How can you have enough energy to get through your festive season? Here are some energy tips:

Sensible Eating

One of the most obvious ways to build up your energy is to eat properly, that’s why it is so important to have a good breakfast. Breakfast is named this for a reason – you are breaking the fast from when you had your dinner the night before. Then focus on making your other meals throughout the day balanced and small. Supersized meals use more energy to digest.
 
Our body uses carbohydrates for energy and proteins to help sustain energy when needed, while fats make us feel satisfied.[1] Glucose produced from carbohydrates gives you a quick boost of energy, any extra glucose not used gets stored in the liver for later use. Fats are used for energy once they are broken down into fatty acids to make cell linings and hormones and extra is stored in fat cells.[1]  Protein can also be used for energy after they have been converted into the necessary hormones, muscles and other proteins that our body requires.[1]

Aim to include carbohydrates, proteins and fats in each of your meals to equip your body with the energy building blocks it needs to keep you going.[1] 

Build Your Energy

There are a range of things that you can do to boost your energy – experts agree that physical exercise like walking increases energy, even though you may think that it would drain energy![2] So get those gorgeous legs moving and take a walk around the block.

In between decorating the tree, prepping your family feast and all the other things you need to get done this festive season, make sure you plan some time into your holidays to put your feet up, as relaxation activities reduce stress. [8]

 Another way to increase energy levels is to take an energy supplement such as Vita-thion Effervescent Tablets to support the cycles in the production of energy.[3]
 
The new convenient Vita-thion® Fizzy tablets with ATP and vitamins B1 and C to keep you going throughout your day.  ATP[5] (adenosine triphosphate) is the molecule which stores energy temporarily and then releases it into the body when needed[4] and Ginseng[6]  a well-known active ingredient that helps to reduce fatigue and increase capacity for work and concentration.[3,5,6]
 
Vitamin B1 is needed for the release of energy from glucose and helps your body to turn fats, protein and carbohydrates into energy. [3]

Energy Drains

 We all feel energy drained from time to time,  and there may be medical reasons for this (with prolonged symptoms you may want to consider a medical check-up to rule anything out), but there are also many non-medical energy-drains that you should be aware of this festive season.
 

• Interestingly, dehydration drains your energy and impairs physical performance as well as decreases your alertness and concentration.[8,2] So make sure you drink enough water during your festive days! This is especially important after exercise as your body craves fluids and need an energy boost.
• With the festive season being renown for sweet treats, puddings and other sugary drinks and snacks, remember that sugar provides energy, but is a quick-fix and leads to a slump afterwards. If you do need an energy boost, make sure that that you have a healthy snack that releases energy slowly.[8]  Food provides us with the energy that we need to function so missing meals and leaving long gaps between eating can also make you feel drained of energy.[8,9]
• Our beloved caffeine and a lack of sleep will definitely leave you feeling drained.[8] Caffeine late in the day will make you feel wired, but then leave you tired, as it disrupts the natural sleep pattern, keeping you from getting a good night’s sleep.[8]

Our bodies automatically use a relevant energy-making system depending on the time and power needed for the activity that we are doing. Follow these easy steps and make sure that your energy reserves are well looked after so that you can put your best foot forward this festive season!

References:

1. WebMD. Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats, and Blood Sugar. [Online] May 2015 [Cited June 2016]; Available from URL: http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/nutrients-and-normal-blood-sugar-control
2. WebMD. Jaret P. 9 Ways to Get Your Energy Back. [Online] September 2015 [Cited June 2016] Available from URL: http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/get-energy-back?print=true
3. Vita-thion Effervescent Tablets package insert
4. Vita-thion Fizzy tablets package insert
5. Rathmacher J, et al. Adenosine-5′-triphosphate (ATP) supplementation improves low peak muscle torque and torque fatigue during repeated high intensity exercise sets Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2012
6. Milta O et al. Chapter 57: Considering Complementary and Alternative Medicines for Older Adults
7. Vita-thion Granule sachets. Approved package insert. October 1999
8. WebMD. What’s zapping your energy? [Online] September 2015 [Cited June 2016]; Available from URL: http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/whats-zapping-your-energy#1
   Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, et al. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 4th edition. New York: Garland Science

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Weight loss is a journey and reaching your destination can be quite frustrating. There are ups and downs, some failures and then there are days you would just not feel like working out at all.

Exercise and diet go hand in hand in order for this journey to be a successful one. You might have joined a gym or are running regularly, but why don’t the numbers on the scale budge? Another common problem is that you might’ve shed pounds really quickly in the beginning but are stuck now.

