| The Role of Exercise in Weight Loss |
Carbohydrate is the most important fuel for any active person. It’s stored in the muscles as glycogen. To maximise our energy stores we need to keep our glycogen stores topped up every day. The best way to do this is to have a low-fat, high-carbohydrate snack or light meal 2-3 hours before exercise; this allows time for the stomach to empty beforehand. Then we need to start refuelling energy stores as soon as we have finish exercising- how much we need will depend on the amount of exercise we do. Our main meals should contain plenty of carbohydrate rich foods e.g. ¼ plate starchy carbohydrates and ½ plate veg /salad. All main meals should contain some protein e.g. ¼ plate.
Snack sensibly. Snacks should be low-fat and high in carbohydrate. Dried fruit e.g. mango, Sesame and Sunflower Bites, fresh fruit all travel well alongside the water bottle.
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If you’re thinking about a dietary approach to help you on the way to a new trimmer you, you may be confused by the enormous divide splitting the diet industry – ‘low carb’ or ‘low fat’? The fact is fad diets come and go. We keep forgetting that there is only one way to successfully shed pounds – and that is to burn off more calories than we take in! This is the crucial factor in successful weight loss. Where the calories come from (the percentage from carbohydrate, protein and fat), whilst important, is less important than how many calories we eat.
To lose weight, don’t cut calories too severely or you may slow down your metabolic rate. This makes weight loss extremely difficult. There’s also the problem that you’ll be continually starving and you probably won’t stick to your new eating plan anyway!
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