WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON THE BACK OF PRODUCTS?
WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON THE BACK OF PRODUCTS?
How do you go about choosing the foods you eat when you walk into a supermarket?
Do you actually look at the back, on the packaging at all?
How well is your literacy when it comes to deciding upon what foods, snacks, drinks and meals you should make for yourself, your family and friends with everyone differing preferences and food choices?
It can be a bit of a minefield right? Looking at every product and making a decision on the spot can take quite some time but read on if you want some quick tips on how to make your shopping experience effective but also efficient!!
What Are The Key Things To Look For On Food Labels?
The 3 key things to look at on a food label if you disregarded everything else is the macronutrients!!
The 3 macronutrients are;
carbohydrates (your body's preferred energy source)
protein (your body's preferred muscle and joint recovery resource)
Fats (your body's preferred nutrient for stabilising your hormones)
These are the big 3 essential resources that you should actually pay attention to when you are making your food choices.
You need a balance of the 3 to ensure you are fuelling your body correctly for day to day life.
There is a differing degree of need for each person as some would require higher levels of carbs, proteins or fats depending on their activity levels, stage of life, gender, current health status, and their body composition.
An average female would require higher levels of fats in comparison to your average male due to the processes they go through in terms of bodily regulation. However, the average male tend to require higher levels of carbohydrates due to their higher physical activity rates.
So How Do You Solve The Time It Takes To Shop?
Getting efficient is going to take time to create and finding out how to strategically get the right amount of everything is also going to be a bit of a strain but how do we solve this?
First I would assess your situation, what does your current activity levels look like?
Are you highly active or pretty sedentary?
Are you overweight or under weight?
Is your goal muscle gain, muscle retention or fat loss?
As you can see there are many factors at play that I can not answer as when it comes to nutrition you must take an individualised approach however I will give you some examples :)
Case Studies
I go through periods myself of bulking/cutting. This is the process of gaining weight through a caloric surplus then losing weight through a caloric deficit. This is all to attempt at gaining more muscle and then less fat to improve body composition.
Caloric Surplus
In a caloric surplus my main goal is to put on muscle. So through this period my carbs will be pretty high at around 3-4 grams per kg of bodyweight as my activity levels are high also. e.g. when I weigh 80kg I will eat minimum 240 grams of carbs.
My protein is lower than normal however still between a range of 1-1.5 grams per kg of bodyweight. e.g. when I weigh 80kg I will eat minimum 80 grams of protein a day.
My fats are level however still on the lower end as they are not as important nutrient however I make sure I get enough in my diet for my body's needs. I keep it between 0.7-0.8 grams per kg of bodyweight. e.g. when I weigh 80 kg I will eat minimum 56 grams of fat a day.
Caloric Deficit
In a deficit things change as my main aim is to lose fat whilst maintaining the muscle I have. So through this period the biggest change is my protein will go higher than normal while my carbs get lower.
My carbs will stabilise at minimum 1-2 grams per kg of bodyweight to ensure I am still receiving my body's energy requirements as I still lift and am pretty active. e.g. when I weight 80 kg I will eat 80 - 160 grams of carbs per day.
My protein will go up to around 1.5-2 grams per kg of bodyweight to ensure I am getting my body's protein needs to maintain the muscle I have and repair the damage being caused through training. The difference will be that in a deficit I do not want my body to start burning protein for energy and supplying extra protein safeguards this from happening. e.g. I will be eating 120-160 grams of protein when I am in a deficit.
My fats will get lower however I never dip lower than 0.7 grams per kg of bodyweight as this is something that becomes unsafe for your body. You need fat for your normal bodily processes, cell reproduction and hormone regulation! e.g. I will eat closer to and stay at 56 grams of fat when I weight 80kg.
I have always been a macronutrient tracker however this may become useless to many people...
I have a tip that will solve many issues today.
Remember this analogy today
When you have a broken pipe and your bathroom is flooding what is your first step or action?
Do you fix the broken pipe or do you start moping up the water?
Obviously you fix the pipe first otherwise you are cleaning water that is being replenished by the broken pipe right?
Pretty stupid analogy I am sure you are thinking but when I switch it to nutrition it might make things clearer...
If your goal is weight loss, why do people go to fads, or high protein, low fat, no carb diets when that is not the issue you should be fixing and is basically the mopping of the floor.
Your first point of action is fixing your caloric intake. There is no point cleaning up the foods and macronutrients if you can't even fix the amount of food or energy you are bringing in?
Calories first then macros later
