Working out is only part of the fitness solution. In fact, it's arguably not even the most important part of it.
So what's the most important part? Answer: your diet.
As I explain in my 6 mantras to keep in mind when working out, 'getting fit' is like fine-tuning a car. For some, the most important part of the process is improving the car's speed, for some it's making upgrades to the body work. In both cases, neither of these goals can be achieved without the right tools.
The tools are your diet. Without the right amount of calories, protein, carbohydrates, fats, fibre, vitamins, minerals, and water, working out is only going to get you so far.
In this third part of the 'Build Your Ideal Diet' series, I will show you which foods you should be including in your diet.
Before you continue, I would recommend reading both part 1: Estimating You Energy Needs, and part 2: Calculating Your Macronutrients.
The Eatwell Guide
In 1991, a report written for the UK Government entitled 'Dietary Reference Values for Food Energy and Nutrients for the United Kingdom', commonly known as Report 41, outlined the ideal intake of essential nutrients for all age groups and genders. This report led to the development of the Eatwell Guide which has since been revisited and updated in line with population trends.
The Eatwell Guide gives recommended daily intake estimates for each food group based on foods commonly consumed by the British public. To summarise, the rough estimates are as follows:
Fruits and vegetables – 1/3
Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates – 1/3
Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins – 1/5
Dairy, dairy alternatives, oils, spreads and other fats – 1/5
Guidelines for water (6–8 glasses/day) and high fat, salt and sugar foods (eat less often and in small amounts).
A common pitfall
If you read part 2 of this series, you should have your macronutrient numbers already calculated (if not, here's a link to the article).
Now, the trap that's all too easy to fall into here is to begin questioning your macronutrient proportions based on the Eatwell Guide. 'How can my fat allowance be 30–35% of my diet yet the Eatwell Guide says it should only be roughly 1/5 of everything I consume?' I hear you ask.
Well, there are two reasons why:
The percentages we used to calculate your macronutrients were recommended proportions of your estimated energy needs, not the foods you eat every day.
There are very few foods that sit solely within each of the Eatwell Guide food groups. Take eggs for example – although a very good source of protein, they are also quite high in fat.
The second point is especially important as this is what can make balancing macronutrients a particularly laborious task. Thankfully though, there are tools that make tracking your macronutrient intake far easier than ever before (as you'll see at the end of this article).
Translating the Eatwell Guide into your macronutrients
With the help of the Eatwell Guide, we're now ready to start selecting foods for your macronutrients. For ease of use, I will run through each macronutrient and highlight some of the healthiest food you can choose from.
Carbohydrates
Healthiest options: wholewheat pasta, wholegrain bread, wholegrain rice, porridge oats, wholegrain cereals, potatoes, sweet potatoes, various fruits and vegetables
As the Eatwell Guide states, your carbohydrates should mostly consist of starchy foods. Unlike refined carbohydrates, i.e. sugars, which are immediate sources of glucose, starchy carbohydrates slowly release glucose when they are digested. This provides you with a more consistent, constant source of energy that is far more beneficial to your health and wellbeing than the peaks and troughs in blood sugar levels seen with refined sugars.
When choosing your starchy carbohydrates, the healthiest options you can get are wholegrain, wholewheat or wholemeal versions. These options contain a lot more bang for your buck in terms of essential vitamins (namely B and E vitamins), proteins, fats and fibre than non-wholegrain versions.
Regarding fruits and vegetables, a simple rule is 'the more, the better'. That is because they play host to a vast range of essential micronutrients and fibre which are beneficial to health and wellbeing.
One thing to note though, some fruits and vegetables are considered starchy while some are not. Both types can play a beneficial role in your diet so it is advisable to include a mixture of the two, rather than favouring one over the other. Here's an article with more information on starchy vs non-starchy vegetables.