Yes, we know getting your body in shape and losing the pounds can be very frustrating; but you have got to remember it is about losing the pounds and not your mind. In order to lose weight and make sure it stays off, you must make some changes in your lifestyle. Take a look at what you eat all day long. How often do you intake liquid calories? Which seem harmless but can be a major culprit when it comes to packing on pounds. How active are you throughout the week?

We know it is not easy counting calories all the time, however choosing the calories wisely will do the trick.

Obviously, you have to reduce your caloric intake when trying to lose weight. However, there are some basic foods which nutritionists have classified as super foods or foods that burn fat fast. These gifts of nature can burn more calories than other food groups. Read on to find out which foods these are.

1. Whole Grains

When trying to lose weight replace any sort of white grains with whole grains. Simple rule is, replace white, which is starch with brown which is fiber.

Did you know your body burns twice as many calories to digest whole food than the regular processed ones? Whole grain options include bran bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta and oats. If you start your day with a bowl of oatmeal you tend to stay fuller for longer, as it takes a bit more work to digest. They are an excellent way to control cholesterol as well as blood sugar levels. Whole grain foods also regulate your metabolism and reduce bloating. Both these things are responsible for accumulation of fat cells in our bodies. If you are not too fond of oatmeal there is a variety of whole wheat cereals to choose from as well.

2. Apples & Berries

What our mothers told as children that “an apple a day, keeps the doctor away” can now be replaced with “an apple a day, keeps those pounds away”. The same goes for berries such as blueberry, black berry and strawberries.

These fruits are natural antioxidants and loaded with pectin. Pectin fastens to the water in our bodies; thus, limiting the fat absorption from the food we consume. The antioxidants regulate our body’s liver function. The liver is the pivotal organ in our digestive system.

When it works properly oxidants are flushed out, there is no water retention and thus no bloating. You can either include them in your breakfast or mealtime or have them as a healthy snack whenever you are hungry.

3. Leafy vegetables

The leafy green vegetables are our best source of iron, folic acid, Vitamin A, C and K and minerals such as magnesium and potassium. They are rich in dietary fiber, making them harder to digest and thus consume a greater amount of calories to break down.

The greens also help in maintaining healthy cholesterol and blood-sugar levels. They help in keeping our immunity up, and vitamin K makes our bones strong. There are immense benefits of these; including them in your meals will do you a lot of good in the long term.

When trying to lose weight you must fill up on these power houses of nature. You can make salads using lettuce, spinach, romaine lettuce. Other options include cabbage, kale, broccoli and mustard greens. An apple and spinach smoothie is another alternate way to add greens to your diet. If you haven’t tried it yet, you can also add chopped spinach to your omelets.

We have mentioned just a few foods here. A rule to live by is to stay as far as you can from anything which is unnatural and processed.

Changing your eating habits is one of the most difficult things to do, but when you start seeing the benefits you will be hooked on to this for sure.

About the Author:

• Catherynne Johns

Catherynne is the senior writer for OLWOMEN.com, an avid reader, fashion and make up enthusiast who simply lives to write and talk about all kinds of stuff. Focusing on foods that burn fat fast these days!

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We would like to introduce our brand new E book that we have carefully and meticulously put together in order to help introduce as many people as possible to healthy eating and to help you with losing weight.

The main concept of the book is keeping it as simple as possible so someone new to nutrition and health can understand the basics and get started on the right path.

If you have been wanting to start and seeking out what exactly to do then this is the right book for you. We all struggle in the beginning of anything unknown to us to find our bearings, but once we become informed and understand what we need to do everything becomes so much easier and focused.

That is what we intend to do throughout this book, to get you started, informed and on the right path.

• Where on earth do I start?
• What foods are the best?
• What are calories?
• What should I eat to lose weight?
• Ahhhhhhh What do I do??

Did you ever find yourself asking such questions?

If you did then that’s great because you already have that drive to learn and find out more on how to eat better and healthier. So treat this booklet as a guide to help you to get established and to help you understand all the different aspects that make up nutrition.

The aim of this book is to answer all these initial questions and address how to get started with eating right for absolute beginners, for someone who is feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to even begin or look for advice.

It’s primarily for people who want to lose weight but even the person who wants to gain lean muscle and who isn’t too clued up on proper nutrition can definitely learn a thing or two.

