Do this first - Our Top 5 Nutrition Tips to Look and Feel Awesome
When it comes to looking and feeling great, most people realise that it’s about more than just flogging yourself in the gym. Chances are, you have heard the saying: “Abs are made in the kitchen!”, or maybe “You can’t out-train a bad diet!”.
While I don’t subscribe to the school of thought that you can get away with no exercise, if you want to improve your body composition, boost your energy levels throughout the day, improve mental clarity and focus and sleep better at night, exercise alone is not the sole-answer.
So when we need to clean up our act and start eating better, what do we do?
We’ll look online. We’ll ask a friend who looks good. Or maybe we’ll look for some professional help.
There is so much information out there and more often than not, you’ll come across every diet fad out out there, from vegan to carnivore, from keto to low-fat and paleo to the lemon detox. With conflicting advice and more often than not, someone’s opinion and preferences being brought into the argument of why their strategy is the best, you may be left with analysis paralysis and take no action at all.
And why would you? Making the choice to start cleaning up your diet comes with it’s own challenges, let alone being bombarded with information on highly-restrictive eating regimes.
So where should you start?
When it comes to what foods and diets work well for different people, there are huge differences caused by variances in genetics, your microbiome (your resident bacterial community) and of course, your daily energy requirements. While each person is a little different, there are 5 thing you should probably start doing before you consider experimenting with any of the other diets out there.
1. Increase your water intake
Dehydration is a major factor when it comes to performance. Whether it’s exercise, mental clarity or simply avoiding headaches, drinking more water is generally going to help you feel better. Aside from these reasons, there are plenty of other reasons to drink up:
Drinking water can help you feel full and therefore reduce your calorie consumption (if weight loss is a goal, it has been shown that people who drink water before eating lose more fat)
Adequate water assists with normal digestion. Dehydration is a major factor in constipation, as your bowel reabsorbs most of the water as food passes through.
It assists in flushing out toxins. If you’re going to start exercising and shifting your fat stores, your will be releasing stored toxins into your bloodstream. Do your kidneys a favour and up your water intake to feel better and keep your skin looking clear as this happens.
We use the calculation of 30-35mL of water per Kg of bodyweight per day. For a 70Kg person, this equates to 2.1-2.5L per day. If you are performing strenuous exercise, we recommend a further 500mL per hour of exercise.
Other things to consider when it comes to water intake are sugar, caffeine, alcohol and certain supplements. These things will cause further dehydration so it is important to account for more water intake if you are having these things.
Ways to increase your intake:
Start your day with 500mL of water
Always have a water bottle with you. Work out how many times you need to get through it and aim for this each day.
Drink a glass of water before every meal
Have a glass of water before and after your coffee
Alternate alcoholic drinks with 1-2 glasses of water.
Try adding citrus fruit to your water to improve the flavour.
To avoid going to the toilet all night, curb your water intake 2hours before bed-time.
2. Increase your daily vegetable intake
There are 2 recommendations about vegetables we give when we start working with clients at Fitness Boxx.
The first, is to: “Eat from the Rainbow”. This refers to eating at least 5 (if not more) colours of vegetables per day. Different coloured vegetables generally correspond with different mineral and micronutrient profiles. If you eat all the colours, chances are that you will remove many, if not most nutrient deficiencies by starting with this.
The second is to increase your total vegetable intake. Vegetables tend to be nutrient dense as opposed to energy dense, meaning you can support your body with more of the things it needs (fibre, minerals, vitamins, pre-biotics and probiotics etc) without overdoing it on the calories. For men, we recommend 6-8 fist-sized servings per day, and for women, 4-6 fist sized servings, depending on your meal frequency and total energy requirements.
When it comes to vegetables, there are benefits to both cooked and raw vegetables, so don’t get too concerned with this detail: Just get ‘em into ya!
Check out our vegetable guide to help you eat from the rainbow
Click Here to Download the PN Eat from the Rainbow Guide
3. Limit starchy carb groups
We categorise the following foods into this group:
Potatoes (white and sweet)
All grains and processed foods such as pasta, bread, cereals and pastry
All Fruit
Legumes, beans and pulses (unless you are a vegan, in which case these foods count as protein)
Should you remove them entirely? Hell no!
In fact, when it comes to "eating from the rainbow", these plant foods still count as they provide heaps of essential nutrients. The main reason we limit this group is that generally, they are different to most vegetables, in that they are more energy dense.
Unless you have a sensitivity to a food or food group, (I'll get to that later) you shouldn’t worry about removing it. Just recognise that consuming excessive levels of this group is more than likely going to tip your energy balance into surplus.
Check out our portion control guide for guidance on your starchy carb intake
N.B. For people who choose to follow a vegan or strict vegetarian diet, they should be consuming more Legumes and Beans etc as this is one of the main sources of protein for them.
