Join me for a fish breakfast? Anyone??

As you could probably imagine, diet is a critical part of the process. Eating “clean”, organic Paleo-style meals wasn’t something new to me, as I have been eating meat and nuts for breakfast, with fresh fruit/vegetable juices daily. I was used to rotating different meats and nuts and kangaroo was a favourite, so it wasn’t a hard transition.

For the first 3 weeks, my coach Ben had advised me eat white fresh fish 4 times a day with greens and rotating the fish every second day (no tuna or salmon). Eggs were allowed every second day as a snack. No canned food. Well….. I wasn’t used to fish in the morning but you know what, after trying it a few times, in different combinations, it wasn’t that bad. 

Some of my favourite fish and preparation methods include:  Blue grenadier, Trevally, Barramundi, Rockling, lightly pan-fried in coconut butter or organic butter with some spices. On weekends I oven-bake a big batch of fish with organic butter and onions and some sweet potato.  I love seafood, so it’s not a problem. However, eating it cold was initially. Like most of you, time is very limited in the mornings and lunch at work, is something pre-prepared, waiting for me in the fridge. Microwaving- a MASSIVE no no! Watching my work colleagues turn up their noses and comment on my cold fish and greens became quite funny. I actually became accustomed to the flavours and enjoyed grossing out my colleagues. The smell of L-Cartinitine elicited the same kind of negative reactions too, haha.

On the weekend I’d have 1 dozen oysters and 1kg of King prawns, from the market. Scallops are also a favourite and I would lightly pan-fry scallops with garlic, organic butter, chilli, lime and fresh herbs, freshly grated ginger and turmeric.

Hail the kale

What was really hard in terms of diet was cutting out all sugar (fruit) and dairy. I loved my gourmet gelati’s every few weeks but I’m not the kind of person who constantly indulged in sugary foods.  I really enjoyed eating greek yoghurt with berries, mangoes, apricots, peaches, apples etc too, almost daily. Dairy doesn’t fit in to the Paleo diet. This meant my daily juices had to become green/ vegetable only. They were disgusting and something I could barely tolerate. I read all about kale (extremely rich in  phytonutrients, antioxidants, minerals etc) and no matter how I tried to disguise it in the juices, kale tasted terrible and made the juices really thick. Drinking kale was like trying to swallow thick, foamy, sewerage water. I found a kale chip recipe online and thought this is my last chance. You simply cut out the hard centre bit, toss it in a bowl with Himalayan salt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, bake it for 20 mins. The result is a crispy, crunchy top, followed by a softer base absorbed in balsamic vinegar.  Now I can’t get enough of kale chips. So nutritious, easy, cheap and delicious!

Fat, fat and more fat!

Ben suggested I include a lot of fat in my diet, to see how my body responds. Such fats include avocado, nuts, coconut butter. Perfect, as these are all my favourite foods!

By the fourth week, I had made good progress with decreasing body fat, increasing lean muscle and my coach advised me to re-introduce red meat every second day. Preferably grass-fed beef, quail, rabbit (no thanks), kangaroo and a banana every now and then! So every second day or so, I have been able to add half a banana or a small handful or blueberries/raspberries to my green vegetable juice.  When Ben said that, it felt like I scored the jackpot in the wheel of fortune. Streamers, balloons and party poppers were going off in my head. Wow, such excitement from life’s simple pleasures.

Take aways:

1) Monitor how your body responds to certain foods and communicate this regularly with your coach (i.e. do I feel hungry/ bloated/ full/ sick/ sore/ tired? etc). Ask a lot of questions.

2) A one-size fits all approach does not work, in relation to nutrition.  Personal trainers are a dime a dozen. A quality coach works holistically with you, understanding your body and tailors the nutritional plan according to YOUR needs.

3) Do not starve yourself! This is NOT the way to train for optimal performance, quite the contrary actually.  As your body becomes stronger, your metabolism will increase. Ensure you consume an adequate supply of nutritious food for recovery, glycogen and to restore energy levels.