In some of our sports articles we talk about this unavoidable fact: sport is linked to food, food is linked to sport, because one cannot do without the other. It is proof of the indisputable order.
How, why be so radical? Simply because sports practice makes our body train – it is logical -, and how does our body feed on the energy necessary for this aforementioned practice? Thanks to food – it is also logical and simple to justify as written above and which we transcribe below in abbreviated form:
SPORT = POWER SUPPLY
FOOD = SPORT
In one of our previous articles, we talked about the importance of getting to know each other well before starting bodybuilding program.
In this article we will talk about the importance of knowing well not what we eat, but how we eat it. And the following was approved by the a registered dietician.
I – The game of the 6 families
To begin with, it is necessary to distinguish and know six food families but ignoring, for simplicity, their scientific name:
- Vegetables
- Meat, fish, eggs
- Cereal products
- Fat body
- Dairy product
- Fruit
See, remembered? Perfect ! You’ve done three quarters of the work. Note that the order of the list follows the normal history of a normal meal (antipasto + dish + sweet).
It will now be a question of making sure that each of these families is present in your lunch and dinner, according to an amount to be adapted, and a little in your breakfast. Nothing rocket science, just a good habit to take that will turn into a reflex and be forgotten when, good student you are, you apply these rules as automatically.
II- Lunch
The meal was denounced as the most important of the day, when some scream that it is breakfast, we will not enter this debate. But let’s not forget that this meal is “central” to a day, a way to refuel after a morning and to recharge your body with energy for the rest of the day. Hence the importance that we personally attribute to it (you will remember our article on intermittent fasting and our tips on lunch not to be skipped).
For this meal, the six food families mentioned above must be present and compliant this distribution :
In other words, to return to our list:
- Vegetables : 1/3
- Meat, fish, eggs: 1/3
- Cereal products: 1/3
- Fat body: a spoon
- Dairy product : And
- Fruit : And
We will not enter the debate between grams and grams, knowing that each metabolism is different and that the feeling of hunger and satiety is equally different. Just know that if you drool on this lovely one-pound steak, logic would tell you to eat a pound of beans and a pound of pasta on the side. Hard, isn’t it?
The most logical logic would then be that you only eat 500 grams of this beautiful steak, accompanied by 500 grams of vegetables and 500 grams of cereal products, in addition to your fruit and dairy products. If you are not satisfied with this it is because you are a titan and we say respect. But above all, and this is what we want to tell you, is that even when you are hungry and even tempted, remember not to unbalance your diet by favoring one food family over another.
This is where the notion of “eating a balanced diet” takes on its full meaning.
Examples of balanced lunches:
- Grated carrots as an appetizer (vegetable) + Minced steak (meat and fat) with rice (grain and fat based product) as main dish + 1 yogurt (dairy) and 1 apple (fruit) for dessert
- Tomato mozzarella as an appetizer (Vegetables and Dairy products) + Cod (Fish and fat) with Lentils (Products based on cereals and fat) as a single dish + 1 kiwi (fruit)
III – Dinner
Starting with the central meal of the day, rather than making the usual breakfast order + the lunch + dinner, allows us to better understand the method because lunch is the most complete illustration of it. Dinner uses the codes but according to a distribution changedknow :
- Vegetables : 2/4
- Meat, fish, eggs: 1/4
- Cereal products: 1/4
- Fat body : a spoon
- Dairy product : And
- Fruit : And
You will notice that we only increase the volume of vegetables, and we decrease that of OPVs (meat, fish, eggs) and cereal-based products (never very advisable a few hours before going to bed).
Examples of balanced dinners:
- A bowl of gazpacho (vegetable and fat) + One egg casserole (egg) with a piece of bread (cereal product) + A fruity yogurt (Dairy and Fruit)
- A cucumber and feta salad with a few crumbs of tuna and a drizzle of olive oil (vegetables, dairy products, fish and fat) + a toast (cereal product) + a pear (fruit)
IV- Breakfast
For this meal at the start of the day, unless you are the titan mentioned a few lines above or have wishes and practices other than mere mortals (we judge no one), we can eliminate the vegetables and limit the OPVs to a few grams of eggs, or smoked salmon, or bacon. So let’s end up with this distribution:
- Cereal products
- Fat body
- Dairy product
- Fruit
The quantity depends on each one, for once. Think “balanced” (don’t swallow bread spread with butter and jam (Product of Cereal, Fat and Fruit) against half a yogurt, for example. But if you read the above correctly, you must have understood the logic.
See conclusion
The last word of non-hunger: Enjoy your meal !
You are ready to eat a balanced diet. Two last tips then we let you go:
- Take your time to eat. A meal is not a contest, a meal should last at least 30 minutes. Remember to taste, chew well, rest the fork between bites.
- Don’t deprive yourself once in a while a good and unbalanced meal (like a McDonald’s or a kebab). We have only one life and eating should be a pleasure that is part of it. The importance is knowing how to recover and then resume good habits.