You’re Deluded, Probably :o)

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de·lude [dih-lood]
verb (used with object)

1. to mislead the mind

Greetings Readers

This week I’m going to do something completely new and share with you all the results of a nutritional consultation that I did recently – probably anyway as I’m never quite sure where these posts are going these days, they’ve developed a life of their own. Indeed it has just occurred to me that today’s post could be seen as the second part of a trilogy, with this being the first part and this being the third. I’m writing trilogies without realising and not even in chronological order, how relaxed is that?

Attention Regular Readers

If you’ve been reading, and more importantly following , the assorted recommendations I’ve been sharing with you over the last few months (in part one and three that I just mentioned above) this post will be quite redundant. If you haven’t then I recommend you read on

Client Assessment Time

You all no doubt already know that I’m a personal trainer in Edinburgh – I can generally be found at The Scotsman Spa but I’ve been known to make the odd home visit too If you didn’t know this you do now As part of their initial assessment all of my clients fill in a lifestyle questionnaire – well not quite all, some just get a comprehensive grilling from me This not only provides me with essential information but is usually very enlightening for the client too as it forces them to focus honestly on their exact food intake in a manner that most of them are quite unaccustomed to. Why is this enlightening? Because most of us are deluded about our food intake I actually think that most people are deluded about a lot more than just their food intake but that’s another matter Think this doesn’t apply to you? Don’t be too certain, it’s quite possible that you’re deluded too

The Delusion

I take client confidentiality pretty seriously so we’re going to refer to the client as TC I was really tempted to call TC ‘it’ but I thought that might be a little too extreme

TC isn’t a beginner. TC trains hard and regularly and has a good body – shapely with well-developed muscles. TC came to me for a nutritional consult specifically aimed at lowering body fat and increasing muscular definition. The conversation went something like this –

Me – “So what is your diet like at the moment?”

TC – “Pretty good, though it could be better.”

Me – “What are you eating then?”

TC  - “A lot I have to eat a lot of food to maintain my weight, I mean a lot of food, probably 5000 calories a day. I eat lots of carbs, mainly rice, plenty of protein, mainly chicken and tuna and I have a couple of protein shakes every day too.”

Me – “Sounds pretty good to me.”

TC “Well I do eat a fair bit of junk on top of that. Crisps, biscuits, burgers, wine gums, whatever I fancy really.”

Me “Okay, well the first thing to do is to record exactly what you eat for the next week. Be totally honest. This will give us a baseline to work from.”

TC “Ok, will do.”

The Reality

TC went away and did exactly what I’d asked and a week later I sat down and went over their food intake. What I found was quite different from what TC had led me to expect. I wasn’t that surprised though, TC isn’t alone when it comes to being delusional

Firstly TC was only eating around 3000 calories a day. That’s not a lot of food by any means. Even I eat more than this and I’m by no means a big eater

Secondly TC’s carb intake was under 300g a day, around 33% of the daily calories. Again this isn’t a lot by any means, certainly not given TC’s comments.

TC’s protein was a little light at 210g, 27% of daily calorific intake, but not by much.

TC’s fat was too high at 130g, 37% of daily calorific intake.

Not only where TC’s macro’s a surprise to them but the composition of the diet was a little off too. 33-50% of calories came from protein shakes, every single day The word I’d use here isn’t ‘supplementing’, it’s ‘lazy’ Protein shakes are great. They are convenient, portable and a great addition but the mainstay of your diet should be real food

TC’s junk intake wasn’t as high as I’d expected – a few pizzas and chips but no crisps, biscuits or wine gums. This is common occurrence too; simply knowing that everything has to be written down causes a change in dietary habits.

TC was surprised. I wasn’t I’m used to it by now But the reason I’m sharing it is that if it can happen to TC, who is an experienced trainee, it can happen to you So go re-read part one and three and dispel your delusions First do all the social networking stuff though please

If enough of you (at least 10) are interested, which means commenting below I’ll go through TC’s new nutritional program next week. If not I’ll ramble on about whatever else takes my fancy