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The Club AND Spa at the Cube Presents

A Guide to fitness as a working professional

NUTRITION EDITION

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THE STORY SO FAR… You went to school, college and possibly university. Throughout those years you led an active lifestyle either in some sort of sports or were out socialising and in general did not have to pay too much attention to what you ate/drank on a daily basis.

The years go by, you now have your ideal career in (insert here) and in most cases your job is sedentary. Hours are at least 9-5 (sometimes longer), you potentially have a mortgage and family commitments.

You look in the mirror one day and realise that you are also more than a few pounds heavier in weight!

The realisation sets in that the eating and drinking you got away with 5, 10, 15 years ago has now well and truly caught up. Naturally you start looking a convenient, cost effective and timely way to lose the extra pounds but have little or no idea where to start…

If any of this this sounds familiar, then this E-Book is for you!

SECTION 1. | WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR?

A Journey of a million miles, begins with a single steP

– Sun Tzu

1Who is this

book for?

” “

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My name is Mike and I am the Gym Manager at theclubandspa Birmingham. It gives me great pleasure to be providing a helping hand at the start of your 2019 fitness journey.

Our “Guide to Fitness as a Working Professional” aims to provide you with some of the basic principles of getting in shape and staying that way; in particular when working a 9-5 in the city or leading an otherwise busy lifestyle.

With over 6 years’ experience in the industry I am also a specialist in functional training.

Over the years I have helped numerous clients from various backgrounds, each with their own individual fitness goals.

They say that a leader is only as strong as his or her team, I say that a coach is only as strong as their client’s results. With results in mind, myself and my team of coaches have put our collective knowledge and experience together in this series of E-Books for your benefit - Just add effort! Take this E-Book series as your introduction to fitness for 2019. Staying in shape while working in an office needn’t be complicated or unsustainable.

SECTION 2. | ABOUT THE TRAINERS – MIKE

ABOUT MIKE

2ABOUT THE

TRAINERS

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Jack Braniff has his Master’s degree (MSc) in Sports and Exercise nutrition and is a registered sports nutritionist (SENr) under the British Dietetics Association. Jack specialises in nutrition for performance and weight loss, and has a long standing association with the Club and Spa.

You can find out more about Jack and Box Nutrition’s services at: www.boxnutrition.co

Box_nutrition jack@boxnutrition.co.uk

SECTION 2. | ABOUT THE TRAINERS –JACK

ABOUT JACK

2ABOUT THE

TRAINERS

5TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF

CONTENTS

6 Where Do I Start? Good Habits Create a Calorie DeficitMake Hitting Protein Numbers a PriorityBe FlexibleStart by adding in foods rather than only taking away foodsBe patient

8 Things to avoid

Try not to drink your caloriesReduce high sugar/fat condimentsDon’t strive for perfection

9 Diets – the truth

Low carb, is it right for you?What is the ketogenic diet?Do you burn more fat?Are there any benefits of cutting out carbs?Will it help those who exercise a lot?Is it easy to stick to?

12 Meal Plans

Build MuscleLose Fat

15 NOW IT’S TIME TO CHANGE YOUR BODY

6SECTION 3. | WHERE DO I START?

3WhERE DO I

START?

Create a calorie deficit I’m sure you hear this time and time again but the fundamental mechanism for fat/weight loss is being in a kcal deficit over the week. A kcal deficit is burning more energy than you take in through food. Whether you choose to track your food by counting calories, using a portion portions control system, removing food groups or by exercising more, you still need to be expending more calories than you consume if you want to lose weight. Make hitting protein numbers a priority (1.8-2.2g.kg per day) The literature consistently shows us that a diet high protein helps with weight loss and favourable body composition changes (increasing muscle mass and losing fat). Ideally, you want to aim for 1.8-2.2g per kg of body weight per day. So for a 60kg person, this would be around 120g. For help with creating your calorie deficit and working out your protein then check out our free calorie and macro calculator by clicking here: boxnutrition.co/macro-calculator

Be flexible

Learn to adjust your daily or even weekly eating by being strict in certain areas, so that you can give yourself more flexibility in other parts of your diet.

• Drop the pasta with your evening meal so you can have dessert • Eat the burger without the bread so you can have dessert • Having no afternoon snack so you can have a bedtime snack • Don’t have carbs at lunch so you can have double carbs in the evening. • Skip carbs at breakfast so you can have a few drinks at night

GOOD HABITS

7SECTION 3. | WHERE DO I START?