A few excerpts from the book:

[See image gallery at fitnish.com]

Download this Incredible E Book, from Amazon HERE!

We would like to wish you well on your healthy journey and most importantly Do NOT EVER give up!

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Average Nutritional Facts per batch of waffles:

Protein: 24 grams
Carbohydrates: 50 – 60 grams
Fat: 15 grams

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Could there really be something as eating too clean a diet? Well, yes and no, to a degree. If you have ever prepared for a fitness or bodybuilding show, or decided to get into really good shape, aesthetically speaking, you will know what we are talking about when we say your diet has to be very strict, clean and on point for the 3 or 4 months (on average) preceding your deadline.

‘Cheat’ meals are scarce and it is a true test of self-control, discipline and patience to make it through those months with the restricted calories and extra cardio to really shed off those pounds of fat.

So it can be established that during such phases, it is of utmost importance that your diet is clean and suited for you. ‘Clean’ meaning that it is equipped with good quality long lasting carbohydrate sources for example, such as basmati rice, sweet potatoes or quinoa.  It has to be monitored closely over time as you should make small tweaks as you go on depending how and if you are losing fat or not.

But then once the deadline is reached and the competition comes to an end; what then? Is it essential to keep your diet just as clean but to allow yourself some extra calories? Or can you now enjoy yourself and eat whatever finds its way in front of you?

The answer is not so straight forward. It really depends on your goals and how you want to achieve them. Some people believe they can go all out and eat whatever they want, blow up in weight and then diet down a few months before their next competition. That is not an ideal or healthy way to live or do things though.

The better method is to carry on with your diet, but now slowly add in a few extra calories week by week for example. This will ensure that you do not blow up immediately post contest and find yourself floating around full of water.

Something which you will learn by experience is that every time you ‘diet’ down to lose fat or to prepare for a competition, it will most likely be slightly different each time. For example, as you progress you may find that you actually need more food and find yourself eating a lot more calories than previously.

It is quite a test of discipline to really control yourself after a contest to not go all out and eat for days, but you have to mentally accept that you do not need to do that.

So then where do the ‘nice’ and tasty foods come in? Well, after a few weeks of slowly adding calories back in, you will reach a good point where you will start to maintain your weight and you will remain fairly lean. This is now the ideal point, to keep your body fat low and slowly continue to add on small amounts of muscle, gradually.

Here’s a little secret, the leaner you are and the more muscle you have, the more you can get away with eating the tasty stuff, now and then.

As long as you stick to your training which is consistent and intense, and you keep consistent with a relatively good diet every day, you can afford to, and you should eat different things every now and again, even eating out if you enjoy that.

You will not suddenly get fat if you decide to have a burger once in a while or have some cake and ice cream for dessert on occasion. There are definitely ways to enjoy your food while still being healthy.

Although, you should still exercise good choices when it comes to your meals, such as skipping the fast food and rather going for a burger and chips where the burger is flame grilled, for example. Rather still stick to foods which are not so processed.

It also becomes more about being healthy in addition to looking good, and avoiding processed foods will help keep your body and mind healthy as your body processes these foods more efficiently.

Just remember this is mainly aimed at people who have already lost fat and who maintain a relatively low body fat percentage. If you are in the process of losing fat and you have a high body fat percentage then you need to really be a lot stricter with what you eat. Once you have built a solid base and foundation and you are in relatively good shape, you can start to enjoy your food a bit more.

Variation and change is also a great tool when it comes to your body.

Some people hate life when they have to stick to eating the same things day in and day out, but some people actually thrive off it to. If you are one of those who hate it, then this approach will keep your mind fresh as much as it will your body.

The saying, “It must become a lifestyle” as cliché as it is, rings very true. If it becomes a way of life for you, to maintain your physique AND maintain your health, your whole frame of mind will change and your thinking will shift and those cravings for certain things will disappear because you know how bad they are for your body.

There is another interesting aspect to consider, which comes from 4 time Mr Olympia Winner Jay Cutler.

I won’t quote him here, but he basically said something along these lines:

When in the ‘off season’ and trying to keep lean while gaining lean muscle you shouldn’t be scared to change your diet up slightly and add in some extra calories and add in the less dense sort of foods. For example instead of sticking to whole-wheat pasta or brown rice year round, rather enjoy normal pasta, or white basmati rice when you are NOT in preparation mode for a competition. Then when it comes time to diet down and get stage ready, initially all you have to do is swap out the white rice for brown rice and cut out any restaurant meals, for instance, without even altering your calories, and you will already start to see a difference and lose fat.

