The best diet is the one you stick to…

There is no one size fits all solution to diets but I like to live by the 80/20 rule. This approach brings some much-needed structure to healthy eating and it is all about balance, moderation and consistency. It’s unrealistic to be perfect all the time because eventually we will crack and dive head first into a jar of Nutella.

The rule is often misinterpreted so I would like to briefly explain how to apply it to daily life. It does not mean eating healthily during the week and then mindlessly eating whatever you want at weekends. You need to be aware of how many calories you should consume per day in order to achieve your goal. To lose weight your calorie intake has to be lower than your energy output and to maintain weight it has to balance. You should try your best to stay within these lines each day and most definitely over the course of a week. 80% of these calories will come from unprocessed highly nutritious foods and 20% from indulgent treats.

Calorie intake is important but you also need to consider the optimal balance between the three macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates and fats). There is no doubt that protein is an important part of your diet and it should be the first thing you look at. Proteins are used to build, repair and maintain body tissue (including muscle), and it’s also important for the production of hormones and antibodies. You need to make sure that an adequate amount of protein is consumed and this is based on your bodyweight and activity level. Evidence based research suggests 1.6g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight as a minimum and each gram of protein provides 4 calories.

The remaining balance of calories will be split between carbohydrates and healthy fats for general health, wellbeing and to fuel your body. How you manipulate this split will have little effect on your body composition as long as you stay within your calorie zone, but I would recommend a moderate amount of each rather than cutting one of them out from your diet plan completely. It is a simple case of trial and error to see how you feel and how you perform in the gym or in your sport.