How to know if you have a healthy diet
When first working together, I ask my online clients this question; what is your relationship like with food? I ask this because I want you to be self-critical of your diet and what you are consuming/overconsuming on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. But being honest and willing to have this conversation with yourself will only benefit you in the long run and allow you to build a better relationship with food.
When I say ‘better relationship’ what does this mean to you? does it mean:
Eating more vegetables
Cutting out carbs
Cutting out sugars
Not eating after 20:00
Eating ‘clean’ every day without fail
Or could it mean:
Eating a takeaway with no guilt.
Enjoying alcohol with friends and family.
Eating carbs and having a sugary treat.
Having a reasonable portion on your plate.
Having a colourful plate of carbs, proteins, and sources of vitamins.
When I have this discussion with my online clients to gauge a better understanding of where they stand nutritionally, a strong majority view the aforementioned bullet points as a means of improving their nutrition rather than the latter.
When asked why they respond ‘It's just something I have always been told’ which is understandable. There have been many cases where ‘professionals’ have given these pieces of advice to the public and if a professional is saying it, you can only assume it's true. Aside from eating more vegetables, I would strongly disagree with the points made.
Cutting out Carbs and Sugars
Firstly, carbs are delicious, and if eating sugar is a crime then I am happy to do the time for it! Without going into too much science, carbohydrates and sugars are a source of energy.
When we consume these nutrients our body breaks them down and stores them as glycogen in the muscles. When we exercise or perform a lot of movement our body accesses this stored glycogen and uses it as a source of energy to help the muscles perform whatever task they are doing to the best of their ability.
The idea that carbs and sugar ‘make you fat’ has a hint of truth in it, but maybe not how you think. Carbs and sugars are in a lot of things we consume, including rice, bread, pasta, fruits etc. You can notice weight gain from consuming these foods, but it is not the fact you had a slice of toast that is spiking your weight gain, it is the continuous overconsumption of carbs and sugars coupled with the minimal movement/exercise that leads to the gain in weight.
Our bodies can only store a limited amount of glycogen and the excess is turned into fat. The good news is that fat can also be an energy source! The bad news is with minimal to no exercise/movement the fat stores in the body which can cause a plethora of health issues.
Not Eating After 20:00
I will be honest with you, I am not sure where this myth stems from and it is one I hear a fair bit from my online clients. If I eat a bowl of ice cream at 19:45 and that bowl is 150cals and I decide to have another bowl at 20:01 then that bowl is still 150cals. The calories do not change no matter the timing of your meal.
I would suggest not eating too late at night only due to two factors. One is the quality of food choices tends to be lower (Gallant et al 2014) you tend to go for easier foods to make which tend to be high in fat and sodium.
The second point derives from a study by Yajima et al (2014) which had shown there to be slight disruption to sleep when consuming a heavy meal close to bedtime, but these findings showed that it was nothing that will ruin your sleep cycle. However, the idea of eating after 20:00 has no substantial backing.
What is a clean eating/balanced diet?
The term ‘clean eating’ comes with the connotation of eliminating food groups from your diet and restrictions yourself to extreme lengths that do not match your lifestyle and its demands. If your current diet has you doing similar things then I would suggest you change your approach to something sustainable. A better approach would be to focus on having a balanced diet*
Having a balanced diet stems deeper than eating a well-balanced meal. It also reflects our relationship with food, it links to our control when eating, and it relates to our emotional link with food. Having a balanced diet gives you the freedom to eat the foods you enjoy without feeling guilty, and still make progress with your physique and performance in the gym.
*Our diet is what we eat daily
By now I am sure you get the picture that having a balanced diet is not just about the foods you consume, but also your mannerisms and approach to different food groups. I encourage my online clients to track if they can, just to be aware of what they are consuming.
Tracking is not for everyone and I am more than aware of that, however, doing it for some time can be very eye-opening and can give you a better insight into food quality. As well as improve your ability to guestimate calories in your diet. This is not me saying that it will be the deciding factor in improving your dietary habits, but it can be very beneficial to your overall development and performance in and outside of the gym.
Conclusion
One of the key takeaways from this is understanding that each diet is individualistic and many different factors can influence your diet. You will find some similarities in diets within cultures and races, however, I can confidently say that no two diets are the same and one of the reasons why the fad diets that appear one day and are gone the next do not work is because they have a one size fits all approach.
I hope you have a better understanding of what a balanced diet consists of. From reading this, a lot of myths you have heard over the years are far from the truth and you do not need to restrict yourself from food groups and have strict eating timings.
If you work shifts you are going to have a pretty hard time trying not to eat after 20:00. My advice is to prepare as much as you can the prior days which will put you in a much better position than trying to be perfect with your timings and possibly not trying at all.
Call to Action
It is all well and good reading this and taking in the information, but the real benefit comes from putting it into practice. Feel free to drop me an email by clicking here to discuss areas of your diet and nutrition, and I can help you either implement new tactics or help give you ideas to improve your dietary habits.
I hope this helped
Till next time!
Myles Asideu-Nesbeth
References
Yajima. K, Seya.T, Iwayama.K, Hibi.M, Hari.s, Nakashima.Y, Ogata.H, Omi.N, Satoh.M, Kumpei Tokuyama. K (2014) Effects of Nutrient Composition of Dinner on Sleep Architecture and Energy Metabolism during Sleep, Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology, 60, 114- 121
Gallant. A, Lundgren. J & Drapeau. V (2014) Nutritional Aspects of Late Eating and Night Eating, Curr Obes Rep, 3:101–107