So I may be a hypocrite,
but once I was blind now I can see
Some personal trainers are all Tupperware boxes, 6 meals a day, chicken rice and broccoli
Dry food, no sauce, no salt, occasionally white fish instead of chicken
Me I don’t really follow that path
I like to eat tasty food, I love brown sauce, occasionally I have a few beers, some vodkas or the odd glass of wine, if there’s chocolate in the house I freeze it to prevent me from going crazy…and I have been called a cheese goblin by a past housemate
I also eat things that aren’t whole foods, might not be 100% organic or totally unprocessed
Shock horror I hear you scream!!
But I’m in good shape, I’m in as good a shape or better than most personal trainers, I know my fitness and strength is up there with most of the Tupperware brigade but I enjoy myself and don’t have to constantly be overly concerned with what I’m eating
And that’s what most of my personal training clients want, that’s what they come to me for…
To lose weight initially, but to be in a place where they can enjoy life, go out for meals, have the odd pint after work AND maintain a healthy lifestyle and keep the weight OFF PERMANENTLY
But every now and again I keep myself in check, I monitor what I eat to see if I’m still on the right path, or if I want to make a little more progress I spend a week or 2 counting calories, recording everything I eat and seeing how I’m getting on
Bad habits creep back in, certain foods appear on the menu more, my portions go up and I’m going through 2 bottles of brown sauce a week (plenty of hidden sugar there)
So recently I went through another maintenance week, I’m trying to drop a little fat and put on a little muscle….which is a difficult process (the holy grail of fitness) and therefore needs to be watched closely…plus its good practice for someone to practise what they preach
As my clients go through this process too, it teaches them what portions equate to in terms of calories, how much you should be eating, what those snacks add up to and how this all affects them in terms of weight gain or loss
Anyhow I love a certain food, that is processed, probably not the best sourced and not the healthiest
Birds eye chicken in breadcrumb
Nothing toooooooooo bad there, uses 100% chicken breast, says its sustainable, no artificial flavourings or preservatives and I’ve always loved the fisherman geezer with the beard on the adverts
However, when plugging my lunch into a calorie counter the other day and guessing the calories of said lunch I was massively under…guess 600 actual 840. Which may not seem much….but its 40% off, which is HUGE when you are trying to lose weight or lose FAT in particular….if you did that across your whole diet youd never get anywhere
Simple lunch of 2 grills, rice and salad with oil and vinegar…seemed high to me
So I checked the content of the grill for the first time (as never thought I needed to with a couple of grills), they are not that big, 2 just about keeps me going for a while
Each one (92g) has 240 calories of which most of that comes from 12g of fat and 18g of carbs per grill, it also has 14g of protein
I know fat and carbs aren’t your enemy…and fat isn’t an issue, when its unprocessed and if that fat isn’t adding calories to a diet you are trying to keep within a certain limit. The same with carbs, they are not the devil when natural sourced complex ones…not sure if its actual wholegrain breadcrumb though here? seems to be a lot of sugar sounding ingredients
Now this means absolutely nothing to anyone that doesn’t know equivalent calories, or their daily limits…but what I WILL explain is how high that number is in comparison to its unprocessed WHOLE food distant cousin the chicken breast fillet
Which I DO have now and again but not from a Tupperware tub
So a normal chicken breast from Sainsbury’s comes in at about 150g, has 2g of fat, 36.2g of protein, 0g carbs and only 163 calories
Now for someone that likes food, has a big appetite and trains a LOT…these numbers are light years apart
This means I can have about 1.5 chicken breast per Birdseye grill …for THE SAME CALORIES…….BOOOOOM
I also get only 3g fat/0g carbs & a whopping 54.3g protein…..BOOM BOOM BOOM
So as much as I preach about eating wholefood for health reasons, more natural products promote greater health, more nutrients, better running bodies and therefore a better running metabolism …which equates to easier weight loss
Its a simple as this….YOU GET TO EAT MORE….AND BE HEALTHIER with whole foods
Feel fuller and get more vital ingredients
WIN WIN
Plus IF plain chicken doesn’t float your boat, you can use dry herbs when cooking which are really low calories or even get yourself some low calorie sauces (as long as you tell me its 100% organic made from scratch)…Worcester sauces, Nandos chilli sauces, mustard, Tabasco, soy sauce any of these are low cal in comparison to getting pre manufactured food
So I’m not going to say I will never eat processed food again…because occasionally I like, as we all do a little comfort food
Just know that eating whole makes a big difference as I’ve pointed out
And to have this 80% of the time will make a huge difference….
Which makes that 20% even more enjoyable
myfitnesspro – personal training in Epping, Theydon Bois, Loughton, Chigwell, Buckhurst Hill, Highams Park, Chingford, Woodford, South Woodford, Grange Hill, Woodford Bridge, Wanstead, Leytonstone, Walthamstow, Stratford, Bow, Mile End, Victoria Park, Canary Wharf, Canning Town, Docklands, E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E8, E9, E10, E11, E14, E15, E17, E18, IG7, IG8, IG9, IG10 and all areas in between.
For fat loss, toning, strength, muscle growth, rehabilitation, nutritional advice and general well-being.
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