Simplifying the Nutrition Minefield

Simplifying the Nutrition Minefield Nutrition can be the last thing on our list of priorities. As women in general and in business, we excel at pushing ourselves daily. Aiming to continually get more out of ourselves to achieve in career, family life and sports.  Yet, when it comes to adequately fuelling all these endeavours to maximise performance, a lot of us fall short.   Whether your new year brings new resolutions or goals. Or whether simply increasing your energy levels, daily recovery and health would be a great result, nutrition is an essential component.   So why is this critical part often less than ideal? Usually it isn’t intentional. We may have super tight time constraints, a life that doesn’t lend itself to balance or being just too overwhelmed to know where to start. With these life pressures and being bombarded with confused social media pressures, who can really tell whether sugar free, clean eating, paleo, lchf, gluten free or dairy free are better!?   With this in mind, let’s prioritise what to ADD in, rather than REMOVE. This is a much more enjoyable and sustainable way to master your nutrition without restricting your intake.   Ensure Adequate Energy Before you start, it is essential that you have enough energy to meet your daily demands. Our body will aim to conserve energy if we arent eating enough. It does not help cover the costs of daily living, growth and any activity we do. This means lowering our metabolism and making it difficult to kick your daily goals.  Restricting intake over the day may start off well but also may lead to hunger cravings in the afternoon.   Not meeting energy needs also has more serious health effects. It can disrupt hormones, such as cortisol and oestrogen, leading to negative impacts on menstruation, bone density and muscle mass.   Focus on Adding in Veggies If you are someone who only sneaks in veggies at dinner, it is unlikely that you are meeting your nutrition targets. And it is likely you are choosing more energy dense foods instead. Before you start taking things out, focus on adding in veggies first. You can do this at all meals, but it is easiest to first do it at dinner before mastering it at lunch and breakfast.   At dinner, serve up your veggies first. Aim for half the plate to be taken up by veggies. From there, you can fill the rest with your carbohydrates, proteins and fat options. For example, a plate of Spaghetti Bolognese with a side of garlic bread is a meal we wouldn’t think twice about. But it is all energy dense foods â€" particularly if you haven’t been moving much that day. Instead, fill half the plate with a salad, then put the Spaghetti Bolognese on the remaining half. You still get to enjoy the spagetti bolohnese but you have significantly increased your veggie portion and balanced your energy intake.   Once you are in a habit of including veggies at dinner, you can then move onto your lunch. Taking things step-by-step with habit based change is definitely the way to go!   Protein â€" it isn’t just about the amount Make sure you don’t underestimate the importance of good quality protein. Most of us get adequate protein through our usual intake without the need for supplements. However, what a lot of us fail to do is spread protein serves evenly over the day. We only absorb so much of protein at one time. So if you are having most of your protein all in one meal, you will not actually be using/absorbing that full portion. A lot of that goodness gets lost to the toilet!   Instead, it is best to aim to have smaller portions of protein more regularly over the day. In spreading protein out evenly, you will be able to utilise it more effectively, recover better and become satiated after meals and snacks.   Hydration is Key Adding adequate fluid in per day will make so many parts of achieving health and increased energy easier. Although the 8 glasses per day is a good guide, it is a bit of a well spread myth. Instead, fluid intake should be guided by your individual needs along with the environment. For example, activity level or breastfeeding.   Providing your body with adequate hydration will assist in regulating your appetite and fullness. It will improve energy levels and recovery. Unless you are super active, plain water is absolutely fine. The natural electrolytes in your meals and snacks will assist you in absorbing the water. Even aiming for a glass of water at each meal and snack, you will be well on the way to achieving your hydration goals.   As you can see, by slowly focusing on small nutrition habits added to your daily routine, there is less room for the convenience options that may come in. Enjoying food and not limiting intake will ensure that the changes you make are enjoyable, achievable and much more sustainable. About Alicia Alicia Edge is an Advanced Sports Dietitian with an online sports nutrition business, Compeat Nutrition. She is also a mum and athlete that formed her company with the goal of achieving a flexible career that suited family life. Advice extends beyond the basics and is focused upon providing effective and achievable nutrition for performance in all daily life and career goals