# How to make/plan your diet! Please read!



## Jonny (Dec 13, 2008)

Hi guys, im not long around here but I have noticed diet questions come up fairly often. I would hope that people wishing to make/modify their diet could read this post and be able to ask more intelligent, informative questions regarding their diet.

The bare neccesities for you diet are; Carbs for energy and recovery; Protein for muscle repair, maintainence and growth; Fat for aiding slower digestion, energy and circulatory health; Fibre for aiding digestion, helping keep your gut healthy.

Now lets review these diet building blocks one by one;

I will start with carbs and follow up with seperate posts for protein, fat, fibre.

Carbs are essential for the physical and mental operation of the body. Carbs should have the highest number gram for gram in you diet. Carbs can be seperated into three seperate catagories; low g.i./mid g.i./high g.i.

G.I.= glycemic index

All of these carbs are very useful to us if used at the right times. The g.i. ratings of foods is the rate or speed at which the foods will be converted to blood glucose or energy. All foods are compared to glucose itself which has a rating of 100 on the g.i. index.

Low g.i. carbs should be the bulk of the carbs you use in you diet. These carbs provide a slow steady release of energy, what does this mean? Well if you have a high intake of low g.i. carbs you will be better able to perform physially and mentally at all of your daily activities; work, training, problems. Also since low g.i. carbs release into blood glucose the slowest they are very likely not to be stored as fat. Higher g.i. carbs will transfer to blood glucose quicker abd may give you a sudden rise in energy, but if your energy outout is not high this excess blood glucose will be turned to fat and you may feel weak and hungry again. So now we see the benifits and importance of low g.i. carbs in our diet. here is a short list of low g.i. carbs;

apple, banana, grape, long grain rice, oats, carrots, peas, beans, lettuce, soudough bread.

Mid g.i. carbs provide energy at a faster rate than the low g.i. ones(obviously). The problem with mid g.i. carbs is that they are more likely to be stored as fat but they are very benificial for a quicker energy rise when needed e.g. pre-training, post-training. I would always keep these carbs to the aformentioned training window as they will not be stored as fat but rather utilized in the training and recovery periods. Sometimes when I wake up I will get some mid g.i carbs, but only if im especially hungry. This replenishes me rather quickly after the sleeping 'fast'.

mid g.i. carbs;

Boiled/steamed potatoes, pasta, white/wholemeal bread, sucrose, fructose.

High g.i. carbs provide a unique benifit in times of hard physical stress. It has been proven that you can perfom and recover better with the intake of high g.i. carbs pre, during and post training. High g.i. carbs tranfer to blood glucose the fastest. This is great for intense workouts where you are pushing your body to the limits. The high level of enrgy available will keep your workout sustainable for longer. Also the high level of glucose will aid in muscle glycogen repair which means quicker recovery for your muscles.

high g.i. carbs;

Baked potatoes, parshnips, dextrose, maltodextrin.

You will find high g.i. carbs in gatorade, lucozade/lucozade sport, powerade and phd battery drinks.

Thats it for carbs info and my next post will be protein.

I hope that you can take this information and put it to work in your diet!:happy:


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## marc (Jul 16, 2007)

Excellent post Jonny, ive been meaning to put something similar up for ages (although you've probably laid it out clearer than i would have done) just havent had the time im stick-ing this thread

one thing though wholemeal bread mid GI carb? Classed as Low GI surely??


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## Jonny (Dec 13, 2008)

marc said:


> Excellent post Jonny, ive been meaning to put something similar up for ages (although you've probably laid it out clearer than i would have done) just havent had the time im stick-ing this thread
> 
> one thing though wholemeal bread mid GI carb? Classed as Low GI surely??


Thanks marc, im glad I can make a contribution to this great forum.

Standard wholemeal bread actually has a g.i. rating of 69 which is considered mid. However stoneground wholemeal bread has a rating of 53 which is low.

I guess I should have elaborated more in the first post:happy:

My post on protein coming tomorrow!


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## djkt (Oct 8, 2008)

very nice post man! good to have another knowledgable nutritionist on board 

and thanks marc for that diet a couple of months ago, i can actualy gain weight when i want to now


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## Jonny (Dec 13, 2008)

General Protein Considerations;

The quality of the protein in food or supplements is in its amino acid composition. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and muscle. Amino acids are linked to many of the bodies' repair, maintainence, growth and recovery systems e.g.-energy, recovery, hypertrophy, fat loss and strength gain.

