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© The High Performance Living Manual >>

Exceed Nutrition / www.ExceedNutrition.co.uk 1

THE HIGH PERFORMANCE LIVING MANUAL

‘The Complete System to Look, Feel and Perform Awesome – All Day, Every Day’

www.ExceedNutrition.co.uk

By Ru Anderson



Contents Topic Page Welcome to High Performance Living > 3 About the Author > 4 What is High Performance Living? > 5 The Nutrition Cornerstones > 10 Macro Nutrients – The Breakdown > 16 Shopping List > 20 The Carbohydrate Sweet Spot > 21 Body Awareness > 23 High Performance Food Choices > 25 The Modern Superfoods > 29 The Essential Supplements > 33 Your Nutrition Plan > 36 Essential Workout Nutrition > 42 It’s All About Balance > 44 How Many Meals Should You Be Eating? > 46 Eat More to Lose More > 50 The High Performance Gut > 53 The High Performance Hormones > 56 Ignite the Fire > 64 Action Plan – What To Do Now > 66



Welcome Firstly, let me say hello and welcome to the High Performance Living System. Thank you for choosing to put your nutritional needs and guidance in my hands. I have worked long and hard to create the entire manual you are about to read. After years of research testing and experimentation, I have finally found the nutritional principles that create incredible body transformations each and every time. The High Performance Living Manual has been created to provide you with a long-term approach to great nutrition; it does so by making good health the cornerstone of the system. So be assured you can have complete confidence in the following information and that it can always serve you as a foolproof guide to a healthier, leaner and more energetic body. Be sure to join our Facebook community (http://www.Facebook.com/ExceedNutrition) which provides expert knowledge, guidance, support and accountability to those using our system. It also has a host of further information that you will find useful, including daily motivational quotes, recipe ideas and links to my weekly blog. I would like to thank all of the fitness professionals who have shared their work and taught me so much about nutrition in the process. Without this I would never have been able to share the following information. These people are namely, John Berardi, Martin Berkham, John Kiefer, John Meadows, Alan Aragon, Layne Norton. Finally, be assured you are doing the right thing - improving nutrition is improving life, and you are now one step closer to this. All you need to do is read and apply the information currently sitting in your hands. Enjoy the read, and I look forward to hearing from you. Ru Anderson



About the Author

Ru Anderson BSc – Performance Nutritionist, Competitive Athlete, Owner of Exceed Nutrition

Ru works with a wide

range of people to achieve their fat loss and ideal body composition goals after being overweight himself. To ensure he provides the ultimate service to his

members he created his online nutrition coaching portal, Exceed Nutrition, which provides every aspect required to reach your ideal body and health. Website: www.ExceedNutrition.co.uk Email: [email protected] Facebook: www.Facebook.com/ExceedNutrition Personal Website: www.RuAnderson.com Twitter: www.Twitter.com/RuAnderson01



What is High Performance Living (HPL)? For years I had an image in my head of how I wanted to look, what I wanted to achieve in terms of ideal body composition. My drive to accomplish this was unquestionable, it wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when. My goal was to look freakin’ awesome and that was all I cared about. So in my mission to add large amounts of muscle and lean up, I forgot about two other major components that would radically affect me - how I felt and how I performed. I hadn’t set goals on how I wanted to feel or perform on a daily basis, it was simply based on how I wanted to look. Neglecting these other bases was never a good idea. I was doing so much hard training while following the typical poor nutrition advice at the time, and I felt horrendous as a result. I was constantly tired from the intense training, felt foggy with a lack of concentration throughout the day and had little energy left for other activities. Aside from my gym time, I was pretty damn useless. Sure, I looked the part and was strong too, but my performance out of the gym was horrendous and I felt like crap most of the time. There had to be another way. I finally had enough and set myself a new goal: to look, feel and perform awesome - all day, every day. I no longer just wanted to look like an athlete, I wanted to feel and perform like one too. This is what I now call High Performance Living (HPL). The problem was, I didn’t know where to start. Achieving HPL isn’t that difficult, yet many people will never attain it. This is due to the lack of information out there that focuses on improving the body and health as a whole unit. There is a lot of advice to help people lose body fat quickly, yet it fails to consider how someone will feel or perform when on that system, or afterwards. Of course it might work, there are many ways to get to the end goal, but most people cannot conduct it long term and in the end, they lose the results as they are forced to revert back to their old lifestyle. Again, there are mountains of information on how to gain muscle fast, yet most of this leads to overtraining and a general lack of energy for the average trainer.



