Fat to Fit, but still hungry - Diets and food for fuel. Part 2
My “pre” daily nutrition
I’d have a fairly substantial breakfast…
Big bowl of Porridge with a large sweet added to taste - Jam, dried fruit or honey. Not the worst, but not a decent protein source or balance to it, just taste focused and speed! Why did I need to include refined sugar?
When the body needs to be working on itself, I wasn’t giving it protein – the transportation device for repair and growth!
The Lunch…
My dad and I would get a sandwich and a cake from a nearby shop every day for lunch. Totalling, probably 1200+ calories, often highly processed, excess fat and sugar and way too much starchy carbs for the middle of the day. I’d often feel lethargic as a result and hungry by 3pm, something a lot of people have experience with this type of lunchtime meal.
Say no more here, this in my mind is obviously not right, and bear in mind I was overweight, so many things could be improved here too…
Evening meal…
In the evening it could be anything of any size! From a petrol station Pasty, to a deep-fried takeaway. Sometimes a load of pasta I’d cook up with frozen veg, oily sauces as well as the obligatory bacon and cheese.
I added some vegetables to meals rather than made it the basis of one.
Often washed down with a lager or 2, or 3…
The workout
I often had a session at the gym after work, around 6pm like many, and before I ate. Now consider, I went to the gym around 5-6pm, Last eating at 12pm ish, and then it was starchy refined carbs with too much sugar. So I’d probably had an insulin spike and crashed by the time I was looking to push my body. Often also dehydrated by this stage too I was far for primed for an intense workout. Think about what you put your body through in that session with such poor resources to pull on in muscle breakdown and the shock to the nervous system?!? Even the ever popular pre workout stimulants wouldn’t save this mess! So why bother using them?
I did too, don’t worry. Like I’ve mentioned previously, I like trial and error, and this was a place I had thought to look, even before adjusting my diet! Sounds stupid now, but I bet I am not the only one.
Add it up… it starts to make sense
Add this up and I could be over easily 3000 calories some days with very little lean protein, decent fat sources and importantly, micronutrient rich vegetables.
There was however, lots of carbohydrates! In the refined sugars of cakes, jams etc., breads, dialy alcohol intake and (fried) chips etc.
Added to excess Fat from frying foods, Oils and processed food’s trans fats.
Not structured, balanced, planned or clean fuel like I need.
Thinking back now, Oils and fats particularly were out of control!
Take Pesto – my “healthy meal” at home would be 2 table spoons of pesto, for 1 person with 2 cups of pasta and some bacon chopped up! That’s enough oil and fat for a person for 3 days not 1 evening meal.
Break it down further
This day totals roughly 2500-3000 calories.
I weighted 100kgs+ with 30%+ body fat. I couldn’t run far or quickly and I couldn’t lift or perform at any physical activity to a standard reasonable for my age. I was tired and slept badly. I was miserable, short tempered and full of excuses.
My TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure, the calculation showing a realistic calorie intake for a person with my lifestyle, height, weight and body fat) back then would have been less than 2000 calories. I had minimal skeletal muscle too so it even that was pushing it.
At best I averaged around…
Protein – 100 grams, 15% of total intake on a good day and I loved meat, just not enough lean sources.
Carbs - 50%+ (sugar, alcohol and “starchy carbs – minimal micro nutrients, certainly lacking in antioxidants)
Fat – 105g, 35% of total and all from the wrong places! Oils, processed foods with hidden trans fats… you get the picture.
TIP if it’s processed and disintegrates in your mouth like crisps or pastry – don’t eat it anymore!
Not exactly a muscle building, fat melting, macro nutrient breakdown. Easily the sort of diet though I could slightly tweak and see minimal improvements, as I’m sure many of you can understand.
From a balanced, micronutrient, vitamin or mineral perspective being very broad in this area… I was off the bottom of the scale for healthy! We don’t need to dig into the details here on what was so wrong and which I was giving myself a disadvantage over others. The Key for me was the feeling and results I was getting! Out of shape, under achieving and feeling rubbish about myself.
I don’t doubt there are some people out there that could live on my old diet perfectly fine and be in good physical shape, at least in appearance. I couldn’t and I needed to change. I needed to take control and use food for fuel.
Fruits & Vegetables should make up 50% of your plate. For everyone.
With mine they averaged probably 5-10%.
We know these micronutrient carriers are so important for almost everything in life - health, well-being, fitness, performance, recovery and so on. So many, including me, can fall short on this guideline and pay the price as a result.
Can you start to see now why I was so keen to start with a Greens based Product? The most common, simplest of changes to a diet can provide an important improvement. I was looking to lose body fat like so many others, but it can be equally effective for a pro bodybuilder, Spartan runner or any competing individual pushing themselves.
