Your nutrition guide · Power · Fat Loss

Overview

Tap a section to open it.

This guide is written for you: a Power body type eating for fat loss. Text in this colour explains why: the reason behind an instruction. Technical words are explained in shaded ‘In simple terms’ boxes.

Your Plan at a Glance

Calorie target: 25 to 30% below maintenance, with diet breaks
Daily protein: 2.0 to 2.4g per kg of body weight
Target fat loss: 0.5 to 1% of body weight a week
Eating window: 7 to 9 hours (overnight fast 15 to 17 hours)
Meals a day: 3 to 4 (your coach sets which), about every 3 to 3.5 hours
First meal after waking: Within 2 to 2.5 hours of waking (or after morning activity)
Fasted training: Yes, early sessions can be fasted
Pre-training meal: Full meal 3 hours before
Early-morning training: Light snack 75 min before, or train fasted
During training: Water
Post-workout shake: Within 40 min
Carbohydrate timing: Only after being active or after exercise
Last meal: At least 3 hours before bed
Rest days: Carbs 10% lower (day 1), 20% lower (day 2 in a row)

1. Your Body Type: Power

Your body is built for strength: a wide frame, heavy bones and mostly fast-twitch muscle fibres, the most powerful kind. You carry the most muscle and the largest fuel stores, and you hold on to muscle best of all. You also have the fewest mitochondria, the slowest metabolism and the least insulin-sensitive muscles, so you store fat most easily. Your fibres tire fastest in long sets and recover slowest between them, but your nervous system is the calmest and copes with the longest sessions.

Your strengths

The highest strength potential
Builds and keeps muscle readily
The largest fuel stores
Usually sociable and patient

Your weaker points

Stores fat most easily
The least tolerant of carbohydrate
Tires fastest in long sets
High-impact cardio loads the joints

What your body needs

Carbohydrate only after being active or after exercise
Fewer meals within a shorter eating window
Protein and vegetables at the centre of every meal

What to watch out for

Carbohydrate outside the after-activity window
Snacking between meals

2. Your Body Type and Fat Loss

This guide explains how to eat to lose body fat while protecting your muscle. Fat is lost when you use a little more energy than you take in over time; how big that gap should be, when you eat your carbohydrate and how your meals are spaced all depend on your body type.

You are a Power body type on a fat loss programme. Losing fat is hard for your body type, but building and keeping muscle is easy. Your body holds on to stored fat most tightly, especially when insulin is raised after eating, while your powerful muscle fibres build more readily than any other type. Holding on to muscle is a good thing, as it raises your metabolism, which means more of the fat you lose is burned while you are resting. To help keep your muscle, it is essential not to cut calories or carbohydrates too far. Cutting too hard causes your body to break down muscle, which slows your metabolism and makes fat loss harder. One of our main goals, therefore, is to burn fat by building muscle, which speeds up your metabolism.

Your calorie target is set 25 to 30% below your maintenance calories (the amount that would keep your weight the same). Your larger fat stores provide plenty of fuel, so a bigger deficit works well for you. To stop your metabolism adapting to the deficit, your plan may include short diet breaks (planned periods of eating at maintenance) during a longer fat loss phase.

Cutting calories below our recommended amount does more than break down muscle. When your body senses a shortage, it takes protein from your muscles and turns it into energy, which is exactly what we are trying to avoid. When your stored carbohydrate runs low, your body can break down muscle protein and turn it into sugar for fuel.

Your body type holds on to muscle better than any other, which keeps your metabolism firing and your body burning fat at rest. Your plan is the lowest in carbohydrate of any body type, with your carbohydrate placed after activity. Your muscles are the least sensitive to insulin, so carbohydrate is used best straight after training, when exercise opens the muscle to sugar without needing insulin. Even so, cutting calories or carbohydrate too far would cost muscle and slow your metabolism, so stick to the amounts in your plan.

Your priority: keep the muscle you build in the gym. Cutting calories or carbohydrate too far breaks down muscle, which slows your metabolism and makes fat harder to lose. Keep insulin low between meals so your body can release stored fat at rest. Insulin, released when you eat (mainly carbohydrate), switches off hormone-sensitive lipase, the enzyme inside fat cells that releases stored fat. While insulin is low, that enzyme is active and fat can be released and burned. Knowing what and how much you eat, and seeing how your body responds, makes it easy to see what to adjust. Consistency is the key.

What happens when you eat less. When you eat less energy than you use (an energy, or calorie, deficit), your body makes up the difference from its stores: mostly fat, but some protein from muscle too. Your body defends its fat stores. As fat is lost, your fat cells release less leptin, and the brain responds by increasing hunger and reducing the energy you burn: you move a little less without noticing, and the active thyroid hormone T3 falls. This survival mechanism, from times when food was scarce, is why fat loss gets harder the leaner you become. Expect to feel a little more tired, and to notice a slight loss of strength, during a fat-loss phase. With less food your glycogen stores are lower, so hard sets and intervals feel harder. This is normal, and it returns when you eat at maintenance again.

Will building muscle make me bulky? No. Some people, women especially, worry that building muscle means getting big. Women produce roughly a tenth to a twentieth of the testosterone that men do, and testosterone is the main hormone that drives muscle growth, so women’s muscle builds slowly and in proportion. Keeping and building muscle on this programme gives a firm, lean shape and keeps your metabolism high.

Change your food gradually. When your calories need to change, your coach changes them in small steps rather than all at once. A sudden large cut quickly lowers leptin (the hormone from your fat cells that tells your brain how much energy you have stored) and the active thyroid hormone T3, so your metabolic rate falls and your hunger rises. A sudden large increase raises insulin and delivers more energy than your muscles can use, so the extra is stored as fat. Small steps give your body time to adjust, and let you and your coach see clearly what each change does.

