If you didn't catch my last post, I was giving a quick overview of the state of the fitness industry today in terms of miracle supplements and fad diets. To sum up - there's a lot. From diets and magical workouts, to special powders that instantly make you lose multiple stone in body weight - they're all out there. The worrying thing is, you don't even have to look very far.
This piece is going to cover one of the real secrets to successful weight loss, and you're going to kick yourself for not having thought of it before; this part concerns nutrition.
You've probably heard countless people reciting the phrase 'abs are built in the kitchen'. This isn't strictly true, you don't 'build' abs, everyone is born with them, they just might be covered at the moment. However the sentiment of that statement definitely holds true. Nutrition is the cornerstone to weight loss. You can work as hard as you like in the gym, but if you're shovelling a ridiculous amount of calories into your body then all of those hours working out aren't going to add up to much.
At the highest and most basic level, here's what nutrition really boils down to:
Calories out > Calories in = Calorie deficit = Weight loss
Calories in > Calories out = Calorie surplus = Weight gain
Yes, it really is that simple. To lose weight you need to be burning more calories than you're consuming, and to gain weight you need to be consuming more than you're burning. Too simple to be true, right?
Wrong.
You technically don't need to spend hours punishing yourself in the gym to lose weight (but I'll cover how it can help in my next post), you simply need to eat less. That being said, there are always certain guidelines and rules to be wary of whilst putting yourself in a calorie deficit. The main ones are as follows:
- Don't starve yourself, It's not healthy, doesn't do your body any good, and nobody likes to be hangry 24/7.
- Don't demonise certain foods - A calorie is a calorie, a carb is a carb, fat is fat, protein is protein. Your body largely can't tell the difference between carbohydrates consumed from starchy vegetables and carbohydrates consumed from rice, pasta, or even the devil's food - bread. Damn you Satan, you sandwich loving maniac.
There are many others, but those two are a good starting point. I keep seeing a meme doing the rounds on social media and even as a flexible dieter, its something that I agree with. I'll admit that there are some parts that I'd question, but the message is clear -
To sum up, the real secret to nutrition is to K.I.S.S - Keep It Simple, Stupid! I'm not saying that you should go all 'bro' and start eating 6 meals a day comprising of chicken, broccoli and rice - that just isn't sustainable, and it's boring as hell. I'm saying that you should take an 80/20 approach to your diet. Make sure that 80% consists of good quality foods, one that you really get your calories' worth as it were. For example: chicken, cous cous, vegetables, rice, pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tuna, lean beef, turkey and greek yoghurt are all huge staples of my diet. Most days I'll eat at least 5 of those foods and it gives me that little bit of leeway and those macros left over to be able to enjoy something a little sweeter like some chocolate, or my personal favourite - COCO POPS!! Again, I'm not telling you that if you eat chicken and broccoli all day that you can just afford to binge on junk food. Be smart about your nutrition, take the 80/20 split and then allow yourself your favourite foods IN MODERATION. Maybe one bowl of coco pops, and not 5 (Something I save for refeed days), four pieces of chocolate, and not a whole bar. Don't restrict the things that you love because you'll only crave them more. Instead, learn how to enjoy them in moderation.
Now that's an extremely loose guide on the secret of weight loss and by no means am I proclaiming that its the full answer to it. However, if you're just starting out then why not adopt that approach? Of course as time goes on, you'll have to start looking at your diet in more detail depending on your long term goal, but this should give you an extremely strong framework and foundation to work from. For anyone that wants to push further and learn more about the intricacies of nutrition then there will be a few posts coming along soon to cover that. Until that time you can get in touch with me on social media to ask any questions using the buttons below. Stay tuned for my next post in this series, which will be covering the secret to sustainable, successful training.
For anyone interested in purchasing supplements, head over to JBC Nutrition and enter the code JBCALEX04 at checkout to get 10% off your order!
Until next time...
Alex
#TeamJBC
To sum up, the real secret to nutrition is to K.I.S.S - Keep It Simple, Stupid! I'm not saying that you should go all 'bro' and start eating 6 meals a day comprising of chicken, broccoli and rice - that just isn't sustainable, and it's boring as hell. I'm saying that you should take an 80/20 approach to your diet. Make sure that 80% consists of good quality foods, one that you really get your calories' worth as it were. For example: chicken, cous cous, vegetables, rice, pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tuna, lean beef, turkey and greek yoghurt are all huge staples of my diet. Most days I'll eat at least 5 of those foods and it gives me that little bit of leeway and those macros left over to be able to enjoy something a little sweeter like some chocolate, or my personal favourite - COCO POPS!! Again, I'm not telling you that if you eat chicken and broccoli all day that you can just afford to binge on junk food. Be smart about your nutrition, take the 80/20 split and then allow yourself your favourite foods IN MODERATION. Maybe one bowl of coco pops, and not 5 (Something I save for refeed days), four pieces of chocolate, and not a whole bar. Don't restrict the things that you love because you'll only crave them more. Instead, learn how to enjoy them in moderation.
Now that's an extremely loose guide on the secret of weight loss and by no means am I proclaiming that its the full answer to it. However, if you're just starting out then why not adopt that approach? Of course as time goes on, you'll have to start looking at your diet in more detail depending on your long term goal, but this should give you an extremely strong framework and foundation to work from. For anyone that wants to push further and learn more about the intricacies of nutrition then there will be a few posts coming along soon to cover that. Until that time you can get in touch with me on social media to ask any questions using the buttons below. Stay tuned for my next post in this series, which will be covering the secret to sustainable, successful training.
For anyone interested in purchasing supplements, head over to JBC Nutrition and enter the code JBCALEX04 at checkout to get 10% off your order!
Until next time...
Alex
#TeamJBC
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