Examples of some top proteins and their amino profile compared to egg;

Whey 106-159, egg 100, fish 83, casein 80, beef 80, chicken 79.

Now that we know what makes up protein and its importance lets discuss the different types of protein.

Incomplete Protein Sources;

These proteins do not contain all of the amino acids needed for protein sythesis in the body, they are short by a couple of amino acids. it is possible to mix two or more incomplete protein sources together to make a complete protein which the body will be able to use (this is especially important for vegetarian trainers/fighters) examples of these would be mixing rice with beans or vegetables with pasta.

Examples of Incomplete Protein Sources; Veg, fruit, rice, grain, oats, pasta, sunflower seeds.

Complete Protein Sources;

These proteins contain all of the amino acids needed for protein sythesis in the body, a total of 21 amino acids. These proteins are essential to us every day to aid in muscle anabolism (maintainence and growth) and prevent catabolism (breakdown of muscle tissue). Our bodies need a constant supply of these proteins, every three hours will suffice with meals.

Example Complete Protein Sources;

Whey, casein, milk, eggs, beef, cheese, chicken, fish, yougurt, cottage cheese.

Select Your Protein;

When selecting your protein consider this, Am I stressed physically/mentally?

Am i waking up? Am I going to bed? Do I need fast or slow digestion of protein?

Why I tell you to ask these questions is that they all relate to the type of protein you will need at a certain time in the day. E.g.-I am finished training or have just woke up so I will need quick protein replenishment therefore I will selecta liquid whey protein drink with egg or whey.

It is evening and im relaxing I need a protein slow to digest so therefore I will get some milk, cottage cheese or solid meat.

Finally keep your protein intake at 2g-3g per day per kg of body weight.


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## Jonny (Dec 13, 2008)

Fat in our diets;

The importance of fat in our diets is immense. It is often overlooked or seen as being 'bad' to incorporate into our diets. Fat is a secondary source of energy to the modern athlete and a potent one at that. Fat contains 9 calories per gram whereas protein and carbohydrate contain 4 calories per gram, this makes it easy to see why high fat foods are high in calories. Fat is the energy source utilized after carb stores are depleted.

Why fat should be a neccesity to your diet;

Essential for healthy skin and hair.

Acts as a carrying agent in the transportation of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, K.

Provides us with EFAs (essential fatty acids) which our bodies do not manufacture, these are neede to regulate blood pressure.

Fats create satiety enhance the digestion of of other nutrients because they increase the time needed to empty your stomach.

While fat is neccesary in our diets too much and/or the wrong type of fat can be harmful to our cariovascular system. I will now continue by classifying the types of fats and their sources.

Unsaturated Fat;

The most healthy fat. Can be found in vegetables. This type of fat includes monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Monounsaturated is considered the healthiest fat for your heart for your heart and body, its found in olive oil, canola oil and peanut oil.

Polyunsaturated fat is the next healthiest for you body found in soybean, corn and sunflower oil.

These fats will not clog arteries and provide benifits to your health.

Saturated Fat;

Is not the worst fat but should be minimised in its use. While a diet must include saturated fat overuse of this fat will cause artey clogging, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. sources include; meat, dairy, coconut oil and palm oil. These fats do have their advantages though as they are easily absorbed and can be utilized for energy quicker than glucose thus being benificial for athletic performance or recovery. Once again use in moderation!

Trans Fat;

Also known as hydrogenated fat. I would suggest to stay away from these fats altogether as they have little benifit in out diets. They are commonly used in processed foods and fast food restaurants, they enhance flavour and reduce spoiling. Trans fat is the worst type of fat, it raises bad cholesterol extremely quick. Too much bad cholesterol can cause heart diesease or stroke.

Final considerations;

Although certain types of fat is essential in our diet we must choose our fats intelligently. Try to get 30% of your dietary intake as fat. Ensure to have 20% unsaturated and 10% saturated. Find a balance; too little fat and you may be difficient in some vitamins and not be processing other nutrients such as protein as well as you can/too much fat and you risk promotion of cancers and cardiovascular dieseases.

My next post will be on dietary fibre. :happy:

I will follow that up with a sample diet.


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## SanshouMatt (Jul 1, 2008)

Good posts those, thanks. may have to have a word with you about building a diet that balances weight training and sensible weight (fat) loss if there is such a thing..