3. Metabolism, Blood Sugar and Carbohydrates

As a Power body type you have a slow metabolism. This means you burn your fuel at a slower rate, which makes fat loss harder than for the other body types. Eating the right number of meals each day keeps your blood sugar balanced and your insulin low, which helps you burn as much fat as possible.

Your body type does not handle carbohydrate very well, so we have reduced your calories and carbohydrates more than for the other body types, who are more carbohydrate tolerant. On a fat loss programme, the right amount and type of carbohydrate, eaten at the right time in relation to your training, will help you lose fat. Insulin rises after you eat (especially after carbohydrate), and while it is raised, fat breakdown slows right down.

4. Meal Timing and Frequency

All body types have a limited capacity to store fuel, so be careful not to overeat at any one sitting, as the excess will be stored as fat. The hard work has been done for you: at Your Body Programme we have calculated the right amount of protein, carbohydrate and fat for your body type on a fat loss programme, taking your daily activity into account. This will help you lose fat, keep your muscle and stop your metabolism slowing down.

Fewer, larger, well-spaced meals suit your body type. Every meal causes a rise in insulin, so fewer meals means fewer insulin rises and longer gaps in between when your body can burn fat. Because you carry more muscle, your body can also make good use of a larger meal.

Meals and eating window: your plan uses 3 to 4 meals a day (not counting your post-workout shake), eaten within a 7 to 9-hour eating window, which leaves an overnight fast of 15 to 17 hours. Your coach sets where you sit in each range from your measurements and questionnaire (body fat, waist, daily steps, training level, hunger and energy between meals) and reviews it every 4 weeks. Clients carrying more body fat, or who are less active, sit at the lower end (fewer meals, shorter window, longer fast); leaner, more active clients, or those who get very hungry or shaky between meals, sit at the upper end. As you get leaner and fitter you move up the range.

Why never fewer than three meals: each protein-containing meal switches on muscle building, but only once, for a few hours, and a very large serving does less per gram than a moderate one. Three or more evenly sized protein meals switch building on more often, which is what protects and builds muscle. The benefit of low insulin comes from the length of the overnight fast, not from eating only once or twice, so a short eating window with three meals gives you both.

Why your eating window suits your body type: Your muscles are the least sensitive to insulin of any body type, with the fewest GLUT4 ‘doors’ (the transporters that let sugar into the muscle cell). After each meal your pancreas has to release more insulin, and it stays raised for longer. While insulin is raised it switches off hormone-sensitive lipase, the enzyme inside fat cells that releases stored fat. Fewer meals, the shortest eating window and the longest overnight fast give you the most hours with low insulin, so more stored fat can be released, and repeated low-insulin periods appear to improve insulin sensitivity itself over time.

When your window falls: start it within about 1 to 3 hours of waking and finish your last meal at least 3 hours before bed. Insulin sensitivity follows a daily rhythm set by your body clock: your muscles are most responsive to insulin in the morning and least in the evening, and melatonin (the sleep hormone, which rises in the evening) also reduces insulin release. The same meal raises blood sugar more late in the evening than in the morning.

5. Training-Day Nutrition: The Three Phases

There are three nutrient timing phases around your training:

Phase 1: the Energy Phase. Fuelling your body before and during your training session. Your muscles burn mainly glycogen during hard training, so starting with full stores lets you train harder for longer.

Phase 2: the Anabolic Phase. The hour immediately after training. This is the best time to refill your energy stores, which is why we use a post-workout shake. Straight after training your muscles soak up fuel faster than at any other time. Because your metabolism is slow, we want to keep as much muscle as possible to boost it, so getting the right nutrients in this window is essential. Getting protein and carbohydrate in soon after training makes the most of the work you have put in, especially if you trained fasted or several hours after your last meal. We recommend having your shake within 40 minutes of finishing. You hold the most glycogen and keep your muscle most easily, so your window is the longest. On a fat loss plan the window is a little longer, because fat burning stays raised for a while after training.

Phase 3: the Growth, Repair and Recovery Phase. The 24 hours after training. This is when your body repairs, refills its fuel stores and adapts to your training. The carbohydrates you eat in this phase should be low GL. This keeps your glycogen topped up and prevents muscle breakdown.

6. Food Choices, Rest Days and Daily Habits

Your daily food choices and habits support everything above. Choose low-GL carbohydrates, lean protein and healthy fats from your food list, eat plenty of varied vegetables, and adjust your carbohydrates on rest days. Any protein or carbohydrate drinks recommended in your plan are already included in your daily calorie target.

Small daily habits (drinking enough water, sleeping well and keeping alcohol low) make a big difference. Poor sleep, for example, raises ghrelin (the hormone that makes you feel hungry) and lowers leptin (the hormone that tells your brain you are full), making your plan much harder to stick to. Your personalised water and sleep recommendations are on your 9 Pillars Lifestyle page.

How to Use This Guide

Your plan at a glance: your plan in one table.
Overview: how your body type works, its strengths and weaker points, and how your plan suits it. If you just want the essentials, this is all you need to read.
Key Points: the list of what to do, with the reason for each, plus an example training day.
The Science. For those who want the detail: what is happening inside your body and why your plan is built this way.

The guide refers to three other parts of your plan: your nutrient breakdown table (your personal daily targets), your food list, and the nutritional data table (fruit and vegetable sections).

