I have studied nutrition and healthy eating for years now and one of the great unsolved questions is what constitutes a "balanced diet". It's just like in biology, where there is still no definition of life. We have the seven signs of life, but are unable to define what "life" actually is. In the same way, doctors and dieticians can look for signs of a healthy diet, such as plenty of vegetables, but cannot define what makes a "balanced" diet.
However, the latest findings in sports science can provide a bit of direction. Not only do moderate/serious athletes need more calories to support their training, they also need a higher proportion of those calories to come from protein to rebuild their muscles after training. The consensus seems to be athletes in training need about 25% of their calories to come from protein, so that is what I'm going to shoot for. As well, endurance athletes can train their body to use a higher proportion of fat as fuel by doing longer, slightly slower workouts combined with a slightly higher healthy fat intake (from nuts, avocados, healthy oils, etc.). This teaches the body to use fat as fuel rather than relying on carbohydrates, which is much more efficient and leads to lower body fat over time. With that in mind, I'm aiming for 25% to 30% of my calories to come from fat. Once I start preparing for running races in the spring I will switch to higher carbohydrates and fewer fats so I have a ready supply of energy to run fast. Let's see if it works!
The Score:
Calories: | Protein: | Carbs: | Fat: | Fibre: |
1858.83 | 102.37g | 229.98g | 59.04g | 39.65g |
22.03% | 49.49% | 28.59% | ||
Calories burned through exercise: | 373 |
What I ate:
Time | Item | Amount |
07:45 | Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate | |
Mattesson's Turkey rashers | 3 rashers | |
Gluten Free fruit muesli | 70g | |
Alpro Soy milk | 120mL | |
Sainsbury's pressed apple and cherry juice | 200mL | |
09:00 | Black tea | 500mL |
10:30 | Raspberry and Echinacea tea | 250mL |
11:00 | Seedless Red Grapes | 100g |
Brazil nuts | 8g | |
Cashews | 17g | |
13:30 | Moorish Vegetable Tagine | 250g |
Merchant Gourmet tinned puy lentils | 104g | |
Sainsbury's Strawberry Fruit Dairy Split | 60g | |
14:00 | Green tea | 250mL |
16:30 | Citrus Nuun electrolyte tablet in water | 500mL |
17:00 | Total Greek yoghurt | 125g |
Sainsbury's frozen mixed Blueberries and strawberries | 100g | |
18:00 | Butterkist salted microwave popcorn | 35g popped |
19:45 | Baked salmon | 122g |
Boiled and mashed sweet potato | 200g | |
Steamed broccoli | 73g | |
Steamed cauliflower | 85g |
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