By
Adrian Harper
You are all aware that carbs are the buzz word in the health industry for the past few years. Still there is massive confusion as there are so many different takes on carbs and on this side of the world the staple of most peoples diet is yes CARBS. Today I hope to address a few points on this and give you my take on it and what has helped my clients get lean quickly and stay lean. A lean, strong physique is best achieved by eating the right carbs at the ideal times. Carbs are not the enemy but we need to
be smart about the ones we choose.
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You are all aware that carbs are the buzz word in the health industry for the past few years. Still there is massive confusion as there are so many different takes on carbs and on this side of the world the staple of most peoples diet is yes CARBS. Today I hope to address a few points on this and give you my take on it and what has helped my clients get lean quickly and stay lean. A lean, strong physique is best achieved by eating the right carbs at the ideal times. Carbs are not the enemy but we need to
be smart about the ones we choose.
During
my time as a professional footballer the level of knowledge I received
on nutrition was extremely limited, its hard to believe after spending 5
years at a top English football team and I still had no clue as to how
much protein, carbs or fats I should eat daily and I left thinking
eating fat made me fat. To cut a long story short I have spent the last
7-8 years studying nutrition in depth (sports science degrees,
Biosignature, Precision Nutrition Course, Phil Richards Internship) and
would like to think I can provide a few answers to help clients seeking
to get in shape. A big problem we are facing today is deciding what to
put on our plates!
99.9% of the clients we train want to simply "look better and feel better". During their consultation with us before they start the 6 week body transformation, we provide them with a detailed health questionnaire which is followed by a 3 day food diary. On completion what we observe is that most if not all have limited protein and healthy fat intake and most are extremely high on carbs. We then advise most of our clients to follow an elimination type 14 day eating plan. When they look at it first most say "no carbs? I need my carbs!!" This is where educating clients on Carbs (most don't know but Veg and Fruit is Carbs) and also reaffirming the point to them that they have been eating excessive bad carbs for x amount of years and 14 days without bad carbs is going to be very beneficial to helping them get in shape. You will be eating REAL foods and no fake artificial shite is a line often heard from us.
Common problems people encounter during the first few days from the 14 days are sugar cravings, headaches and tiredness. This can be very off putting for some but getting through this initial period is key to short and long term success and if you want to look better and feel better like you said in the consultation then you need to make some changes from what you are currently doing. So the first 14 days should be a high protein & healthy fat, low carb, high fibre way of eating. NO SUGAR at all is allowed during this period and no cheat meals are on the agenda during this 14 days.
The Main Source of Carbs Should be Fibrous.
Fibrous carbs, including many green vegetables, typically have low carbohydrate content. This high fibre content makes them an ideal fat loss food. Dark green vegetables usually have a large antioxidant content as well.The best sources of fibrous carbs include:
— Kale
— Broccoli
— Lettuce
— Cabbage
— Cauliflower
— Asparagus
— Spinach
— All Forms of Peppers
We also allow a fruit source as a snack which has to be thin skinned - Dark red, blue, and purple fruits are great anti-inflammatory foods because the extra antioxidants help get rid of free radicals that cause aging and inflammation. Eating enough protein and healthy fats is key during this period to avoid any hunger problems and if hunger is a problem there is a simple solution - have an extra meal!!
During this two weeks I will ask clients "how are you getting on with the foods?" sometimes the reply is "ah yeah grand" - this is exactly what I DON'T want to hear and leads me to think you are not following what I told you to 100% - this should be F*****G hard!!- two weeks without sugar or sugar substitutes to an Irish person should be tough! If they found the 14 days extremely hard then I trust they have followed the plan I set out and award them with a CHEAT meal and we talk about introducing smart carbs back into their diet.
OK so we have got to day 14 after a massive change and should be feeling pretty good right now. On this day we advise all our clients to have whats called a cheat meal. I think people lose fat faster if they are allowed a cheat meal once every week and if they are leaner (sub 10% bodyfat for males and sub 16% for females) I allow it every 4/5 days and in some cases cheat days. The cheat meal increases the metabolism so it makes you lose body fat faster.
A typical question on cheat meal day is "Do I have to have it?" - My answer is always yes even in bigger clients. The reason being we are Irish and have been brought up on a carbohydrate laden way of life and depriving ourself over the long term usually leads to binge eating and "falling off the wagon". Another common question I get is "what should I eat?" - My advise is to try to have something gluten free (gluten is a difficult protein for all humans to digest and they might be better avoiding it) and make it your last meal of the day where you are less likely to continue pigging out.
Im not encouraging you to go to McDonald's and fill yourself full of trans fat laden bad foods. There are many great choices when it comes to gluten free Cheat Meals including some chocolate I advise and my personal favourite some of the Haagen Dazs Ice Cream. How to eat your cheat meal? My advise would be to eat it at the table and not in front of the telly where you are more likely eat more than you should.
After 14 days have passed and if you are training correctly and sticking to the food plan you should see a marked increase in your energy levels and performance and a good drop in body fat %. It is then we start to reintroduce smarter carbohydrates into your food plan. Now it doesn't mean splurging, we are still going to aim to have a high intake of organic protein, smart fats and moderate carbs. The carbs sources I advise are things like sweet potato, quinoa, Brown rice, nut butters, certain rice cakes, natural Greek style yoghurt and fruit and veg. Most of my clients have their carbohydrates in their post workout meal and don't go overboard! My advise on fruit after the initial 14 days is to eat 1 piece per day and its going to be a fruit you have never eaten or rarely eat (which generally means no bananas and oranges initially)
We are in a results based business, people pay us to look and feel better and more importantly to improve their health. Continuing to eat the wrong types of food can cause major health problems and you cannot out train a bad diet. Sugar is highly addictive and our main goal is to keep it as low as possible. Most of the health shops stock various "no carb" bars - these bars are often laden with artificial additives and as much as possible I would advise you not to eat it. Look on the back of labels and if there are more than 5 ingredients try to avoid buying it. Understanding which foods are best for you is tough but if certain foods make you feel bloated tired or sick then its simple - don't eat them.