Prepared for Suki
26 October 2026

Your nutrition plan · Power · Fat Loss

Your daily targets

Training days · 6 a week

1,780 kcal

Protein120 g

Carbs183 g

Fat63 g

Rest days · 1 a week

1,550 kcal

Protein120 g

Carbs144 g

Fat55 g

After training57 g carbs + 19 g proteinPart of your training-day totals

Protein per mealAbout 30 gAcross 4 meals a day

Eating window9 hoursFor example 10:00am to 7:00pm

Your meal plan and charts load here.

Reviewed and approved by Terry FaircloughYOUR BODY PROGRAMME

Your nutrition guide · Power · Fat Loss

Key points

Tap a section to open it.

1. Your Body Type and Fat Loss

You build and keep muscle easily. This is your biggest advantage. Your fast-twitch fibres have the strongest muscle-building response of any type.
More muscle means a higher metabolism and more fat burned at rest. Every kilogram of muscle uses energy around the clock, even while you sleep.
Never cut calories or carbohydrates below the targets in your plan. A deeper cut switches the fuel gauge AMPK on more strongly, which brakes muscle building and makes your body break muscle down for fuel.
Eating too little makes your body break down muscle and hold on to fat. Your body reads a large shortage as famine, so it protects its fat stores and uses muscle protein for energy instead.
Aim for fat loss of around 0.5 to 1% of your body weight per week. Expect a larger drop in the first week or two: this is mostly water, released as your glycogen (stored carbohydrate) stores fall. Each gram of glycogen is stored with roughly three grams of water, so as glycogen falls the water goes with it.
Your targets should be reviewed every 2 to 4 weeks and adjusted as you go. The amount of food you need changes as you lose fat.
Change your calories in small steps, never all at once. Your coach will adjust them gradually as you progress.
Expect to feel a little more tired, and slightly less strong, during a fat-loss phase. It is normal and temporary.
Track what you eat and how your body responds: consistency is the key.
Listen to warning signs: missed periods, low libido, feeling constantly cold or exhausted, dizziness or constant food thoughts mean the deficit is too large. Speak to your coach or GP. These are the signs of an extreme deficit (see “Mild vs extreme dieting” in the science section).

2. Metabolism, Blood Sugar and Carbohydrates

Your metabolism is slow, so meal number and size matter. A slower metabolism burns fewer calories, so extra food is more easily stored as fat.
Keep insulin low between meals so your body can burn fat. Insulin switches off hormone-sensitive lipase, the enzyme that releases fat from your fat cells.
You are the least carbohydrate-tolerant body type, so your carbohydrate targets are the lowest. Your muscles have the fewest GLUT4 ‘doors’ and respond least to insulin, so more carbohydrate is left to be stored as fat.
Training makes your muscles better at handling carbohydrate, so only eat carbohydrate after you have been active or after exercise.

3. Meal Timing and Frequency

Spread protein evenly across your meals, and only eat carbohydrate after being very active (work, walking or training). Movement opens the GLUT4 ‘doors’ in your muscles without needing insulin, so carbohydrate eaten then goes into muscle rather than fat.
Keep carbohydrate low at dinner: leave it out unless you have been active beforehand. In the evening, insulin sensitivity is naturally lower, so carbohydrate is more easily stored as fat.
Eat 3 to 4 meals a day, not counting your post-workout shake. Your coach will tell you which number suits you.
Keep all your eating within a 7 to 9-hour window, so your overnight fast is 15 to 17 hours. Water, black coffee, plain tea and sugar-free electrolytes are fine at any time: they contain no energy and do not raise insulin.
Start your eating window within about 1 to 3 hours of waking, and finish your last meal at least 3 hours before bed.
Where you can, train in the morning or early afternoon: your main carbohydrate meal comes after training, and earlier in the day is when your muscles handle carbohydrate best.
If you train in the evening, your post-workout shake and the meal after training still carry most of the day’s carbohydrate, but keep the day’s carbohydrate total at the lower end of your target and add nothing extra to ‘refill’. Finish training about 4 hours before bed so your last meal is at least 3 hours before you sleep.
You can train fasted first thing in the morning if it suits you. When you do, your post-workout shake is your first intake and starts your eating window. Training fasted is an option, not a requirement; your total for the day stays the same.

How your protein, carbohydrate and fat are spread through the day

These tables show how your day’s protein, carbohydrate and fat are spread across your meals. Each figure is the percentage of that day’s total eaten at that meal, so every column adds up to 100%. Use the table that matches the number of meals your coach has set. The grams come from your nutrient breakdown table; this shows when in the day to eat them, because the timing of a nutrient changes what your body does with it. Carbohydrate includes vegetables, salad and fruit as well as starchy foods. The tables assume you train after the middle meal of the day. If you train earlier or later, keep the same pattern around your session.

3 meals a day · 7-hour eating window

Meal	Training day			Non-training day
	Protein	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Meal 1: breakfast	26%	6%	50%	34%	16%	40%
Meal 2: pre-training meal	25%	5%	50%	33%	16%	40%
Post-workout shake	20%	33%	0%	Not taken
Meal 3: post-training meal	29%	56%	0%	33%	68%	20%
Total for the day	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

4 meals a day · 9-hour eating window

Meal	Training day			Non-training day
	Protein	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Meal 1: breakfast	20%	6%	34%	25%	14%	29%
Meal 2: pre-training meal	20%	5%	33%	25%	14%	29%
Post-workout shake	16%	31%	0%	Not taken
Meal 3: post-training meal	24%	53%	0%	25%	58%	14%
Meal 4: evening meal	20%	5%	33%	25%	14%	28%
Total for the day	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

Fasted-training day · 3 meals

Meal	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Post-workout shake	20%	33%	0%
Meal 1: first meal, after training	29%	56%	0%
Meal 2	26%	6%	50%
Meal 3: evening meal	25%	5%	50%
Total for the day	100%	100%	100%

Fasted-training day · 4 meals

Meal	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Post-workout shake	16%	31%	0%
Meal 1: first meal, after training	24%	54%	0%
Meal 2	20%	5%	34%
Meal 3	20%	5%	33%
Meal 4: evening meal	20%	5%	33%
Total for the day	100%	100%	100%

Carbohydrate: Before training, your only carbohydrate comes from vegetables and salad; the starchy carbohydrate and fruit come in the shake and the meal after training. On a non-training day the same applies around the most active part of your day.