This is the low hanging fruit! ;)
I made some changes.
The worst area got changed first, dramatically.
We made our lunches in preparation for the week ahead, with no bread! Or cakes! Often just a meat and vegetables/salad boxes. Very little processed meat and no starchy carbs. In the middle of the day, I find I really do not need it!
After the first week it was noticeable the difference. In energy, in my stomach, in my performance.
On this high, I started to track my calories and macros using an iPhone app. I can honestly say - never cheated it, or ignored it. I just plugged the information in and read it at the end of the day to make changes for the next!
You have to bear in mind this wasn’t because I was some model example of discipline. I’d seen early results from small changes, I was a long way off a decent understanding of nutrition still at this stage but it was all paying off.
A little Research and just following the basic guidelines.
The world of Food for Fuel opened up to me, and I was loving it. I am the type of person that likes to research something, test it and notice the results, if I don’t get them I move on. When the results came this quickly (days/weeks not months!!) and as noticeably as with my nutritional research, it’s no surprise it took over my mind!
The initial layer of understanding was in calorie control. Which was an easy and quick challenge to conquer. The app made some suggestions on how much I could eat and I started way over my allowed amount!
This was the explanation I needed for the excess body fat I’d carried for years!
Quickly, I started to look at macros, found some articles online for a basic understanding and calculators to get some goals – my results initially? I was way off again. (as you saw above)
I decided to aim for the macro nutrient breakdown below with “whole foods” and minimal processed. I wanted to add muscle (make the engine bigger) and loose the unhealthy body fat. More muscle meant I could eat more and perform better, less fat meant I looked better and was healthier overall.
I learnt to calculate my TDEE online. Its actually very easy and what you quickly realise is that number sticks with you, and is often very similar for others too, so if your similar to me, yours are probably roughly the same…
1785 calories per day.
At this time, I thought my ideal body weight was 80Kgs losing fat and gaining muscle. I was 90kgs (ish). So, not knowing enough, ut know I was roughly on the right lines, I set my calories in the app to 1800 per day to start off.
Clean eating and staying balanced, with nutrient dense (not calorie dense) focus.
The macros
A lot of the guidance i read suggested 1-2grams of protein per kg of ideal body weight. this was the starting point in my mind.
then, 20-30% of daily calories from Fat. An important area I knew I had wrong and so needed to focus on.
The remainder from carbohydrates which for me meant vegetables and fruits. I was going to be eating less calories, Veg, particularly, could keep me full on minimal calories, prepared right.
This was how I set my app up…
Protein – 128g (protein is 4 calories per gram) – 512 calories of lean protein.
Fat – 50g of fat (9 calories per gram) – 450 calories but i need to make sure these were “good fats”, fats that could help the transportation of nutrients around the body, cholesterol balancing, among their many other uses.
Carbohydrates – 838 calories (the leftover), calories can vary per gram.
I quickly learnt this is where the magic happens in this flexible diet approach. It’s actually very easy to make fewer calories work every day when you focus on unprocessed lean protein sources and healthy fats with a base to every meal of 50% veg! It’s hard is when you don’t think or prepare and the convenience foods ruin everything!
TIP You also shouldn’t get hungry ever! You can eat so much veg as the calories per gram are very low generally.
But remember to watch pasta, bread, rice, noodles, etc. as the calories per gram are high!
TIP Learn the meats and Fats add up pretty quick so you rarely need to add additional sources.
Also, I used nuts, fish and avocados for fats sources. My thinking was always “I got something else out of it”. Nuts have some unique properties of minerals & lesser found “super ingredients”.(As an example Brazil nuts offer a great source of Selenium, a base metal the body uses in to regulate Thyroid and energy production as well as balancing Testosterone levels to their required amounts, where possible). I
f you cook with an oil or butter, you just lost out on a serving of nuts, or worst an avocado with your eggs!
Takeaway’s –pun intended
I’ll be clear here – this was not hard. Actually, It was the very beginning and introduction in to the industry I now currently enjoy. So i think it’s fair to say it can be enjoyable.
I was not hungry. You can get bored and think your hungry, dehydration will do the same too. But if you eat a base of vegetables or fruits for every meal you are well on your way! Actually a key part here is the amount I drank, in brief, lots. 3-4 litres per day. that got rid of one excuse to be hungry, when actually i never was!
The hardest part was the tracking, which is actually another blessing in disguise. The more complicated the meal, the harder to record. Buy something in a shop or takeaway and then find in in an app… It’s tough, so forget it. cook with oil, its another thing you don’t have to add to the app. Think ahead and plan, you can track it all in the morning. Plan your whole week out, soon, you can stop tracking - you know where you are for nutrition this week - Fuelled!
You eat simple, whole foods.
My plates got simple.
Luke