the Luke diet

Posted by Luke Williams on January 9, 2008 in general thoughts | 1 comment

I guess it’s that time of year… for dieting and exercising (well… signing up for a gym, then not using it more than once anyway)… 3 people this week have asked me for diet advice… me!?

DISCLAIMER – I have no dietary training, anything I suggest is based on my own reading and experimentation… and in fact under no circumstances should you read any of the following information at all, ever.

That aside, this is the kind of food I eat and the rules I’ve set myself…

1) Drink plenty of water with the odd juice or tea (I drink green or the earl) and as little fizzy stuff as possible – fizzy drinks are either high in sugar (1/3 of your rec. daily intake per can!!!) OR contain artificial sweeteners, which on the balance of things I’ve read, aint great for you at all.

2) Wholemeal-a-mondo! Wholegrain cereal, bread, pasta, brown rice – personally, I noticed a HUGE difference in how sluggish/full maybe even… bloated I felt after eating white-carbs, switching to brown/wholemeal versions has given me much more sustainable energy throughout the day.

3) Eat as fresh as you can. 5 a day or more, I always have a fruit bowl with a few different types, prominent to snack on… as well as veg I can eat raw (carrots, sugar snap peas, celery). Also a top tip I read to maximise the goodness in your veg, is to cook it as little as possible.. I steam pretty much everything, so its still crunchy. (although not a steamer like this one… 🙂 great clip)

4) Cook healthy. Uncle george is your friend! (George Forman’s lean mean grillin machine!) Stir fry (olive oil), grilled, or as above steamed in the microwave… not baked or fried.

5) Say no to processed food – even “healthy options” type ones. The occasional pre-made thing is great in an emergency, yes… but as a regular part of the diet? No. Especially those “diet” or “low fat” ones, in most cases they bump up either the salt or sugar to get back what they lose in taste, or they add sweeteners or other chemicals (boo hiss).

6) Moderation – everything in moderation, I eat red meat once, maybe twice a week, but mainly lean meats like turkey or chicken breasts and fish when I can. Chocolate, cakes and junk food are ok… once in a while… now this is my biggest failing, my sweet tooth. I try and beat it by using fruit but, well, I fail sometimes… what’s important is, I keep trying. Personally I find if I buy sweet things in smaller quantities, I eat less of them… having a multi pack of chocolate in the house is just too tempting… hmm… chocolate…

7) Fresh – frozen – ready. Fresh food is the best, then frozen (often frozen contains more minerals/vitamins than fresh as its frozen nearer to the time its picked)… ready meals bad… to keep things “fresh” in a fridge for decent periods, they add crap to it. Yes… I don’t have a freezer at the moment! haha.

8) Smokes n Beers… Don’t smoke, its stupid… you are setting fire to something and sticking it in your mouth… pretty dumb, nuff said – need help quiting? NHS + willpower. Drink… I will almost always drink smaller physical quantites of alcohol like wine or spirit and a mixer for 2 reasons… this first one may be crap, but I reckon it makes sense… its less physical volume, which must minimise gut/stomach growth… plus its probably better calorie-wise.

EDIT – 9) LOW GI FOODS – erm… too complex to simply put here, there’s a great book for £2 at tescos or look on google/wikipedia about GI?

That’s all I can think of for now, i may add to it later… oh yeah and exercise and fitness I’ve covered before if you wanted it. Happy New Year