Non-training days: carbohydrate total 10% lower (20% lower on a second non-training day in a row); protein and fat totals unchanged.

4. When to Eat: Waking, Training and Fasting

Eat your first meal within 2 to 2.5 hours of waking, or after your morning activity or training if that comes first. Your large fuel stores and muscle mass mean you are in no danger of losing muscle overnight, so a longer gap before your first meal keeps insulin low and fat burning switched on for longer.
You can train fasted first thing in the morning if it suits you. If you do, your post-workout shake becomes especially important. With insulin low after the overnight fast, your body draws more on stored fat during the session, while your large glycogen stores still fuel the work.
Eat a full meal 3 hours before training, containing protein, healthy fat and vegetables. Your carbohydrate comes after training. The longest gap lets insulin fall right back down before you train, so your body burns the most fat during the session. On a fat loss plan the gaps are a little longer, so more of the energy you use comes from stored fat.
If you train early in the morning, you can train fasted, or have a light snack 75 minutes before (protein only: no fat and no carbohydrate).

5. Training-Day Nutrition: The Three Phases

Drink about 5 to 7ml of water per kg of body weight in the 2 to 4 hours before training (roughly 350 to 500ml for a 70kg person). Starting well hydrated keeps your blood volume up, so more oxygen and fuel reach your muscles. Losing just 2% of your body weight in sweat reduces performance.
Your meal and snack timing before training is set out in “When to Eat” above.
Avoid fat for 90 minutes before and after training. Fat slows down how quickly your stomach empties, so it would delay the fuel you need for training and the carbohydrate and protein your muscles need straight afterwards.
After training: have a post-workout shake (available from any health food shop) containing about 0.6g (women) / 0.8g (men) of carbohydrate and 0.55g (women) / 0.65g (men) of protein per kg of body weight, within 40 minutes of finishing. Example: a 60kg woman would need about 36g carbohydrate and 33g protein; an 80kg man about 64g carbohydrate and 40g protein.
The carbohydrate after training should be high GL. We recommend dextrose (pure glucose, the simplest form of sugar, which is absorbed very quickly). See your nutrient breakdown table for the amount. If you are not having the dextrose shake, eat a high-GL food from your food list instead. Fast sugar raises insulin quickly, which speeds up glycogen refilling and switches off muscle breakdown.
Take 1000mg of vitamin C after training. Vitamin C is needed to make collagen, the main protein in tendons and connective tissue, and supports your immune system during hard training.
Eat a meal 30 minutes to 1 hour after your shake. The shake starts recovery; a full meal keeps amino acids and glucose coming while muscle building and glycogen refilling are still running at their fastest.

Example training day

This shows how the guidelines fit together on a day with afternoon training. Move the times to suit your own day: the spacing between meals and training is what matters.

Power body types only eat carbohydrate after being active or after exercise. On this day that means the shake and the meal straight after training. No other meal contains carbohydrate.

Time	What to do	Carbohydrate?
7:30am	Wake up: 200 to 300ml of water
10:00am	Meal 1 (breakfast): protein, healthy fat and vegetables	No carbohydrate
1:00pm	Meal 2 (pre-training meal): protein, healthy fat and vegetables	No carbohydrate
4:00pm to 5:00pm	Training: water only
5:15pm	Post-workout shake (within 40 min) + 1000mg vitamin C	Yes, high GL (fast)
6:00pm	Meal 3 (after training): protein, vegetables and your carbohydrate for the day, no fat yet (within 90 min of training)	Yes, low GL
10:30pm	Bed

