The Energy Plan

Sharing my learnings from the book, The Energy Plan by James Collins

The Energy Plan by James Collins

Peak performance is all about energy and how to eat and exercise right for your body and your routine. By following The Energy Plan, you will learn how to fuel your body for your life, power through the 4pm slump and resist the junk foods that drag you down. Instead you will naturally choose foods that leave you bursting with energy for work and play – and allow you to fully recharge afterwards. You’ll feel more productive, sleep well, lose unwanted weight and avoid illness.

Forget fasting and low carb diets. The Energy Plan is a whole new mindset that will forever change your relationship with food, exercise and your body, giving you a winning edge in everything that you do.

• you should think of food as fuel for peak performance.
• The carbohydrates you eat are stored in your muscles in a form called glycogen. During high-intensity exercise, your muscles use this glycogen as fuel to keep going. Once your carbohydrate stores are used up, your legs start to feel like jelly. In endurance sports, this sensation is known as “hitting the wall.” So if you know you’ll be doing a hard physical workout, it’s especially important to keep your carb supplies topped up. The key here is to eat only as much carbohydrate as you require for your activity levels.
• not all carbohydrates are created equal. This vital fuel can be broadly separated into two different categories: those that are low on the glycemic index (GI), and those that are high. 
  • The glycemic index ranks foods according to how quickly your body can break them down into usable energy. Low-GI foods, such as rye bread and oats, release energy into your body more slowly, helping you feel fuller and more energetic for longer.
  • high-GI foods, such as white bread and cereal bars, give you a quick burst of energy followed by an energy slump a few hours later. 
  • You can lower the glycemic index of some foods simply by cooling them down before you eat them. Refrigerating your rice, pasta, and potatoes after cooking will lower their GI, and give you more sustained energy after eating them
• cutting out all fat from your diet is a big mistake. That’s because fat helps your body to absorb certain vitamins, such as vitamin A and vitamin D. Fat is also a crucial component of your body’s cells; it helps your blood to clot, and gives your immune system a boost, too. 
• Fat is also your body’s most concentrated source of energy. A gram of fat stored in your body provides nine calories worth of energy, whereas a gram of carbohydrate releases just four calories. When you engage in low-intensity exercise like walking or slow jogging, it’s fat that your body burns for fuel. 
  • there are good fats and bad fats. The worst fats are trans fats, typically found in processed foods such as cookies, pastries, and french fries. Trans fats increase harmful LDL cholesterol, cause inflammation in the body, and are linked to diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. These are the fats you should definitely avoid.
  • Then there are the fats you should make an effort to reduce in your diet. These are the saturated fats, found mostly in animal products such as red meat, butter, and cheese, but also in coconut oil. These fats should make up no more than ten percent of your total calorie intake.
• what type of fat should you be replacing saturated fat with? The answer is monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fats – two types of fat commonly found in plant and fish oils. 
  • Eating foods high in monounsaturated fat, like olive oil, avocados, and nuts, is associated with a healthy heart, and the famously healthy Mediterranean diet is typically rich in monounsaturated fat. 
  • Polyunsaturated fats include omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish like salmon and mackerel, and some plant sources such as walnuts. Evidence suggests that consuming omega-3 can lessen the damage to your muscles after a vigorous workout session. 
• The right liquids will give you an energy boost – but failing to integrate fluids into your healthy eating plan can cause you to lag.
• Most of your fluid intake should be one important, but often overlooked, nutrient: water. Water is indispensable to your survival, and 73 percent of your muscle mass is composed of water. Not only does water help you digest your food and carry other nutrients around your body, it also assists in keeping your body at the right temperature
• When you exercise, you lose water through sweating. You can sweat up to 2.4 litres every hour, and lose more than two percent of your body weight, during a serious exercise session. This water loss can reduce your physical performance by up to fifty percent. It can also result in mental impairment, such as poorer decision-making and reduced concentration. To combat dehydration, men should consume two litres of water a day, and women around 1.6 litres. You can check your hydration levels by monitoring the color of your urine. When you’re hydrated, your urine should be clear and plentiful
