There is a lot of discussion about genes, fat cells and weight - if you speak to any number of people they will tell you a different opinion.

Last week I went to a lecture at a conference about ‘Fat’ from a leading sports scientist and nutritionist – who reinforced the facts behind being the size you want to be, running efficiently and recovering well. I thought I would share it with you, and I hope you find it interesting.

I am constantly asked – how can I get lighter, how can I lose this bit around the middle, how can I become more toned…? So assuming that you do 30mins of daily activity per day - just something which increases your heart rate then there are a few interesting points in this Blog. There are of course, lots more… but this can start the discussion!

Fat cells are there to do a job and they are really clever cells, with a nucleaus that is feeding information to the body, and receiving information from the body about how much fat to store. In primal years they were essential to keep the body alive on a day to day basis, now with food plentiful in the western world it is important that we learn how to manage our body effectively.

The first thing to do is to become aware of what you eat, how it makes you feel and potentially what it could be doing to the internal organs in your body… for example, if you eat lots of fat – think about how that may look around your heart and lungs, never mind the external appearence!

Then listen to your body and notice when you are hungry and full – and when you are just eating because you are bored, stressed, tired or it has become a habit. Make a list of these with an action plan to change things, small goals each week will make it possible.

If you do not eat breakfast and eat little in the day, and then have a large meal at night your body’s blood sugar levels, insulin and leptin will be altered – causing you to overeat, and store more fat incase of an emergency.

If you eat breakfast, and small amounts of food every few hours throughout the day, the body’s hormone levels will work – allowing you to know when you are hungry, full and there is no need to store extra fat as there is never an alert sent to the body saying starvation is about to occur.

By eating little and often your stomach size is smaller also, meaning that you will consume less in a particular sitting and feel full quicker, this means the body can process everything efficiently and make use of the food.

By eating a balanced, whole food, proportionally raw diet your hormone levels will be as balanced as possible, allowing you to be a healthy, lean weight. Foods which are good are Low GI, complex carbohydrates, quality proteins and good fats plus lots and lots of dark, leafy green vegetables and dark fruits. 

Things to be aware of… 

• Portion sizes are generally too large – for example the children’s portion of chips at McDonalds is all an adult really ‘needs’ and even this is too much saturated fat…. and the starter in most restaurants would be the right size for the main course
• The amount of articificial sugars placed in ‘diet’ or ‘healthy’ options means that it is rarely healthy, and the body will store the extra sugars as fat. Avoid things like Aspartene, partially hydrogenated … etc – basically if you don't understand what it is in the ingredients, then how will your body know what to do with it…?
• If your body has been overweight for a while then that will seem normal to it…  therefore to become lighter you do need to eat little and often, so you raise your metabolic rate but reduce your stomach size, meaning that fat cells will not panic, you will have constant energy and you will become lighter - because that then becomes normal…
• Low GI foods, complex carbohydrates, quality protein and good fats give a constant amount of energy, and avoid the peaks and troughs of energy and sugar imbalance from sugars, and processed foods – so to feel good and have lots of energy eat well and respect your body 
• Plan your meals, snacks and drinks in advance – at least for the day ahead – by doing this you will have everything you need with you, and will avoid becoming hungry because you have lots of snacks etc with you – these can include NaKD bars, 9-seed bars, TORQ, fruit, veg, yoghurts etc…

I’m not a nutritionist, but I have done lots of training around nutrition and the key to enjoying your running, recovering well and feeling full of good energy is getting your nutrition & hydration right. So I hope this blog provides ‘food for thought’ and fills you with good energy.

• And finally – remember you get what you focus on. So focus on how you want to look, and feel – commit to making it happen rather than just ‘trying’ and believe that you can begin to do it, right now – go for it – we are here to support you all the way!.

So much to think about… so that’s enough for now.  If you have any questions or would like to find out more, or write more about specific things then just comment below!

Until two weeks time, happy running. I’m in my last big block of Ironman Training, so learning lots which I will share with you next time.  If you interested in why I am doing it click here