Being in the health and fitness space for 10 years now, we come across literally thousands of clients and conversations around fat loss and nutrition and hear common trends from people regarding the “magic” foods they think they should be eating to lose fat.
They have usually read an article on facebook or google about “superfoods” like kale, almonds, MCT oil, Apple cider vinegar, magic mushrooms or something – wait what?
But from the outset you need to understand..
THERE ARE NO MAGIC FOODS.
Yes, there are foods that are very high in micronutrient content, and high in fibre etc, however, hear us when we say this – there is no single or a couple of magic foods that are going to achieve all your health, fitness and fat loss goals!
Want to know what a huge focus should be on?
VARIETY!!
One very common mistake is that as humans we like consistency, routine and tend to gravitate towards the same things a lot of the time.
So, a good focus needs to be on incorporating a wide variety of foods in to your weekly nutritional plan.
Think about lots of different colours of foods, make your plate look like a rainbow where you can, or at least across different meals and days.
We find the last majority of clients are under eating vegetables by far!
So start by incorporating more variety of different vegetables in to every day.
Aim to consume at least 3-5 servings of veggies per day.
Then have some berries, again in different colours on a daily basis if you can.
Fruit is amazing as well, green leafy veggies are the shit too.
With protein sources, again variety should be a huge goal, so rotating protein sources each day or meal is a great place to start. Chicken, Fish, eggs, dairy, red meat, white meat, WPI protein powder etc etc
What do you feel best on?
Now, once you nail down the variety side of things, what specific foods does your individual body and digestive system tolerate and feel best on?
This is very individual.
Many people talk about cutting our dairy, gluten, etc.
But the truth is, if you thrive on foods containing these things, and feel great, then there is absolutely no need to cut them out!
As humans we tend to want to project our own values and experiences on to others, so be careful with who you’re listening to when it comes to nutritional choices and finding what is best for you as an individual, so you can enjoy your food each day, stick to the plan and achieve great results.
When it comes to food choices, we recommend taking careful notice of what foods make you feel bloated, lethargic, or potentially reduce your energy levels.
This is very individual so becoming in-tune with your digestion and body is an important skill to develop over time.
Remember this – THIS IS YOUR BODY AND HEALTH JOURNEY! If you do not
prioritise it – no one is going to do it for you. So, take the time and effort to learn about your body and how to fuel and look after it optimally. It is the only one you have! So don’t take it for granted.
Now, if you experience bloating, a good place to start is with FODMAPs
Monash university researched and developed a fantastic structure of highlighting and eliminating certain foods that are likely to cause irritation or digestive issues.
Then, one by one you reintroduce these foods, and take very careful note of what your body agrees with, and what it doesn’t, helping you to build an individualised plan of foods that fuel you to achieve your ultimate health,
performance and fat loss goals!
Here is the link to getting started with FODMAPs
https://www.monashfodmap.com/ibs-central/i-have-ibs/starting-the-low-fodmap-diet/
Bloating is such a common occurrence, but we’ve found many people are unsure of what to do about it, or just not in tune with their body enough to figure the what or why it is happening.
So this process of FODMAPs is by far the best results producing in this area, so we highly recommend you taking the time and effort to work through it and look after your body, health and fat loss goals at a high level.
Your body and mind will most definitely thank you for it!
And remember it’s YOUR body and health, NO ONE is going to do the work for you.
IT’S UP TO YOU!
Hope you enjoyed the insight, keep looking after yourself and enjoying your
journey.
Much Love
Dan.