If you are so strict with your diet and never allow yourself to experience some of the tasty foods out there, or even experience the atmosphere of being out with friends and enjoying yourself, you are going to miss out on a lot and it’s something which you really don’t have to do. This extremist view of the fitness life style is really not the way to go.

You don’t have to believe the hype that being healthy and fit and looking good is only achieved by eating steamed vegetables and bland boiled chicken with no spices.

It’s a very bad perception which needs to change, because you can still enjoy tasty and good food while remaining healthy and in shape.

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If you love drinking coffee, then there is some good news, it can actually help you lose fat.

But drinking coffee alone is not enough to make the unwanted fat go away, you will need to develop a method on how and when to drink coffee in addition to developing good eating habits as well as performing some form of exercise.

Caffeine, which is contained within coffee, like many other stimulants, is not good to be taken in large quantities, however, even in small doses it can raise your metabolism and in turn enhance fat burning. It can also give you a slight boost of energy, which is great for a workout session.

Depending on how sensitive you are to stimulants and to caffeine, will depend how you feel after drinking coffee. Everyone reacts differently, for example some people derive no effect from having caffeine that it in fact causes them to be more tired, while others can have one glass and be full of energy.

Coffee symbiosis

Coffee by itself is not enough to make the fat go away; simply put it will help your body break down fats into fatty acids and glycerin, you will need to combine it with a heavy workout session which will aid in burning the fat away. What you can also do is combine your coffee with chlorogenic acid, an extract from coffee, which can promote faster fat breakdown in your body.

Using caffeine based diet pills, powders and other caffeine supplements is also another way to increase workout effectiveness and to enhance fat burning. According to a study done by Zoller laboratories, caffeine can increase the metabolic rate by up to 5%.

Remember that these are just supplements to aid your fat loss efforts, your primary focus should still be on ensuring a healthy diet suited for your goals as well as an intense training regime.

Something to remember when using stimulants, is, your body does adapt to them over time and if used for too long, you can find that you need a much higher dosage to experience the same effects. You can also find yourself becoming dependent on them, such that you cannot train without your caffeine and energy fix. This is mostly a mental aspect which can be beaten through your motivation level and your mindset.

To combat this ensure that you do not use such supplements for excessive periods of time, take them for up to a month then stop for one or two months and should you want start again, you can. This will help to keep your body guessing and should ensure that you do not become dependent on them.

Caffeine as a diuretic

Caffeine also acts as a diuretic which helps clean your body of toxins, and it flushes out waste products and excess fluids. Just be careful not to take too much caffeine, because it can create a imbalance. Optimum nutrition is important, and staying below 5 cups of coffee a day is still somewhat healthy.

But, if you feel that your body is reacting weirdly, or if you feel tired or sleepy, give coffee drinking a break. As soon as you feel the effects are not as they used to be then it is time for a change as the body can adapt to almost any constant factor.

Caffeine intake

It is best to stay safe when using caffeine supplements. Studies and research suggests that caffeine intake should not be more than 300 mg for adults, as more than that could cause hallucinations or lead to illnesses. However, teens should not introduce more than 100 mg of caffeine into their bodies as it can cause serious damage to their still developing bodies.

A good idea is to take caffeine right before exercising to provide you with a boost of energy and alertness and to ensure proper weight loss.

Drinking caffeine when you exercise is a great way to improve your weight loss regime as it will boost your metabolism and it will aid in burning fat more efficiently. Furthermore, it is important that when using caffeine as a supplement a healthy diet and exercise programme is still maintained.

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Many people have a relatively good idea of which foods are healthy and which are not, or at least what foods are healthier than others.  But what most people are not aware of is the particulars of timing what you eat.  What I am talking about is, eating certain things at certain times.

By manipulating exactly WHAT you eat at certain times, you are able to an extent, enhance certain processes, such as muscle building, or blunt other processes like fat storage.

Now there are many opinions on the actual effectiveness of ‘meal timing,’ but I really believe that it can make a significant difference.  But, the other very important factor that you HAVE to control when wanting to lose or gain weight is the total number of calories that you take in.

Now first and foremost, you need to try and consume some protein at each meal.  By combining protein with other foods, you slow down the digestion of the meal, thus ensuring your blood sugar levels remain more or less constant, and do not jump too high and then crash.  You can also achieve this by adding foods high in fiber to your meals, such as vegetable like broccoli, green beans, spinach etc.

