Mint Fitness | Brighton Personal Training

Eat like a PREDATOR not like PREY!

Do you start your day with any of the following - toast, bagels, cereals, "healthy muesli", low fat products, fruit smoothies, juices, porridge oats and honey? Its worth considering that all of these will raise insulin levels, shifting these calories towards fat cells rapidly.

Changing your breakfast could drastically improve your health, appearance and longevity. Start the day with a protein, such
as some left over dinner (meat and vegetables) or something like a vegetable omellette. Try something different - like a piece of chicken, a few walnuts and a cup of coffee with a spoonful of double cream. Then consider how this effects your appetite, and feelings of hunger later on in the day.

Many people think is crazy or extreme. It is worth considering that we are not deigned to eat wheat and it is responsible for a whole host of problems (check out out recent Twitter post on 'the wheat belly') Eating bread and wheat products daily isn't good for you and plays havok with weight loss, so its actually quite extreme to eat these foods all the time. All habits can be broken in a fairy short amount of time.

The biggest shift in thinking is that fat doesn't make you fat, and exercise won't make much difference to your waistline if the diet is high in carbs.

A general guideline for healthy eating / fat loss / longevity

Aim for 3-4 meals and base them around protein - chicken, beef, pork, fish, eggs etc. Bulk these meals out with veggies, and have a piece of
fruit (but only one piece per day for fat loss)
Quality meals should leave you feeling satisfied and not craving sugar or stimulants soon afterwards.
The quality of meals is more important than the quantity
Don't be afraid of saturated fat. Its fantastic for cooking - especially coconut oil, goose fat, lard. Fat doesn't make you fat.
Reduce / Eliminate any refined carbs (bread, pasta, etc)
Avoid high fat / high carb combinations (such as pastries and creamy pasta dishes)
Reduce gluten and dairy (save cheese for the cheat days)
Don't drink calories (canned drinks, sweet milky coffees etc)
Reduce stimulants - caffeine, alcohol.
Liquidizing food (soups, fruits juices, smoothies etc) raises the glycemic index of these foods and processes them further - it is better
just to eat the food as it is
Drinking 1-2 small glasses of red wine in evening is fine, as long as you are sticking to a low carb /primal style diet.

Check out the primal eating pyramid - how does it compare to your current diet, are you relying on cereals, breads and other quick carbs?

There are some excellent recourses on line, for more information on low carbohydrate eating check out:

http//robbwolf.com/

http://paleodiet.com/

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/

http://www.high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/