Nutrition for weight management
Reduce carbohydrate (CHO) intake
Especially high glycemic index CHO and avoid wheat products, which are highly processed and cause bloating.
Eat smaller meals more often
Each meal raises the metabolic rate by up to 15% especially if protein is added and keeps insulin levels low. Three main meals and three snacks are ideal. The snacks can be fruit or low fat high protein bars. Final snack should be a protein shake.
Do not miss meals
This causes the metabolic rate to fall during the day along with blood sugar and you will gorge eat during your main meals.
Eat low glycaemic index food where possible or mix CHO with protein and fat
Avoid insulin levels rising too fast, which promotes fat storage, cause energy spikes and hunger pangs.
Eat CHO earlier in the day
One popular thought is to eat main meals in the ratios of CHO-Protein as follows:
First meal 2-1, second meal 1-1, third meal 0-1 this gives energy for the day ahead, allows you to burn off excess CHO and stops you storing it as fat in the evening; protein at night fills you up, will not settle on your stomach and will be used for growth and repair throughout the night.
Reduce fat intake to less than 30% (10% saturates)
The metabolic cost of converting foods is as follows-
Dietary fat to stored fat 3%, CHO to stored fat 23%, Protein to stored fat 30%
Fat is also over twice as calorie dense per gram (9kcal) compared to protein (4kcal) CHO (4kcal) and alcohol (7kcal) and saturated fat is linked directly to heart disease
Avoid large meals
The body can only assimilate a certain amount of protein and CHO per sitting the rest is either defecated or stored as body fat. It is estimated that the body can assimilate a maximum of approximately 30g per serving of protein and you should keep CHO to 50g per meal.
Avoid low calorie diets
A drastic reduction in calories causes a reduction in the metabolic rate through a loss of muscle mass, which can be up to 30-40% even on a 1kg per week weight loss.
Do not starve yourself and keep intake within 500kcal of your average daily metabolic rate (ADMR). It is far better in the long run to get your calorie deficit mainly from exercise to avoid a slowdown in your basal metabolic rate (BMR).
Take protein directly after weight training if your goal is to increase muscle mass
This is the time when the body is crying out for nutrients and because muscle has been broken down it needs materials to rebuild straight away. The first hour after training is the optimum time for ingestion. When taken with CHO insulin will force both into the muscles replenishing muscle glycogen at the same time. It is also advisable to take some protein as a last meal at night to take advantage of the increased growth hormone secretion during sleep, and first thing in the morning to curtail the catabolic effects of fasting.
Eat enough protein to keep in positive nitrogen balance
Keep the muscles supplied with building materials to grow and increase your BMR; if you are training hard your body will need and use it.
Do not eat directly after endurance training if you are trying to lose fat
Although you would best eat protein for muscle building straight after exercise and if you have trained hard enough anything you eat will be used to replenish your depleted energy reserves, it may be better to take advantage of your increased metabolic state to burn fat post exercise if that is your goal.