One of the most important points to remember is to not consume carbohydrates alone and after not eating for a long period of time, especially the fast acting carbohydrates which have little nutrients and fiber, such as sugar, sweets, fruit juices, soft drinks etc.  When you do consume these types of carbohydrates your blood sugar levels rise quite rapidly and then can come crashing down leaving you tired and lethargic.  Another effect which can take place when eating these foods alone is fat storage.  If the body’s carbohydrate stores are full it can end up storing those calories as fat, especially since these sugary foods cause the body to digest them very quickly forcing the body to actually do something with the calories quite rapidly.

This will still depend on a few other factors like your metabolism and how much carbohydrates you have had within the past few days.

For example, if we take a bodybuilder who has been restricting his carbohydrate intake for the past few days, he could be quite depleted, so when he starts to increase his carbohydrate intake, and only eat carbs, instead of gaining fat his muscles will actually use those carbohydrates to fill up, since your body stores carbohydrates within your muscles as muscle glycogen.  That’s why so many bodybuilders a few days before a show restrict their carbohydrate intake and then start to eat A LOT of carbohydrates on the day before or on the day of the show.  This really helps to give their muscles a full rounded and pumped look.  So we can see here that by manipulating what you eat really can make a difference.

Now the three times of the day when you really want to maximize the effects of the food which you eat are:

• Breakfast.
• Before your weight workout.
• After your weight workout.

Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day and far too many people eat the wrong things here or just skip it altogether.  By eating a good balanced breakfast you provide your body with the nutrients it needs, to provide you with energy for the rest of the day and since you have not eaten anything in eight or so hours by eating breakfast you can put your body into an anabolic state and get the muscle repair process started.

Anabolic state: A state of muscle building.
Catabolic state: A state of muscle breakdown.

An ideal breakfast would consist of a small piece of fruit, a large glass of chilled water, a few eggs and some form of carbohydrates, e.g. oats.  What I have just suggested contains all the different macronutrients, protein, fat and carbohydrates.  Now the portion sizes will depend on each person and on how active each of us is, but be sure to include a bit of everything.  Personally I have found that when I remove the carbohydrates (oats) from my breakfast (particularly when restricting my calories to lose fat) I have very little energy throughout the day and I feel very flat and lethargic.

But again it must work for you.

Nutrition before your workout can be manipulated in many ways.  Its probably not as important as breakfast and your post workout meal, but it can definitely help.  For instance if you workout long and hard you will need some carbohydrates to fuel your training, and as always you will need some protein to go with it.  But there are many people who just cannot eat a meal and then go train due to tension in their stomach even after two hours after eating.  So be sure to have a small meal at least one and a half to two hours before you train consisting of protein and carbohydrates. Some chicken and rice could do just fine.

.

If you have read many fitness magazines out there I’m sure you will have read that after training you need simple carbohydrates like sugar or glucose to spike your insulin in order to refill your muscles and get as much nutrients in them as possible in that 30 minute ‘magic’ window after you train.  Now I do not dispute these claims, but you really don’t need to worry too much about the exact type of carbohydrates to use.

These days there are certain supplements out there which are made specifically to use straight after gym for these exact reasons, but one look at the ingredients and you will find you are just paying for sugar in fancy packaging.

So, yes, your muscles will be fatigued and naturally will need some nutrients to repair them.  The sooner you can get to them the better.  What to eat?  What I would suggest is initially a protein shake with some milk and a banana followed by a whole meal after about an hour or two consisting of vegetables, protein and carbohydrates, such as sweet potato, green beans and chicken.  The reason for all of this is that the protein shake in liquid form digests much quicker than actual food so it can get to work immediately to repair your muscles.  Then once the process is started and you have something in your system you can move onto a decent meal.  You could always just skip the shake and consume the meal straight away as well.

Lastly eating at night, or before bed.  There are a lot of different opinions on eating at night and just before your sleep saying it will cause excessive weight gain since you are not doing anything physical so therefore you will end up storing what you eat as body fat, especially if you eat carbohydrates at night.  I do disagree with most of this.  If you are working out almost every day relatively intensely, you are going to be hungry at night.  So then what do you do?  What do you eat?  Well, go for a high protein snack.

It would be a wise idea to stay away from carbohydrates before bed since when you sleep you naturally release growth hormone, which helps repair your muscles and various tissues within your body as well as help you recover from your day to day activities.  Now when you eat carbohydrates (especially simple carbohydrates like sugar, and sweets) your body releases insulin which to an extent blunts the release of growth hormone.

