Simple Nutrition Pyramid

These are your Protein, Carbohydrates & Fats. Once you have your calories at where you want them that allows you to fuel performance, recover sufficiently but NOT gain unwanted weight you can then begin to look at your P,C & F. Each nutrient has a different role, protein is mostly required for building and repairing, carbohydrates are predominantly used as fuel and fats are used as fuel as well as a bunch of other things such as hormone balance.

Protein should be an amount that provides a sufficient amount of amino acids to repair and recover after exercise, generally 1.6-1.8g/kg of bodyweight is good for most people. Remember there are 4Kcal/g of Protein.

Carbohydrates should be enough to fuel performance and replenish fuel supplies post workout. Carbs is also 4Kcal/g.

Fats should be from the healthy sources mostly, so think of your oily fish, nuts & seeds, avocados etc. And the amount needed should be enough to take up the rest of your calories you have left over from your Protein & Carbohydrates. Fats have 9kcal/g.

These are mainly your Vitamins & Minerals so your Fruit & Veg predominantly. You should be trying to get as much as these in to your diet as possible (BUT, keep in mind their Calorie & Macronutrient content). As a whole you get more nutrients and less carbs/sugars from your Veg so make this the priority here. As much as you can, with as much variety as possible. If you are exercising regularly you will need more than the average person or you can be at risk of potentially weakening your own immune system.

You’ve probably heard eat little and often, or intermittent fasting, carb back loading, carb cycling etc. These are all forms of meal timings. Generally, it doesn’t make that much of a difference on the whole as long as you are reaching our entire daily nutrient intake. I personally prefer to eat 3 meals a day then + my workout nutrition such as pre-intra-post strategy (see last blog post).

Its about what works for you. If you don’t ever feel like eating first thing, don’t worry. Instead of eating at 7am/12pm/5pm just shift the time you eat to something like 10am/2pm/7pm etc. I am generally not a morning person so getting me to eat first thing is like trying to get a baby to eat veg! So I just shift it to later in the day, remember the priority is getting the Calories & Nutrients in by the end of the day.

This may seem weird, I work for a supplement company and I am saying they are the least important, surely I should be selling them to you?!?!

Well supplements are not around to replace nutrition, it should only be used to fill in the gaps after you have done everything you can to cover all bases through food. If you struggle to eat fruit & veg then maybe try a good high quality multivitamin or Greens Powder. If you don’t eat enough protein that day then maybe time to reach for a protein shake. Or you don’t like fish and nuts, Omega 3 supplementation would be a great alternative.