3WhERE DO I

START?

Start by adding in foods rather than only taking away foods

Increasing foods like lean protein sources, fibrous fruit and vegetables will have just as much of an impact on weight loss as removing all the ‘fun stuff’ (cakes, biscuits ice cream etc). It will also help with reducing the feeling of dieting, which is important for long term adherence.

Be patient

Although rapid weight loss can help with motivation, the likelihood of sticking to an extreme diet is very unlikely and can lead to extreme measures resulting in physical and psychological problems. Being able to stick to an eating pattern forever is key for long-term success.

8SECTION 4. | THINGS TO AVOID

4THINGS TO

AVOID

Try not to drink your calories

Liquid calories quickly add up and often go under the radar. Have you ever checked how many calories are in your vanilla latte or you ‘healthy’ fruit smoothie. It’s worth checking!

Reduce high sugar/fat condiments

Exactly the same as drinking your calories, too many condiments like ketchup, mayo and salad dressings can easily impede your weight loss efforts. That’s not to say you can’t have them, just be aware of how much you’re having.

Don’t strive for perfection

When dieting you will have days where everything moves along seamlessly, you’re motivated, you have time to prepare, no work stress or any other life problems. Yet other days will seem like everything is against you, unforeseen circumstances that completely derail you and feel like you’ve been set back 10 steps.

This WILL happen. This is life. So expect it.

9SECTION 5. | DIETS – The truth

5DIETS- THE TRUTH

Low carb, is it right for you?

Although no new thing, the ketogenic (keto) diet has seen an significant rise in its use with it being hailed as remedy for health, weight loss and performance. So should we be taking note?

What is the ketogenic diet?

The ketogenic is a high fat, low protein and low carbohydrate (less than 50g per day) diet. The reduction in carbohydrates forces the body to convert fat into ketone bodies that are used to fuel the muscles and brain.

Do you burn more fat?

Although forcing the body into ketosis will use more fat as fuel, this does not necessarily equate to a loss in body fat. Put simply, your body will use or ‘burn’ whichever food it is presented with. If you eat more fat you will use this as a fuel, whereas if you eat more carbohydrates your body will use these carbs for fuel.

Any diet that puts you into a negative kcal balance will help you lose weight, whether it’s Keto, Vegan, Paleo, Mediterranean, fasting or just eating well. When kcals and protein are matched however, there is a negligible difference in the weight you lose between a low carbohydrate and low fat dietary approach. It’s kcal balance which dictates fat loss, not the amount of carbohydrates.

10SECTION 5. | DIETS – The truth

5DIETS- THE TRUTH

Are there any benefits of cutting out carbs?

Yes, there are some very real practical benefits of cutting down on carbs:

• By reducing your carbohydrates you are likely to increase your protein intake, which in turn can help with satiety thus reducing your kcal intake.

• A drop in carbohydrates automatically reduces a lot of junk food (crisps, sweets, biscuits) which will help control kcals.

• Cutting carbohydrates will also often lead to a reduction in refined sugar and processed foods eaten. These too are foods that we know promote fat gain and can make sticking to a diet more challenging.

• Cutting out a whole food group will instinctively help reduce kcals as a result of eating less.

• Low carb or keto diet can be favourable for ‘unhealthy’ populations with some kind of metabolic dysfunction (poor glucose control, pre diabetic, hypertension etc). This is not to say low carb will cure all of these ailments but it could be used for therapeutic benefits.

So there are without doubt benefits of cutting back on carbs, but not necessarily removing them.

11SECTION 5. | DIETS – The truth

5DIETS- THE TRUTH

Will it help those who exercise a lot?

Put simply no. High volume, high intensity exercise that primarily uses the glycolytic pathway will require carbohydrates to perform optimally, because of the speed they are converted to energy compared to fat. However, the use of a high fat diets may help with longer, slower endurance based activities such as ironman and ultra-distance events.

There is also the danger that remaining low carb for a long period of time may inhibit your ability to use and deliver carbohydrates to the muscle as fuel. We want to be able to successfully switch from the use of carbohydrates and fat depending on the intensity and length of the session.

Is it easy to stick to?

It is well accepted that diets are difficult to stick to regardless of the approach. A recent research review concluded that the ketogenic diet is no different where people may start strong but have difficulty in adhering to the diet after 1-3 month.

