Eating for fitness...

g'em

Ok, so one of the prevailing problems that crops up time after time on the forum is the question of eating right. Thing is, regardless of what your aim is - weight loss/ gain/ maintenance- we all require the same basic nutrients, minerals and dietary requirments. Putting it very simply, if you're looking to bulk, eat more, if you want to lose weight, eat less. But most importantly make sure you do not starve your body of what it needs and make all your calories come from healthy nutritional sources. There's a big difference between gaining 600 calories from a Big Mac and getting it from a balanced, nutritious meal. The general guidleines are that for weight training eat a 40% carb 40% protein 20% good fat diet, and for non- weight training athletes up the carbs to about 50-60%.

So.. just to help out anyone who's a little stuck or confused about how they should be eating, or even how to provide themselves with the food they need, I've put together a basic 'shopping list' of good foods that should help you get on the right track. Hopefully others will add to this with other ideas about what are good foods to include and post hints and tricks for eating clean day to day.

For the store cupboard- foods you should have on hand to make simple meals:
brown rice/ pasta
mixed dried herbs
dried spices
curry paste
garlic
tinned tomatoes (great for pasta sauces/ soups)
packets of unsalted, plain nuts for adding to salads- sunflower, sesame, almonds, cashews
extra virgin olive oil
flax oil (probably have to get this in a health food shop)
pulses- dry, bagged variety such as chickpeas, red kidney beans, lentils super easy to cook, high in protein and iron rich. Brilliant to add to salads, lentils are a fantastic base for soup. Try to buy dry instead of tinned/ pre-soaked which often have added salt.

Fresh foods to buy- preferably organic or from a farmers market, as fresh as possible:
fruit- all types, but include lots of 'easy to eat' fruit you can carry as a snack like apples, oranges, plums, peaches
a great tip I heard recently was to freeze raspberries or grapes and eat them as a snack in the evenings for those 'in front of the tv and wanna eat' moments
bananas are great post-workout but watch their high carb content
all berries and citrus fruits are high in antioxidants and brilliant to add to natural yoghurt/ skim milk for smoothies
vegetables- again, all types, especially broccoli, tomatoes, beans, mushrooms, carrots, cucumber, mangetout, onions, peas, spinach.
lots of leafy salad leaves- lettuce, cabbage, spinach, watercress, rocket.
sweetcorn and potatoes are great but high in carbs so consider this when adding them to a meal. Use new potatoes if possible, a lower starch content gives them a lower GI factor.

Supermarket items:
wholemeal pitta bread
wholemeal/ seeded bread/ bagels
Bulgar wheat/ cous cous
tinned tuna- buy steaks in tins as opposed to chunks
lean meat cuts, but particularly turkey/ chicken breasts and fillets
salmon steaks (expensive but so good for you- wrap in a loss tin-foil parcel with lemon juice, a little oil and pepper and bake for 20 mins- yum!!)
eggs
porridge oats
yoghurt- organic if possible, and live (bacteria-containing)
milk (personally its skimmed for me to get all the vits, minerals and protein, none of the cals)
cottage cheese
honey
peanut butter- you can buy it with nothing but 100% peanuts in it in health food shops, great for putting on corn cakes for snacks
rice/ corn cakes
baked beans- easy to eat snack, buy no-added sugar varieties.

Try to make sure every meal you eat has equal amounts of carbs and protein (or higher in protein if you're lifting). Use fats and oils sparingly, but include a small amount at every meal.There's no real need to have butter/ salt/ sugar added to any meal, use herbs and spices to taste meats, and nuts to give a kick to salads. While you may hear about athletes surviving on very minimalist and extremely restricted diets, this sort of eating will not sustain you for everyday living. The 5-a-day rule for fruits and vegetables is vitally important, they are the easiest and healthiest way to obtain many of the vitamins our bodies need in order to function, as are the minerals found in meats and pulses. Ensure you get pently of calcium and vitamin C -two of the most frequently neglected nutrients in Irish diets, but if you really feel the need to supplement (which you shouldn't if you eat properly) try a probiotic multi-vitamin like multibionta. There's also a great book called 'Food for Fitness' which is aimed at healthy eating for athletes, but has hundreds of recipes that are super-easy and quick to prepare and suitable for everyone's daily diet.

