harder to fill next time. Small meals frequently will keep you lean and stop you from feeling weak, faint and grumpy, all things people on low calorie diets suffer from.

9) Keep a food diary and be honest about it. If I get to see it, all the better, but write down absolutely everything you eat and look back on it in two weeks, you'll find so many patterns you didn't think you had. I can normally tell how people's work lives and home lives are just by reading your daily pattern. Out of all my clients who loose weight, the ones that loos the most give me their diary, and I'll always let you reed mine. Food diary's are great because they leave nothing to hide!

So there are only two things left to do, give you an example of what I would call a good days diet plan (keep you own and compare) and give you some meals and tips to help you on your way:

An example of a healthy daily feed for the active weight loss client
7:00 AM – Bran flakes with lacto free milk. Coffee ¼ litre water
10:00 AM – Banana ¼ litre water
1:00 PM – Chicken with pasta and salad (whole meal pasta, mixed salad leaves with tomato peppers and cucumbers) ¼ litre water
3:00PM – Carrot and celery sticks – green tea
5:00PM – Steak and brown rice with salad
8:00PM – Cottage cheese on rivata bread – green tea
10:00Pm ¼ litre of water

Treats (1 or 2 per month): once in a blue moon, but when I fall off the wagon or feel the need to give myself a reward I have one of the following:
Pizza, lager,chips, cured meats,

Protein ( 4 or more times a day):
Chicken breast, rare steak, pork steak, salmon, tuna, kidney beans, spinach, granola bar, protein shake, protein bar, cottage cheese (low fat only), sushi, oats, lacto free milk

Carbs (3 or 4 times a day early and after exercise):
Potato, sweet potato, brown pasta, fresh pasta, lucozade (only ever after workout) wholemeal pitta bread, rivita bread, muesli, porridge oats, bran flakes, dried apricots,

Healthy fats (as snacks or with meal 2-3 times a day in small portions):
Peanut butter (organic only, olive oil (as cooking oil) flax seed oil (as supplement) CLA (as supplement) whole olives, cottage cheese (low fat only), salmon, cured meats, nuts

Fruit (in mornings and I eat more than other people as is about my only source of sugar at least 2 per day):
Oranges (surprisingly low GI), banana, apples, apricots, peaches, pears, all berries, lemons and limes (as cooking sauces)

Vegetables (every single meal bar breakfast and as snacks 4-6 times a day)
Carrots (love them raw), Peppers (all colours love them raw), broccoli, beans, sweetcorn, cabbage, beetroot, tomato, cucumber, celery, lettuce, chili peppers (surprisingly good for you),

Other material:
This is just my view and my opinion, there is a whole world of information out there, in books, online and on TV, go a get a low fat cook book, there are several, then use this to make sensible choices in ingredients.

A few of you who know me have already been on and made some comments (please leave future comments on the blog so I can start some discussions on what I'm doing. I'm hoping to learn from feedback on this!)

The main question or comment everyone is making is - Why call the blog Strength, health and fitness when I'm following a pretty bog standard hypertrophy package?

Well... There are a few reasons for this, I'll list three:
1) Having been I'll, I lost a lot of weight. I always prefer strength training and particularly functional performance training rather then isolation and hypertrophy. However I'm not happy with the size my body is, I've never been big but dropping from 88kg to 76kg in just over two weeks is not only a shock to the body but also the brain. I really want to put this weight back on as quick as I can (naturally). In addition I am trying to keep to the compound exercises as much as possible and am always starting with the shoulder girdle before the chest exercises (you can see the performance effect on weight lifted in the shoulder compared to the chest).

2) If you look any sports specific training, there is an overall hypertrophy phase at the beginning of a seasonal cycle. Even though I'm not competing in anything anymore, this phase works great for me right now as it will ultimately let me solve and adjust imbalances which will help me spend more time to come working on my three key goals (SHF). Hopefully as this hypertrophy phase is designed to do in a sports programme, so it should help keep me injury free and able to strength train for a longer period later in the programme.

3) I just need a bit of variety. Both my main sources of info on weightlifting (Polliquin and Platz) state regularly that variety is an essential part of progress, particularly when hitting a slump in performance improvements or coming back off an injury or illness. In fact I pretty much followed Platz to the letter in his guideline of recovery form over training. I took a whole week off exercise and diet, had faith in my metabolism and tried to put a bit of body fat on to give me some substance to heal and rest with. My ideal training programme will eventually always cycle round to hypertrophy as my one of my principles in Strength training is to get as strong as the body will allow, then manipulate the body to allow further increase in strength.

Agree or disagree with this, post a comment.