This is a process which you really do not want to intentionally stop as you should try to maximize it while you can since as you age you naturally produce less and less growth hormone.  So at night try to stick to meals containing protein and maybe some good fats.  The good fats can be found in nuts, olives, avocados etc.

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The word calorie is so widely used in today’s media, especially when it comes to losing weight and cutting down on food.  “You should eat low calorie foods,” “Reduce your calories,”  “I burnt X amount of calories just riding the bike.”  These are some of the statements you can hear all over the place, from commercials to everyday people.  Now I am not criticizing any of these claims, on the contrary, the point I want to make is that many people do not actually know what a calorie is.  Or what makes up a calorie.

Here we will breakdown what exactly a calorie is, what makes up a calorie in terms of protein, fat and carbohydrates and how you can use it in your diet.

What is a calorie?

A calorie is basically a unit of energy or more specifically food energy.   All foods contain calories, that’s what gives them substance to fill us up.

Our bodies need a certain amount of calories to provide us with energy and maintain our everyday duties and weight.  Whatever we do uses a certain amount of calories, even a restful thing like sleeping.

Each person would have a different baseline of calories to maintain their weight.  This baseline depends on many aspects, such as the person’s weight, body fat (and muscle mass), the person’s daily activity levels etc.  One of the best ways to find out YOUR baseline is to maintain a constant intake of calories daily and monitor your body and weight.  If you are gradually gaining weight weekly, then you are eating more than your baseline and vice versa.

So simplistically, if we want to gain weight we would need to eat a bit more calories than this baseline and if we want to lose weight, we would need to eat slightly less calories than this baseline.  This is a bit oversimplified but does portray the point here.

What makes up a calorie?

Since all foods are essentially calories, there must be something inside the foods that make up these calories right?  Right.  Protein, carbohydrates and fat make up calories.  But how much?  Here is a breakdown of how many calories are in 1 gram of each component.

• 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
• 1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories
• 1 gram of fat = 9 calories
• 1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories

Now we can see that fats are quite calorie dense, containing 5 calories more than both protein and carbs.  This is why a lot of people say; to lose weight you should cut out a lot of your fat intake as this drops calories significantly, but we want balance in our diets, so yes cut down SLIGHTLY on it but do not just eliminate it completely. The body needs each types of food, so avoid eliminating a whole food group.  This is also why different foods can contain the same amount of calories as each other even though nutritionally (in terms of protein, fat and carbohydrates) they are completely different as we can see in the following picture.

A suggestion would be to not worry too much with the numbers and calculations of calories in your diet as it can complicate things quite a bit.  Rather focus on portion sizes at each of your meals, and reducing or increasing the portion sizes depending on what you plan to achieve.

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In part one of this we looked at weight training, and why it’s so beneficial for women to do it, so if you missed it, check out  Women and Weight Training-  Part 1 for some great information and tips.

Yes weight training can do so much for you in such a positive light, but without the proper nutrition and eating habits you may never progress and see that big difference that you have been longing to see. Here we deal with a few simple nutrition strategies to help get you started, and guide you in achieving your goal of losing fat and building and toning your muscles.  Remember, to change and improve your body you must be consistent with your exercising and your eating.  You must make sure to do some sort of exercise and be active.

Aspects such as, how many meals to eat, what exactly to eat, how many calories to eat and the reasons behind it all, will be dealt with.  You should try to keep things as simple as possible, especially with regards to nutrition, as if it’s too complicated it can really put you off.

“Fact: Nutrition is always the limiting factor in body transformation. If a client doesn’t change their nutrition, all the effort in the gym is largely wasted.” ~ Dr. John Berardi

So where to start?

Firstly you need to have the right mind set and attitude.  You need to decide what it is you want to achieve and visualise your goal, and your ideal body and stick with it.  You need to realise that you’re going to need to be disciplined and prepared, and at times it will require sacrifices.

How many meals should you be eating?

The general ideal way to lose fat, or gain muscle is to eat small but frequent meals. This is not the only way though.  So anywhere between four and six meals/snacks a day.  A meal every three to four hours.  This has been covered in a previous article,  Healthy eating – How many meals a day?

What should you be eating?

The thought of having to eat four or more meals a day can be quite daunting and can lead to the question, ‘what on earth do I eat for every one of those meals?’  Well the good news is that there are quite a lot of different foods you can choose from and another plus is, with regular exercise your appetite should increase.