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## Robk (Nov 8, 2007)

lovin this thread mate. think Il get it printed off and on the gym wall at work


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## Jonny (Dec 13, 2008)

Thanks again guys! I know its a bit of a read but worthwhile so you can be confident in what you eat.

Sanshoumatt, weight training and fatloss go hand in hand. You see, muscles actually burn calories. The larger your muscles the more calories your body will burn to feed them, even while sleeping. The only problem with large muscles is that your cardiovascular system has to work harder to oxygenate the muscles which isnt good for fighters. An integrated approach is the best option for muscle gain and fatloss; HIIT cardio, LOWIT cardio, heavy weight training, low weight circuit training and diet all combined with some good rest!

Sorry about the rant!:happy:

Post on fibre later on today.


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## Jonny (Dec 13, 2008)

Fibre;

This is only contained in plants, e.g.-grains, oats, fruit and veg. Fiber is the main contributor to the dietary fiber (roughage) content. Fiber does not provide energy but still plays an indipensible role inour diets. Fibre helps promote efficient intestinal function and helps regulate the even absorbtion of sugars into the bloodstream. Dietary fiber has two catagories; soluble and insoluble fibre.

Soluble Fibre;

This fibre dissolves in water. These fibres bind to bile acids and excrete them from the small intestine. surplus cholesterol is diposed of in the liver as bile acids. The bile acids then aid in digestion in the intestine. this binding of bile acids can help reduce cholesterol in the blood.

Insoluble Fibre;

This fibre does not dissolve in water and is responsible for the "full" feeling you get from some foods. Insoluble fibre can aid in weight loss efforts by allowing a person to take in fewer calories by making them feel fuller for longer. Insoluble fibre also cleans out the intestinal tract, which inturn leads to food spending less time there and less sugar being absorbed through the intestine.

Final Considerations;

When increasing fiber intake, do it slow. A high increase in fiber can cause diarrea, cramps, gas and bloating. A way to minimise these effects is to drink 2-3 litres of water a day. Try to aim for 20-30g fibre a day.

Some foods containing fiber;

Bran, oats, rye, wholwheat, beans, carrots, peas, pears, bananas, apples.

Next post will be the longest and will contain final diet considerations and sample diet!:happy:


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## Chibi Sean (Dec 21, 2007)

Best thread on the board


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## Jonny (Dec 13, 2008)

Making your diet;

Ok, from what we learned in the previous posts to this thread we should be able to make our diets effective whether we are man/woman and live active or inactive lifestyles.

Please try and remember the basics and keep it simple. Your diet should be varied, you should consume good nutrients every day carb/pro/fat/fibre, consume 2-3 litres of water a day and keep salt and sugar to a minimum.

The most crucial times for good quality nutrition are when waking, the "workout window" pre/during/post workout and before bed.

Ahead I will lay out a general diet for a man trying to improve his physique and his mental/physical performance at every day tasks. I will give reasons as to why I choose the foods at the times I do.

Sample diet;

For the purpose of addressing averages I have tried to take an example of an average size man with moderate to high activity level.

TJ Mann, age 24, 80kg, 5ft8", 13%bf.

Work = part-time 20hrs per/wk mon-fri.

Training = mon-mma 2hrs, tues-weights/cardio 2hrs, wed-mma 2hrs, thurs weights/cardio 2hrs, fri-mma 2hrs.

Suggested daily macronutrient/calorie ratio

Carb-360/Protein-240g/Fat 120g. Cals-3500.

The above number of calories is suggested only for active days or training/work days. The weekends should look like this,

Carb 300/Protein 200/Fat 80g. Cals-2700

Weekly Diet

Meal 1-(Breakfast)Oats, Chopped Banana, Skim Milk, Scoop Whey. Multi/vit,min. EFAs

(This meal provides good quality carbs, fast and slow digesting proteins and has the option of being consumed in a liquidized shake or solid form. You will also be consuming a multi vit and mineral supplement as well as an essential fatty acid supplement to help you release enrgy from fats throughout the day.

Good mixing and tasting whey protein powders include Reflex Instant Whey and PHD Pharma Whey. My favourite multi vit/min is Multibionta Activate. The first choice for an EFA supplement is Udo's Choice Oil Capsules. Feel free to add a bagel to your breakfast if your are unusually hungry as it will transfer to energy quicker, thus satisfying you faster.)

