As a personal trainer I'm pretty much on the go a lot of the time whether I am training clients, running bootcamps or training myself. Some days I can be training anywhere up to 3 hours which is why nutrition and what I put in my body to "fuel" it is so important.
I follow a 80-20 or sometimes even 90-10 clean eating diet. Which basically means that 80-90% of the time I will be eating clean and training which allows me the lenience of at least 10-20% to indulge a little.
Some of you may be wondering what exactly a "clean" diet is. Basically by clean I mean avoiding processed foods and instead eating foods as close to their natural state as possible. My diet includes plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrains such as oats, protein such as eggs, turkey, tuna, cottage cheese and of course good sources of fats found in foods such as salmon and avocado.
To be honest I'm what some would call a boring eater. I eat a lot of the same thing every day of the week but thats what I like and that's what works best for me being on the go. I can eat anywhere up to 7-8 small meals a day as this keeps my energy up and my metabolism is constantly working therefore burning calories. Because of this I don't really have "breakfast" or "lunch" because sometimes I can be eating oats at 4pm in the afternoon!
Everyone is different and has a different training schedule but regardless of when you are working out is important that your body has the right food in it to fuel it and give you the energy to get through your workout! I can always tell when my clients haven't eaten before a training session because their effort is not at the maximum it should be.
So what to eat? Your body needs protein and carbs before and after a workout. Carbs provide majority of the energy and protein helps build/repair the muscle. Before a workout I like to eat half a banana and half a tub of low fat low sugar yoghurt. Because I train so early I don't like to have too much but the banana contains the fast acting "simple" carbs to provide the energy burst I need and the yoghurt gives me a good protein source. If weight training (which I hope we all are after my last post) then it is important to consume a source of protein within no more than 30 minutes after your session. I find a protein shake especially an isolated whey is best as it quickly absorbs into your system. It is also important to replace the carbs you have just depleted and so for me I will then have the other half of my banana.
While pre/post workout are both important, what you eat for the rest of your day counts too! These will all eventually be used either as sources of energy or (what we don't want ) stored as unnecessary fat.
My recommendations? Eat small meals every 2-3 (no more than 4) hours. This provides constant energy and keeps your metabolism firing throughout the day helping burn more calories. Eat protein at EVERY meal. Protein is what makes you feel FULL and therefore you won't be feeling like you need to eat again before the next 3 hour hit. Eat fibrous carbs wholegrains such as brown rice, oats, sweet potato or corn thins throughout the day (but try to avoid at night) as these take longer to digest. Eat at least 2 pieces of fruit a day but try to keep them either in the morning or around training times so that you will burn the fast acting carbohydrates (sugars) they contain rather than store them. EAT CLEAN like I mentioned and try to eat food as close to its natural source without processing and additives etc. and of course very importantly DRINK PLENTY OF WATER!! I try to consume no less than 3-4 litres a day which sounds a lot but the rule is to drink 1L per 25kg of bodyweight and 1L per every hour of exercise.
I enjoy my little indulgences every weekend because they help me to stay focused. I know that once I have had whatever it may be that I'll be back and on track the next day training hard and eating clean again. It's important to not let the word indulge lead to OVERindulging because trust me it always ends in regret for all the hard work you have put in over the week! What's the point in busting your ass in the gym to go ruin it with a bad diet?
Long post this one I know, but eating to train is VERY important. We need to make sure that we are eating to train and not training to eat and also remember that no matter how hard you try you can't out train a bad diet!
Eat CLEAN, train MEAN and live lean :)
No comments:
Post a Comment