6. Food Choices, Rest Days and Daily Habits

Track your intake with MyFitnessPal, a free food-diary app that adds up your calories and macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate and fat) for you. Most people underestimate how much they eat; tracking shows exactly how close you are to your targets.
Drink 200 to 300ml of water as soon as you wake. You lose water overnight through breathing and sweating, so you wake slightly dehydrated, and even mild dehydration reduces energy and concentration.
Keep drinking regularly through the day: roughly 30 to 35ml per kg of body weight (about 2 to 2.5 litres for a 70kg person), plus extra on training days. Water carries nutrients into your cells and waste out, and muscle is about three-quarters water.
If you sweat heavily, weigh yourself before and after training. For every 1kg lost, drink about 1.25 to 1.5 litres of fluid over the next 2 to 4 hours, with a little salt or an electrolyte drink. You keep losing fluid through urine after training, so you need to drink more than you lost, and the salt helps your body hold on to it. Your personalised water recommendation is on your 9 Pillars Lifestyle page.
Eat low-GL carbohydrates at all times except straight after training. Low-GL carbohydrate releases sugar slowly, so insulin rises gently and fat release is not switched off for long. Straight after training your muscles want sugar fast, so high GL is better then.
Choose lean meats from your food list and spread your protein evenly through the day. Your muscles can only use a limited amount of protein for building at each meal, so spreading it out gives you more building periods across the day.
Include protein at every meal. As a rough guide, aim for a palm-sized portion of meat, fish, eggs, Greek yoghurt or tofu. Your exact amounts are on your nutrient breakdown table. Each protein-rich meal switches muscle building on again.
Choose healthy fats from your food list and spread them through the day. Healthy fats such as olive oil, nuts, oily fish and avocado are needed to make hormones, including testosterone, and to absorb vitamins A, D, E and K.
Build each meal around protein and vegetables first, then add your carbohydrate. Eating vegetables and protein before carbohydrate slows the rise in blood sugar.
A 10 to 15-minute walk after meals helps your muscles take up sugar from the blood without needing as much insulin.
Nutrients to focus on: chromium and magnesium (wholegrains, leafy greens, nuts), which help your body manage blood sugar; omega-3 fats (oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines; walnuts; flaxseed), which help insulin work better and calm inflammation; plenty of fibre and colourful vegetables; and fermented foods such as live yoghurt and kefir for a healthy gut.
Limit fruit to 2 to 3 pieces a day because of its sugar content. Most of your weekly fruit should come from section A of the nutritional data table. Fruit sugar (fructose) is handled mainly by the liver, which turns any excess into fat once its own glycogen stores are full.
Eat 6 to 12 portions of vegetables a day, mostly from section A of the nutritional data table. This provides the fibre you need: fibre keeps you full for longer and slows the release of sugar into the blood.
Vary the type and colour of your fruit and vegetables: different colours supply different vitamins, minerals and protective plant compounds.
Reduce your carbohydrates only once 24 hours have passed since your last training session: by 10% on that non-training day, and by 20% on a second non-training day in a row. If you trained in the evening, keep your normal carbohydrate until the following evening. The 24 hours after training are when your body is repairing, rebuilding and adapting, and when your muscles refill their glycogen, so they still need their full fuel. After that, without another session, they use less, so they need less refilling.
Make sleep a priority: it is when most repair happens and when your hunger hormones reset (see the science section). Your personalised sleep recommendation is on your 9 Pillars Lifestyle page.
Keep alcohol to a minimum: your body burns alcohol before anything else, which pauses fat burning, and it can interfere with muscle repair.
These are guidelines, not strict rules. Some may be hard to stick to. Just do the best you can.

NUTRITIONAL DATA

Quick look macro tables

Easy to use tables to help you get the right amount of protein and carbohydrate into your meal plan. What does 10g of protein actually look like....

Your food list

Food, grouped by protein and carbohydrate

Each group lists portions with roughly that amount of protein or carbohydrate. Tap an amount to see the foods.

ProteinCarbohydrate

Protein

5gprotein8 items

Handful of chickpeas
20 almonds
1 small egg
Serving of peanut butter (for 2 small slices of toast)
Handful of pumpkin seeds (20g)
1 slice of prosciutto
2 large handfuls of edamame beans (50g)
Handful of cashew nuts (25g)

10gprotein8 items

2 small eggs
1 cup of soya milk
1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds (big handful)
Serving of Greek yoghurt (100g)
Serving of quinoa (60g)
Serving of tofu (1/4 pack)
1/2 buffalo mozzarella ball (62g)
Small portion of squid rings (100g)

15gprotein8 items

Half a ready to eat pouch of Puy lentils (125g)
3 medium eggs
2 to 3 slices of smoked salmon (60g)
2 to 3 rashers of bacon
Small handful of beef biltong (25g)
Small sea bass fillet (90g)
Small lobster tail (100g)
Portion of smoked mackerel (75g)

20gprotein6 items

Half a pot of cottage cheese (165g)
Single hamburger patty (110g)
Skinless cod fillet (120g)
Skinless haddock fillet (120g)
Serving of monkfish (150g)
Single venison burger

25gprotein6 items

Single beef steak (120g)
4 large eggs
Tuna steak (120g)
2 skinless chicken thighs (120g)
Single pork loin steak (130g)
Skinless salmon fillet (110g)

30gprotein4 items

Tin of tuna (120g)
6 slices of roast turkey breast (120g)
Small venison steak (140g)
Half a pack of venison mince (150g)

35gprotein2 items

Average skinless chicken breast (170g)
Packet of prawns (150g of raw prawns)

40gprotein2 items

Half pack of lean beef mince (200g)
Sirloin steak (230g)

45gprotein1 item

Half a pack of turkey mince (150g)

50gprotein1 item

Portion of diced turkey breast (150g)

Carbohydrate

5gcarbs2 items

Small bowl of strawberries or raspberries (100g)
Portion of blueberries (75g)

10gcarbs5 items

1 large carrot
15 cherry tomatoes
Serving of mange tout (150g)
Small slice of pumpernickel & rye bread
Slice of rye bread

15gcarbs7 items

Single aubergine (250g)
Medium pear
4 Nairn's oatcakes
Slice of wholemeal seeded bloomer
Glass of Alpro oat milk (250ml)
Portion of brown rice (75g)
Portion of bulgur wheat (65g)

20gcarbs6 items

Small banana
Medium apple
Serving of wild rice (85g)
Glass of Alpro soya chocolate milk (250ml)
Slice of Biona millet bread (50g)
Serving of granola (50g)

25gcarbs3 items

Slice of white sourdough bread
Large banana
Slice of spelt sourdough

30gcarbs5 items

Single ciabatta roll
Sweet potato jacket
Half a pack of fresh egg noodles (150g)
Serving of buckwheat soba noodles (50g)
Serving of porridge oats (50g)

35gcarbs3 items

Large wholemeal bread roll
Serving of Straight to Wok Udon noodles
Serving of giant wholewheat couscous (50g)

40gcarbs1 item

Half pack of fresh rice noodles (150g)

