What Should I Eat?

I was recently asked whether your food intake should change dependant on whether it is a rest day or a training day? 

Not significantly, no.

First, we need to understand what each of the macro nutrient food groups actually do for the body:

Protein - Helps muscle tissue to repair and grow.

Carbohydrates - Provides energy and helps with digestion.

Fat - Hormone regulation, brain and nerve function along with helping the body to absorb vitamins.

For every day that we are alive, it would be right to say that a good balance of all three of those varying benefits would be desirable right? 

For training days, we may wish to go a little higher on carbohydrates to give us that extra energy boost to get through a gruelling session.

On rest days we may wish to have increased focused but less physical energy, so we may drop our carbs and increase the fat content.

But what is important to remember is that even when our body is trying to recover (rest day), it is going to be burning through A LOT of caloric energy. Meaning that carbohydrates are still going to play a huge role in helping to transport nutrients that we have consumed to all areas of the body. 

So, if someone tells you to go on a low carb diet…

... tell them to poke it! Carbs taste great and have hugely beneficial properties for us as active humans. 

If you want to tweak the balance of carbs and fat between training day and rest day, then do so… I do!… but don’t do it by much (5-10% is enough). As your body will benefit from carbohydrates when trying to repair and grow!

You don't have to cut out ANY foods in your pursuit of a better physique, you just need to learn how and when to say no. For the majority of people, achieving their physical goals is all about energy balance!