As a trainer, I see this situation occur time and time again. Holidays (or any real interruption to your day-to-day routine) are often the enemy of weight loss. After all, when you’re away from your typical environment, it’s difficult to stick to a regimen. Convenience foods (most of which aren’t the healthiest choices) are often chosen preferentially, because it’s just easier.

Though obvious, it’s important to understand and first-handedly appreciate that your body does not take a break from weight fluctuations just because you’re away. Possibly the most common form of rationalisation is something along the lines of “I’ll get back on my healthy diet when I get home”. But there is one major flaw in this approach:

Once you get back home and realise all the weight you have gained, you’re likely going to feel extremely discouraged and demotivated!

Plus, you’re going to be completely out of the routine that you worked so hard to get into. I have seen this happen time and time (and time) again – it is probably the worst thing you could do, that will negatively impact your long-term weight loss results.

I completely understand the desire to take a break from weight loss when you’re going away. After all, it’s a holiday and you’ve earned the right to completely relax. Alternatively, it may be a business trip and you’re too busy to worry about yourself due to a busy schedule.

But what about the bigger picture  – the reason driving you to achieve this weight loss? Whatever your motivation (self-esteem, body image, confidence, health, happiness etc.), are you going to allow this temporary interruption jepordise what you’ve always wanted out of life?

Weight loss is all about consistency. You need to consistently apply yourself with good nutrition and exercise for optimal results. Consistency helps to develop a routine. After a suitable period of time, exhibiting consistent behavior that is a necessarily function of a lighter bodyweight will become second nature. This is the goal with healthy lifestyle habits – to become second nature – just like brushing your teeth in the morning, or buckling up your seat belt when you get in the car. After all, you don’t take a break from these habits when you’re away, do you?

It cannot be stressed enough – taking a break from eating in a healthy manner is not a good idea because it interrupts this very important pattern. A trip may be a tempting short-term reason to deviate from your weight loss efforts – but is it worth the long-term expense?

But is dieting when you’re on holidays to lose weight realistic?

Having read through this article, you may be thinking how unrealistic this approach is. Am I completely out of my mind? Who in the world would want to stick to a strict diet if you are away on a holiday? You’re on holidays – so you’ve earned the right to sip on a few cocktails, put your feet up and indulge in a meal or two.

You know what – you are exactly right. If you’re planning on a trip and your current diet would ruin your entire experience, I whole-heartedly agree. However if this is the case, then you have one major problem – the diet itself.

I highly recommend that you read through the other articles pertaining to nutrition and mindset within this website. If you’re dieting and drawing upon excessive amounts of willpower to get you through the day, then you’re setting yourself up for failure. No wonder you need a holiday!

This approach to weight loss is clearly unsustainable – willpower can only stretch so far. Although rapid weight loss in the short-term may be tempting, it is not a long-term solution. So you will need to consider a more realistic approach to your nutritional requirements. If your nutrition is going to become second nature like brushing your teeth, or buckling up your seat belt, then it has to be as realistic as either of those two tasks. Losing weight does not have to be a chore – so long as you maintain a healthy balance in your diet, you can lose weight (while still having the occasional indulgence!).

The key take-home message is that nothing should interrupt your weight loss endeavours. Although a holiday may be a tempting excuse for a break, remind yourself that losing weight is a lifestyle and something that must be committed to in the long-term.

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Let’s begin with a run-down of how a typical weight loss programme with a refeed day is structured. As is well supported by scientific evidence, weight loss occurs when your body is placed within a caloric deficit (consuming less calories than what you expend). The concept of the refeed programme is to place your body in a calorie deficit for approximately three days straight, then into a calorie overload (eating more than what you expend) for one day, then repeat.

The rationale behind this approach is straight forward on the surface. In essence, the “refeed day” acts as a tool to buffer against your body becoming “used to” the caloric deficit. So in a similar manner to your exercise programme needing to be updated regularly to avoid a plateau, so should your diet. Further, the refeed day is full of carbohydrate and fat. The carbs will assist in replenishing lost glycogen stores (from the “diet” days), while the additional fats will also promote a healthy hormonal balance to enhance muscle development and fat oxidation.

