My relationship with food
I have always had a bit of an up and down relationship with
food.
As a young child, I was always on the smaller frame size until
around 8 years old when I then put on a fair bit of weight (not anything to do
with the copious amounts of pickled onion monster much I was eating amongst
various other unhealthy food choices!). This carried on well into my
teens when I continued to make bad food choices and also started to lead an indulgent and excessive teenage
lifestyle.
Young me :-) |
In my late teens and into my twenties, I started to get into my
fitness and would swim, go to the gym, attend various fitness classes, play
tennis, walk - it wasn't excessive by any standards but I didn't fuel my body
correctly and didn't see the importance of a healthy diet - at this stage in my
life it was more about partying than leading a healthy wholesome existence.
The yoyo diets were in full swing - Atkins, Ketogenic, The
Grapefruit Diet, Slimfast, Vegetarian, Dairy Free. I am guilty of abusing laxatives and various weight
loss pills in my late teens and early twenties. Add in a grief stricken bout of abstaining from eating, it is now easy to understand why my weight would
fluctuate as would my mood, energy, , concentration, complexion, water retention…
Pickled Onion Monster! |
The most important bit of advice I can give people is to view
your food consumption as a way of fuelling your body. Our bodies perform optimally with a specific
amount of macronutrients - protein, fat, carbohydrates and water. Add in some high intensity training / strength
training / competition training / competitive sport etc on a regular basis and
your body is going to be craving the ‘right’ foods.
The recommended guidelines for how much of each macronutrient we
should be consuming is as follows:
Carbohydrates – 50% of daily calorie consumption
Fat – 35% of daily calorie consumption
Protein – 15% of daily calorie consumption
Water – aim for at least 2 litres per day (about 4 pints)
These are exactly what they say above – guidelines. They will need to be tweaked for every
individual as everyone’s nutritional needs will vary depending on their goals,
their genetics, their build, their activity levels.
Netball Days |
For me, eating a healthy balanced diet compliments my daily
lifestyle and exercise schedule. My love
of food is always there and I allow myself to be indulgent when the mood takes
me. This does not come naturally – I am
not one of those people who can ‘eat what they want’. I am susceptible to putting on weight easily
and will do so when given the chance.
However, I have grown to understand that I need to support my activity
levels rather than try to restrict myself with rigid diets and denying myself
those things that I love. It is all
about striking that balance – fuel your body correctly – eat the minimum amount
of nutrients your body requires and remember:
1.
Energy in (kCal consumed) IS EQUAL TO energy out =
weight maintained
2.
Energy in (kCal consumed) – LESS THAN energy out =
weight reduced
3.
Energy in (kCal consumed) – MORE THAN energy out =
weight increase
I eat on average just over 2100 calories per day. This amount of calories will differ
from the next person and so it is important to find out what your own personal
daily calorie consumption should be to support your goals (e.g weight loss,
weight gain, muscle hypertrophy). I will
increase / decrease certain macros depending on what I am trying to
achieve. For example, if I have just
returned from an indulgent weeks holiday, or perfect example, post lockdown –
and my weight has increased, amongst other things, I will lower my carbohydrate
consumption and cut out the treats for a certain period to balance out the
increased calories consumed over the indulgent period.
Around 15 years and not at my healthiest |
On waking – hot water with freshly squeezed lemon juice. This is very quickly followed by 2 coffees
without sugar.
Breakfast tends to always be a silken omelette on wholemeal toast
and with a seasoned avocado drizzled in olive oil. Top this with watercress or rocket with parmesan
shavings and some chilli sauce and it is one of my go to meals (breakfast,
lunch or dinner) as its quick, nutritious, and delicious.
I tend not to snack as much as I can but it is hard with little
ones around. I will always try to avoid
the refined food – think anything processed and anything white – these foods
will spike your blood sugar and then quickly fall again making you want to eat
more a short while afterwards, hence the spiral we can often find ourselves in
and overconsuming in this area.
For snacks, its good to have a selection of healthy choices
available to you – fruit (watch the sugar content – berries and kiwis are a low
source of sugar – grapes really high), energy balls (recipe on the food ideas
page), nuts and seeds are very good as well.
If I find myself craving a snack, my first port of call would be to
drink some water to keep me hydrated and also stave off the hunger until my
next meal. I do try not to snack
wherever possible but if I do, I will always try to make it healthy more often
than not.
Lunch tends to be a concoction of what we have got in the fridge
and always nutritious, filling and quick and easy. Quite regularly I will have beans on toast
(always wholemeal) with the children, scrambled eggs, jacket potato (if I have
been training) with tuna and salad or a beans and pulses concoction (recipe on
the meal idea page).
Dinner tends to be family led.
All your favourites – spaghetti bolognaise, chicken tray bakes, chicken
in red wine, chilli, cottage pie, BBQs, pizza (my all time favourite). We try to eat no later than 6PM, however if I
am due to exercise and there is not a big enough window for digestion, I will
eat post exercise.
Early 20's - bloated and rounder from an excessive lifestyle. |
Come the weekend, I allow myself to relax a little. The balanced meals will continue however I
may treat myself to pastries, pizza, crisps, more bread than normal, chocolate
etc. It is all about striking the
balance – by having been ‘good’ throughout the week, I can allow myself the odd
treat at the weekend without it having a negative effect on weight gain. It keeps me sane and allows me to reward
myself with yummy food that I have worked hard for throughout the week.
By Sunday evening I am ready to hit the re-set button and prepare
myself for a healthy start to the week.
We will meal plan as a family and decide on what meals we are going to
have for the week but I am not a meal prepper and so cannot offer advice in
this area. Trying to stick to the
recommended guidelines in terms of eating a portion of oily fish a week will
always be worked into the meal plan.
I have come to understand that carbohydrates are not the enemy –
quite the opposite. Carbohydrates are
essential to our body and essential for energy stores to survive (digestion,
regulation of temperature, heartbeat) however it is important to remember that
excess carbohydrates (surplus to your essential energy requirements and to support
your lifestyle) gets stored as fat. It
is also important is to make the right choices in terms of carbohydrates –
always opt for the less refined carbs as they take longer to digest and carry a
superior nutritional content over their white alternatives.
Examples are:
-
White bread – switch to wholemeal / pitta / sourdough
-
White pasta – switch to wholemeal
-
Potatoes – switch to sweet potatoes
Although there always seems loads to remember, throughout
all of this, the main thing is to keep it simple. Start a food diary and don’t change anything
to start with – track what your ‘normal’ consumption is and see where you can
easily make some adjustments. Make small
changes to start with – succeed at them and then move on to your next
adjustment. Find some healthy meals you
like and rotate them throughout the week.
If you’re looking to make changes to your diet to achieve certain goals,
my advice would be to change one thing and stick to it rather than trying to
change everything – you will feel too restricted this way and may find it difficult
to succeed. Keep it simple guys and I’m
here to help if you need me 😊
Now (2020) - In control. |
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