Meal 2-Peanut butter w/low G.I. toast. 6 egg whites. Apple.

(This will provide more good carbs keeping energy steady. You will also find good fats here as well as fast and slow digesting proteins.)

Meal 3-(Pre Workout)Potatoes/Pasta with large chicken breast or tuna/salmon fillet, serving mixed veg and sauce.

(This meal is vitally important as I believe the "workout window" is the most important time of the day for nutrition. This meal will provide low and mid G.I. carbs and slow digesting protein as well as a small amout of fat and high G.I. carbs in the sauce. This should sustain you through the toughest training sessions.)

Meal 4-(Post Workout Shake)2 scoops whey, 2 scoops glucose, Skim Milk. Banana.

(Another crucial meal here. The better this meal the better you will recover from your workout. This is the most important stage in the "workout window" as your muscles need both glucose and protein fast to recover and develop. Therefore we will need high G.I. carbs and quick digesting high quality protein.)

Meal 5-3 eggs boiled. Cottage cheese w/stoneground wholemeal bread or cottage chesse with portion of fruit e.g. grapes/apple/banana.

(This is again a crucial meal as you probably wont be eating for 8 hours or more. Some low G.I. carbs with some good fat and slow digesting protein is ideal. I personally rather no to eat carbs before bed and find I prefer those extra carbs post worout, but cottage cheese on its own can be hard to stomach so try it with toast for now.

Final thoughts on diet;

Dont let your diet be a drag. Be creative, spice things up and vary things from time to time. You can eat healthy and still enjoy your food!


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## LICKSHOT (Feb 10, 2009)

Such a useful thread and a great read, thanks for the info


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## Jonny (Dec 13, 2008)

No probs guys, im thinking of adding a supplement post to this thread also.


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## marc (Jul 16, 2007)

Start a new thread on supplements Jonny, i'll join in 

Thanks for posting those up just a few 'picky' things

for me Multibionta would be a poor choice of multivit, overpriced for what it is, and not a lot better than the cheap holland and barrett ones IMO.

I take Quest improved one a day

Â£7 for 3 months supply and higher in all vits and minerals than most standard multinutrients

Another thing is the whey in mik, which is fine for most people but for those sensitive to lactose or have problems digesting protein drinks/meals in general whey in water would be better, the process involved in making the whey involves removing the lactose so adding milk is defeating that purpose, but as i said thats just me being picky


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## Jonny (Dec 13, 2008)

Mutibionta is expensive but since im in ireland i dont have holland and barrets near me which is a shame as I would agree that they have some great stuff. I think I will order some of that Quest from you, looks good!

Yeah a whole new thread is needed for supplements as its such a broad and ever changing area in nutrition.

I just love my whey supps with milk but thats just me and I easily digest nearly all proteins and dont find any cramping at all. I agree with your point for the lactose intolerant people its got to be water though.

We' ll kick off a supplement thread soon! :happy:


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## Mcrash (May 24, 2008)

can i ask.....what about people with a under active thyroid.........our lass is on tablets but the docs still havn't got her "meds" right apparently she needs a "low gi" diet....cheers Pete


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## Jonny (Dec 13, 2008)

Mcrash said:


> can i ask.....what about people with a under active thyroid.........our lass is on tablets but the docs still havn't got her "meds" right apparently she needs a "low gi" diet....cheers Pete


Her doctor should be able to recommend her a diet. If you read the section on carbohydrates you will know what a low g.i. carb is and a few examples. You could also search 'low g.i. carb' on the net for more examples. If her thyroid is slow I would suggest to stay away from saturated fats completely also. Lean poultry, fish, beef, egg whites and a protein supp should help her get her protein in.

*These are guidelines and should not replace a doctors advice although it will be similar in nature.


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## garf (Sep 27, 2009)

Most grains have no place in the human diet & actually end up binding onto important minerals & preventing them from being absorbed. To much fruit can cause weight gain & glycation which is very undesirable. There are not a lot of fuits native to this end of the world, we certainly shouldn't be eating the amounts we do because our bodies havent evolved the enzyme function to deal with them & its to cold to metabolise them. Fine if your in a hot country. As for saturated fats causing cholesterol probs, thats 1 of the biggest myths perpetuated by standing to profit from ignorance ie pharmaceutical companies. Cholesterol has no effect on heart disease or any other disease for that matter, its demonisation by the media & mainstream medicine is total myth & has cost many lives as a result. Its the quality of fat that counts, saturated can be good or bad depending on what the animals been fed. Dont mean to slag off anyones post there, just sharing my view & trying to dispell some myths.