I obtained this information from a number of sources. One was a PDF that was written by a fitness professional (forwarded to me by my client who was querying this approach). The other sources were all located in a Google search.

Having a background in science, I am quite sceptical of a new approach by nature. That’s just how scientists are trained, for the scientific method requires deep analysis and scrutinising of experiments and results. So I decided to delve deeper and research the only reliable sources of information that could shed some light on this topic – respected scientific literature. So onto Google Scholar I ventured and then through some scientific databases to unveil the research behind this refeeding approach to dieting.

Something interesting occurred within this research. After some comprehensive searching, I found that there was absolutely no research on the topic that I came across. There was not one study which compared the effectiveness of a “refeed dietary programme” versus a consistent calorie deficit, with respect to fat loss and/or muscle gain.

There is always the possibility that I did miss something, so I contacted a very highly respected leader in the industry – Dr Len Kravitz, a leading researcher at the University of New Mexico, of whom I have seen present a number of times in Sydney. After querying him on the topic to see if he could point me in the right direction, he confirmed that there is no research on this area of weight loss.

So based on the lack of any research, it is safe to assume that all of these refeeding days for weight loss diets are completely unsubstantiated. While they may sound great in theory, they have never been tested and compared in an objective and controlled manner to the well accepted “calorie deficit” approach.

There may be some compelling arguments for the refeed day, though these seem to be purely based on assumptions by linking together bits and pieces of otherwise completely unrelated scientific facts. In a sense, this is just like saying that while beef, ice cream, salmon and pea’s may all taste good in isolation, the combination of the individual products do not necessarily produce the expected result. (Oh and no, I haven’t tried these ingredients together!)

Now that’s not to say that a refeeding approach will not work. The point I am making here is that a refeeding diet is not backed by any scientific research. Therefore we cannot draw any accurate conclusions as to the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of such an approach to weight loss. If you come across a website purporting that a refeeding diet is necessarily the most effective way to lose weight, please request the source of this information, for there are likely to be two possibilities:

1. Some research has been overlooked within this article (in which case I would love to review this)
2. The directions on the website have been written blindly based on inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims

Always be careful when you conduct your research.

Even if a refeed approach was shown to be effective, from my professional experience, I do feel that typically a refeeding approach to weight loss would be quite ineffective in the long-term. Most people struggle with consistency with nutrition, so by varying up the nutrition every few days, this would make it much more difficult to develop a healthier eating routine. This of course is a very general statement and individuals would vary greatly.

On a final note, while I am certainly not convinced of any physiological benefits of a refeeding day, this is not to say that there are no psychological benefits associated with such an approach. Dr Kravitz identified this as an important point within his reply which I do strongly believe is a valuable take-home point. If you are at the point where you have been “stuck” with your weight loss endeavours, why not try something new? The mind is a powerful tool, and just the very nature of changing something up could act as a catalyst for change. Weight loss is all about consistency and staying motivated toward your goals. Something as simple as this may just do the job in turning you optimistic once again with your weight loss endeavours.

My thanks to Dr Kravitz for his assistance on this topic.

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Within this article, we are going to take a brief overview of all three macronutrients, protein, carbohydrate and fat. We will discuss how each of these nutrients can assist you in losing weight and how a healthy balance between these macronutrients can assist you long-term sustainable weight loss.

Macronutrients – Fats, Carbohydrates and Protein

All three macronutrients are essential for good health. The three macronutrients we are discussing here are proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

By definition, all three of these molecules are required in large mounts in your diet for the proper functioning of your body, as:

Macro refers to large (as in large amounts of consumption relative to other nutrients like vitamins and minerals)

Nutrients are a necessity in our diet, as it relates to the term nourish – for without nourishment one would be malnourished.

It is short-sighted to eliminate any one of these from your diet, as this could lead to some serious health complications and impact your weight loss results.

Protein and Weight Loss

Over the past decade in particular, protein has been associated as the “ideal” macronutrient to assist in weight loss. Protein certainly is important to assist in losing weight, as protein rich foods contain vital amino acids (the constituents of protein molecules) that are responsible for correct hormone production, energy levels, recovery, boosting the metabolism and muscle development – just to name a few functions.

