Daily Nutrition

Finding reliable and direct everyday nutrition advice can be difficult in a world as saturated as the fitness industry online. Not only do many professionals differ in their approach to optimal nutrition, but the science behind what is best for your body constantly changes as well!

Sculpt want to help you cut through the fat and help provide you with some easy to digest nutrition basics. These are the bare-bones for you to structure your diet around. If you train or exercise regularly your diet will need to be adapted to ensure you are fuelling and recovering correctly. So without further ado, here is what the UK national food guidelines state for adults:

• Average male should consume 2550 calories daily while the average female ought to consume 1950 calories
• A minimum of 55g of protein
• At least 50% of your calories are from carbohydrate digestion
• Maximum of 70g and 50g of sugar for males and females respectively
• Maximum 35% of your calories are from fat digestion
• Maximum of 30g and 20g of saturated fat for males and females respectively

As mentioned earlier, these are just some rough guidelines – not rigid rules. You’ll often find that if you are exercising regularly, or have a fixed goal such as to lose body fat, that your macro-nutrient (dietary fat, carbohydrate and protein) intake will vary from these guidelines. For example; a bodybuilder who is aiming to compete and wants to drop their body fat percentage will reduce their carbohydrate intake and increase their protein and fat intake.

So the UK guidelines have given us some numbers to work with, but what about the structure of our meals? Well the Food Standards Agency have given 8 healthy eating tips to follow:

1. Base your meals on starchy food (pasta, rice, potato etc)
2. Eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day (2/3 adults currently fail to achieve this)
3. Eat 2 portions of fish per week (one of which being oily)
4. Cut down on saturated fat and sugar
5. No more than 6g of salt per day
6. Get active and be a healthy weight
7. Drink 6-8 glasses of water per day
8. Don’t skip breakfast

Again, these are just guidelines but a great starting block if you are looking to improve your diet. The population as a whole are on a worrying downwards slope in regards to following a healthy active lifestyle. In the UK 19% of adults, nearly 1 in 5 smoke (OPN, 2014) and the International Diabetes Federation predict that by 2035, 1 in 10 people will be diabetic wordwide! Although there are many factors that can influence your lifestyle and activity, your diet is completely modifiable. Making positive changes and following the set guidelines is a great start to stop these worrying trends and improve your health, quality of life and performance.

So what does Sculpt suggest? Everyone, qualified or not, has an opinion on the best diet to follow. Our thoughts on the subject are as follows;

• Eat colourful! By eating food that varies in colour you are sure to hit your vitamin and mineral requirements. When cooking vegetables for a meal don’t go all green (such as peas, beans and broccoli), instead look to have each vegetable a different colour (such as peas, carrots and red onion) this can also make your meals more enjoyable to make and interesting!
• Aim for 8 portions of fruit and veg per day! 5 is a great start but why stop there? Increased intake has been linked to reduced cancer risk, reduced heart disease risk and a reduced risk in premature death. Aiming for 8 can be a challenge, but plan your meals in advance and make snacks for the week that contain extra portions.
• Eat whole fresh food and try to avoid processed foods! The UK have a whole host of great local markets and farmers and fishermen, lets make use of them. Try to buy your food fresh to reduce the risk of any chemical treatments or nasty surprises. Again, this comes down to planning and writing down what you want to eat for a week or even just a few days in advance will go a long way in improving your diet and resisting the urge to order food or turn on the microwave!
• If you snack a lot, up your protein intake! Protein is not just for gym goers, it is vital for growth and repair of cells. It is also a great hunger suppressor, more protein will reduce the risk of snacking or feeling hungry between meals.
• Cook with olive oil when using a high heat! Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat and therefore more stable at higher temperatures. There has been a recent trend of using coconut oil for frying food; however, coconut oil is high in saturated fat and will raise both HDL and LDL cholesterol. There has not been enough research into the effect of the cholesterol changes so tread carefully!

Hopefully this has been clear and helped you plan a healthy diet! Remember, these are all guidelines and it will vary from person to person. If you want help with developing your own specific diet get in contact with a member of the SculptLife team today!