If you're on our mailing list or follow Victory on social media (Facebook or Twitter), you'll know that over the past week or so we've been asking you to send us your questions about the Foundation layer of our Health & Performance Pyramid, which encompasses sleep, stress, hydration and nutrition. It's been really interesting to read all the questions we've received, and I'm hoping that this series of posts will start to answer them... this time, I'm focusing on good nutrition.
Why do I need to watch what I eat? Every single cell in your body is created out of the things you ingest - you really are what you eat. Good nutrition doesn’t necessarily mean never eating a treat, ever, and it doesn’t have to mean calorie counting (more on that later) but it means concentrating on long term habits that will have a positive impact on your health.
Are carbs still bad for me? When it comes to carbs, it’s all about type and quantity. Having mashed potatoes with every meal certainly won’t do you any good (sadly!) but a completely carb free diet isn’t the answer either. Carbohydrates do play a major role in energy storage and transportation, so if you cut them out entirely you may lose weight to begin with, but many people will also notice themselves becoming sluggish and tired. I did the Atkins diet many years ago, and while I certainly lost weight, I found that after a couple of hours on the tennis court, I was starting to cramp up. When you eat carbs, try to focus on your portion size (so that’s one fist sized serving for women and two fist sized servings for men) and the type of carb. Simple carbs (like white rice, white bread or pasta) will be broken down by the body quickly and converted into sugar. Complex carbs (like sweet potatoes, wild rice, whole grains) will give you prolonged energy and help you feel fuller for longer.
Should I be counting calories? Well, you could – but they aren’t the be all and end all! Calorie data can be very imprecise, depending on where the food was grown or raised, what cooking methods were used, how long it’s been stored for… It will give you a rough guide, but it definitely won’t be exact. What’s more important is concentrating on ‘whole foods’ – or, as our trainer Jess, puts it, “Mainline on anything that grew in the ground or used to have a face.”
What should I eat when I exercise? When you put your muscles under strain by working out, the muscle tissue sustains very tiny tears. This is nothing to be worried about, and is actually the reason your muscles get bigger and stronger after you exercise, but you can help them along the way by eating protein after your workout. Most people automatically think of meat when they think about protein, and things like chicken, beef or tuna are all good sources. Protein shakes can be useful; but don't worry, veggies - it's not all about meat: lots of vegetables and grains are good sources too – try dark, leafy vegetables (like spinach or broccoli) or things like lentils, quinoa or pumpkin seeds. You can use your hand size as a guide to this one too – a protein portion for women is the size of your palm, and for men, the size of two palms (see the picture above from Precision Nutrition).
The newspaper says that fat is good for me – is this true? Yes! We need fats for our body to work properly – they’re used to balance hormones and lubricate joints, not to mention making up a good portion of your brain! Try to eat unsaturated fats (fish, nuts, olive oil, avocadoes etc) and saturated fats (butter, lard, etc) but steer clear of trans fats (anything that lists ‘partially hydrogenated fat/oil’ on the label). Use your rule of thumb – a portion of fat should be the size of one thumb (for women) or two thumbs (for men.)
Now that I’ve made myself hungry, I’ll leave this with you… I’ll be back soon to talk to you a little bit about stress (argh!) - but if you're interested in more information, please leave a comment below, check out our Online Foundation Programme - or contact us to ask questions!