Why is protein so spectacular at assisting with weight loss? Well, natural protein rich foods are generally quite filling (such as meats, fish, poultry and legumes), while being relatively low in calories (as protein only contains 4 calories per gram). The body also requires a lot of energy to convert protein molecules into fat, so the net calorie effect from consuming protein rich foods is relatively low.

Muscles are also very rich in amino acids, so in order to develop muscle tissue you do require a good quality source of protein intake. If you’re seeking to lose fat tissue, it is quite beneficial to develop muscle tissue. This is because muscles are highly energy dependant, so a greater amount of muscle tissue will assist in burning additional calories throughout the day.

Keep in mind though, too much protein can lead to a calorie overload, so it is important to keep your protein intake in perspective.

Carbohydrate and Weight Loss

Carbohydrates (or colloquially “carbs”) have been assigned a negative connotation ever since the Atkins diet (a low-carb diet) was released. Carbs have been associated with fat gain and it is a common belief that consuming carbohydrates will automatically serve to cause fat gain. This is simply not true.

Carbohydrates are just as dense in calories as protein – 4 calories per gram. So just as with proteins, too many of them can create a calorie overload and cause weight gain.

However it is not wise to eliminate carbohydrates from your diet, as, just like proteins, they serve to perform several vital functions within the human body. Carbohydrates are required to enhance energy levels, facilitate correct brain function, encourage recovery after exercise and speed up your metabolism. A deficiency in carbohydrate can cause anything from lowered energy levels, to causing medical condition called “ketosis”, to death. Carbohydrates are necessary to survive and must be included in your diet.

The quality of carbohydrates is often measured via two mediums; their molecular complexity or their glycaemic index:

The molecular complexity considers how large the carbohydrate molecule is – complex carbs are much larger molecules than sugars, which are simple carbohydrates. It is generally recommended to consume complex carbohydrates.

The glycaemic index is a more reliable measure of the quality of a carbohydrate, measuring it’s rate of absorption into the human body. The higher the GI, the faster the carbohydrate is absorbed. So aim for low GI foods, which will absorb slowly into your body. The exception is following an intense bout of exercise, when you should aim to consume high GI foods for enhanced recovery.

A side note on the relationship between molecular complexity and the glycaemic index. They are not related. Complex carbs can have a range of GI’s, as can sugars. A complex carbohydrate is not necessarily more likely to be lower in GI than a sugar.

Fat and Weight Loss

In the 1990’s, fat was crowned the macronutrient to avoid at all costs. There was (and still is) low-fat everything on supermarket shelves.

Fat is a critical nutrient, just as carbohydrates and proteins are. Fat is responsible for a number of mechanisms within the human body relating to energy levels, hormonal balance, cholesterol levels, metabolism, brain function, disease prevention and nutrient transport within the human body. A deficiency in fat can have some serious side effects, so it is important to include some good quality sources of fat into your diet.

Examples of good sources of fat are from foods such as fish, nuts, avocado, seeds and olive oil. Generally, you should be aiming to consume moderate amounts of mono- and poly-unsaturated fats. As a general rule of thumb, aim to avoid trans and saturated fats.

So if fats are so important for your health, why are they so commonly restricted from diets? Simple – fat is quite dense in calories – 9 calories per gram. This is more than double that found in carbohydrates and proteins! So fat is required in much smaller amounts that protein and carbohydrate due to the energy density of a fat molecule. However, by no means should fat be eliminated from your diet altogether. This is because fat can not only assist in weight loss, it is also a necessity for your health and wellbeing.

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Weight loss is a consequence of a simple equation:

Calories IN < Calories OUT

“Calories in” is determined through the foods that you consume, while the “calories out” is affected by a number of mechanisms, including exercise, daily activity, meal frequency, your metabolism, hormones, sleep etc.

So the focus of this article is how to determine the optimal calorie intake for weight loss, which is the left side of this equation. Obviously, the smaller your calorie intake, the greater the potential calorie deficit, which will likely lead to greater weight loss. You do however have to be careful that your calorie deficit isn’t too great, or else you risk unnecessary muscle loss, excessive fatigue and evenserious health complications.