And of course there's the treats... For me, as a rule I don't keep any 'cheat foods' in the house. If its there, I'll eat it, simple as. This means that I have to actually plan to go out and buy cheat foods, so I'll make a conscious effort to treat myself with something that's not too sinful. It's often low-fat ice-cream or Green and Black's chocolate (I like to tell myself that all the flavenoids in the latter are really doing me lots of good ). For others its a burger, or sweets or a take-away. There's nothing wrong with a little bit of badness, but try to maintain an 80% clean attitude to food, that way you can eat treats virtually guilt-free!

When you make meals- if in doubt, just bung it all together, add a little seasoning and eat it!! That's how I've discovered most of my recipes (who knew that bulgar wheat, tuna, sweetcorn and spinach were so tasty together??!) As long as everything you put into it is good, there's nothing to lose. And above all else, enjoy what you eat. Cooking and eating shouldn't be a chore, and the more pleasure you get from eating the more it'll reinforce your healthy eating habits Have fun!!

babypink

g'em wrote:

And of course there's the treats...

mmmm Ben & Jerrys

g'em wrote:

And above all else, enjoy what you eat. Cooking and eating shouldn't be a chore, and the more pleasure you get from eating the more it'll reinforce your healthy eating habits

fantastic g'em.....right on the money with this post!

ErinGoBrath

Yet another excellent post from G'em

Thanks for this and keep 'em coming :cool:

Hippo

Excellent stuff. I can also recommend freezing strawberries and raspberries for chucking into smoothies....mmmm

SprostonGreen

Great post yet again G'em.

Quick question, spuds good or bad?

I'd say good, especially sweet potatoes.

g'em

SprostonGreen wrote:

Quick question, spuds good or bad?

Short anwer- good! a great source of carbs, but try and eat new potatoes if possible. Don't make them the basis of your meal, only let them count for about 25% of it. And needless to say, leave the salt, butter and sauces alone!! Sweet potatoes are great in that you really don't have to add anything to them as they're so naturally yummy, but have a moderate GI so don't use them all the time- use plain new potatoes or wholemeal pasta and brown rice to form the mainstay of your meal carb supply.

Dragan

Great post dear, well done.

slicus ricus

Great post g'em- cant really add to that!!

While we're on the subject of food: Does anyone have any ideas of what to add to tinned tuna to create a bit of flavour - i can't stand the brine or the sunflower oil it comes in so i have to drain it completely to get rid of it. As a result, i find tuna extremely bland and consider it a bit of chore to eat it; and as g'em pointed out, eating shouldn't be a chore!

Any ideas for a healthy sauce or herbs that go with tuna would be greatly appreciated.

Dragan

Soy sauce kinda rocks, mate of mine used to swear by a bit of sweat corn and some low fat mayo, just a little bit, to add some really decent taste.

He used to eat that 4 times a day, couldn't stand chicken.

g'em

I just add sweetcorn and sesame seeds, and sometimes I mix a little bit of low fat cream cheese in with it too. I've heard of tomatoe ketchup being used but I guess tomatoe puree would be a better alternative

joejoem

Try tomatoe puree and chopped peppers. Its really nice, and healthy. If you dont have tomatoe puree just use blended tinned plumb tomatoes. Add a bit of pepper to season. Drain excess fluid to avoid soggy sambos

Stark

g'em wrote:

Sweet potatoes are great in that you really don't have to add anything to them as they're so naturally yummy, but have a moderate GI so don't use them all the time- use plain new potatoes or wholemeal pasta and brown rice to form the mainstay of your meal carb supply.

Don't sweet potatoes have more fibre than normal potatoes putting them roughly in the same category as wholemeal pasta/brown rice? Normal new potatoes are fine if they have the jackets left on them.

PS: Kudos on your first post to the thread, it's really great (unlike my vocabularly of positive adjectives which consists of just "great", "good" and "really" ).

Dragan

Stark wrote:

PS: Kudos on your first post to the thread, it's really great (unlike my vocabularly of positive adjectives which consists of just "great", "good" and "really" ).

This is far from her first post dude!

joejoem

Dragan wrote:

This is far from her first post dude!

I think he meant the post that started the thread

g'em

Stark wrote:

Don't sweet potatoes have more fibre than normal potatoes putting them roughly in the same category as wholemeal pasta/brown rice? Normal new potatoes are fine if they have the jackets left on them.

actually no!! 'normal' potatoes have roughly about 5g of fibre per 100g and sweet potatoes will yield about 3.6g fibre per 100g. But they're still low in fat and high in vitamins A and C. Sweet potatoes shouldn't be confused with yams which are entirely different tubers.

But thank you for your kind words

g'em

Dragan wrote:

Would make more sense all right.

oh stop spamming my thread

Dragan

Would make more sense all right.

