nutrition and performance book

12. Understanding energy balance
When I talk about energy balance I simply mean maintaining consistent energy levels throughout the
day by making the correct food and drink choices whilst prioritizing training and rest protocols.
A lot of modern food will give you a “rush” of energy that lasts a small insufficient amount of time
before it wears off and you “crash”. This food is what I call “fake”. Usually devoid of real nutrients
and inefficient at providing the body with sufficient energy balance.
Foods which are high in refined sugar or processed. Like “go to” foods when you can’t be bothered
cooking something healthy! On the road food and the food we buy because we use the excuse we
haven’t the time to eat healthily. Below is a chart showing how energy looks when we eat these
foods in comparison to healthy food choices:
6
5
4
3
2
1
Energy balance
0
0-2 2-4 4-6 6-8 8-10 10-12 12-14 14-16
Healthy
Unhealthy
As you can see in the above chart the horizontal axis depicts the hours of the day typically awake
and the vertical axis depicts the units 0-6 (0 being the lowest energy level and 6 being the highest)
It is simple to understand. Bad food choices will lead to fluctuating energy levels. What goes up
must come down….
Maintaining consistent healthy food choices will help to produce a balanced energy level all day,
every day, therefore increasing performance, lifestyle and general wellbeing.
If you feel tired day in and day out or your sleeping patterns are a mess, then look at your diet and
figure out whether it’s the food you eat that causes such issues.
Sugary fake foods are digested very quickly offering a quick spike of energy, however sugar in whole
foods have enzymes and molecules that take longer to break down and digest thus offering a much
more stable energy threshold.
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