Nutrition

The first thing to say is that new clients will receive a custom diet plan tailored to their goals which can be adjusted to fit any dietary requirements. All the information below will be done for you

It's always good to know what and why you're doing something so even though you'll receive a diet plan, please take the time to go through the following information as you may find something that helps. There are also some sample diet plans at the bottom of the page

What should you eat?

When should you eat?

How much should you eat?

Unfortunately there is no quick answer to a lot this. Nutrition (or diet) often changes from one individual to the next. What I and everyone else eats is likely going to be different to what you eat. I will try and give you as much information as possible so you can use some trial and error to find what works for you

First of all let us dispel the myth of starving yourself. It is NOT good. Please do not do this, it can be counter productive for your body and could create long term health problems and eating disorders. Your metabolism will slow, your body will be without essential nutrients, your muscles will be unable to grow or repair and your energy levels will drop significantly. Once again, please do not starve yourself

It is my belief that everyone has a basic idea of what foods are healthy and what are not. Without needing to read this full section, you are probably aware that eating a packet of crisps, a chocolate bar and some fizzy pop for your lunch is an unhealthy choice. Replacing this with something like tuna, rice, fruit and water is a lot better in terms of nutrition. If you already knew this, great. You are on your way to knowing what healthy choices are

So let us start with the basics

There are 3 macronutrients that make up our foods:

Carbohydrate (sugars, starch, fiber)

These are the main source of energy for our body

Examples are bread, rice, potato's

Protein (complete - animal protein and dairy, incomplete - plant protein)

These help our bodies build and repair

Examples are meat, fish, nuts

Fats (unsaturated, saturated, trans)

To keep it simple, unsaturated is better than saturated and saturated is better than trans

Examples are oils, spreads, ultra processed fast food

The image below provides more detail on the different types of macronutrients. You can see that some proteins overlap with carbs and some fats overlap with proteins. The term "lean protein" would be a protein source that does not overlap into fats

Ideally you should consume each of these macronutrients in moderation to keep your body healthy. How much of each is the tricky part and will often vary from person to person

In respect of protein, it is suggested that a person who exercises regularly should be consuming 1.2-1.7g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight, per day. So multiply your weight in kilograms by 1.5 to give yourself an idea of what this is

So if your weight = 82kg that would be 82 x 1.5 = 123g of protein per day

This is only a guide, you may find you need more or less than this amount

Below is the UK government Eatwell Guide along with dietary recommendations for men and women. These recommendations change with age so check which category you fall into. On average they are 2000kcal per day for women and 2500kcal per day for men. This being the total of all food and drink consumed

Any of this making sense so far? No? Maybe this will help...

Your body needs a certain amount of calories each day to stay alive and maintain itself. This is your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and is always calculated at rest. So basically, if you were to stay still for the day, your BMR is the amount of calories you would burn

Let's say you have a BMR of 2000kcal

It's unlikely you will remain still for your whole life so in addition to your BMR we have energy expenditure or daily calorie burn. This is made up of any activity you do during the day - walking, carrying, standing, exercising. All movement requires energy so just because you are not circuit training in a gym does not mean you are not burning calories through movement

Let's say you have an average daily calories burn of 1000kcal

This gives us a total daily calorie burn of 3000kcal (BMR + Energy expenditure)

Weight loss/gain = Calories in Vs Calories out

Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight. Eat more than you burn and you will gain weight

Using our example, if we reduce our intake to below 3000kcal daily, we will start to see a reduction in weight. How much depends on how much

1 gram of carbohydrate = 4kcal

1 gram of protein = 4kcal

1 gram of fat = 9kca

As you can see, fats have more than double the kcal of carbohydrates and proteins. Great for energy, not so great for weight loss. So if 1 gram of fat = 9kcal, 1000g (or 1 kilo) of fat = 9000kcal. Therefore to lose 1 kilo of fat you must burn 9000kcal. Reducing our daily intake of calories by 500 per day, this would take 18 days. Combining this with exercise and healthy food choices, you may help reduce this time

To find out what your daily calorie intake is you must record the food and drink you consume. This is done by weighing each food type separately and recording that information. There are several smartphone apps available to help you do this. They will work out the calories and macros for the food/drink you consume, usually providing daily and weekly totals (search "calorie counting" on your app store to see some of those available). To give yourself a true figure on your daily calorie intake, I would advise you to record your eating habits over a 7 day period then divide the total calories consumed by 7. Doing this allows for any variations between weekdays, weekends, working days, days off. Once you have this number, you will be able to make better informed changes to your diet

At this point I think I should mention that quick fix weight loss programmes are not only dangerous but usually produce very short term results. It is unlikely you will be able to maintain a "crash diet" and will probably see the weight you lose return once you go back to your normal eating habits. These kind of diets put your body at risk and I would advise against them. Knowledge of healthy food choices combined with exercise will help give you long term, sustainable results

Remember, all of this is a guide and what works for one person might not work for you. I personally eat around 4000-4500kcal per day. To some people that could be too much, to others, too little. Diet can take time to get right but that time is well invested so please be patient and stay dedicated

Eating a chocolate bar and a packet of crisps will take around 45 minutes of intense exercise to burn off. They also provide very little in the way of nutrition for the body. Try to make healthy choices and prepare your own food where possible. Not only will it be to your taste, you'll know exactly what's in it

Sample Diet Plans

Here are some 1 week diet plans for 1600, 2400 and 3350kcal. I have provided the macronutrient detail for each aspect so you can easily swap meals and ingredients around to increase or decrease your calorie intake

Click on each button to view the full PDF

The 1600kcal plan was designed for James. James is a 40 year old inactive vegan male, weighing 110kg and hoping to lose weight

The 2400kcal plan was designed for Sophie. Sophie is a 25 year old active female, weighing 49kg and hoping to gain more muscle

The 3400kcal plan was designed for Danny. Danny is a 32 year old extremely active male, weighing 82kg and looking to maintain his body shape

For those who may be interested. here is what I eat on a typical day. This may seem strange but I've been eating like this for a while and it works for me, if anything, I need more. To me food is fuel. If it tastes nice, great! but I'm more interested in what it can do for my body

0530 - Snickers, pre workout drink

0600 - Gym (usually 2.5 hours, 1300kcal)

0830 - Protein shake with soya milk and 2tb peanut butter

0930 - 2 Thin bagels with cream cheese, 4 bacon medallions, lettuce and tomato

1200 - Cheese omelette (3 xl eggs) with tomato, spring onion and peppers

1500 - Sweet potato, white fish, mixed veg (medium portion)

1830 - Sweet potato, white fish, mixed veg (medium portion)

2100 - 2 Bagels (thin) with cream cheese and 4 bacon medallions, natural yoghurt with mixed fruit and honey

Total 4500-5000kcal (approximately)

I also drink around 4-5 litres of water per day

And finally, intermittent fasting may also be something to try. This means eating your usual calories but during a set window of time in the day. One of the most common windows is to eat between is 12pm and 8pm. This goes against the old saying of breakfast is the most important meal of the day but a lot of people have tried this type of fasting and it seems to work for them. You are allowed to drink whenever you like during intermittent fasting (inside or outside the fasting window) and I would advise doing this, however you should stick to water or low calorie drinks to avoid defeating the point

There is a lot more to nutrition but I hope this page has given you some basic knowledge on how to approach yours

If you are not purchasing PT sessions but still want a diet plan, you can do so at a cost of £25 per month