Some nutrition basics for the year…
We are a month into the new year and hopefully, hopefully, the new years healthy habits are still in place. Below I am going to give you some of the most basic, simple nutrition advice ever, and you are going to read it and think…’is that it?’
yeah ‘that’s it’ … but that’s the point.
Doing the balanced, basics right is going to get you a lot further than moving from extreme diet to extreme diet.
Building new healthy eating habits without having the basic foundations in place first is like try to go on a road trip with a flat tyre. And if I am honest, if the majority of you had the following in place, you would lead a much healthier, happier lifestyle.
The advice is built on 2 main points which I shall expand on further, and they are ‘quality over quantity’ and ‘stop snacking’
Quality over quantity
The big narrative now a days is about calories in vs calories out, and yes this is important, but this method is built on the belief that all calories are equal and trust me, they are not. 100 calories of fruit or veg will be filled with vitamins and minerals and 100 calories of chocolate is going to be filled with fat, a sluggish feeling and short-lived satisfaction.
counting calories has its time and place but for 99% of people its not necessary, just focus on the following and see where it goes…
Fruit and veg – Aim to include this at every meal, yes every meal. Have some fruit with your breakfast, a salad or side salad with you lunch, and plenty of veg in the evening. At the start of the week make a large bowl of a crunchy salad then add it to main meals throughout the week. Sound simple? it is.
Protein – Aim for meats, fish and eggs. Chickpeas, and various beans are also great sources of protein. Your meals should focus on protein as it keeps you fuller for longer and is great for muscle development at all ages. Don’t be afraid to include some red meat which is full of B vitamins which will help with your energy levels.
A lot of foods now are labelled as ‘high protein’, be wary of these as a lot of the time they aren’t actually that high, it is simply a marketing trick to draw you in.
Carbs – A lot of good nutritious carbs will be found in your fruit and veg, but if you are includeing things such as bread, pasta and rice in your diet you should always, always aim for the wholemeal/brown options. These are slower releasing meaning you will have better energy levels which in turn leads to better food control and general good quality day to day functioning.
Stop snacking! – I have said this many a time and I will stick to what I believe on this and that is that most of us, in the modern western world, do not require snacks. We spend a lot of time sat on our arse, working, driving, scrolling endlessly through Instagram. These sedentary activities do not require much energy. I think many of us have forgotten to how to be a little bit hungry, and we need to learn to embrace hunger. Evening snacks when sat on the sofa watching Happy Valley are the worst, and it is easier said than done to stop these, I understand that. My advice to stop snacking? don’t buy the snacks in the first place. Take back some control over your thinking when it comes to buying food, if the snacks are not in the house, you wont eat them.
The above is hardly rocket science but I know that if a lot of us stick to the basics consistently over time it will lead to much healthier, happier lifestyles. Try not to stray away from what I mention above, the success of following the basics is that you stick to them and do not add other bits of food round the outside, hence the ‘stop snacking’.
Try the above and let me know how you get on.
James
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