As i touched on in part one the easiest way to avoid over eating on carbs is to eat your protein first(meat, fish, eggs). As you will see there are plenty of carbs you can choose its just about being smart and choosing the right ones. I'm not into weighing foods or counting calories as I think we should enjoy our meals and not make it a big ordeal.
Hope you enjoyed my article and it can help you!
Adrian Harper
99.9% of the clients we train want to simply "look better and feel better". During their consultation with us before they start the 6 week body transformation, we provide them with a detailed health questionnaire which is followed by a 3 day food diary. On completion what we observe is that most if not all have limited protein and healthy fat intake and most are extremely high on carbs. We then advise most of our clients to follow an elimination type 14 day eating plan. When they look at it first most say "no carbs? I need my carbs!!" This is where educating clients on Carbs (most don't know but Veg and Fruit is Carbs) and also reaffirming the point to them that they have been eating excessive bad carbs for x amount of years and 14 days without bad carbs is going to be very beneficial to helping them get in shape. You will be eating REAL foods and no fake artificial shite is a line often heard from us.
Common problems people encounter during the first few days from the 14 days are sugar cravings, headaches and tiredness. This can be very off putting for some but getting through this initial period is key to short and long term success and if you want to look better and feel better like you said in the consultation then you need to make some changes from what you are currently doing. So the first 14 days should be a high protein & healthy fat, low carb, high fibre way of eating. NO SUGAR at all is allowed during this period and no cheat meals are on the agenda during this 14 days.
The Main Source of Carbs Should be Fibrous.
Fibrous carbs, including many green vegetables, typically have low carbohydrate content. This high fibre content makes them an ideal fat loss food. Dark green vegetables usually have a large antioxidant content as well.The best sources of fibrous carbs include:
— Kale
— Broccoli
— Lettuce
— Cabbage
— Cauliflower
— Asparagus
— Spinach
— All Forms of Peppers
We also allow a fruit source as a snack which has to be thin skinned - Dark red, blue, and purple fruits are great anti-inflammatory foods because the extra antioxidants help get rid of free radicals that cause aging and inflammation. Eating enough protein and healthy fats is key during this period to avoid any hunger problems and if hunger is a problem there is a simple solution - have an extra meal!!
During this two weeks I will ask clients "how are you getting on with the foods?" sometimes the reply is "ah yeah grand" - this is exactly what I DON'T want to hear and leads me to think you are not following what I told you to 100% - this should be F*****G hard!!- two weeks without sugar or sugar substitutes to an Irish person should be tough! If they found the 14 days extremely hard then I trust they have followed the plan I set out and award them with a CHEAT meal and we talk about introducing smart carbs back into their diet.
OK so we have got to day 14 after a massive change and should be feeling pretty good right now. On this day we advise all our clients to have whats called a cheat meal. I think people lose fat faster if they are allowed a cheat meal once every week and if they are leaner (sub 10% bodyfat for males and sub 16% for females) I allow it every 4/5 days and in some cases cheat days. The cheat meal increases the metabolism so it makes you lose body fat faster.
A typical question on cheat meal day is "Do I have to have it?" - My answer is always yes even in bigger clients. The reason being we are Irish and have been brought up on a carbohydrate laden way of life and depriving ourself over the long term usually leads to binge eating and "falling off the wagon". Another common question I get is "what should I eat?" - My advise is to try to have something gluten free (gluten is a difficult protein for all humans to digest and they might be better avoiding it) and make it your last meal of the day where you are less likely to continue pigging out.
Im not encouraging you to go to McDonald's and fill yourself full of trans fat laden bad foods. There are many great choices when it comes to gluten free Cheat Meals including some chocolate I advise and my personal favourite some of the Haagen Dazs Ice Cream. How to eat your cheat meal? My advise would be to eat it at the table and not in front of the telly where you are more likely eat more than you should.
After 14 days have passed and if you are training correctly and sticking to the food plan you should see a marked increase in your energy levels and performance and a good drop in body fat %. It is then we start to reintroduce smarter carbohydrates into your food plan. Now it doesn't mean splurging, we are still going to aim to have a high intake of organic protein, smart fats and moderate carbs. The carbs sources I advise are things like sweet potato, quinoa, Brown rice, nut butters, certain rice cakes, natural Greek style yoghurt and fruit and veg. Most of my clients have their carbohydrates in their post workout meal and don't go overboard! My advise on fruit after the initial 14 days is to eat 1 piece per day and its going to be a fruit you have never eaten or rarely eat (which generally means no bananas and oranges initially)
We are in a results based business, people pay us to look and feel better and more importantly to improve their health. Continuing to eat the wrong types of food can cause major health problems and you cannot out train a bad diet. Sugar is highly addictive and our main goal is to keep it as low as possible. Most of the health shops stock various "no carb" bars - these bars are often laden with artificial additives and as much as possible I would advise you not to eat it. Look on the back of labels and if there are more than 5 ingredients try to avoid buying it. Understanding which foods are best for you is tough but if certain foods make you feel bloated tired or sick then its simple - don't eat them.
As i touched on in part one the easiest way to avoid over eating on carbs is to eat your protein first(meat, fish, eggs). As you will see there are plenty of carbs you can choose its just about being smart and choosing the right ones. I'm not into weighing foods or counting calories as I think we should enjoy our meals and not make it a big ordeal.
Hope you enjoyed my article and it can help you!
Adrian Harper
