When it comes to meal planning and nutrition your goals might be to lose weight, to gain weight, to lose fat or to gain muscle or to simply live a healthy life. Whatever your goals may be this program is meant to teach you how to reach your goals and show you what strategies and principles are proven to work.
Calories are a form of energy measurement. When you eat food, you consume the energy that is stored within the food. Energy can be stored for later use as glycogen or fat.
- Micronutrients Introduction
Micronutrients are things like vitamins and minerals that you only need in tiny amounts. People who work out regularly, need more micronutrients than the average person.
Protein is important for building active muscle fibres after exercise, but it has thousands of other essential roles in the body.
- How much protein do you need to consume per day?
There is no one size fits all answer here. Your ideal protein intake will depend on factors such as weight, muscle mass and fitness goals.
Your body needs fatty acids to survive and cannot produce them from other foods. Fat is needed to regulate hormone production, keep your skin and hair healthy, and absorb fat-soluble vitamins.
- How Much Fat Should You Eat Per Day?
Roughly 15 to 20% of your daily calories should come from fats. You should favour monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.
Carbs are the bodies preferred energy source. Your body breaks carbs down into glucose, which is transported throughout the body to provide energy.
Macronutrients are the three main nutrients your body needs to survive, these are protein, carbohydrates, and dietary fat.
- The Different Types of carbs
There are three types of carbs, Monosaccharides which are simple, Disaccharides which are also simple, and Polysaccharides which are complex.
- How Many Carbs should you eat per day?
The optimal intake depends on a variety of factors but even without knowing your exact measurements we can still narrow in on a range using only your body weight and training intensity.
Meal timing has its place, but its importance is often overestimated by beginners. Calorie balance and macronutrient amounts are much more powerful and important than mealtime.
If you meet your daily calorie and nutritional requirements through your normal diet you do not have to drink a protein shake before or after your workout.
Eating carbs before your workout provides your muscles with additional fuel for your training, which will indirectly affect your muscle growth.
The only time you should avoid fats is right before your workout since fat slows down the digestion of both carbs and proteins.
Eat a balanced meal with 0.2-0.25g/lbs of your target body weight (for both carbs and protein) up to one hour before your workout.
The post-workout meal is meant to supply your body with everything it needs to repair the muscle tissue.
- What About the Anabolic Window?
The idea of the anabolic window is that you have a specific window of time after your workout to eat food and if you do this, your muscle growth is accelerated.
- Food Composition Introduction
Food composition refers to the individual foods that you eat and their given nutrition. It is a lot less important than people think.
Protein quality can be measured in a variety of ways. Firstly, bioavailability which is what percentage of protein that you consume is absorbed into the bloodstream. Secondly, how much of the protein is composed of essential amino acids.
Just like protein composition, carbohydrate composition can refer to several concepts. The most common is the glycaemic index.
Consuming certain types of fats and staying away from others will make a difference in your overall health. Choose foods like avocado, nuts, and olive oil.
