A common mantra in the bodybuilding community is that you can't out-train a poor diet. Whilst we're not bodybuilders, our focus is on healthy living which includes healthy eating. Therefore we can learn from those who have developed nutritional-systems that most benefit our health physically and mentally (that's right, what we eat also impacts upon our mental/emotional well-being). Healthy eating is simply this:
→ Some 80-90% of your food should be organic
→ Your food groups should include fruit, vegetables, carbohydrates, dairy, fats and protein
→ Eat till you're satiated
Personally I think most lifters in my age group will already be aware of what a healthy diet is, give or take. After all, we've been around long enough over several decades and watched with growing concern the increase in fast-food consumption, obesity, laziness and lack of physical application. It isn't an exaggeration when people say that young people are less active than prior generations -- of course they're less active when one of the drivers in society is comfort. We've become obsessed with being comfortable and remaining within said comfort zones.
I've also heard it recommended to those of us who are 50+ that having a daily multi-vitamin is a good idea. I'm half-half on this myself. It's a good idea if you're not getting the necessary vitamins, minerals and nutrients in your daily diet, but adding these on top-of can throw things out of whack. It's all about balance and too much of a good thing can be just as bad in the long run as too much of a bad thing. Consult with your doctor. Do some online research. Get a tattoo.
Remember, those health companies selling this shit are exactly that: companies.
...not charities.
△ SOME 80-90% OF YOUR FOOD SHOULD BE ORGANIC
My definition for organic means grown. We can't fib a kumara (sweet potato) or at least, not yet; the only way we can "make" kumara is to plant and harvest them. Thus they are organic. Same with meats: we can't develop something in a lab and pass it off as meat though apparently that's changing. Worse, some people welcome such change. Regardless, make the majority of your foods -- my recommendation of roundabout 80-90% is a good standard to aim for -- organic aka real.
That's right across the board too: milk, cheese, butter, carbs, seafood etcetera all need to actually be real. Reading that now it seems not only painstakingly obvious but a ridiculous thing to even have to state, yet so much of our food is made by companies who are profit-driven, not health-driven (especially if the latter cuts into their profits). Cutting corners or only publishing the "good press" is standard. It's up to us as consumers to know better so as to choose better. This drives change.
Lastly, learn to read labels, even if you only understand half of what's going on. Here's a pointer: if your yoghurt has all sorts of shit in it you can't even pronounce, know that only the dairy is real whilst everything else isn't. Could be time to switch yoghurts. Sauces, gravies, spreads, cereals and their ilk can often contain more unhealthy things than we realise. Especially sugar. We're all so concerned about salt we forget the large amounts of sugar and/or artificial sweeteners in things from canned spaghetti to cereals to breads making us fatter.
△ YOUR FOOD GROUPS SHOULD INCLUDE FRUITS, VEGES, CARBS, DAIRY, FATS AND PROTEIN
Nutritionist's use the word "serving" which here in New Zealand means a handful. So a serving for a child will differ to a serving for an adult, simply because of hand size. No, I'm not making this up. What that means is both the child and the adult pretty much get the right amount for themselves though, which is what we want. With this in mind, when you read a recommended daily amount of, say, three servings you can now get a real-time picture of this by looking at your cupped hand (not heaped either).
Fruit and vegetables
You should be having roundabout 5+ servings a day, with two of those being fruit and three of those being vegetables. If you're one of these smoothie-making junkies you may well be getting all your servings through that. No, the hand of God will not strike you dead if you have less some days or more; just know it's the ideal to be aiming for -- most health advisers would push for more. Don't forget to include dried fruit in this (I'm addicted to dried apricots big time).
Try to eat a rainbow of colours if you can. Basically these different colours give us different vitamins and minerals we need, in order to keep healthy. Fruit fibre is great for filling us up, keeping our insides healthy, ensuring regular toilet-stops and healthy stool. If you ever find yourself having to push when taking a dump, the general consensus is you need more fibre in your diet. Or water. Drink lots of water but don't force yourself too. Just make it your main, go-to thirst quencher. A litre per day is the minimum.
It's the green, leafy vegetables -- think spinach or kale -- that are the top, super healthy vegetables but if you don't like them, then you don't like them. You can use other sources and as long as you're pretty much scoring close to or at the afore-mentioned ideal, then I think you're doing okay. I had a relative who smoked since a child, drank a cup of fat per day, enjoyed 2-3 daily beers and either a whiskey or brandy at night and he passed away in his 90s. Go figure.
Carbohydrates
When we get hungry it's our body's way of telling us we're running low on energy: food equals energy and carbohydrates are our main "fuel" for energy. The human body is ruthless in that when we run low on food-slash-energy, it will automatically channel whatever's available to the internal organs and brain first.
