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Food

Why eating ‘healthy’ or ‘clean’ won’t get you the results you want

OperationMove · February 11, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Mixed salad leaves with berries, avocado and honey-mustard dressing

“I eat so healthy”, she says.

And it’s true, she does.

About 5 years and 40kg ago, I would have been confused too.

The problem with ‘healthy’ and ‘clean’ eating

The first problem is the fact that these are words that don’t really mean anything, like ‘natural’. What is healthy food, anyway? What’s good for one person, isn’t going to be good for another person.

Personally, I have an issue with the idea of ‘clean’ eating just because it positions itself in a place of moral superiority (or seems to). If one thing is clean, then the other thing is dirty, right?

Okay, so even if I play the game and we put the food we are talking about into the ‘unprocessed’ category of food, or at least less processed – which will probably include meat, fish, vegetables, fruits but then I guess dairy, oils and grains are probably a grey area.

It’s not specific. So it’s hard to know if you are doing it, or not doing it, because it’s just so abstract.

 

Why a style of eating won’t get you to your goals

 

While not all people come in with the same goals, most of the time they can be boiled down to a few things:

  • Better fueling/energy/performance for life or fitness
  • Improvement in body composition

And that’s the problem. The basis of any goal is finding the right energy balance, which at a base level is you getting enough energy, but not getting more than you need or less than you need.

No style of eating is going to help you with that.

If you want to lose fat, you need to be in a calorie deficit.

If you want to maximise performance, you need to be eating to a calorie maintenance.

A style of eating can definitely help to support either of those goals, by making them easier to maintain, but that is it.

Once you’ve got your energy balance locked down, then you can start making sure your macro nutrients (protein, fats, carbohydrates) support your muscle mass, your activity and your hormones and that you are geeting enough micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to support your body as well.

 

The truth is, without tracking it you won’t know

I really believed I was eating a ‘healthy’, fairly balanced diet until my nutrition coach got me to track my food for two weeks without making any attempt at a behaviour change.

And that was an eye opener. Not only was I mindlessly eating a whole lot more than I thought, I was probably getting about half the protein we would ultimately be aiming for or less.

You think you know, until you write it down.

 

But there are things you can start with, even if you don’t want to track that are more beneficial than trying to eat ‘healthy’.

 

There are plenty of reasons why you might not want to track your food. Maybe it feeds into a disordered pattern that isn’t helpful, maybe you have other priorities right now, but whatever it is there are a few things you can do.

 

  •  Sit down to eat without your phone and without a device or watching TV. This is a whole lot harder than it sounds.
  •  Use some simple portion sizes for your meals (like making sure you are having a palm size serving of protein at every meal for women and two for men)
  •  Try adding in more vegetables to every meal
  •  Just drink more water

 

Marketing hype has sold us the idea that fat loss and performance is linked to a particular style, but it’s not true.

 

How often have you head that the secret to instant fat loss is keto or paleo or low carb or zero sugar or whatever the flavour of the week is? I’m betting a lot. And it’s attractive right, because nutrition is hard and someone is promising you a magic bullet. But the truth is, if your goal is fat loss everything works exactly the same way calorie deficit.

And a certain style of eating is definitely going to help you with that. In a fat loss phase I might start off having around 180g of carbohydrates per day (protein and fat stay pretty much constant because they are needed to maintain muscle and regulate hormones). If I’m eating calorie dense foods I’m going to run out of food for the day pretty quickly and I’m going to be starving.

I could eat a packet of chips with 50g carbohydrates and 20g fat which will keep me full for about 5 minutes, or I could have a huge bowl of tofu and vegetables with buckwheat noodles.

One of those things is more sustainable than the other.

But, I could also easily over-eat any ‘healthy’ or unprocessed food and gain weight on any style of eating too.

 

Match your eating to your goals, not the hype

 

You know how it’s often assumed that if you are thinner you must be healthier? This is the same thing. It might be ‘healthy’, but it also might not get you anywhere near where you want to go.

 

 

 

Day on a Plate (the Macro Version)

Zoey · November 16, 2017 · 1 Comment

You might not know this but I have logged almost everything I’ve eaten since February. It sounds like it would drive you absolutely bonkers, doesn’t it? But the truth is, I got used to it. And writing it down everyday I no longer really attach moral values of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ to what I eat on a given day. Some days are more in line with my goals for sure, but I’m just less emotionally affected by one particular day. One of the questions I got asked when I started this blog every day in November business was what I ate and why I ate it.

So I’ve decided to do a day where I do multiple workouts because that’s probably more typical than any other kind of day!