45gcarbs2 items

Medium jacket potato (200g)
Serving of wholewheat spaghetti (75g)

50gcarbs2 items

Serving of spinach pasta (75g)
Serving of spelt pasta (75g)

Nutritional data tables

Vegetables Section A24 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fibre (g)
Asparagus	20	2	4 / L	2
Beetroot	43	2	10 / L	3
Capsicum Pepper Green	20	1	5 / L	2
Capsicum Pepper Red	31	1	6 / L	2
Capsicum Pepper Yellow	27	1	6 / L	1
Broccoli	34	3	7 / L	3
Brussels Sprouts	43	3	9 / L	4
Cabbage, Savoy	27	2	6 / L	3
Carrots	41	1	10 / L	3
Cauliflower	25	2	5 / L	3
Celery	16	1	3 / L	2
Aubergine	24	1	6 / L	3
Fennel	31	1	7 / L	3
Garlic	149	6	33 / L	2
Green Beans	31	2	7 / L	3
Kale	50	3	10 / L	2
Leeks	61	1	14 / L	2
Lettuce, Iceberg	14	1	3 / L	1
Mushrooms, White	22	3	1 / L	1
Onions	40	1	9 / L	2
Spinach	23	3	4 / L	2
Sugar Snap Peas	42	3	8 / L	3
Swiss Chard	19	2	4 / L	2
Turnips, Boiled	22	1	5 / L	2

Vegetables Section B6 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Butternut Squash, baked	40	1	10 / L	0	0
Olives, Green	145	1	4 / L	15	3
Peas	81	5	14 / L	0	5
Potato, baked with skin	93	3	21 / M	0	2
Sweet Potato, baked with skin	90	2	21 / H	0	3
Yams	118	2	28 / M	0	4

Fruits (Raw) Section A19 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Apples	52	0	14 / L	0	2
Blackberries	43	1	10 / L	0	5
Blueberries	57	1	14 / L	0	2
Clementines	47	1	12 / L	0	2
Cranberries	46	0	12 / L	0	5
Grapefruit	42	1	11 / L	0	2
Gooseberries	44	1	10 / L	1	4
Lemons	29	1	9 / L	0	3
Limes	30	1	11 / L	0	3
Melon, Honeydew	36	1	9 / L	0	1
Melon, Watermelon	30	1	8 / L	0	0
Nectarines	44	1	11 / L	0	2
Oranges	47	1	12 / L	0	2
Peaches	39	1	10 / L	0	1
Pears	58	0	15 / L	0	3
Plums	46	1	11 / L	0	1
Raspberries	52	1	12 / L	0	6
Strawberries	32	1	8 / L	0	2
Tomatoes	18	1	4 / L	0	1

Fruits (Raw) Section B11 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Apricots	48	1	11 / M	0	2
Avocado	160	2	9 / L	15	7
Bananas	89	1	23 / H	0	3
Cherries	63	1	16 / L	0	2
Figs	74	1	19 / L	0	3
Grapes	69	1	18 / L	0	1
Kiwi	61	1	15 / L	0	3
Mangoes	65	1	17 / L	0	2
Melon, Cantaloupe	34	1	9 / H	0	1
Papaya	39	1	10 / L	0	2
Pineapple	50	1	13 / L	0	1

Seafood13 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)
Clams, steamed	148	26	5 / L	2
Cod, oven cooked	105	23	0 / L	1
Halibut, oven cooked	140	27	0 / L	3
Mackerel, oven cooked	134	26	0 / L	3
Monkfish, oven cooked	97	19	0 / L	2
Mussels, steamed	172	24	7 / L	4
Prawns, cooked	77	18	1 / L	1
Salmon, oven cooked	206	22	0 / L	12
Scallops, steamed	112	23	0 / L	1
Sea Bass, oven cooked	124	24	0 / L	3
Shrimp, steamed	99	21	0 / L	1
Tuna, oven cooked	139	30	0 / L	1
Tuna, tinned	128	24	0 / L	3

Eggs and Dairy21 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)
Eggs, fried	196	14	1 / L	15
Eggs, poached	142	13	1 / L	10
Eggs, scrambled	167	11	2 / L	12
Eggs, whole hard boiled	155	13	1 / L	11
Camembert	300	20	0 / L	24
Cheddar Cheese	403	25	1 / L	33
Cheshire Cheese	387	23	5 / L	31
Cottage Cheese	98	11	3 / L	4
Cow's Milk, 3.25% fat	60	3	5 / L	3
Edam Cheese	357	25	1 / L	28
Feta Cheese	264	14	4 / L	21
Goat's Cheese, Hard	452	31	2 / L	36
Goat's Cheese, Soft	268	19	1 / L	21
Goat's Milk	69	4	4 / L	4
Gouda	356	25	2 / L	27
Gruyère	413	30	0 / L	32
Mozzarella	300	22	2 / L	22
Parmesan	392	36	3 / L	26
Ricotta	174	11	3 / L	13
Roquefort	369	22	2 / L	31
Yoghurt, plain whole milk	61	3	5 / L	3

Beans and Legumes10 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Black Beans, cooked	132	9	24 / L	1	9
Chickpeas, cooked	164	9	27 / L	3	8
Haricot Beans, cooked	140	8	26 / L	1	11
Kidney Beans, cooked	127	9	23 / L	0	7
Lentils, cooked	116	9	20 / L	0	8
Lima Beans, cooked	115	8	21 / L	0	7
Miso	199	12	26 / M	6	5
Pinto Beans, cooked	143	9	26 / L	1	9
Tempeh	193	19	9 / L	11	0
Tofu	76	8	2 / L	5	0