There are a number of calculators available on the internet to determine the optimal number of calories to lose weight. However, these calculators have been developed based on the “average” person with “common” goals. Because you are an individual, with unique goals, lifestyle habits, eating preferences etc, you will have to determine a unique approach to your diet. These calculators can be used as an initial guide – but determining your optimal calorie intake for you requires much more consideration.

So where to start? Your personal trainer, dietician or nutritionist would be able to provide with a starting point based on a thorough assessment. If however you are planning to do this on your own, a calculator based on a well respected research paper may be a good starting point for your total calorie intake. Be careful – there are many calculators out there and not all of them have any credible scientific backing to justify their results. We strongly suggest that you undertake the guidance of a trained professional to advise you as to the types and quantities of food groups that constitute that total calorie intake.

You then need to put this dietary plan into practice. This is best accomplished under the guidance of a fitness professional. If however you are doing this on your own, you need to assess your body on a regular basis (weekly is a good frequency), to ascertain whether or not you are losing weight following this particular dietary approach.

If you are losing an appropriate amount of weight, then the caloric intake from that dietary plan is helping to create a calorie deficit within your lifestyle. If you are not losing weight, then chances are that you are not placing your body in a great enough deficit – so some revision may be required.

This approach is known as an empirical approach within the scientific community, where you assess the effectiveness based on results. Because your body varies so greatly due to your own individual characteristics, there is no single calculator or text book that can guarantee you an effective, healthy and safe caloric intake resulting in weight loss. You need to begin with an appropriate starting point, assess and adjust based on your weight loss results.

Though it has been mentioned a number of times throughout this article, it is worth stressing once again; if you are unfamiliar with nutrition and are unsure with the functions and importance of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients within your body, you should consult with a professional to obtain guidance. While weight loss can be accomplished through a calorie deficit alone, you also have your health to consider – and it certainly is possible to lose weight through an unhealthy dietary approach.

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Is Protein Powder Safe for Women?

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of “which” particular protein powders are most suitable for females to consume, let’s define exactly what a protein powder is. There is a lot of confusion on the topic as it is a very common misconception that protein powder will necessarily bulk you up. Hence, many women shy away from protein powder for this very reason.

Protein powder does not bulk you up by any means. It is a dietary supplement comprised primarily of proteins. These proteins are derived from food sources. Essentially what happens is that a food is put through a series of processes whereby the proteins are extracted and manufactured into a powder form. Then some flavours (and possibly other ingredients such as vitamins, colours, minerals etc.) are added to the mix. In this sense, the protein consumed within a protein shake is no different to that found in wholefood (just more processed). So just as with food, over-consumption of protein powder will lead to weight gain.

Protein powder should never replace a whole-food based diet, rather it should supplement a whole-food diet. Protein powder can be a useful supplement for:

• Convenience (as it’s much easier to use a protein shake rather than carry around a cooked chicken!)
• Encouraging recovery after exercise (so your body has nutrients available to repair damaged cells and boost the immune system)
• Weight Loss (as a serve of protein powder can be very low in calories)
• Toning (toning is the combination of fat reduction and some muscle gain for shape; protein powder can assist in both areas)
• Muscle Gain (consumed in conjunction with a high calorie diet and an appropriate exercise routine, a protein powder can assist in muscle development)

How protein powder assists in these goals is outside of the scope of this article, however you are encouraged to browse around this website as there are hundreds of other articles that delve deeper into protein and it’s functions within the human body.

Because your typical protein powder is food derived, it is safe to consume. There are protein powders available with and without artificial sweeteners. Particularly if you are following an exercise regime, a protein powder can be a very useful tool within your arsenal.

Women’s Protein Powder Supplements – What Makes them Different?

If you considering the typical marketing of the two main categories of protein powders:

• The typical protein powder is marketed to a male audience with a desire to gain muscle and “bulk up”.
• Women’s protein powder is marketed toward a female audience for weight loss and toning.

Here’s the secret that many of the female protein powder manufacturers do not want you to know – there is no protein more suited to women. Though the marketing may imply otherwise, ultimately the colour of the protein powder bears no resemblance to the effectiveness of the protein product itself.