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## garf (Sep 27, 2009)

If you want to get her thyroid sorted, find a good nutritional therapist. Drs know shit when it comes to getting people healthy, all they know is drug dispensing & tests that "normal ranges" are so huge they're of no use. whats normal for 1 isn'nt normal for another. I've never known anybody to go thyroxine to get better. The averag dr has had less than an hour of nutrition training & people actually take there diet advice, its a total joke. If modern pharmaceutical medicine was so dam good & advanced than how come cancer, diabetes, heart disease etc are @ an all time high. Dont get me wrong though, there very good @ putting the pieces back together again after a major incident, car crash or something modern medicine is 2nd to none. But when it comes to keeping or getting people healthy & functioning well, they have failed us.


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## Jono222 (Sep 30, 2009)

Jonny said:


> Making your diet;
> 
> Ok, from what we learned in the previous posts to this thread we should be able to make our diets effective whether we are man/woman and live active or inactive lifestyles.
> 
> ...


forgive a silly question but what time would you be consuming each meal. this diet thing really baffles me. i work from 8 till 6 every week day, train three times a week 7 till 9 but i'm totally baffled by six meals and when??? can you help and recommend?


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## Si-K (Jul 23, 2007)

have your breakfast upon waking and then try to eat every 3-4 hours :thumb


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## bcfc_4life (Oct 4, 2009)

Gotta love Udo's choice! I have the bottled stuff though and a desert spoon at time, roughly 10ml.

I am unaware as to if it has been mentioned previously, but another thing for athletes/enthusiasts to consider as a guidline is the calorific breakdown of fats, proteins and carbs. Fats being roughly 9kcal and proteins and carbs both 4kcal per gram.

This may help those wishing to control percentage of energy to the body from each food type.


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## garf (Sep 27, 2009)

Udo's is a bit iffy as it goes off really quick & you wont even know it, its to fragile & you cant always garantee its ok when you open it.once its gone off its pretty toxic. Flax seed oil has been linked with prostate probs later in life. Fish oil would be a much better choice, it also easier converted for use in the body, flax tends to lose a lot in the conversion even if it is fresh


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## bcfc_4life (Oct 4, 2009)

I never knew that! Thanks mate! Is there any brand in particular you recommend instead of udo's then?


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## garf (Sep 27, 2009)

if your looking @ high street brands, higher nature do a good liquid although there capsules aren't quite as good. eskimo 3 are good but pricey. Online ailmentnutrition.co.uk are very good & good prices to. keep any omega 6 out of your diet for 3 months then reintroduce in 1:1 ratio so you dont end up with any omega 6 dominance probs. That can be anything from rashes,inflammation,depression etc. You name it, if your balance is out it can be a culprit or @ least part of the prob


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## KÃ¶B (Jul 12, 2010)

Great, interesting stuff.

Really need to get a grip on my diet, Its a joke.


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## KÃ¶B (Jul 12, 2010)

KÃ¶B said:


> Great, interesting stuff.
> 
> Really need to get a grip on my diet, Its a joke.


Ive never really payed much attention to my diet, as a kid I could eat like a horse and just never put on weight.

Now I just have a pot belly...

I have always thought of nutrition as a too complex subject so gave it a wide berth, but I am going to try my damdist to make sense of it and get my head around the subject, even just a basic grasp!

To get a good healthy diet, instead of feeling run down all the time (Mainly due to stress at work, never having time to stop etc etc)

I am soon to become a student again, I have never been a piss head so my money will not be going there, just on training etc and hopefully a good clean diet.

Can someone maybe do a break down of how much (approx) they would typically spend a week on food / supps, please?

Regards

KoB


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## milzy (Aug 9, 2010)

I hate these spammers spoiling the thread.

What about the diet of a busy welder/fabricator manual labour in very busy engineering shop all day at least 5 days a week & going weight lifting 4 times a week & bag work 2 times a week?

Thanks.


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## robinjohn12 (Feb 28, 2013)

Hey Jenny

You did a great job, and your analyz was 100% right because people often ask here related diet. if they wollow this post there will no question or query.


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