Poultry and Meat16 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Beef fillet, pan fried	179	28	0 / L	7	0
Beef Sirloin, 0% fat, pan-fried	188	30	0 / L	7	0
Beef Mince, 5% fat, cooked	137	21	0 / L	5	0
Chicken Breast, oven cooked	165	31	0 / L	4	0
Chicken Breast, pan/stir fried	187	33	1 / L	5	0
Chicken Legs without skin, oven cooked	191	27	0 / L	8	0
Chicken Thighs without skin, oven cooked	209	26	0 / L	11	0
Duck Breast without skin, oven cooked	201	23	0 / L	11	11
Duck Breast without skin, pan/stir fried	140	28	0 / L	3	3
Lamb Mince, cooked	283	25	0 / L	20	0
Pork Mince, cooked	297	26	0 / L	21	0
Pork Loin, cooked	131	25	0 / L	4	0
Turkey Breast without Skin, oven cooked	135	30	0 / L	1	0
Turkey Legs without Skin, oven cooked	159	29	0 / L	4	0
Turkey Mince, cooked	235	27	0 / L	13	0
Venison Steak, cooked	152	31	0 / L	2	0

Nuts and Seeds16 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Almonds	575	21	22 / L	49	12
Brazil Nuts	656	14	12 / L	66	8
Cashews	553	18	33 / M	44	3
Chia seeds	490	16	44 / L	31	38
Coconut, fresh	354	3	15 / L	33	9
Flaxseeds	534	18	29 / L	42	27
Peanuts, plain	567	26	16 / L	49	8
Pine nuts	673	14	13 / L	68	4
Pistachio, plain	557	21	28 / L	44	10
Pumpkin Seeds	541	25	18 / L	46	4
Sesame Seeds	573	18	23 / L	50	12
Sunflower Seeds	584	21	20 / L	51	9
Walnuts	654	15	14 / L	65	7
Hazelnuts	628	15	17 / L	61	10
Chestnuts, roasted	245	3	53 / H	2	5
Pecans	691	9	14 / L	72	10

Dried Fruits4 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Apricots	241	3	63 / H	1	7
Cranberries, sweetened	308	0	82 / H	1	6
Prunes	240	2	64 / H	0	7
Raisins, seedless	299	3	79 / H	0	4

Grains15 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Barley, Pearled	352	10	78 / H	1	16
Bread, Pitta Wholewheat	266	10	55 / H	3	7
Bread, Rye	258	8	48 / H	3	6
Bread, Wheat	266	11	48 / H	4	4
Bread, Wholewheat Commercial	247	13	41 / M	3	7
Buckwheat	343	13	71 / H	1	10
Millet, cooked	119	4	24 / M	1	1
Oats	389	17	66 / H	7	11
Quinoa, cooked	120	4	21 / L	2	3
Rice, Brown Long Grain, cooked	111	3	23 / M	1	2
Rice, White Long Grain, cooked	130	3	28 / M	0	0
Rice Noodles, cooked	109	1	25 / M	0	1
Rice, Wild, cooked	101	4	21 / L	0	2
Rye	335	15	70 / H	3	15
Spelt, cooked	127	5	26 / M	1	4

Natural Sweeteners3 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Carb (g) / GL
Honey	304	82 / H
Maple Syrup	261	67 / H
Molasses	290	75 / H

Oil4 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)
Coconut Oil	862	0 / L	100
Olive Oil	884	0 / L	100
Rapeseed Oil	884	0 / L	100
Walnut Oil	884	0 / L	100

GL = glycaemic load: L low, M medium, H high. Tap a section to open it.

Nutritional data table – Foods to avoid

Your food list

Foods to limit or avoid

Highly processed foods
Typically these foods are low in nutrients and high in artificial chemicals and preservatives, which are potentially damaging to the body. These include ready-made meals, breakfast cereals, tinned produce, white bread, refined grains, cheese, fast food, crisps, fizzy drinks, bacon and ham.
Added sugar or high fructose corn syrup
These have a negative effect on your hormones. High sugar consumption is linked to diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.
Trans fats (also known as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats)
These are unsaturated fats that have been chemically changed to increase shelf life and make them solid at room temperature. They increase levels of small dense LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and lower HDL cholesterol (the good kind). They also increase abdominal fat, which can lead to various health problems.
Seed and vegetable oils
They contain a lot of omega 6 fatty acids, but these need to be in the correct ratio with omega 3 for optimal use by the body. If not in balance it can lead to inflammation in the body.
Artificial sweeteners
These can increase your appetite as your body is expecting a large hit of carbohydrate that doesn’t arrive. They have been linked with obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Sweeteners are also many times sweeter than table sugar and therefore can perpetuate sweet cravings.
Low fat or diet foods
Often these products are high in wheat, high in sugar and highly processed, so you may be better to choose the full fat version.
Grains
Be aware to eat the right type of grains at the right time of day for your particular body type and goal (this will differ for each person and is explained in your nutrient timing section). If you feel uncomfortable after eating them, it may be worth considering having an intolerance test.

NUTRITION INFO FOR YOU GEEKS

For those of you who are interested in understanding the science behind our methods, this is the section for you. Tap any topic to read more.