Proteins
Healthiest options: lean meats (chicken, turkey, pork medallions), fish, beans, lentils, pulses, chickpeas, eggs, nuts, cottage cheese
For meat-eaters, lean meats like chicken, turkey or pork medallions are preferable to fattier alternatives (e.g. bacon) as they will give you a 'cleaner' source of protein. Eggs and cottage cheese are also very high in protein, the former being an even cleaner source of protein if you only consume the egg whites (I would advise against this though as egg yolks house a lot of healthy nutrients).
Beans and pulses are very good sources of protein, particularly for vegetarians and vegans, although they also come with a dose of carbohydrates. With regards to obtaining the cleanest protein, edamame (soybeans) have the most favourable profile within this food group with slightly more protein than any other macronutrient. Lentils, white beans, split peas and pinto beans also provide a good amount of protein.
As an alternative to the raw ingredients, you can always opt for tofu (soy bean curd) or tempeh (fermented whole soybeans) which both provide roughly twice as much protein as fat, and very little carbohydrate.
Nuts are good sources of protein, but, similar to beans and pulses, come with additional macronutrients – this time fat. Peanuts, almonds and brazil nuts are your best bet for high amounts of protein.
Fats
Healthiest options: nuts, seeds, organic/natural nut butters, avocados, oily fish, milks, cheeses, natural yoghurt, olive oil
For years, fats have been given a bad rap as they've been linked with multiple health issues. However, fats are now broadly considered to be either 'good' or 'bad' fats. It is the 'good' fats you should be choosing for your diet which come in the form of both saturated (tend to be solid at room temperature) and unsaturated (tend to be liquid at room temperature) fats.
Saturated fats can be found in various dairy products, non-lean meats and some oils, like coconut or palm oil. The amount of energy you get from saturated fats per day should be limited to 11% of your overall daily caloric needs. Visit part 2 of this series for help calculating this.
Unsaturated fats can be found in nuts, seeds, avocados, fatty fish, nut butters, and vegetable and olive oils.
The fats you really need to look out for are trans fats. These are artificially-created fats found in ready meals and fried foods. These types of fats can damage your health and subsequently, the recommended daily intake of trans fats is just 2% of your estimated energy needs. Rather than see this as a target though, it's best to avoid them altogether!
Tracking your macronutrient intake
So at this point, you should have some idea as to what foods you are going to include in your diet. But how are you going to keep track of what you eat?
Ultimately, the only way to keep track of your diet is by keeping a food diary, with the help of a set of scales.
I know, I know, sounds like a lot of effort right? Well if you are to keep a food diary in the traditional analogue sense then yes, I would agree – it does feel like a lot of effort and will likely be something you stop doing within a few weeks.
However, in the digital age, there are now multiple solutions to make the food diary process a little less painful. Here are of some of the more popular options:
MyFitnessPal (free) – my personal favourite
Noom (free)
Fitocracy Macros (Apple only)
Cronometer (free)
Lose it! (free; weight loss-focused)
Portion control
Whether you do choose to go the analogue or the digital route, you'll need to make note of the amounts of each food you're eating.
As mentioned above, you could use scales to measure exact amounts of each food you eat. This is how I do it, but I appreciate it's not for everyone.
An alternative is to use the very helpful Eat Better guide from the British Heart Foundation. This gives useful information with regards to portion sizes and food substitutions. You can find it here. Another useful document is the British Nutrition Foundation's Find Your Balance booklet, which can be found here.
At this point in the series, you should now have enough information to begin building a healthy diet plan. There are however some final details we need to consider to fill in the gaps, including micronutrient intake, fibre, water and alcohol. If this interests you, please read the fourth and final part in this series: Build Your Ideal Diet: Part 4 – Looking Outside of Macros.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical professional. The information I provide on this website is based on my personal experience and my experience as a Personal Trainer. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. In addition, the information provided on this website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice, or delay in seeking it, because of something you have read on this website. Never rely on information on this website in place of seeking professional medical advice.
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