(( man thats weird, you quoted me before i even said anything!!!!))

g'em

Dragan wrote:

Would make more sense all right.

(( man thats weird, you quoted me before i even said anything!!!!))

ah flip, now I'm pre-empting your posts... great minds and all that

t-ha

Great post g'em. I especially agree with the herbs n' spices. These little guys are definitely your friends if you want nice food but not creamy sauces. Ground cumin, dill, basil, black pepper, cinnamon, chilli powder are must haves. Also the 'not keeping cheat foods around the house', it's much easier to be strong willed for twenty minutes in a shop than it is to be strong willed 24/7 at home.

One thing I always like to bring to the equation is.... NUTS!
Every variety - just like vegetables you will constantly hear that such and such a nut prevents such and such a type of cancer etc.etc. Bottom line is that they all have something to add to your diet and you should eat a good variety of them. They keep really well so I buy bags of each variety and then mix them together myself. Put them in a bag and smash them with a hammer to make mixed chopped (smashed) nuts, and then mill them until they turn into butter to make your own mixed-nut butter (I usually stick a spoon of honey and some extra-virgin olive oil in there too).

Recipe ideas for tuna: Tuna Omlette!
Take one can (135g drained) tuna, drain and boil (to mellow out the tuna taste).
Add to two (whole) eggs, some (whole) milk, a smidge of butter (yes the real stuff) and beat.
Microwave for a minute and stir up. Add blackpepper and a decent bit of dried mixed herbs. Micorwave until finished.
Name it 'breakfast', and eat it down - mmmm! Tuna first thing in the morning, I'll bet you never thought you could do that!

As for the potatoe contraversy, there aren't many 'evil' foods, just optimal times to eat them. If I was in the gym doing a heavy resistance session two hours ago, then damn right I'm going to eat some potatoes because I want those starchy carbs. The problem with potatoes are most people eat WAY too much of them. The frozen potatoe (including chips/waffles/etc.) section in Cornelscourt is bigger than the frozen veggies section - that's the problem with potatoes (not picking on that shop by the way, it's the same pretty much everywhere).

Lastly, on the 5-a-day rule for fruit and veggies, I would always be wary of that kind of advice because it's usually a trade off between what's best and what the experts think the general population might actually agree to. I personally think 5 portions a day is too little for the average person, and certaintly I personally will put away about 3/4 portions of fruit and about a kilo of veg per day. I'm also aware that the micronutrient content of fruits & veggies (even organic ones) these days is poor compared to 100 years ago, for example. Given that, and the demanding nature of sports & resistance training, I would say that a good multi-vitamin is essential even with a good balanced diet. Personally, I found that I got run-down even while taking censtrum multi-vits (i.e.100% RDAs weren't enough) and didn't notice improvement until I took a different brand that had loads of everything in it. I'm still looking for one that doesn't stack competing vitamins and minerals into the same capsules but in the mean-time this one (Sona) is doing me ok.
I believe multi-vitamin supplements to be the single most important weightlifting supplement to a good diet.

Man! - I ramble alot!

joejoem

t-ha wrote:

Man! - I ramble alot!

I have never noticed :v:

g'em

t-ha wrote:

Lastly, on the 5-a-day rule for fruit and veggies, I would always be wary of that kind of advice because it's usually a trade off between what's best and what the experts think the general population might actually agree to.

I couldn't agree more. But then given that many diets we see posted up here are seriously lacking in fruit and veg, its a good place to start. Personally fruit and veg make up a huge portion of my diet- big salads for dinner, fruit for snacks and desserts.. but i also have to keep in mind calorie intake. And so from that pov I always make sure that even my reduced calorie intake always has at least 5 f&v a day. But the simple fact is is that plenty of people still don't get it that those portions are really important in a daily diet.

And I'm equally wary about multivitamins. More people are seeing them as a quick-fix to dietary deficiencies which are easily remedied by good diet. Not forgetting that many minerals in them are toxic at high dosages, many people are just overly reliant on them as their main source of vitamins and minerals. I don't take a multivit, I take calcium, magnesium and zinc tablets (a bit like ZMA but with added Ca to aid Mg absorbtion) and Vit C, because after taking a look at my diet and scrutinising it, I know that those are the nutrients I'm probably lacking in, and are most needed for my training needs.

t-ha wrote:

Man! - I ramble alot!

not nearly as much as me dude, consider yourself lucky

hardtrainer

Great thread so far, thanks to gem for getting it going.

