An Eating Strategy for Energy - by Lynn Clay
A truly effective eating plan should leave you brimming with energy so that making your next exercise session seems a breeze, but information on supporting good energy levels seems to be missing from many popular dieting plans. Whether you're looking to maintain your weight and improve your fitness or to lose a little weight too, good energy is about more than grabbing an energy drink before your workout. Instead, its foundations lie in the way we choose to eat across the day.
Fuel for energy
Carbohydrate is the body's primary energy source during exercise, so it stands to reason that if we want to maximise energy we should look at this macronutrient. Carbohydrate is not only important to provide fuel for the working muscles, but is also essential for the central nervous system. As the brain uses glucose as its energy source, a lack of this can result in weakness, dizziness and low blood sugar. Reduced blood sugar during exercise decreases performance and can lead to mental and physical fatigue and low blood sugar levels across the day result in poor energy and heightened cravings for sugary foods. It is therefore important to maintain good carbohydrate stores in the body as a basis for good energy.
Good carbohydrate sources are certainly important in the diet but the energy equation is not as simple as eat more carbohydrate = have better energy levels. When we eat and what type of carbohydrate we select can have a significant impact on energy for exercise and across the day.
Putting the right carbohydrate into your diet
Ideally, each meal in the day should contain low Gl carbohydrates, avoiding more sugary carbohydrates that can result in inflammation in the body and lead to fluctuating energy levels and further sugar cravings. This doesn’t mean you can’t have the occasional treat, rather that you should aim to reduce sugars and increase your intake of whole grains, vegetables, legumes and fruit. Pairing your low GI carbohydrate choice with a lean protein or one rich in essential fats such as chicken, fish, quorn or nuts and complimenting with fruit, vegetables or salad will give you a perfect meal mix to support energy.
Perfect Meal Combo's
Low GI Carb- Wholegrain Bread (2 slices)
- Cous Cous
- Wholegrain rice
- Porridge Oats
- Chicken Breast
- Salmon Fillet
- Bean Casserole
- Vanilla Definity shake
Salad, fruit or Vegetables
- Mixed Salad
- Carrots, Brocolli and peppers
- Mixed vegetables
- Berries
Introduce snacks
For steady energy levels and to keep your carbohydrate stores topped up you need to eat regularly. Missing meals is likely to lead to below par training and poor energy levels so it's not really a recipe for success. Instead, introduce a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack to compliment three well balanced main meals. Not only will you find your energy levels improve but research shows that long term weight loss is superior in those who have four or more meals per day, compared with traditional, three meals a day eaters, so eating regularly will keep you trim too. Perfect snack options combine low GI carbohydrate options such as fruit with lean proteins such as low fat cottage cheese, nuts, a Definity shake or bar or for ease and effectiveness you can opt for an all in one Sculptress shake or bar.
Portion control
Of course if you simply add extra calories to the diet this could result in weight gain, so it is often necessary to adjust the portion sizes of your main meals to allow for these energy and metabolism boosting snacks to be inserted. Reducing the size of meals will also positively affect the impact of your meals on energy levels, with smaller meals being digested better and leaving you feeling energised and light rather than that sleepy feeling after a large meal. An easy way to control portion size sensibly is to aim for your protein and carbohydrate selections to be approximately the size of a deck of cards each for each meal sitting, complimenting them with fruit, vegetables or salad. Eating regularly like this for a couple of weeks should see any sugar cravings disappear and your energy levels improve.
Don't forget to drink
If you're not adequately hydrated then this can negatively impact your energy levels too. Aiming for 6 to 8 glasses of water per day will not only support good energy but will also provide health and skin benefits too. Incidentally, the body often confuses dehydration signals for hunger signals so you may find that when you increase your fluid intake you are less hungry too! In additional to your daily drinking needs you should aim to add 750ml of fluid for each hour you spend exercising and if you're training at a high intensity or for long durations it's wise to opt for a carbohydrate drink such as Viper to benefit from additional carbohydrate, electrolytes and BCAAs.
With your regular eating pattern organised and adequate fluid across the day you should find you have much more energy across the day and are super-ready for your workouts too. You never know, you might even find you are compelled to get your trainers on a little more often!
Add Maxitone nutrition for the best results
When you combine cardio and weight training with a well balanced diet and nutrition plan you get even faster results, and adding it with the Maxitone range will ensure you achieve your goals quickly. So whether your goal is Weight Loss, Toning, or general Well Being, there is a product and range to suit your needs. Also, remember to keep an eye out for and take advantage of the special offers as there may be a great saving to be had too!