The science of fat lossHow your body releases and burns fatRead more Why your body type mattersSame pathways, different strengthsRead more How fat loss worksStep by step, inside your bodyRead more Why your plan suits youYour fibres, insulin and fuelRead more Metabolism and carbohydrateHow your body handles carbsRead more Meal timing and eating timesWhy your meals are spaced as they areRead more Around trainingWhat happens when you trainRead more Food, sleep and your bodyFibre, sleep and key nutrientsRead more ElectrolytesWhat they do and why they matterRead more Changing your foodWhy your targets change graduallyRead more Mild vs extreme dietingWhy the size of your deficit mattersRead more Muscle damage and repairHow training builds you back strongerRead more Sleep and your hormonesHunger, blood sugar and repairRead more

The science of fat loss

How your body releases and burns fat

Your body stores energy in two main places: as fat in your fat cells, and as glycogen (stored carbohydrate) in your muscles and liver. To lose fat, your body must take in less energy than it uses (an energy deficit) so that it has to make up the difference by releasing stored fat.

When energy is short, a fuel gauge inside your cells called AMPK switches on. It tells your body to release fat from your fat cells (a process called lipolysis) and burn it in your mitochondria. Low insulin, together with the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline (released during exercise), opens the fat cells’ doors. This is why keeping insulin low between meals matters so much for fat loss.

AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase)A fuel gauge inside every cell. When energy runs low (during exercise, or when you eat less than you use), AMPK switches on. It tells the cell to burn fat and sugar for energy and to pause energy-hungry jobs such as building new muscle.

LipolysisThe release of stored fat from your fat cells. The fat is split into fatty acids, which travel in the blood to your muscles and other tissues to be burned for energy. Insulin slows lipolysis down; adrenaline, noradrenaline and low insulin speed it up.

The challenge is that AMPK also slows muscle building, and your body treats a large energy shortage as a threat: it lowers leptin (the hormone that tells your brain you have enough fat stored), slows your metabolism and starts breaking down muscle for fuel. Your plan therefore creates a deficit large enough to release fat but small enough to protect muscle, with enough protein and regular training to keep the muscle-building switch, mTORC1, turned on.

mTORC1The master ‘build’ switch inside your muscle cells. It is switched on by lifting weights, by protein (especially the amino acid leucine) and by insulin, and switched off when energy is short. When it is on, your muscles make new protein.

The key facts

Main pathways	AMPK (the fuel gauge) and lipolysis: releasing and burning stored fat
Main fuel	Stored body fat at rest and during easy activity; glycogen during hard training
What your nutrition must do	Create a controlled deficit, keep insulin low between meals, keep protein high and fuel training so muscle is kept

Electrolytes

What they do and why they matter

Electrolytes are minerals that carry a tiny electrical charge when they dissolve in your body’s fluids. That charge is what lets your nerves send signals and your muscles contract: every heartbeat and every rep depends on them. Electrolytes also decide where water goes in your body: sodium holds water outside your cells and potassium holds it inside, so the balance between them controls how well hydrated your muscles and blood stay.

ElectrolytesMinerals such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and chloride that carry an electrical charge in your body fluids. They power nerve signals and muscle contractions and control the balance of water inside and outside your cells.

When you sweat you lose mostly water and sodium (roughly 0.5 to 1.8g of sodium in every litre of sweat), with only small amounts of potassium, magnesium and calcium. Running low can show up as cramp, headaches, tiredness, dizziness and weaker training. A balanced diet covers most people’s needs; a pinch of salt or an electrolyte drink matters mainly after long or very sweaty sessions, or in hot weather.

Electrolyte	What it does	Signs of low levels	Good food sources
Sodium	Holds water in your blood and around your cells; carries nerve signals. The main electrolyte lost in sweat.	Headache, nausea, tiredness, muscle cramps, confusion; in severe cases, seizures.	Salt, stock, olives, cheese, bread
Potassium	Holds water inside your cells; sets the electrical charge across nerve and muscle cells; controls heart rhythm.	Muscle weakness, cramps, tiredness, constipation, palpitations or an irregular heartbeat.	Potatoes, bananas, beans, lentils, leafy greens, avocado
Magnesium	Needed by over 300 enzymes, including those that make energy (ATP); helps muscles relax; keeps nerves from over-firing.	Muscle cramps, twitches and tremor, tiredness, weakness and an irregular heartbeat; low magnesium also lowers potassium and calcium.	Leafy greens, nuts, seeds, wholegrains, dark chocolate
Calcium	Triggers every muscle contraction; builds bones; helps blood clot and nerves signal.	Short term: tingling around the mouth and in the fingertips, muscle spasms and cramps. Long term: weaker bones and a higher risk of stress fractures.	Dairy, fortified plant milks, tinned fish with bones, tofu
Chloride	Works with sodium to balance fluids; used to make stomach acid for digestion.	Usually lost together with sodium: weakness, tiredness, cramps and signs of dehydration.	Salt, seaweed, tomatoes, olives

How low levels cause these signs. Every nerve and muscle cell carries a small electrical charge across its membrane, set by the balance of sodium and potassium inside and outside the cell. Sodium: when blood sodium falls (most often from drinking large amounts of plain water during long, sweaty sessions), water moves into cells by osmosis (water moving towards where dissolved minerals are more concentrated), and swelling of brain cells causes the headache, nausea and confusion. Potassium: low potassium makes the resting charge across cells more negative, so nerves and muscles are harder to fire, causing weakness, and the heart’s rhythm can be disturbed. Magnesium acts as a natural brake on calcium entry into nerve and muscle cells; when it is low, nerves fire too easily, causing cramps, twitches and tremor, and the kidneys lose more potassium. Calcium: your blood calcium is held very steady by parathyroid hormone, which draws calcium from bone when intake is low, so a low intake usually shows up slowly, as weaker bones; when blood calcium itself falls, nerves become over-excitable and muscles spasm. Chloride is lost alongside sodium in sweat and vomiting, so its signs are those of sodium loss and dehydration.

These signs have many possible causes. If they persist, see your GP: a simple blood test can check your electrolyte levels.

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