The main difference between male to female protein requirements the quantity of serving, not the type of protein. Consider within nature – there is no particular food source of protein that only women should consume. Since protein powders are food derived, how can they possibly be an exception to the rule? Women’s protein powders commonly include “soy” proteins, or other inferior vegetable based proteins (relative to milk/whey/casein and egg based proteins). The quality of these proteins is extremely poor and very cheap to manufacture too.

Almost all brands carry a “Standard” protein powder which is commonly marketed to the male bodybuilder. Thus, there is a lot of competition on the market and prices are kept relatively low. In contrast to this, womens protein powder is perceived as a niche market. Consequently these brands are more expensive per serve, made with inferior ingredients and often come in smaller sized tubs. It is common for female protein powders to be sold in 0.5kg and 1kg tubs. Meanwhile your typical protein powder will often come in 1kg, 2.3kg or 4.5kg tubs.

So if you are seeking value for money and product quality, you are generally better off going for a standard protein powder rather than a women’s specific protein powder supplement under ordinary circumstances. You will almost always obtain a superior quality product at a much more reasonable price. If you are interested in seeing the high value products that we stock within our store, please visit the protein powders area.

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• Dymatize All Natural Elite Whey Protein Powder
• Optimum Natural Whey Protein Powder

Both of these products are big sellers within our supplement store and I have had the pleasure of trying them both. As a result, I felt it appropriate to compose a comparison article on the two very similar products.

Both Optimum and Dymatize are big (BIG) international companies renowned for high quality products. Although both products may seem similar at first glance being free from artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose and acesulfame potassium, the two products cater to two very different markets within the health and fitness industry.

Let’s take a closer look at how each product performs in various categories!

Natural Protein Powder Price

Why not begin with product price? Optimum is a more expensive brand internationally. They have a very good reputation for high quality products and their natural whey protein powder is no exception. On the other hand, whilst Dymatize also has products of an exceptionally high standard, they cater for customers at a lower price point. Consequently, the Dymatize Natural Elite Whey is about $13 cheaper than the Optimum Natural Whey in our supplement store at the time of writing.

If you have consumed a variety of protein powders, you’ll be well aware that price isn’t everything. Price is not always a reliable indicator of how well the product suits you and your goals.

The Size of the Natural Whey Tubs

Although these tubs are typically marketed as 5lbs tubs, supplement companies will often adjust the tub volume slightly to attract more business. This is the case here as the Optimum Natural Whey is 5.11lbs (2,324g), being 2.5% larger than the Dymatize Natural Whey at 5lbs (2,268g). Admittedly, not a significant difference as the cost per gram equals 0.0387 and 0.0338 cents/gram respectively. Optimum is still more expensive gram for gram.

Moving onto serving sizes, the Optimum Natural Protein contains 74 serves (31.4g each) and the Dymatize Natural Protein contains 68 serves (33.35g each). This equates to $1.22 and $1.13 per serve respectively. Again, Dymatize being cheaper in this regard.

The Nutritional Composition of Each Natural Protein Powder

Let’s look at each individually, starting with the Optimum Natural Whey:

• Serving size: 31.4g
• Energy: 130 cal
• Fat: 1.5g
• Carbohydrate: 5g
• Protein: 24g

And the Dymatize Natural Whey:

• Serving size: 33.35g
• Energy: 125 cal
• Fat: 2g
• Carbohydrate: 4g
• Protein: 24g

Let’s manipulate the Optimum Natural Whey Serving size to 33.35 so we can compare these figures head to head:

• Serving size: 33.35g
• Energy: 138 cal
• Fat: 1.6g
• Carbohydrate: 5.3g
• Protein: 25.5g

Based on this data we can conclude that:

1. The Optimum has significantly more calories based on weight
2. The Dymatize is slightly higher in fat
3. The Optimum is higher in carbohydrate
4. The Optimum is higher in protein

If we consider current pricing, the Optimum equates to 5.1c/gram of protein, while the Dymatize Natural Whey comes to 4.7c/gram of protein.

The reason why the Optimum Natural Whey contains more carbohydrate is because it contains both fructose (fruit sugar) and stevia (a natural sweetener). Meanwhile the Dymatize Whey contains no sugar and stevia as the sweetener.

Both protein powders contain digestive enzymes including Lactase.