I agree with most of what has been said so far, but there are a few things that I want to give my €0.02 on.

Firstly,
Where tuna is concerned, go for chunks, it has a lower mercury content (important if like me you eat LOTS of tuna). As for adding flavour, ketchup, mayonnaise, cottage cheese, anything really. I know a lot of people seem to avoid mayonnaise which is strange since it is predominantly olive oil. I make my own in a blender, it's very tasty and it keeps for a few weeks in the fridge.

As for the potatos, boiled or grilled potatoes are not only a good source of good carbs, they also have more vitamin C than oranges by weight. Don't underestimate the humble potato, it kept millions of us alive for the last few centuries and despite what the marketing men might have you believe, it's really no better or worse than brown pasta or rice, so long as it's cooked properly (i.e. not boiled to death until it's falling apart).

Fruits and veg, yes very important as has been said, but the reality is that most of us don't eat nearly enough. I tend to eat more veg and only eat fruit occasionally but it really doesn't matter where you get the quota from, so long as you get plenty of it.
In response to T-ha, I don't agree with your assertion that all veg nowadays, including organics, lack the majority of the benefits of the veg 100 years ago, thats simply not true. If anything, the quality of veg has improved, in particular the snap frozen stuff (you are actually getting pretty much every ounce of goodness from these guys, again so long as you don't boil them to death). The problem with fresh veg today is that the supermarkets tend to have not only a very poor selection, but cheap imported veg from spain, which has been sitting in cool storage to stop it going over. If you buy direct from the farmer (farmers markets/ organic/gourmet market etc) you will get a top notch product. You will pay more for it, but then thats the trade off. As for multivits, they have their place, but they are not ideal at all.
I certainly do not agree that one needs a multivit in addition to a healthy and balanced diet, thats simply not true. Taking 100% RDAs in pill form can actually do more harm than good. Many vitamins are bioactive chemicals that interact in a wide range of physiological processes, you CAN overdose on them (vit A overdose is surprisingly common and can lead a range of health problems).

t-ha

hardtrainer wrote:

In response to T-ha, I don't agree with your assertion that all veg nowadays, including organics, lack the majority of the benefits of the veg 100 years ago, thats simply not true.

I didn't say they had lost the majority of their benefits, only that they had lost some.

The following is taken from the introduction of A-M Mayer,1997,Historical changes in the mineral content of fruits and vegetables,British Food Journal,99/6, pp. 207–211;
The eight minerals that are usually analysed are Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe, Cu, Zn. A comparison of the mineral content of 20 fruits and 20 vegetables grown in the 1930s and the 1980s (published in the UK Government’s Composition of Foodstables) shows that there are statistically significant reductions in the levels of Ca, Mg, Cu and Na in vegetables and Mg, Fe, Cu and K in fruit. The only mineral that showed no significant differences over the 50 year period was P. The water content increased significantly and dry matter decreased significantly in fruit.

The USDA's nutrient databases are also in the public domain and, although the USDA has not officially commented on it, show consistent reductions in the mineral and vitamin content of most American fruit and veg. Their 2000 report is here although you need to specifically order the actual datasets. I hate to use whacky websites for sources but since I don't have the original datasets I have no choice. The comparisons show some large variations, and almost constant reductions of mineral and vitamin content of a variety of foods.

The Danish Food & Vetinary Administration have concluded that there is no reduction in minerals, however their examinations are done over a limited period (1983 - 1999), and they also describe 10 - 20% changes as insignificant. Over the limited time-period involved, and particularly since all samples are taken during periods of intensive agriculture (i.e. no comparison to 1950s samples or earlier), I would not consider those size of margins to be insignificant. I would have the same issue with the report by the Food Standards of Australia and New Zealand's report into variations in australian produce from 1980 to 2000.

hardtrainer wrote:

If anything, the quality of veg has improved,

Not picking a fight here, and I'm always open to adjusting my opinions when shown new evidence, but if you could quote your source for that I'ld appreciate it.

hardtrainer wrote:

As for multivits, they have their place, but they are not ideal at all.

Agreed, and I would never use them to replace healthy food options.

hardtrainer wrote:

I certainly do not agree that one needs a multivit in addition to a healthy and balanced diet, thats simply not true. Taking 100% RDAs in pill form can actually do more harm than good.