Starving people become physically withered precisely because our bodies are designed to cannibalize muscle as a food-slash-energy source till finally, even internal organs fall prey to this process of protecting the brain. Like the song says, whatever bubbles, bubbles up.
Now fruit and vegetables can also contain carbohydrates and thus, some will fall under the carb banner as well. An example of foods high in carbohydrates are bread, cereals, oats, rice, pasta, spaghetti, noodles, couscous, grainy crackers, potato, pumpkin, kumara, taro the list goes on. Food-types whose carbs are quickly absorbed then used by the body are referred to as fast-releasing carbs, like bread. Food-types whose carbs are slowly absorbed over time are referred to as slow-releasing carbs, like pasta.
This isn't much of a concern for us though long-distance runners and certain athletes swear on eating slow-releasing carbs the night before their event for increased energy levels the following day. I'm assuming they know what they're talking about. I've no idea as I'm neither. Bodybuilders often say eating your main carbs straight after a work-out is good for the body as its energy-depleted, plus the body will consume said food source optimally. Isn't that fucking great?
Seems as I work out in the morning, that won't work for me.
We should be eating roundabout six servings of carbs per day -- remember, they're found in a broad range of food-types, so that's a plus. Again, six is the ideal. What you want to do is combine benefits when able; for example, if you enjoy eating lots of bread then eat more wholegrain as this provides more fibre, fills you up quicker, is better for your insides and yep, helps your stool. Ideally you want to aim for carbohydrates low in sugars but I don't get too caught up in it. Humans have been eating sugars (via fruit) since Adam was a boy and we're still here.
Dairy
This means milk, yoghurt, cheese and butter of which 3+ servings per day is the recommendation (this may differ if you live elsewhere). The calcium in the likes of milk is good for teeth and bones at all ages, whilst the protein content found in these builds muscle, fills you up quicker -- as all protein dominant foods will -- and helps you grow. That's right, people in countries whose access to protein or whose cultural norms don't include much if any protein, are always of smaller physical stature. That's something to think about.
In New Zealand we have a broad range of milk, some of which is enriched with this vitamin or that benefit, but most of us need to stick with normal milk. Anchor milk is one of our largest brands and their normal milks are blue top, light blue top and green top which refers to the actual colour of the lid-tops of each milk container. The blue top is higher in saturated fats than the light blue and seems as I hate green top -- watery trim milk puke -- our family has light blue. I don't care if trim milk is better for me but you might.
Fats and protein
Our bodies need fat, period. So go with healthy fats like avocados, nuts, seeds, fish, some fish or olive oil, you get the idea. The internet is full of quality articles about these, so having 1-2 servings a day of these is beneficial. Same for protein: 1-2 servings per day is the ideal amount though some will have more, some will have less -- I tend to have 3-4 servings daily such as egg, chicken and peanut butter. Proteins include lean meats, chicken, fish, seafood, eggs, beans, tofu, chickpeas, lentils, legumes, nuts, seeds the list goes on.
Again, think in terms of combining benefits: fish has healthy fat and contains protein. Have fish at least once a week. Beans contain protein as well as fibre (refer above for the benefits of fibre), so throw beans into your mince meals, tacos and nachos. Proteins are essential for muscle growth and all over physical development. They're also more filling so if you're hungry by 9am, maybe you should skip the fruit and cereal and have an omelette for breakfast (breaking-the-fast over the night) instead. Give it a go.
△ EAT TILL YOUR SATIATED
Eat till you're sated i.e. full. It sounds obvious but as someone who regularly over-ate, I was surprised when I ate less to find I was still sated. It was okay. Waiting a minimum ten minutes at the end of a meal is a good way to ascertain whether you're still hungry -- some dieticians recommend waiting at least half an hour but not many of us can afford that sort of time. Bigger people will eat more and I don't mean fatter; someone whose 6"4 and over 220-pounds will usually eat more than someone whose 5"11 and 180-pounds. That's just reality due to physical energy demands.
The only beef I'd have about eating before bed-time is that your body may keep you awake because it's digesting food -- or, once asleep, you may not have the regular deep sleep you require because your body is digesting food. I'm not talking about your dinner here either, I'm talking about that late night "snack" after 9:30pm when you're starting to get the munchies. Remember too that your body uses food/energy to do stuff, so if you eat and don't do, instead you hit the sack, that unused energy may well be stored (as fat) for later use.
...or not.
A good way to see if eating before bed works for you or not is to spend 4-6wks where you just don't. Record you weekly weight, waistline and sleep patterns. Did you sleep better, normal or worse? Did you lose weight or stay the same? Make sure your daily routines are normal because stress and a surge in social outings will obviously have a negative effect and fuck up your readings. If the evidence is against late-night eating, go with the evidence. If it isn't then do your thing. Check out Cardio basics for the other side of keeping in shape.
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