The proteins contained within each product are similar in nature:

• Optimum Natural Whey contains (in order) whey protein isolate (both cross flow ultra filtration and ion-exchange), cross flow ultra filtration whey protein concentrate, whey peptides
• Dymatize Natural Elite Whey contains (in order) ion-exchange whey protein isolates, cross flow ultra filtration whey protein concentrate, whey peptides

Ion-exchange proteins can have a lower bio-availability as compared to other whey proteins. Consequently they are generally regarded as less desirable proteins.

How the Natural Protein Powders Taste & Mix

When I first tried natural protein powders, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Actually, I was expecting a bitter and somewhat unpleasant taste. Well, I was very surprised upon trying both of these products.

The Dymatize Natural Elite Whey was the first natural protein powder that I had ever tasted. Initially, it tasted quite different due to the presence of stevia (of which I had never knowingly tasted before). While it is sweet, it isn’t quite like sugar and has a distinct taste to it. Initially it was nice and then the taste grew on me. My favourite of the three flavours (chocolate, vanilla, berry) would have to be the chocolate.

Meanwhile the Optimum Natural Whey did not take any time to become accustomed to. The first taste of this product and I was hooked! It tastes fantastic. The reason why is because they have utilised fructose as a sweetening agent which replaces the more distinct stevia taste that you obtain with the Dymatize product. I was particularly impressed with the vanilla in the Optimum Natural Whey range, it is a particularly good flavour.

Both brands mixed into milk and water exceptionally well using a spoon and shaker bottle. The Dymatize tends to mix better than the Optimum.

Conclusion of the Natural Proteins

There is no doubt in my mind that both of these products are excellent. As mentioned within the introduction, both products do have their place in the market. Here are my conclusions as to the benefits of both products:

Optimum 100% Natural Whey Protein Powder Benefits:

• More better quality whey protein isolates (as not all WPI’s are ion-exchange derived)
• Better taste

Dymatize Elite Natural Whey Protein Powder Benefits:

• More cost effective
• No fructose sugar added
• Mixes more easily

If you are considering purchasing either of these exceptional products, please be sure to visit our supplement store where we offer them for the best value within Australia! The links to each product are below:

• Dymatize All Natural Elite Whey Protein Powder
• Optimum Natural Whey Protein Powder

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Personally, I eat breakfast immediately upon waking up. Before I do ANYTHING (with the exception of visiting the bathroom), I head to the kitchen and eat immediately. This is not only to coincide with my personal health and fitness goals, but just to get my energy levels up for a highly successful day.

This morning was a different story. I requested to have a general health check-up whereby I needed to have a blood test taken in a fasted state. I was fortunate to sleep in until 6am this morning, skipped breakfast, had a shower, began work immediately and then headed to the pathology unit at 7.30am. There was a half hour wait and I finally managed to get back to the office at 8.30am when I ate my first meal.

Going from 6am to 8.30am was a real drag. Around 6.30am, I really felt my energy levels slump. Although I almost never consume caffeine, I really felt like having a morning coffee because my focus was so poor. I felt particularly lethargic and very hungry. Sitting in the pathology unit, I was reading a magazine that I brought with me. My concentration levels were poor and I was very easily distracted. Often I had to re-read a paragraph due to particularly bad comprehension skills.

At 8.30am, I consumed the first meal and it wasn’t until about 9am that my energy levels began to pick up. I actually overcompensated with the size of my breakfast meal due to a very uncomfortable degree of hunger and lightheadedness. Due to the very small amount of blood taken, I am confident that the lightheadedness was not due to blood loss

Many years ago, I used to skip breakfast on a regular basis. I do not remember feeling nearly as bad as what I did this morning. But you know what, I probably did – it was just that I did not realise how much better I would feel had I integrated a regular breakfast meal into my regime. Today was a very rude awakening of just how important breakfast is to your energy levels (both physical and mental).

If you have the bad habit of skipping breakfast, it would be highly advantageous to force yourself to consume a nutrient rich meal upon awakening in the morning. You are breaking an all night long fast, so your body is running on emergency energy supplies. This means breaking down muscle mass and reducing physical/mental energy levels to conserve as much energy as possible.

I am aware that many people struggle to eat breakfast as this can cause nausea first thing in the morning. Recently we answered a Q&A where someone asked us for some practical advice on what to do if you cannot eat breakfast in the morning.