I specifically stated that that was for some-one involved in a highly physically demanding lifestyle. Like I said, I put away more fresh fruit & veg than anyone else I know, yet still got run-down with typical symptoms of vit & min deficiencies due to my training load. It's also worth pointing out that RDA% are levels that are determined as the minimum amount of micronutrients required for the 'typical' 2,000/2,500 kcal day adult to avoid symptoms of deficiency, it is not a ceiling that you cannot exceed. I am involved in a heavy resistance programme and am therefore in a constant state of recovery and my requirements are not in line with typical guidelines (vitamins, minerals or calories). Again if you could post your sources for stating that taking 100%RDA in pill form does more harm than good I would appreciate it.

hardtrainer wrote:

Many vitamins are bioactive chemicals that interact in a wide range of physiological processes, you CAN overdose on them (vit A overdose is surprisingly common and can lead a range of health problems).

Specifically I guess you're referring to preformed vitamin A - of which the current European Scientific Commitee on Foods current recommendation is that a normal adult male or female does not exceed 3g/day (that's 3,750%RDA). The levels found by USAID, who advise on micronutrient issues with regards all US aid programmes, to actually cause toxicity are huge (I mean you would need to sit at home all day popping multi-vits to come close). So again, if cases are surprisingly common, could you quote your source.

For me, the proof of the pie is in the eating. Before - felt crap. Now - feel good. That's the bottom line for me.

replytohere2004

slicus ricus wrote:

Great post g'em- cant really add to that!!

While we're on the subject of food: Does anyone have any ideas of what to add to tinned tuna to create a bit of flavour - i can't stand the brine or the sunflower oil it comes in so i have to drain it completely to get rid of it. As a result, i find tuna extremely bland and consider it a bit of chore to eat it; and as g'em pointed out, eating shouldn't be a chore!

Any ideas for a healthy sauce or herbs that go with tuna would be greatly appreciated.

I eat tuna with capers and sweetcorn.(I heat the tuna in a pan first with some black pepper, no oil)
And about 100g Uncle Ben's Express Rice - takes 2 mins in microwave(Lemon and Rosemary - Per 100g Engery 156kcal/Protein 3.2g/Carbo 31.4g(Sugars 0.3)Fat 2.0g)
Very quick and tasty!

Sleepy

For tuna: add a bit of lime juice and black pepper.

Seraphina

tuna - yuck!!
unfortunately i have had bad eating habits for years, and simply dislike many foods which are good for me. i've been trying to change gradually, but my body isn't ready to accept it yet. a simple fruit salad had me retching a few weeks back, i just couldn't eat it!
my veg intake is also disgustingly bad, any recommendations for making it easier on me?
does anyone know if those knorr 'vie' shots i think it is, are any good? ads claim they have all your fruit and veg needs! i would obviously be wary of this, but for someone having great difficulty upping their veg intake, would they be a good place to start?
i'm very annoyed i didn't manage to develop a taste for veg when i was younger, and i eat practically no salads. its a pity because they're really something i wish i could enjoy

g'em

just another tip I thought of..

boil your brown rice in water with a vegetable/ chicken stick cube in it to give the rice a hint of a taste...

Lothaar

Seraphina wrote:

my veg intake is also disgustingly bad, any recommendations for making it easier on me?

Cook spag bol, shepherd's pie, curry, stew... anything with a nice sauce. Blend up LOADS of veg and throw them in from the start. You won't taste any of the veg, but the sauce will be kinda thick.
My gf was fed meals like this when she was growing up cos she never ate her veg. Now that I have a daughter, we're cooking most of our meals in this way and she is getting tons of veg. And, because we can't taste the veg, we can put in a huge variety, even things we don't like.

Sleepy

Great idea Lothaar!

I've been trying to come up with ways of varying my diet since I started trying to eat 'clean' (endless salads and stir-frys were beginning to drive me nuts). Thanks for the tip, gonna try it out tonight!

Lothaar

No worries. I'll get my gf's recipe for spag bol and post it up here in the next few days (if I remember!). It's delicious, nutritious and you can cook a vat of the stuff in one go. That's what we do. We get enough for three people for three days, and freeze the rest (also enough for three people for three days). Then we just have to cook the pasta (wholewheat) when we get home from work.

celestial

g'em wrote: »

Short anwer- good! a great source of carbs, but try and eat new potatoes if possible. Don't make them the basis of your meal, only let them count for about 25% of it. And needless to say, leave the salt, butter and sauces alone!! Sweet potatoes are great in that you really don't have to add anything to them as they're so naturally yummy, but have a moderate GI so don't use them all the time- use plain new potatoes or wholemeal pasta and brown rice to form the mainstay of your meal carb supply.

Mmm, New potatoes with fresh butter melting on em... - DE-LICIOUS