This is one is for Tom, you know who you are 
simple (sim-puhl)
noun
adjective
1 – easy to understand, deal with, use, etc
2 – not elaborate
5 – not complicated
Gratuitous Kai Greene picture
“People spend too much time finding other people to blame, too much energy finding excuses for not being what they are capable of being, and not enough energy putting themselves on the line, growing out of the past, and getting on with their lives.” Kai Greene
Greetings readers Its blog time again and this week I’m going to be giving you some guidance on how to navigate the overwhelming sea of nutritional information available without drowning I’ve also included a gratuitous Kai Greene quote, because it’s my blog so I get to do what I like
Last year I wrote 2 pieces on basic nutrition and I was intending to repost them as part of my ‘cheeky repost’ series but I’ve decided instead to dynamically revisit them in my own inimitable style. Actually it’s probably not that inimitable, just type and add smilies but I digress
With the explosion of the internet there is currently more information freely available on health and fitness than ever before and yet people still don’t know how to eat It’s not that health and fitness is a complicated subject, it isn’t, particularly at a basic level. It’s actually incredibly simple, it’s just that there is so much information available, often contradictory, that people don’t know where to start or what is relevant to them.
The good news is that you don’t need to become a nutritional expert. All you need to know is what works for you and there are some basic simple steps that you can take to help you figure that out.
Stop Reading And Get With The Program
Firstly you need to stop reading about nutrition! Really No Men’s Health, no Women’s Fitness, just finish this post and implement the steps I’m going to outline, be patient and give it time to work
My first recommendation is that you get a nutritional tracker program account. I use FitDay. They also have a desktop version which is equally good. I like how easy it is to use overall, in particular the ability to change amounts onscreen and the cute pie charts. I enter all my foods as custom items so I don’t care how good or not the database is In my experience it takes so long to find what you’re looking for it’s simply quicker to enter it yourself, which you only need to do once
My www.fitday.com record for November 8th 2011 – Click to view
There are loads of these programs/sites available and in truth it doesn’t matter which one you use, as long as you are happy with it. I’m currently working with Scott Heron, SEO Guru and experimental project, as his personal trainer and his personal preference is MyFitnessPal. You can read about why he likes at his site Get Fit You.
The next step is to start to take responsibility for your own nutritional education This is also really simple and straightforward, just use your tracker program for 2 weeks. Enter everything you eat into it, every day. I do this, even my Snax Cafe biggest breakfasts
Recording how much you’ve slept and how you feel from day to day is also very useful and educational too. There are some trackers with room for all this info, if memory serves FitDay desktop has special mood logs with smilies, which may be lodged in my subconscious and in part explain my FitDay preference. I actually just use a piece of paper, although obviously I do this in a very relaxed and calm fashion ;o)
Ideally I’d like to leave this there and get you all to check back in two weeks but just in case there are any of you who’ve already done this, here is the next step Pretend it is two weeks later and you’ll get extra thrill value from this week’s post
You, you, you, the most amazing information ever
You should now have some interesting information available to you. What’s most exciting is that it is the most useful and relevant information you can get your hands on as it relates to you. This is your starting point and you can now read and study this as much as you wish. Start becoming an expert on you
Review your two weeks eating. Start becoming aware of exactly what you eat, and when you eat it. (Fitday is a bit crap at this actually; Food Focus is better for tracking actual mealtimes. I’m not sure about myfitnesspal.)
Use this checklist as a guide to see if you are on the right track.
- Eat complete (containing all the essential amino acids) protein with every meal. Meat, fish, poultry, eggs and protein powder are your best sources. Start out by eating 1g per lb of lean bodyweight per day, split into equal servings.
- Eat fibrous vegetables and/or fruits with every meal.
- Asparagus, broccoli, sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, cucumber, cabbage, onions, leeks, parsnips, peppers, mushrooms, tomato, spinach, courgettes, apples, oranges, pears, peaches, nectarines, bananas, melon, plums, grapefruit, raspberries and strawberries are all good choices.
- Ensure that 20-30% of your energy intake comes from fat, with your fat intake split equally between saturates (e.g. animal fat), monounsaturates (e.g., olive oil), and polyunsaturates (e.g walnuts).
- Eat every 2-3 hours. Eat between 5 – 8 meals a day, every day.
- Eat mostly whole foods. Limit yourself to two liquid meals a day at the most.
- Drink only non calorie containing drinks (meals above aside). Water is your best choice.
Free, free, free, nothing else is relevant
I’ve never ever met anyone who has ticked all these boxes from the off, but if you have and you still need further nutritional guidance contact me and I’ll do you a free prize nutritional consult
For the rest of you out there adjust your diet as necessary to ensure that you check all the (imaginary) boxes above and then stick with it for a month without changing anything At this point NOTHING ELSE IS RELEVANT. In case that wasn’t clear enough I’ll state it again – NOTHING ELSE IS RELEVANT
Inspirational shot of my cooker at 8.30pm last night
Once you’ve done this you can start to tweak things, if necessary. After that contact me and I’ll adjust your nutrition to the next level, for free, as a reward for all your hard work. I expect, in truth, no-one to be contacting me Those of you who are already getting results won’t need to and those of you who are drowning in the sea of nutritional information will find what I’ve suggested too simple to actually apply it
I’ve deliberately made that last paragraph slightly confrontational to try and provoke you Prove me wrong, follow my recommendations, start becoming the world’s leading expert on your own nutrition and then simply contact me to get your whole nutritional regime tweaked completely free
Coming soon….changes
Next week I’m going to ramble about change It’s afoot, it’s fun, it’s exciting and it’s a wee bit scary. Love it or loath it it’s inevitable and unsurprisingly I recommend throwing yourself into it headlong and embracing it 100%, while remaining relaxed and calm obviously
P.S. Do the FB stuff please