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The answer is yes, you absolutely, unequivically require carbohydrates to build muscle. Reducing or even attempting to eliminate carbohydrates from your diet will impede muscle growth and most likely result in muscle loss. Carbohydrates are not only required to build (and maintain) muscle, they are required to facilitate proper brain function and maintain energy levels.

The question now becomes – if amino acids (which form proteins) are a primary constituent of muscle tissue, why are carbs necessary if they do not play a direct role in the structure of a muscle fibre? Let’s consider why.

Protein synthesis is the act of creating proteins. When muscles are developing, protein synthesis is occurring by connecting amino acids together into proteins and thus into muscle cells. This is what causes muscle growth, or hypertrophy. In order for this to happen, muscle cells must be able to source amino acids from the blood stream. This is not possible without the presence of insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas. Insulin acts as a blood glucose regulator. In order to prevent blood sugar levels from rising too high and becoming dangerous, insulin is secreted to reduce blood glucose levels.

Now the question becomes, if hypertrophy requires amino acids, and amino acid uptake is only possible with the presence of insulin, how then do we increase insulin levels?

Carbohydrates

Upon ingesting carbohydrates, our body’s attempt to break them down into glucose, a simple sugar. Too much glucose in the blood stream can lead to hyperglycemia, so insulin comes along to maintain a healthy blood glucose level.

Ultimately, eliminating any nutrient from your diet is a mistake. Proteins, carbs and fats are all required for optimal muscle development. Removing carbs is a big mistake for anyone seeking to gain muscle tissue.

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There does however seem to be a bit of confusion as to what “organic” foods are and why they may be healthier than other foods.

Organic foods, by definition, are those that are produced free from inorganic chemical pesticides. Australia has quite stringent laws to ensure that anything labelled “organic” is grown in a highly “natural” environment. This ensures that any man-made chemicals are not consumed when ingesting the product.

There seems to be a very common misconception with organic food, being that it is healthier in regards to it’s fat content, or cooking process. For example, Aldi sell “organic chips”. Whilst it may be easy to assume that these organic chips are low in fat and therefore healthier, this is a completely incorrect assumption to make. Upon investigating the nutritional composition of this snack, they were 20.2% fat. In comparison to a package of Arnott’s Shapes at 14.5% fat, these organic chips were therefore 39% higher in fat than an alternative non-organic snack.

As you can see, organic does not refer to the macronutrient (fats, carbohydrates, proteins) contained within a food. Organic only refers to the elimination of inorganic chemicals used.

Whether or not organic food is healthier than non-organic food is a raging debate among nutritionists. Although it makes sense to eliminate all unnatural chemicals from our diet, there is no consensus among professionals either way due to the lack of evidence in this field. It really comes down to personal choice; do you wish to consume inorganic substances in your diet? If you do not, you also need to consider that organic foods cost more to produce, therefore this may weigh heavily on your budget.

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So, I have decided to use Subway as a case study in this blog post. Subway’s catch phrase is “Eat Fresh” and a few years ago they began marketing within Australia quite heavily as a fast food chain that was highly appropriate for people seeking to lose weight. Do you remember Jared? Jared Fogle was somewhat of the “Subway mascot”, who lost a phenomenal amount of weight, as shown in Subway’s advertising campaign.

But the question at hand here is not whether or not Jared lost weight on the Subway diet, rather, whether or not the food at Subway is healthy and if the food at Subway is good for weight loss. In other words, is Subway’s marketing campaign accurate with the message that they seem to be implying?

As with any marketing in the nutritional field, it is not wise to rely on what the marketing campaign purports. Just because something may be low in fat, doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily “healthy”. After all, jelly beans are low in fat, but they are high in sugar and have a high glycemic index (or have very fast absorbing carbohydrates). Milk chocolate may have a low glycemic index, yet it is full of sugar and very high in fat. Low-fat butter may be lower in fat than regular butter, but it may still be 40% fat (and not the good fats either). So a good understanding of nutrition is vital when ascertaining whether or not food is actually “healthy” for you.

