Week 4 Nutrition – Hydration

Our bodies are made up of 60% water and we are constantly loosing water through sweat and urine, which needs replacing to keep our bodies working optimally. Signs of dehydration include: sluggishness, headaches, loss of appetite, feeling too hot and nausea in extreme cases! Dehydration reduces your blood volume, increases your body temperature and therefore put an extra strain on your heart- best to be avoided! Many people are frequently slightly dehydrated- don’t be one of those people and make the effort daily to keep your fluids up!

How much water should you drink in a day? The body is very clever, so get tuned into it! You naturally feel thirsty when you need to up your fluid intake. This can be pure water, cordial, juice, tea/ coffee, soup etc.

All these drinks and more can help keep your body hydrated some better choices than others dependent on if you are looking to reduce/ gain weight. E.g. fruit juices despite having many vitamin benefits are loaded with sugar which ain’t going to help the weight loss but diluted down can help rehydration after a longer session where you have sweated a lot;)!!

For every hour of intense exercise you will loose approximately 1 litre of fluid from your body, which needs replacing.

Should I drink during exercise? Yes, little and often is the best approach. Plan ahead and ensure you have drunk approx 400- 600 ml of water prior to a hard workout and have given yourself time for a toilet trip too;)

After exercise what is best to drink? If you have exercised at a high intensity then it is wise to replenish your fluid levels using a hypertonic drink afterwards, this can be a bought sports drink/ skim milk or a homemade banana milkshake is perfect for replacing the energy and fluids!

And alcohol… Yes it helps us relax and red wine is proved to have benefits on helping reduce heart disease by keeping the blood more viscous but moderation!!!! There are 7 kcal/g of alcohol so you got it lots of alcohol is as bad as lots of cream cakes!!! Whilst the body is working hard to break down alcohol it doesn’t use the fat and other spare energy (glycogen), which is why it leads to fat gain- booo! So, enjoy your festive beverages but be aware too much means more hard work in the New Year ladies;) Sugary non-alcoholic drinks are no better so moderation of the tipple you like and water in between.

Keen it active, have fun and live healthy’ish!

Nutrition Everybody Active project- Week 3

Macronutrients = in simple terms, fats, proteins and carbohydrates. These all have an important role and form part of a balanced diet, helping you stay fit both physically and mentally. Getting your diet right can help your body perform better during exercise and afterwards, help rid those late afternoon energy dips and improve IMPROVE YOUR BODY”S SHAPE inside and out!:)

 

Fats:

Not all fats are bad for you in fact, some fatty acids are essential because the body cannot make them, so these fats must come from your diet, e.g. eggs, oily fish like salmon, mackerel, avocado, nuts, flax seed, coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil.

Aim to include some of these into your diet each day. Once you realise that essential fatty acids help prevent blood clotting, reduce inflammation from injury and infections and maintain the immune system then their importance in our diet becomes apparent!

 

Proteins:

Like fats, proteins are also essential, they are needed to build a lean, strong body and contribute towards a healthy immune system.

Ideally each day you should have eaten an equal amount of all nine of the essential amino acids (essential amino acids can not be made by the body itself) to ensure you body has a complete protein source, this includes fish, eggs, poultry or lean meat. For vegetarians this involves combining proteins to get the full 9 essential aminos which can require more planning but leads to some delicious dishes that provide the body with a broad range of micro nutrients too.

Eating the correct amount of protein in your diet will help you body gain the right amount of energy and enable muscles repair effectively. As a result when combined with regular training your muscles will become leaner and your metabolism speed upJ

Carbohydrates:

Do not fear carbohydrates, but also don’t over indulge! Carbs give you lots of energy for those active days and help you refuel after longer workouts (sweet potato, rice, banana milk shake). Be aware though that eating too many of them will cause you to store fat therefore if you’re having a relatively mellow, inactive day low-carbs is the way forwards.

 

Glycaemic index is important! Read on…

Low GI gives slow release of energy for longer, promoting FAT BURNINGJ

 

High GI you get an immediate hit so perfect for post high intensity exercise session but not your best choice most of the time! Your key to having enough energy for your daily life with minimal fat storing is maintaining steady blood sugar levels this is achieved by Low GI so make the right choices with carbs like: porridge & museli for breakfast, acidic fruits, wholegrain breads, pasta, noodles and basmati riceJ I’m sure you can guess yourselves that cakes and biscuits are High GI, but some are wiser choices than others, everything in moderation;)! See my fb page for ideas…