So armed with my new goal I decided to read and experiment with a huge number of various nutrition and training protocols, to find out if I could achieve HPL. After throwing out the rubbish (most of it), I was left with a surprisingly simple set of principles that allows my clients and I to create and maintain a healthy, lean, strong and energetic body.

What was the primary ingredient for success? Good nutrition. As a result, nutrition quickly became my key interest and passion, and I learnt that this is where the real focus should be placed in order to achieve most health & fitness goals. Make good nutrition your primary goal and everything else just falls into place.



I decided to set myself a criteria to work from, one in which I must adhere to in order to achieve HPL: 1. To Look Awesome You want a system to help you quickly improve body composition, be it fat loss, muscle gain or to generally look great naked. This must be maintainable, not just a quick fix, and you must still be able to achieve balance within your new lifestyle. 2. To Feel Awesome You want a system to instantly improve your overall health. You want more energy, better sleep, improved mood, increased confidence and a general clean bill of health. 3. To Perform Awesome No matter what sport, hobby or general day time activities you get up to, we all want to be able to complete them to our maximum ability, every single day. Get up, smash it, and repeat. No matter what your goals are, you should always be achieving the above. If you are not, then something is missing and more times than not, it is nutrition related. Every nutrition plan or training program I design must adhere to the HPL criteria, other wise it is incomplete. So from now on your aim should be to set goals that comprise all elements of the HPL criteria, which from my experience, always brings much faster results and a more successful long term approach. This system ensures we are always asking for biofeedback from our bodies and matching it against our unique physiology, meaning over time we learn to auto regulate our own nutrition and apply the best strategies to improve ourselves on a daily basis. This new perspective makes it a lifestyle and ensures we are always freakin’ awesome in all areas. These are the new fundamentals to performance nutrition. This manual has been created to ensure everyone can find, develop and maintain HPL every second of every day.



It is possible to look incredible, eat amazing food and feel awesome in the process. It is possible to get stronger and build lean muscle without adding body fat and feeling sluggish. HPL is a lifestyle, not a ‘one off’ nutrition plan or diet book, nor is it a quick fix to all your problems. This system is therefore much more than just a nutrition plan, it is an educational tool that should be constantly referred to for our ever increasing busy schedules and lifestyles. A change in plans or disrupted routine no longer means missed or unhealthy meals because you can’t eat to your exact meal plan. I will teach you the nutritional principles behind awesome nutrition, so you can always be in charge and continue to reach your goals, whatever your situation. This is a Performance Focused Nutrition system that uses a combination of the most researched and scientifically tested nutritional methods that can be adjusted to provide you with a tailor-made eating plan. Adhere to some basic nutrition principles and reap the reward of perfect body composition and optimal health. It really is that simple. It is no longer a requirement to constantly track macronutrients, weigh your food or count daily calorie intake when chasing optimal body composition. And I will show you how. Your nutrition should be based on the key strategy of continually seeking more from your body - daily maximum performance. This is a fundamental component to achieving your health & fitness goals and should always be at the front of your mind. You will learn how to be healthier, stronger, leaner, while feeling awesome in the process. Your body wants to remain the same, and even when you do try to change it, most simply only get a change in their metabolic rate (slows down on reduced calories) which leads quickly to progress stagnation. This is why we must base our nutrition on seeking maximum performance - we need to be able to push our bodies, to force the body to change. We must work with the body, not against it.



If your goal is to get leaner, then you must use a nutrition plan that enables you to have the correct nutrients to supply you with the performance to do so. On top of this, your body will be physically changing due to your ability to do more. It will be forced to build more muscle as a result of your continual improvement in getting stronger, and it will strip body fat as this becomes a burden to a body that constantly demands more. The right nutrients at the correct times will ensure you perform at the highest possible level for that given day, and then aid the recovery process by quickly repairing your body so that it is healthier, faster, stronger, leaner. When reading the HPL manual, always keep this section in mind as I guide you to your own High Performance Living. We will work closely to build and develop your absolute perfect nutrition plan, along with explaining the how’s and why’s. By the end, I will have passed all the relevant and important information to you, so you can successfully control your own nutrition forever.



The Nutrition Cornerstones Below I have incorporated the most important rules to achieving optimal body composition & health. They may appear simple, but you should apply them every single day, consistency is key. They are the cornerstones to good nutrition.

1. Never starve

Ensure you are eating good nutrition frequently enough to provide your body with the nutrients and energy it requires. HPL is not

about starving the body; it is about diet optimization matched to you. The food you eat should energize you, make you productive

and feeling good at the same time. If you get hungry every couple of hours, then that is your body telling you it needs the nutrients

in order to perform at the level you ask. Providing we eat the right foods at the right time, it is fine to do so - calorie restriction is

never a long-term success template to reach our goals.

