A Better You: Steer clear of those wasted carbs during lockdown

Over the past three weeks I have been writing about program design, how to train at home and how to plan your routine but it is probably time to start thinking about cutting your calories.

All the movement you do in a day adds up to steps and calories burnt but now that you have found yourself confined to an apartment, small dwelling or even cluster home, the total amount of energy expenditure in a day won’t be half of what you are normally doing.

This is why you need to follow a daily set exercise routine, morning abs, core and mobility workout followed by an afternoon full body workout but at the same time cut your waste calories.

Wasted or negative calories which are classified as ”bad carbs” are things like sweets, chocolates, chips, white bread, pastries, fruit juices and cold drinks.

A waste calorie or negative calorie is a calorie with very little or no nutritional value.

All they do is leaving you wanting more and will get added to your waist-line not in the form of muscle but fat.

Here are some strategies to home tips to survive the bulge.

1. Consume good carbs in moderation

It is impossible to go through a day without some form of carbs hidden in somewhere so don’t stress about not getting any carbs in, you will get plenty.

If you are going to consume carbs aim for nutritious and superior than others. Here is a list of what you should aim for and why:

Quinoa – rich in minerals, fibre, protein and regulates blood glucose levels

Cold steel oats – good source of protein and soluble fibre called beta-glucan and contains vitamins and minerals and antioxidants

Bananas – high in potassium, vitamin B6 and vitamin C

Sweet potatoes – rich in vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium

Beetroots – high in nitrates which transforms in nitric oxide in the body which helps to reduce blood pressure

Oranges – contains antioxidants, vitamins C, vitamin B and potassium

Blueberries – high in Vitamin K, magnesium, vitamin C and lots of antioxidants

Chickpeas – high in iron, minerals, phosphorous and vitamin B

2. Reduce total calories per day

If you are exercising like a machine, then keep you healthy your calorie intake normal but if you are sitting behind a laptop trying to save your job all day then my suggestion is to cut back by 500 calories a day.

The best advice I can give is to keep your portion size to one meal, often when we like something we go back for seconds and that is like having another meal or your third meal you have been trying to avoid.

Have a glass of water before your meal, start with your dense vegetables and then move to your protein.

This will help you to feel fuller faster and then makes it difficult to go for seconds.

Also try focus on being present during your meals and that meals don’t rush but enjoy and actually chew your meals.

3. Fasting

There is a lot of celebrities, stars, gym fanatics and average Joes wanting to lose weight firm up and lose the unwanted budges.

Try fast for 16 hours a day by not consuming any food or sugary drinks, only water from 8pm to 12pm.

Then continue your lunch, mid-afternoon fruit and dinner as per normal.

When you have an abundance of food, your body learns to store most additional things you eat as fat but when you fast, your body starts to reset itself by going into survival mode and become efficient and this mean it self-destroys old cells that may be causing your body toxicity and then changes your digestive approach to food as fuel and burns it up quickly from a body that stores majority of its calorie intake as fat.

By cutting out technically one third of your waking days food intake you are reducing your weight and destroying unwanted dead weight cells that have been meaning to die off, but you keep feeding it with carbs to survive.

4. Hydration

Every living cell in your body needs water to survive and that means see water as food or fuel for your cells.

By drinking more water throughout the day, you are nourishing your cells with H2O to be able to do it jobs properly.

If you starve your body, it becomes unhappy and your body fights back.

Give it enough water throughout the day and it will help suppress hunger and you skin and energy level will improve.

During lockdown you are going to do one of two things: eat yourself unhappy or work on yourself and come out of lockdown feeling confident, strong and positive be because you are going to need it fight this crisis we find ourselves in.

Sean van Staden is a sport scientist. Follow him on Twitter at @SeanVStaden or visit advancedsp.co.za.

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