4am: Alarm goes off. I KNOW. I’m also really used to this and I was in bed at 9pm. I have overnight oats, pretty much as soon as I get up. (27g carbs, 7g fat, 12g protein). The priority here is to top up my carb levels before my workout. I like the overnight oats because it is super quick first thing in the morning and I don’t have to prepare anything. For pre-workout carbs I find that oats sits really well in my tummy too.

4:30am I’m on my way to Crossfit now and I’m drinking a pre-workout drink. I have about a half serve of True Protein‘s pre-workout.  It is basically amino acids and caffeine. The caffeine is a bonus, but the amino acids are there to help me build muscle when I get to my session. (7g protein)

5-6am: Crossfit Workout.

6:00am: Post-Workout drink. I get True Protein’s lean post-workout. The priority is to have protein immediately after the session to facilitate recovery and muscle repair. (31g protein, 3g carbs)

6:15am: Go for a run. As this is on a Crossfit day it would usually be an easy paced run.

6:45am: Bulk Nutrients BCAA recovery drink with added electrolytes. Again this is just to aid recovery and rehydration. (12g protein)

7:30am: Get home and have breakfast. Second breakfast is the best. It might be porridge from rolled oats and honey (25g carbohydrates, 3g fat, 3g protein). The aim here is to eat breakfast within 90 minutes of finishing my run. I’d follow that up with a cup of coffee. My preference is for Norco Barista Milk because it is delicious (9g carbohydrates, 6g fat, 6g protein)

10:30am: Snack of coconut loaf with butter (8g carbohydrates, 17g fat, 6g protein) and a coffee (9g carbohydrates, 6g fat, 6g protein)

12:30pm: Lunch time! Would usually have a quick stir fry of peas, mushrooms and broccoli (12g carbohydrates, 4g fat, 9g protein) with a 1/2 cup of basmati rice (20g carbohydrates, 3g protein)

2:00pm Pre-workout before weights session (7g protein)

2:15pm – 3:00pm Weights session

3:00pm Two protein balls (6g carbohydrates, 8g fat, 24g protein) and coffee (9g carbohydrates, 6g fat, 6g protein)

6:00pm: Yep, I’m an early eater! Baked potato with cauliflower, garlic and mushrooms fried up with butter. (45g carbohydrates, 4g fat, 8g protein) The priority with this is to have a carbohydrate heavy dinner so my carbohydrate levels are still going to be pretty high the next morning.

7:00pm: Frozen raspberries and peanut butter. I like something a bit sweet after dinner. (10g carbohydrates, 3g fat, 4g protein)

Totals for the day: 183 grams of carbohydrates, 65g fat, 142g protein. 

Coconut Loaf Recipe

Zoey · November 11, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Because I am in the unfortunate predicament of not liking bananas, I not only miss out on a great pre-run (or post-run) snack, I also miss out on Banana Bread. Which basically seems like it’s cake with butter on it and that seems extremely disappointing.

Which is why I was pleased to come across this recipe. You can use it to make a loaf, or make muffins.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
6 eggs
110g melted butter
2 tbsp honey

How to make it:

Sift the coconut flour and the baking powder together. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, butter and honey. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and let sit for 5 minutes to allow the coconut flour to absorb the wet mixture.

Put into a greased and lined loaf tin, or make muffins (if you can’t find your loaf tin – which is what I did!)

Put in the oven at about 175 degrees, or a bit less if you have a fan forced oven. 40 minutes for the loaf. About 20 for the muffins

Enjoy!

And now your are no longer left out of the buttered cake party.

Why Nutrition is So Much Harder than Running

Zoey · November 5, 2017 · 1 Comment

Why is it that so many people find it so much harder to create habits to support nutrition, than they do for running. Don’t get me wrong, there is a reason why this isn’t called why running is so much easier than nutrition. Because it’s not easy, it’s bloody hard sometimes. Particularly in the beginning when you feel like a great thundering beast being slowly crushed into the ground through a combination of gravity and dying. It’s not easy. But it’s not as hard as nutrition for most people.

Going for a run, you might have to play the mental chess game. I will go. I’m not going. I can go tomorrow. Tomorrow you will just put it off again. You can go now. If you go now, I’ll buy you coffee afterwards. You get the idea. BUT it is only one part of your day and once it’s done it’s DONE. Nutrition on the other day is 24 hours a day and it’s so much harder to maintain focus for that amount of time. Have you ever noticed how you stick to whatever your nutrition plan is and then at the end of the day the mental effort has worn you done so you have a big slice of cake? That’s called decision fatigue. You’ve made so many choices about your nutrition all day, that you literally run out of will power at the end of the day. It’s also why they have chocolate in the check out aisle at the supermarket. Because you’ve exhausted yourself making all the decisions about your shop, so that snickers bar and that bottle of coke end up in your trolley at the end.

