Dismissing Nutritional myths for a positive 2021

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It is that time of year where lots of articles, videos, fitness gurus and so called experts come out of the wood work and tell you the secret you never knew about healthy eating and living. Or perhaps the new science that supports purchasing a variety of eating products, supplements, eating regimes and equipment. 

Well this isn’t one of them. 

Let’s address the issue of a New Year’s Resolution. I challenge all our readers to set a positive resolution, something I have been suggesting to my clients for years. 

For me, I will eat more in 2021 – more fruit, a new vegetable or something that isn’t usually in my diet. I will discover a new meal I would like to plan and prepare as a healthy alternative. 

I will read more or protect some time to invest in me. 

New Year’s resolutions should not be a punishment or subtractive lifestyle task. It’s like starting in a negative mindset. Instead, reward yourself. These types of resolutions are easier to maintain. And this is the theme of my healthy eating and lifestyle management for 2021. 

I have been concerned with the growing trend of food supplements on the market but more from the point of view that so many young people are now buying these on a regular basis and they are so much more affordable. 

It is great to see so many high profile sport trainers, athletes and high profile teams making reference to these supplements and how unnecessary they are. 

Unless you are

•  sleeping for 8 hours every evening as part of a positive night time sleep routine;
• Drinking fluids throughout the day. 
• Having your five portions of fruit and veg a day. 
• Taking on grams per body weight of macro nutrients (No one counts calories) 
• Effectively programming active & passive recovery as part of an ongoing routine.

Only once you are achieving these points on a regular basis and still finding that you have low energy or perhaps other negative symptoms should you then consult a ‘qualified nutritionist’ to assess and discuss potential vitamin deficiencies and or food supplementation. 

Hopefully you recognise some positive points you can take into 2021. 

The most crucial of these is a sleep routine.  Consistency is key, same bedtime routine and morning routine, and I am sorry to say this means days off too. That lie in is affecting quality sleep through the week. 

Moving on to nutrition, let’s dismiss some myths so you know what to ignore as you go into 2021. 

ALL DIETS ARE BASED ON CALORIE DEFICIT. No matter how it is being dressed up and marketed – Points, Still eat what you want blah, blah, blah. It’s the same old nonsense dressed up as something else. 

Monitor your activity and monitor your intake. Be mindful of your Basal Metabolic Rate*. Eating below this will negatively affect your internal systems and organs. For efficient, sustainable weight loss you want to be no more than 500kcal below your daily calorie requirement (basal metabolic rate x physical activity level).  

There is no one diet. I do not train or eat the same today as I did ten years ago as I need to match my lifestyle needs. Anyone who says there is a one diet and they have the answer, please disregard any more that they have to say. 

For me, one of the biggest keys in remaining healthy was reducing stress, which in turn has had a big impact on my wellbeing. Basic science tells us that you cannot detox your body. There is no product that can ‘speed up your kidney function’.  This would be detrimental to your health and in fact create toxins in your body. 

Think less about your kidney and stomach functions and instead focus on liver health and liver function. Eat to positively support your liver as in turn this will support positive body function. The two best ways to support your liver are to minimise your intakes of alcohol and fructose.

You need to assess your eating and lifestyle habits effectively over a period of time to truly assess and decide on changes you should make to your lifestyle. 

A simple free app like ‘MyFitnessPal’ is a good way to assess your lifestyle. Please do not over assess or become compulsive with this. That is not necessary, however I am happy to share that after I was using this app for a short period of time it was clear as to why I was hungry in the evenings, crashing, losing focus and making negative choices. I was not consuming adequate macro nutrients during the day and, particularly for me, this was protein. 

This was personal to me and I was surprised to see this. A small measure of eating more at different times of the day resulting in eating less later on and making better long term decisions. 

No article, social media video will be able to give you this personal insight. 

I am aware that I have very clear opinions which I am airing and here is another of them: there are many level 3 personal trainers, health coaches, lifestyle coaches who are stepping outside of their professional boundaries when offering healthy eating guidance. I am qualified to degree level, but do not consider myself qualified to diagnose and prescribe nutritional health and guidance. 

I do not think we can say health is achieved 70% in the kitchen and 30% in the gym and not equip those in fitness industry with the tools and qualified knowledge to help empower their clients to make positive choices with their nutrition.  So rather than just tell fitness pros not to give advice, I worked with a qualified Nutritionist and Associate member of the UK Nutritionists, Adam Best, to create a level 3 Nutrition for Health course. (Adam’s contacts are at the bottom of the article if you would like to reach out to him).  The course is designed not only for those working in industry but for all members of the public who want to have an informed approach to better training, eating and recovery methods to support activity and lifestyle. 

Kieran Sharpe

Wellbeing Fitness Education Centre writes and licenses a range of vocational training qualifications for the health and fitness industry and currently has over 50 licensees across the UK and abroad delivering our qualifications. We are passionate about raising the standards of the industry from within the industry. 

If you are interested in becoming a licensee and running any of our qualifications please visit: https://wellbeingfitnesseducationcentre.co.uk/

If you would like information regarding our courses, where in the UK you can study please visit: https://www.independentpersonaltrainers.org/

Or you can email wellbeingfitnesseducationcentre@outlook.com

If you would like to have a consultation with our Nutritionist Adam, please email; info@wellbeingfitness.co.uk

We offer face to face, zoom and phone consultations. 

* Basal Metabolic Rate

Basal Metabolic Rate is the minimum amount of calories needed for vital organ function. 

So does being fitter mean you burn more calories when you are asleep? 

Well in some cases yes. Higher muscle mass will in some cases result a high Basal Metabolic Rate. 

Age, gender, muscle to fat ration, physical activity and hormone function along with body size and body composition will influence individual BMR.

If this has not been taken into account prior to making any lifestyle adjustments, the probability is you will not achieve the desired results from your eating and training regimes  

Crucially you are not a car. Put fuel in and go, energy in and energy out, is simply not an appropriate analogy to use.

You are a living organism and a complexity of biological, neurological and physiological systems that are constantly in play. 

If you woke up and watched TV all day you would need to consume food for vital organ function. A calorie is simply a unit of measurement for energy.

Eating below basal metabolic rate is unhealthy. Should you train more, eat less?  Well it is the balance of the two. Positive nutrition to support physiological and psychological function. Support growth and recovery -do not over eat beyond physical demands.