The doctors of the future will give no medicine but interest their patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease” – Thomas Edison

We first must understand the correct volume of food we need to function efficiently. This is measured through our daily calorie requirements and intake, or portion control.

Whether you’re going to track your calories or use portion control, our bodies need to find balance in the food we eat. Neither too much of one thing, nor too little of another.

This is expressed in relation to calories and also to the macronutrients that we eat.

So we need to consider the makeup of that food.

Just because it fits your calories, it can’t all be burgers and chips! We must eat a variety of nutrients and minerals and make sure we’re getting the correct levels of these to help the body stay healthy, balanced and strong.

What we must start to do is balance out our meals and shift some focus onto macronutrients. Carbs, Proteins and Fats.

A balanced macronutrient split commonly used for fat loss is 40% Carbohydrates, 30% Protein and 30% Fat.

However this may need some tweaking so it works with your body’s needs. For example, if you’re an active individual (you have an active job or do lots of classes), you’re Carbohydrate intake will need to be more like 50-65%. You need to adapt for your body’s needs.

Now at the moment you are probably looking at that and thinking, how do I actually make a meal out of that?

First of all I’m going to talk to you about the science behind this, then I’m going to talk about how you are going to make those meals in the real world, in the world where it fits in with your lifestyle, because at the end of the day I can sit here and wow you with science but if you can’t make those meals relative in the real world, it doesn’t mean anything, it’s just science.

So let’s talk about the science

A diet too high in carbohydrates will create a sequence of high blood sugar, followed by low blood sugar and high levels of the hormone insulin (the fat storage hormone).

If you eat a meal at 40/30/30 what happens is you balance your blood sugar levels, so you won’t be getting the highs and you certainly won’t be getting any lows that you are currently feeling either (your body will become more sensitive to insulin and it wont need to produce as much to regulate your blood sugar, which is a good thing).

Now a lot of the time people think this is only about weight-loss but actually it’s also about how you feel and if you keep getting highs and lows you know that affects the quality of your life because it effects your energy levels, it effects how you feel, it gives you headaches and things like that.

As I said before though, the exact levels of this split needs to be bespoke to the individual and the 40/30/30 is just a good starting point.

WHATEVER SPLIT IS RIGHT FOR YOUR BODY, IT STILL MUST ABIDE BY THE OVERRIDING PRINCIPLE THAT YOU MUST ADHERE TO YOUR DAILY CALORIE REQUIREMENTS.