The 5 essential nutrition protocols for lasting fat loss

As a personal trainer, it’s my job to create a formula for each of my clients – one that aligns with their individual body type and helps them to work towards their agreed goals. Any target-driven PT will know that hitting the mark with a client’s nutrition plan plays a vital part in their long-term success.

This short article is designed to lay out the five most important elements of good nutrition, which you need to take into consideration before completing your client’s nutrition strategy. I apply all five of these principles with every single person I work with, to secure optimal results from their individually-tailored plan.

Protocol 1: Consume protein at all three main meals

It is no secret that diets high in protein are a staple element of any body re-shaping programme. There is a very good reason why this point made it in at number one on my list of protocols. With new clients of mine, I waste no time in educating them about the hormonal and metabolic values which come with a high protein diet.

Protein is invaluable because:

• It builds a block of cells throughout the body
• It’s essential for healthy skin, nails, muscles, cartilage and blood
• It helps to build and repair body tissues, and
• It is used to produce several hormones and enzymes.

When you eat protein for breakfast, you will inevitably feel fuller for longer, reduce cravings for sugar and sweet things later on in the day and lose more body fat – particularly around the stomach area. From a hormonal point of view, consuming protein first thing will stimulate the production of your growth hormone levels, which enhances your rate of fat loss.

My top recommended protein breakfasts include:

• Chicken or turkey, ½ an avocado, a handful of raw spinach sprinkled with lemon juice
• Scrambled eggs, toasted rye bread, a bed of raw spinach and lemon juice

Protocol 2: Maintain a high fibre intake

Where there is high protein, a lack of fibre is often lurking around the corner. One of the most important factors to consider, particularly when you consume a protein heavy diet, is where your fibre is going to come from.

Dietary fibre is the part of plant foods that your body cannot digest or absorb. Fibre is a source of carbohydrate and comes in two varieties: insoluble and soluble. Insoluble fibre cannot dissolve in water, while soluble fibre does, and forms a gel-like substance. Insoluble fibre helps to sweep foods through your digestive system and improves bowel movements. Soluble fibre plays a role in lowering blood cholesterol and glucose levels.

A lack of fibre has not been linked directly to diseases but trends have shown us that it can increase your levels of cholesterol, your chances of colon cancer and type 2 diabetes.

The trick is to consume sources of fibre which are low glycaemic and work alongside your high protein, low sugar and low starch eating regime. Some of my top-rated fibre sources include:

• Grains: oats, oat bran, barley, brown rice, cereals with psyllium fibre
• Nuts and seeds: almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts (not peanuts)
• Fruit: oranges, grapefruit, apples, bananas, pears, berries
• Vegetables: sweet potatoes, carrots, corn, squash

Depending on how much weight/fat my client needs to lose, I will often recommend a fibre supplement (psyllium husk), which is a natural source of dietary fibre. I have found that this is an excellent low calorie solution to making sure they are hitting the desired amount of fibre. This goes alongside ensuring that they’re sticking to a nutrition plan which matches their calorie intake to their long-term goal.

Protocol 3: Eat complex carbohydrates on days of exercise only

This protocol has worked an absolute treat over the years. One of my jobs is to calculate how tolerant my client is towards carbohydrates and formulate a plan to ensure they consume enough to perform their exercise programme,

but not too much, so that they don’t store the excess glucose in their fat stores.

Limiting the complex carbs for the days on which you train is a great way to achieve this. Every one of my clients comes to see me to reduce body fat and this technique has proven to be a winner every time. My top-rated complex carbohydrates include: sweet potatoes, brown rice, rye bread, butternut squash and oats.

For your post-workout meal, I encourage people to consume these foods along with their protein and greens. On days of non-exercise, main meals should stick to the primary protein source and green vegetables, limiting your carbohydrate intake to snack time. These include dark-skinned fruits and berries. Blueberries, blackberries, cherries, figs and strawberries are all good examples.

In most cases, I find that people consume more carbohydrates than they are able to tolerate. Organising your intake using this system is an excellent way to manage your glycogen and insulin levels, both of which contribute towards optimum performance and fat loss.

Protocol 4: Choose the right snacks between meals

Eating little and often is generally accepted as a stronger formula to ensure weight and fat loss versus big meals with large gaps. The science behind how your body responds to ‘little and often’ aligns perfectly with the way your body is designed to process nutrients. Therefore you can expect better results.

Regular meals and snacks come down to maintaining hormonal balance and increasing your rate of fat loss. Insulin and cortisol are two hormones which are particularly affected by the way you eat, and have a strong influence over where you store body fat.

Choosing the right snacks between meals is essential in balancing this hormonal equation, which will increase your body’s ability to shift fat. Snacks which include good fats and protein should be your first port of call. Some of these include:

• Coconut, cashew nut butters spread over an oatcake
• A mix of blueberries and almonds
• Chickpeas
• Raw greens with hummus

Protocol 5: Keep a high alkaline diet

This may take you back to biology lessons at school… However, the acid/alkaline equation is as important to your body as it was to your science teacher. Quite simply, if your body is more acidic, you are more likely to get ill and suffer from disease. The foods you eat have an impact on your acid/alkaline balance so it is really important that you know which foods are going to ensure you maintain a healthy balance.

Most fresh fruits, vegetables and spices have an alkaline effect on your body. If it is green, it will generally have an alkalizing effect on the body. Alkaline foods provide more of the essential vitamins and minerals that your body needs in their natural form. Conversely, animal proteins, sugar, processed foods, alcohol and caffeine are all acidic which makes way for harmful bacteria to rapidly grow and multiply.

To ensure that my clients have a high alkaline intake, green vegetables feature in their meal plans every day. I am also a strong advocate of greens drinks and juices. A fresh greens juice made with fresh ingredients goes a long way to raising energy levels and increasing fat loss. I also recommend greens powder drinks to some clients who don’t have time to make a fresh juice every day. These don’t taste particularly delicious, but they are loaded with alkaline. Both methods have contributed towards higher energy levels and reduced body fat for everyone that I’ve recommended them to.

Before I even discuss calories and grams of food with my clients, I make sure that these five protocols have hit home. They simply provide the solid foundation required for you to achieve a consistent drop of body fat week in week out.

If you’re not following these five simple, brilliantly effective rules already, why not try them? To find out more, come and find me on Twitter, where I would be delighted to answer your questions to help you drop body fat efficiently and healthily.

Related content:

1. Super Greens to be super lean
2. Hormones, nutrition and fat loss
3. Insulin – The fat storage hormone
4. Supplements and fat loss