Variety is key so that you don’t get bored and end up eating the same thing every day.  Although, some people find it easier and simpler to stick to the same foods day in and day out.  Whatever works for YOU.

The different macro nutrients and foods that will make up your diet:

• Always think PROTEIN.  This should be your main focus, and each of your meals must contain some form of protein.  The reason for this is so that you can constantly supply your body with amino acids necessary for muscle repair and growth, as well as many other bodily functions ( such as hair growth, skin rejuvenation etc).  Some protein food sources include: Chicken, eggs, red meat, fish, Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, milk, lentils, quinoa, tofu, nuts.

Your protein content should stay relatively consistent, where as your carbohydrates and fat can be manipulated more, depending on if you’re trying  losing fat or to gain weight.

• Next up, vegetables.  Try to include a bowl of vegetables with at least three of your meals in a day.  Some good vegetables can include: broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, tomatoes, spinach, peppers, peas, onions etc.  Vegetables are packed with fibre, vitamins and minerals, all essential for our well being.  Fiber is so good for helping our digestive system, cleaning inside our stomach, and aiding in making us feel full.
• Fruit.  If you read a few magazine articles here and there you can find many people saying you should rather avoid fruit or minimize it as most fruits contain a lot of sugar and fructose.  It’s a good idea to include some fruit in your diet, especially with your breakfast or make sure to eat a piece of fruit just before one of your meals, as they offer many vitamins and minerals naturally.  For instance for your second meal of the day you can have an apple/pear/orange/grapefruit first then continue to have a chicken salad for example.  Fruit also contains fiber which will help keep us full.
• Carbohydrates.  With exercise and especially weigh training, you may find yourself needing a lot of energy.  Good carbohydrates can provide you with the fuel you will need to get through your daily training.  Try to include some carbohydrates at breakfast and before and after you train to provide you with enough energy and recovery.  Some good carbohydrate sources include:  Oats, rice, potatoes and sweet potatoes, quinoa, lentils, cous cous etc. Include a portion of carbohydrates with two or three of the meals, but again, personal preference can come into play here. There are a lot of people who don’t eat much before they train as they feel too full and it causes them to feel like throwing up.  So if you are one of those people, by all means manipulate it to suit your needs.
• Fats.  It’s a long time myth that eating fats cause you to get fat.  This is really not the case.  Fats play an important role within our bodies, regulating our hormones and inducing the production of some hormones.  So to completely eliminate them from your diet would not be a wise decision.  Some good fats include: olive oil, nuts, peanut butter, avocados etc.  It would be a good idea to include some of these fats at breakfast and in your last meals of the day when carbohydrates are low.

So far we have established that you will:

• Be eating four to six meals in a day,
• With each meal containing some form of protein,
• With a portion of vegetables included in at least three of the meals.
• Eat a portion of fruit at breakfast and/or before one other meal.
• Include a portion of carbohydrates in your two meals before and after training and at breakfast.
• Include some good fats with your last two meals of the day.

How many calories and grams should you eat?

In the spirit of keeping things simple we will keep away from saying you should be eating x amount of grams of this food and that food.  There are some articles which state, to calculate how many calories you should be eating, multiply your bodyweight by 14 or 15.  This method is slightly vague and we should rather go according to portions as that former way can get quite complicated, especially for someone who doesn’t know much about calories.

One very important note which you need to be aware of, is that different people have different needs.  Basically the amount of calories and nutrients YOUR body may need to lose fat could be totally different to someone else.

The exact amounts of calories required by you depend on many things, such as your weight, your body fat, the amount of activity you do in a day, the amount of rest you get and need etc. So while each of us needs to find out how much is sufficient for us, there are still basic principles which can be used to get started.

For vegetables you don’t have to worry too much as more is better than less in this case.  So for these you can just chop some vegetables up into a medium sized bowl for each meal.  For your protein, use your fist as a comparison.  So for foods like chicken and fish and mince, one portion should be just bigger than your fist.  For carbohydrates you can use ¾ of a cup to 1 cup as a one portion.  Lastly for fats it’s a bit different.  Use one teaspoon as one portion.  For instance a teaspoon of olive oil, peanut butter or avocado.

So once you put all these portions together with each of your meals, you will start to see how your body responds and from there you can manipulate and change it as you need, decreasing or increasing what you need.