4. Reduce processed food
When you are starting out on a new eating regime, the overall strategy should be based around sustainability. If you do something consistently, you will see results. So if you can stick to your plan for longer than the first week, you will be able to see if the plan is working or not. Stick with it for 6 months and you’ll really gain insight into how it’s working for you. Starting a new 2 week diet every few months probably does more harm than good.
The reason I say this, is that this section is titled “Reduce” processed food: Not “Completely Remove Processed Food”.
If people really want to clean up their nutrition and see how their body changes over time, then totally eliminating highly processed food from your life for a period is a great experiment to put yourself through. But to begin with, total elimination can be too much to sustain and chances are, you are setting yourself up to fail by starting this way.
So firstly, let’s define the processed food we are talking about. Technically, anything that has been cooked or changed from it’s natural form is processed. Yoghurt, for example, is partially digested milk. The lactobacillus (and other) bacteria cultures in yoghurt ferment the milk, creating the sweeter, sour taste. Fermented foods such as yoghurt, keffir and sauerkraut are great foods to include in your diet so in defining processed foods, you need to use some common sense - these are not necessarily the types of foods to reduce.
I am referring to packaged foods, sweet, creamy and salty processed foods that you know are a vice, addiction or just plain bad habit foods for you. Simply start by reducing your intake. If you eat a 2L of ice-cream a week (I am guilty of this one sometimes) then start by halving it. Better yet, swap it out for something a bit more nutritious like yoghurt with berries. Some refined foods including bread and pasta have become staples in our diet, yet it is very easy to over-consume these foods. Try aiming for the chicken salad instead of the chicken roll next time you are ordering out.
Secondly, if you have non-negotiable rituals that you aren’t willing to part with just yet, then look to other areas for change first. We aim for progress, not perfection. Just make 1 small change a week and your results will start to snowball. Momentum will give you motivation and eventually you’ll be looking less to these types of foods.
5. Reduce alcohol intake
This can sometimes be an easy one, but for most people, it’s a deceptively difficult change. I meet with clients daily and it is very obvious that our social beliefs and values about alcohol in Australia clearly outweigh the proven benefits of reducing our intake.
Fun Facts:
Alcohol is a depressant. It lowers your motivation to do whatever it is you are setting out to do.
Your microbiome changes when you drink causing potential digestive issues.
Alcohol dehydrates you.
Alcohol disrupts normal sleep.
Alcohol damages your liver and disrupts normal detoxification.
You make poor choices when drinking. Whether it is the 2am kebab, the greasy breakfast the next day or even the midnight text to your ex: You do stupid stuff when you drink.
If you are looking to boost your energy, sleep better, cut body-fat or grow muscle, alcohol is slowing your progress at every turn. But you know all of this.
So why do you drink?
I personally drink because I have always drunk.
I like the taste of different wines and spirits, it makes me feel either energetic (at the time) or relaxed if I need it. And reduced inhibitions make me feel confident in situations where I would normally be uncomfortable.
But it’s all a hoax.
It’s like taking a pill to make you feel good temporarily, with the trade-off being moodiness, lethargy and intolerance of others.
Is it bad to drink in moderation occasionally?
Probably not. In fact, statistically, the opposite appears true in correlational studies. But look at the following list and see which group you fall under (or closest to):
If you drink less than 4 standard drinks per week and no more than 2 at a time, it is considered low intake (safe).
If you have a standard drink a night with dinner then share a bottle of wine a night on the weekend you are a moderate drinker.
If you drink more than this during a week, you are an excessive drinker and are causing long-term harm to your body.
If you go with no drinks during the week then drink 10-30 drinks over the weekend, then you are a binge drinker and you are causing more long-term harm to your body.
So if you want to go on a diet to clean up your act, boost energy, feel awesome and look awesome, this is a big one in my top 5 things to do first.
Start by aiming for the category below where you are currently. See how you go with social situations when you’re sober. See if you can go to the next event and limit your drinks to 1-2 standard drinks.
If you need help, there are some mindset strategies we can share with you to overcome the challenge of poor drinking habits. At the end of the day however, you need to WANT to change for any of these strategies to work. Start by identifying the emotions you are experiencing when you crave a drink. When you recognise triggers, we can aim to develop individual strategies to support better choices and actions.
NB. These strategies are highly individualised so I won’t go into them now, however they are not to treat alcoholism or addiction. We are not counsellors. We would refer you to the appropriate organisations and professionals to help with serious addiction issues and mental health support. We can provide a supportive platform however for you to start building healthier habits so please reach out if this is you.
Final Thoughts
While this is by no means a comprehensive list of nutrition strategies, if you are able to implement most of these first and sustain the changes for a period of months, it is enough for most people to get results without any fad diet or extreme restriction. The problem is always adherence and consistency, so start with 1 easy change and make it a new habit. Do it 80% of the time or more. Once you can do it, add another habit and go from there.
Be Consistent
Scott Flint