How to eat (without getting fat)

A loose guide to eating, courtesy of Mercy (a part time Combat Ready gal and long time believer in the benefits of strength training):

Disclaimer: The following is a not-particularly scientific ramble based on what I’ve picked up about fueling the body over the years. I’m not an athlete, I’m not a pro body builder, I’m not a nutritionist. I like to eat. I don’t want to be fat. You may find some of this information useful.

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It goes without saying that you can say a tearful goodbye to pastries, crisps, sweets but more on “cheating” later.

Bread is your frenemy.  You love it but it doesn’t return the compliment. Ditch it. If you crave a sandwich make it a wrap instead and, as with with all your starchy carbs, aim for wholewheat. Sainsbury’s do them - I’ve not seen them anywhere else.

Brown rice and brown pasta, but don’t go crazy. Starchy carbs aren’t what your body needs in abundance - unless you’re a marathon runner. A handful is all you need. Better still, trade your rice for quinoa - a very helpful filler, look it up.

You probably need to eat more protein than you think - if you want to feed your emergent muscles you’re looking to consume about the same in grams as you weight in lbs. This would be difficult and expensive if your only protein source was meat which is why pretty much all bodybuilders and sportspeople use protein shakes. 2 scoops = 40 - 50g protein depending on your brand. My el cheapo protein of choice is  myprotein.com’s Impact Whey Protein which costs £9 a kilo.  So even though you may balk at forking out £45 for a 5kg sack of dust, it works out very economical.

Rough estimates of proteiny things:

Chicken breast 30g

Chicken thigh 10g

100g mince 25g

Can tuna 40g

Can mackerel 23g

Salmon fillet 30g

Egg 6g

Cup of milk 8g

Cup cottage cheese 15g

Half cup of tofu 20g

Half cup beans 7-10g

Half cup Soy beans (magic beans) 14g

2 tbsp Peanut butter 8g

Sports nutritionists change the rules all the time. Calorie counting is hugely unfashionable at the moment but it can be a useful tool - especially when it comes to eating mindfully. If you fancy keeping track of your calorific intake and you want to know what you “should” be consuming to maintain or lose weight try myfitnesspal.com where you can log everything you eat and it knows the calorific value of just about everything. It’s spooky.

You will get very sick of washing Tupperware containers but if you want to eat properly you need to prepare EVERY DAMN THING IN ADVANCE. Packed lunches (and snacks) are your friend. It’s a good idea to aim for six little meals a day in order to keep your body ticking along nicely. Here’s a breakdown (roughly) of what six little meals looks like:

1. Oats, cooked or raw
2. protein shake (2 scoops)
3. banana, handful of almonds
4. lunch whatever it may be, something like chicken with broccoli and quinoa
5. cup cottage cheese mixed with a yogurt (I like to pretend it’s a dessert)
6. dinner 

And so to cheating, because a life without treats is a pointless, joyless abyss. I let myself have some form of treatish nonsense every day but I try to keep it to roughly the 100-150 calorie mark. A Kitkat or a couple of Jaffa cakes. I also allow myself any amount of fruit (it’s high in sugar but if it sorts out a craving I’m all for it). And I frequently make myself popcorn  with very little oil and a hero of a product - Bacon salt (you need this in your life).