What I’ve discovered over the last year of really working on my nutrition is that preparation is EVERYTHING. A great week in running and in nutrition is built on the back of what I do on Sunday.

So this morning I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls (slight variation from this recipe in that I left out the coconut flour and the cranberries and I used 1/4 cup of peanut butter instead of a 1/2 cup. You can play around with protein ball recipes because they are pretty forgiving. And I figured this way I would end up with something that was relatively high in protein, low in fat and without much added carbohydrates (so I can eat my carbohydrates in more delicious ways)

Next week I get back to a bit more of a normal week. Races are cool and all, but way too much resting and eating involved! So normal week means food prep and for me, I’ve got my go to breakfast of yoghurt and berries and muesli and I’m usually good to throw together a stir fry for lunch which makes enough for my dinner but snacks are the bit I need to have on hand. I’m a grazer, so it’s unusual for me to go they long without eating, so having snacks at the ready is a good way to make sure my nutrition stays on track. Protein Balls, done ✅ Baked custard is in the oven ✅ Who else is getting ready for an awesome week?

A post shared by Zoey Dowling (@opmove) on Oct 21, 2017 at 6:31pm PDT

I also made overnight oats. For this one I added in frozen cherries instead of raspberries. You are probably noticing a trend here. I love recipes that I can play around with. So I’m sticking with what works for me, but I can change up the flavours so even though I am essentially eating the same thing, I don’t get bored of it because I’m always trying it different ways.

Made up some overnight oats last night to help me with busy mornings, which are aplenty around here! I mixed: 1 cup of rolled oats 1 cup of macadamia milk 1 cup frozen raspberries 4 tablespoons of peanut butter 2/3 cup Greek yoghurt And that made 4 servings. Had it for breakfast, and it was yum! Now I just have to wait for the coffee 😉

A post shared by Zoey Dowling (@opmove) on Oct 23, 2017 at 1:49pm PDT

And I made Chocolate Cherry Baked Custard. This is a recipe I’ve been playing around with for awhile.

I blend:

4 eggs
250g greek yoghurt
60g chocolate protein powder (you can ditch this if you like!)
1/4 cup cocoa

Then divide evenly between four ramekins and add in 1 cup of fruit of your choice (I tend to use raspberries or cherries). Sometimes if I want a smoother consistency, I’ll blend in the fruit and that works just as well.

Put your ramkeins in a water bath in the oven at about 170 degrees for 30 minutes. Because my oven is fan forced and over-enthusiastic I only need to have it at 150 degrees. The only tricky part about this recipe is not over-cooking them. It’s really easy for them to get rubbery and dry if you do, so it’s a great idea to take them out even a teensy bit before you are done.

I like them both warm and cold (really easy to reheat in the microwave if you like them warm) and tend to serve with a bit of yoghurt and fruit on top.

And really that preparation only took me maybe an hour. I was a bit longer in the kitchen today because the kids have a cupcake decorating competition on Wednesday and in the interest of my sanity I decided to make the cupcakes today so all we have to do on Tuesday is decorate them. But I ended up with 4 batches of overnight oats (1 for every day next week that I have an early start), 12 protein balls and 4 custards. And that’s a whole lot of decision making about breakfasts and snacks that I don’t have to make during the week.

The other thing that I do at the beginning of the day is I go and work out what I’m eating for that day. I know this sounds laborious. But it’s just another step that cuts out my decision making processes later in the day.

Once you are into the swing of having a food prep day it can be pretty fun, and something that you look forward to at the end of the week. It gives you a chance to try out new things and make it a priority to be looking after yourself during the week, even when you get busy. And on Monday night after you’ve just dragged yourself through the marathon that is child swimming lessons and you get home and open the fridge to find that baked custard waiting for you, it’s nice to know that someone was looking out for you.

Breakfast when you don’t have time for breakfast: Overnight Oats

Zoey · November 4, 2017 · Leave a Comment

I admit, I came late to the overnight oats party – but now it is one of my favourite things. Especially as I’m often heading out at a ridiculous early hour of the morning for a workout or a run – having something that is good to go and doesn’t require any cooking is a pretty awesome thing.

And this is super easy to make:

Mix:

1 cup of rolled oats

1 cup of macadamia milk (or any milk you like)

1 cup frozen raspberries (or frozen cherries)

2/3 cup of greek yoghurt

60g of peanut butter

 

And then pop your mixture into four ramekins or jars and put in the fridge.

That’s it! So easy. You can swap out the fruit for anything you prefer (and same goes for the type of milk you like) and the peanut butter is optional, but I highly recommend it anyway.

 

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