• Coffee gives you a valuable energy injection of caffeine. Caffeine’s stimulating properties come from its ability to block adenosine, a body chemical that encourages sleep. Caffeine also boosts your physical ability by making exercise feel less of an effort; this reduced feeling of effort has been found to improve endurance athletes’ performance in sports such as cycling, rowing, and long-distance running. In fact, caffeine is thought to improve overall performance by eight percent!
• the key to using food to energize your body is to eat the right foods in the right combinations.
• The first step toward combining healthy foods into an energizing diet is to build your performance plate. one portion of protein is about the size of your palm, one portion of carbohydrate is a cupped handful, a portion of vegetables is two handfuls, and a portion of healthy fat is about the size of your thumb. 
  • There are two essential performance plates. First, the fueling plate is your go-to when you need to fuel up before a training session, or for your post-training meal. It ensures you’ll meet your increased energy requirement, or replenishes your stores of glycogen after a big workout. To put together the perfect fueling plate, you’ll need one portion of protein, such as chicken, beef, or tofu; one portion of low-GI carbohydrate; and one portion of either vegetables, fruit, or healthy fat. Bear in mind that only non-starchy vegetables should be included as part of your vegetable portion, so potatoes and sweet potatoes don’t count. Finally, you should have a big glass of fluids on the side of your fueling plate, too, to meet your extra hydration needs. 
  • the maintenance plate is designed for the end of your day, when your energy requirements are lower for the evening ahead. As you’ll notice, it doesn’t contain any carbohydrates. The maintenance plate is built from one and a half portions of both protein and vegetables, and one portion of healthy fat, with a smaller glass of fluids on the side. 
• Let your energy needs dictate your eating patterns. 
• During a medium day, you might have a training session in the early morning, and then work for the rest of the day. 
  • Your medium day starts with a fueling plate for breakfast, to replenish your glycogen stores after your workout.
  • At mid-morning, to keep energy levels high, have a fueling snack consisting of carbohydrate and protein.
  • For lunch, you would have another fueling plate, and in the mid-afternoon, another snack (or it could be a maintenance snack, consisting of pure protein, such as a protein shake)
  • In the evening you would have a maintenance plate.
  • Remember, what you’re trying to avoid is feeling hungry and fatigued during the day, when you need your energy for exercising or working.
• Your other type of day is the low day. This is any day when you’re taking a rest from exercise or training sessions. 
  • have a maintenance plate for both breakfast and dinner, and a fueling plate at lunchtime.
  • Any snacks you have should also be maintenance snacks.
  • Low days ensure that you still get plenty of protein, to maintain your body’s muscles, but aren’t overdoing it on excess carbohydrates.
• Don’t rely on willpower alone to change your eating habits. 
  • manage your environment. 
  • ensure you’re not too hungry when the time comes to eat.
  • adjust your goal at mealtimes, too. a healthier approach is to aim for satisfaction instead. The Japanese call this practice hara hachi, which means eating only until one is 80 percent full.
  • ensure that your environment does not contain too many distractions while you eat. 
• Adjust your eating habits as you get older. 
  • As the years tick by, your resting metabolic rate decreases. This means that you need fewer calories to keep your body functioning, and you don’t need to eat as much as you once did to keep going. You can address this reduced demand for calories by cutting back on carbohydrates. 
  • while you cut back on your carbohydrates, you’ll also need to increase your protein consumption. As we age, a process called sarcopenia sets in. This is where our muscles mass reduces, and our muscles gradually get weaker.
  • Make sure, however, that you’re giving your body the right kind of protein. As we get older, our cancer risk increases, too, and certain kinds of protein, like processed ham, salami, and sausages have been shown to increase the risk of bowel cancer. So opt for tofu, poultry, or dairy for your extra protein fix instead.
  • in order to age healthfully, eat as many different fruits and vegetables as you can. at any age, eating five portions of fruit and vegetables is associated with a whopping 36 percent lower risk of death!