These portion sizes are relatively small, but should be adequate for the average woman.  Depending on your weight and body fat you can adjust them to suit your needs.  This is all just a guideline to help you get started and to see how you need to eat to maximise your results, be fit and healthy and achieve a great body

Here is another great article about the benefits of weight training for women and why females should want to gain muscle.  If you are still not convinced check these reasons out! 10 reasons why females should be obsessed with gaining muscle

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Ever wonder why you have cravings for those dough nuts, bread or for all those sweet goodies?  It could very well be because you are eating far too much of those sugary foods in the first place.

Refined carbohydrates seem to have quite a bad impact on our bodies yet we ingest them so freely and easily.

What are refined carbohydrates?  They are essentially forms of processed and man made carbohydrates.  Anything processed with so many different ingredients (check out the previous article called the secret ingredient).  Sugars also form part of refined carbohydrates. Fat doesn’t make you fat. But the sugar that turns into fat will.

So here are a few examples:

• Bread
• Cereals
• Pastries
• Baked goods made with dough
• Pizza (check out our Healthy Homemade Pizza alternative)
• Noodles
• Biscuits

So basically when you ingest these types of carbohydrates alone, your body releases insulin to transport all the carbohydrates and use them for energy.

These forms of carbohydrates compel the body to release much more insulin much quicker than normal because they are digested more rapidly than other foods.  Now if your body does not need them for energy (say if you are sitting in front of the TV eating a box of biscuits) or for any other bodily functions they will end up being stored as fat.

This is quite a basic explanation but hopefully it gets the point across.  Another bad side of these ‘sweet’ foods is that the more you eat of them, the more you will crave them.

So by cutting them out completely you have a greater control over what your body craves, and more control over your hormonal (insulin) responses.  Now I know it’s tough to just stop eating all these things which we see pretty much everywhere and are so convenient for us, and I mean we are all human and do enjoy a nice sweet treat now and then.  But that’s what it should be, NOW and THEN.

Try to slowly cut back on the bad stuff bit by bit, and only have some occasionally.  Another good way to avoid eating all the wrong things is to just not buy them and keep them around your house.  By not having them in your home it makes it that much easier to stay away from them.  One other negative side of these foods is that once you eat them you become hungry very quickly after eating them.  That’s why it can be very easy to go ahead and eat a whole box of sweets and still feel hungry.

So what should you be eating instead?  Pretty much anything which is not really man made in a sense that it has not been tampered with and a lot of other ingredients and substances added to it.

A few examples include:

• Potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Rice
• Berries
• Fruit
• Lentils
• Milk
• Oats
• Vegetables

The above examples of carbohydrates get absorbed and digested a lot slower than the previous list we had a look at it.  Granted in fruit there is still some sugar in the form of fructose, but all of the above digest slower due to having fibre and/or protein in them.  So when they are consumed your body releases a less amount of insulin and at a slower rate, thus allowing them to take longer to be digested and therefore supplying you with a more constant supply of energy as opposed to a quick spark of energy followed by a dip in energy levels.

Plus they have a lot more natural vitamins and nutrients which will be readily absorbed by your body and can aid you with preventing and treating so many diseases out there.  Your cravings will also be greatly reduced if you stick to a diet with more of these carb sources than the previous ones and you will remain fuller for longer.

Now there are other factors which come into play with regards to how fast or slow carbohydrates are digested, and when you want to take advantage of the slow or quick absorbing types.  Such as:

What other foods you eat them with

If you add protein or fat to a meal of carbohydrates the rate at which the meal is digested is slowed due to the protein and/or fat content, as these types of food take a little bit longer to digest.  So if you must eat quick absorbing carbohydrates, be sure to add some protein and/or good fats to the meal.  But try to at ALL times and at ALL MEALS to include some form or protein.

When you eat them

Timing can be very important when it comes to eating certain foods.  For instance some people can get away with eating these quicker absorbing carbs before and after they workout.  The reason behind this is that taking them in before a workout can provide you with energy needed to get through your training, especially if you plan to train for long.  I personally prefer a more solid source such as sweet potatoes or rice before training as it will keep you fuller for longer as well as provide you with more energy during your workout.  The reason for ingesting them after a workout is to replenish your body’s reserves which have been depleted and to shuttle nutrients quickly to your muscles (e.g. after an intense weight training session).

So the main thing here to remember is to always add protein to every meal and you can also add all sorts of vegetables to them to increase the fibre and nutrient content to slow digestion.  And try to make better carbohydrate choices and avoid most of those packaged goods in the aisle up to the tills in grocery stores!

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