How to eat better in 2017

With the new year in full swing it’s time to start thinking about what you can do differently this year to really make sure you hit all your new targets and achieve the best you possibly can do. Many people will have made goals to use their meal time in order to gain more from their nutrition intake and really make some changes to the makeup of each meal.

So if changing your meals and how to plan them into your week is a goal of yours this set of tips should help you with your training goals. We need to start by talking about what makes up a typical day’s intake of food and we’ll keep it varied and loose for those of you with differing meal and training plans, so take the key elements and change it up to suit your own requirements.

Forget the set meals

A lot of people will already be eating a set amount of meals per day, usually breakfast lunch and dinner. This way of eating will keep your metabolism working at one level and the gap between each meal is sometimes too wide. The trick is to get a good healthy breakfast before your day and feed your body throughout the rest of the day to a sufficient level so that you remain energised and keep your metabolism working hard. Try to get to understand when your body is genuinely hungry and not just thirsty and eat better, more organic and higher protein filled snacks and smaller meals.

Load up the protein

Those of you who sit there and say “I can’t stop eating all day” aren’t eating enough protein. It’s sometimes that simple. Most people could eat a lot of carbs and sugary foods through most of the day but as soon as you change the amount of protein you intake you’ll immediately notice how much fuller you feel as the body works a lot harder to break down the denser properties in high in protein and fibre foods. When your diet is high in protein you should be aiming to eat four to six smaller meals a day which along with some snacks in the day should be about your limit. So switch the crisps for nuts and swap the chocolate for a protein shake or fruits, you’ll soon feel the difference and notice that you are feeling fuller for much longer than before.

Cut the fizzy stuff out

A large portion of the nation’s population will already have one of their favourite drinks as a fizzy variety, be it a can of coke or a fizzy flavoured juice. This year it’s time to strip these out of your diet completely. Start each day with a good amount of water and hydrate yourself properly before you start your day, the aim for each day’s hydration is between 2-4 litres of water a day. This should be just water or flavoured still water with some squash, try not to drink anything other and avoid caffeinated drinks at all costs and you’ll start to feel how different you wake up each morning. The power of hydrating your body is an underused tool by many within their training schedule but it should be an everyday thing for anyone thinking of changing their diet habits.

Give yourself a cut off time

When people struggle to lose weight or to change their eating habits they tend to neglect the fact that they should keep an eye on the timing of their feeding habits. A lot of people who will struggle to change eating habits will be the same people who eat late and later into the evening, this is detrimental to your efforts to change your ways or to lose any weight. Give yourself a cut off time each day of around eight or nine where you stop physically taking in any food. This will stop yourself from loading your body with unwanted calories or calories that you simply cannot burn off by being asleep only. A good idea is also to make your last meal a high in protein one so you feel fuller overnight and try to make it high in fibre and greens so you system works it through your body overnight smoothly.

Begin your transformation of your diet and your meal intake by following these simple rules and you’ll begin to see and feel the benefits over time. We will explore deeper into more tips and ideas next week as we continue to discuss your diet needs and the idea behind meal prepping.

Next week we will look at more ways to change your food plan and swap out those naughty treats for healthier snacks and meal ideas. In the meantime you should be changing your food plan bit by bit and introducing new ways of thinking and training into your lifestyle.