SUMMARY

Although there may be some benefits of reducing carbohydrates, removing an entire food group, slashing your fibre, wholegrain and fruit intake that we know have enormous health benefits seems a questionable strategy at best.

Even from a very practical and real world standpoint, the prohibition of biscuits, sandwiches and beer in my eyes is quite simply a foolish proposition that I will not be recommending.

12SECTION 6. | MEAL PLANS

6MEALS PLANS

We are not trying to reinvent the wheel here – more like make sure that they are turning in the right direction!

For that reason we have put together a couple of basic meal plans that are aimed at either Fat Loss or Muscle Gain.

The main goal here is to a) give some guidance to those of you that have literally no idea where to start and b) to demonstrate that you do not need to live on broccoli in order to drop a few pounds!

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SECTION 6. | MEAL PLANS

MUSCLE GAINBreakfast Lunch Optional Snacks Dinner Evening

MON Porridge Oats with nut butter & Protein Powder

Chicken Breast with rice + Vegetables

Fruit/Dried Fruit/Nuts/Protein shake/protein bar/Nutri-grain bar/rice cake + nut butter

Grilled Beef Steak + Boiled potatoes + Vegetables

Greek/Icelandic Yoghurt with chia seeds

TUE Scrambled eggs on wholemeal bread

Chicken breast on wholemeal pitta bread + Salad

Fruit/Dried Fruit/Nuts/Protein shake/protein bar/Nutri-grain bar/rice cake + nut butter

Salmon Fillet + Potato wedges/thick cut chips + Vegetables

Cottage Cheese + Almonds

WED Greek/Icelandic Yoghurt with berries + Nuts

Turkey Breast with rice + Vegetables

Fruit/Dried Fruit/Nuts/Protein shake/protein bar/Nutri-grain bar/rice cake + nut butter

Lean Beef Mince + Pasta + Vegetables

Tuna + Vegetables

THU Porridge Oats with nut butter & Protein Powder

Chicken Breast with rice + Vegetables

Fruit/Dried Fruit/Nuts/Protein shake/protein bar/Nutri-grain bar/rice cake + nut butter

Egg Omelette + Tomato + Vegetables

Greek/Icelandic Yoghurt + Nuts

FRI Cottage cheese with Fruit

Tuna + Brown Pasta

Fruit/Dried Fruit/Nuts/Protein shake/protein bar/Nutri-grain bar/rice cake + nut butter

Chicken breast + Sweet potato mash + Vegetables

Nut butter + wholemeal bread & protein shake

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SECTION 6. | MEAL PLANS

FAT LOSSBreakfast Lunch Optional Snacks Dinner Evening

MON Porridge Oats

Chicken Breast + Vegetables

Fresh Fruit/Protein Shake/vegetable smoothie/Red Kidney beans/Chickpeas

Grilled Beef Steak + Vegetables

Tin of Tuna (In brine/water not oil)

TUE Boiled Eggs + Salad

Lean beef mince + Salad

Fresh Fruit/Protein Shake/vegetable smoothie/Red Kidney beans/Chickpeas

Salmon Fillet + Vegetables

Boiled eggs + Salad

WED Greek/Icelandic Yoghurt with berries

Turkey Breast + Vegetables

Fresh Fruit/Protein Shake/vegetable smoothie/Red Kidney beans/Chickpeas

Cod/Basa fillet+ Cauliflower rice

Cottage Cheese

THU Porridge Oats

Salmon + Vegetables

Fresh Fruit/Protein Shake/vegetable smoothie/Red Kidney beans/Chickpeas

Egg Omelette + Tomato + Vegetables

Greek/Icelandic Yoghurt

FRI Cottage cheese with Fruit

Boiled eggs + Vegetables

Fresh Fruit/Protein Shake/vegetable smoothie/Red Kidney beans/Chickpeas

Lean Turkey Mince + Carrot & swede mash

Tin of Tuna (In brine/water not oil)

15SECTION 7. | Now iT’s time to change your Body

7Now iT s time to

change your Body

We are thrilled that you have taken the time to read the first edition of the Club and Spa’s Guide Fitness as a working professional.

The Club and Spa’s Guide to Fitness as a Working Professional will return in May for our: Beach Body Edition – Part 1

Assuming you have enjoyed this read please like and follow us on Social Media for more updates

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The clubandspaThe Cube Birmingham,

196 Wharfside St, Birmingham, B1 1RN

Call 0121 6432200 Spa: Option 1

Memberships: Option 2 Club: Option 3

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