Coming back to Subway and whether or not it is healthy (or good for weight loss), it really depends on the actual food that you consider. Subway have a variety of foods available, all with completely different nutritional compositions. I have downloaded the nutritional information off the Subway website and am using this as my point of reference in writing this Subway review.

Let’s begin with the Subway cookies. The choc-chip cookie is 215 calories having a total of 10.5g of fat. It’s loaded with 18.2g of sugar. Other cookies from Subway are comparable and it really is a bit of a no-brainer that these cookies should generally not be consumed if you’re looking to follow a healthy approach to nutrition.

The salads, wraps and subs at Subway generally depend on the foods that you choose to add into the salad. The meat and sauces that you choose to add on can have a profound impact on the healthiness of the meal you consume. So rather than considering each item individually, let’s look at some of the fillings instead.

To begin with, all the vegetables are great at Subway! They are all fresh and packed full of nutrients. Plus, most of them are practically neutral in regards to net calorie intake. Go for your life with the veggies!

The ham, roast beef, roast chicken and turkey options are quite good, being minimally processed, relatively low in fat and good protein sources. These are all options on the “6 grams of fat or less”. Placed in a salad, you’re eating a very low calorie and high nutrient density meal. For example, a turkey salad without sauce equates to 107 calories (less than half of a choc chip cookie!). Yes, this is quite a healthy meal.

A low-fat 6-inch sub isn’t too much of a concern, assuming that you choose the correct bread and filling. Subway have just introduced a multi-grain sub, which would be a much better option than most of the breads that have available (being white breads). Multigrain will generally not only have a lower glycemic index, but also be more nutrient dense due to the wholegrains contained within the bread. A “6 grams of fat or less” sub will generally set you back around 200-300 calories. The exception is with the sweet onion chicken teriyaki 6-inch, being 352 calories; not a good option for weight loss. The high calorie content is due to the high sugar content in the sweet onion sauce.

Now, onto the Subway no-no’s for weight loss in this review.

There are a variety of add-ons that can really boost up the calorie content. For example, cheddar cheese adds in 42 calories to a 6-inch (double for a footlong). Bacon adds in 45 calories. Chipotle Southwest sauce adds in a whopping 98 calories from a very high fat content of 10.3g on a 6 inch sub! Thousand island dressing adds in 82 calories on a 6 inch – again, definitely one to avoid. The sauces at Subway can really boost up your calorie intake – so if you’re seeking to lose weight, be aware of the effect that this will have on your dietary program.

This is where it really pays to do your nutritional research. Something that is often conceived as low-fat is actually quite the opposite at Subway. Consider this – a tin of tuna in springwater found in your supermarket is typically around 80 calories. Meanwhile, a 6 inch sub at Subway with tuna contains 393 calories! Total fat content (with no add-ons) is a whopping 16.5g primarily from the tuna!

What may come as a surprise (I know it did for me) are some of the non-low-fat subs and how calorie dense they actually are. You may be shocked (and appalled) at how high in fat (and calories) a footlong meatball marinara with a couple of additives has. Let’s consider the following recipe:

1. Footlong Meatball Marinara
2. Cheddar Cheese
3. Bacon
4. Ranch Dressing

I chose these because I know someone who likes to order a footlong with this recipe! Let’s consider the calorie content of each of the above ingredients:

1. 956 calories
2. 84 calories
3. 90 calories
4. 120 calories

Total equates to 1250 calories. To put this into perspective, a Big Mac from McDonalds is 540 calories (according to the American McDonalds website). This footlong sub would be the equivalent of consuming 2.3 Big Macs (in calorie consumption terms)!! Alternatively, 1250 calories is possibly more than a female seeking to lose weight would consume in an entire day! I feel that this is fairly obviously not appropriate for anyone seeking to lose weight, let alone eat in a healthy manner.

So the lesson here is to do your research. Yes, there are certainly very healthy options at Subway, yet there are also very unhealthy options too. The same reigns true for nearly all food outlets and restaurants. It is most important to familiarise yourself with the foods that you consume from a nutritional point of view and to never (ever) rely on the marketing that is fed to you through advertising campaigns.

If you don’t feel confident in analysing the nutritional composition of foods, I highly recommend that you sign up to our free weight loss course where we discuss food in detail and interpreting this information for your own personal use.

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