2. Eat solid protein at every meal Everybody should be eating a higher protein diet; it is healthy and has a high thermic effect in the body, boosting metabolism and making us look better, building lean muscle tissue and reducing body fat. Men should be aiming for 40-50g protein and women

around 20-30 grams per meal. A daily total of around 0.6-1g per pound of bodyweight should be the goal.

3. Eat vegetables with every meal

Green vegetables in particular, are incredible sources of energy for the body along with providing huge amounts of vitamins and

minerals (micro nutrients) and important plant chemicals (phytochemicals). These will keep you healthy and provide an ideal environment for building muscle mass and losing body fat,

due to the alkalinizing effect they have within the body.

4. Eat whole foods Base all your meals on solid food choices to provide you with

higher quality nutrients and to keep you fuller for longer. Avoid meal replacement shakes (unless homemade) and drinks

containing calories. Supplements should not make up the bulk of your diet. Real food comes first and lots of it.



5. Eat one ingredient foods Create high quality meals from foods that consist of one

ingredient. The more ingredients they contain, the more they have been processed and the chances are they contain more chemicals

as a result.

6. Learn to Carb-Cycle For a lean body, you must pay attention to not only how much, but also when you eat starchy carbohydrates and fruit. If you

exercise, restrict these carbs to post workout meal only, and/or save them to the last meal of the day. This ensures we are in an optimal position to receive this macronutrient and the body can

therefore use it for energy instead of storage.

7. Drink plenty of fresh water Staying optimally hydrated is key to HPL. Sip on water continually throughout the day and take a bottle with you everywhere. The

goal should be to get hydrated quickly in the morning and to then continually sip on water throughout the day according to thirst.

8. Remove intolerances from the diet

Many people have intolerances/allergies to certain food groups such as gluten and dairy. These can suppress good hormones and disrupt the digestive system to the point that progress comes to a

complete halt. Removing these will also improve energy and concentration, making you a more productive person. The ideal

food list provided later ensures the majority of common intolerances are removed from the diet.

9. Eat healthy fats

It’s been proven, eat fat to lose fat. Add high quality fats to your meals and you will lose weight much quicker and healthier. You should aim for at least one healthy fat source with every meal. The correct fats can be described as modern super foods, and

there is much more information on these later.



10. Get loads of sleep, while reducing stress

Adequate sleep is essential to optimizing the body. Lack of sleep results in lack of results. Sleep between the hours of 10pm-6am,

always. Our nutrition helps optimize the hormones, but the majority of benefits from this occurs at night, when we are in our

bed.



Applying the Cornerstones So the previous rules are simple enough, yet so many people still struggle to stick to them daily. The reason for this is that they don’t have the correct strategies to apply in order to successfully adhere to the rules. Here are my methods to be successful at applying them every single day:

1. Prepare your meals

Pre-cook your daily meals in advance so you can be positive that you can eat the correct food choices to maintain HPL. The

previous rules show the fundamentals to good nutrition, but if this is not available when we want to eat, chances are you will be forced to eat differently. Many people prepare their meals in advance the night before, while some prepare for 2-3 days in advance. This will be your individual choice matched to your

lifestyle, so providing the right foods are there at the right times, you can prep your meals however you like.

2. Follow a nutrition plan

Having a set nutrition master plan that you can hold yourself accountable to is essential at the beginning of HPL. This takes

away the stress of wondering what you can eat and how much of it. It can help you track your progress and you can adjust it to ensure you get continued results. It is the quickest method to

initially learning about your body and what it is asking from you. A good nutrition plan also takes the hassle out of meal planning and

design - it can be a great source of information.

3. Buy a recipe book Purchase a healthy eating recipe book that adheres to your

nutrition plan, to ensure you eat a wide variety of foods. It also stops you getting bored of the typical meals. Keeping tasty and

varied meals in your diet is essential to long term success, a recipe book will give you some further ideas and food choices to help

with this.

4. Have a set grocery list When you know exactly what you need from the food shop you will waste no time browsing the food choices that will slow your

progress. Get in and get out of the shop, your body will thank you.



5. Follow the 90% rule You don’t need to eat to your nutrition plan 100%, that could be

detrimental in the long run, particularly if it is a strict fat loss plan. Instead, for every 10 meals, have one that doesn’t match the

rules. The same applies if you are only following your plan 70% of the time, so 7 meals out of 10. If you want to see further progress this needs to increase to 80% and then 90%. Only then will you see optimal progress and discover whether your current choices

are truly working for you.

6. Have a support network Having like-minded and motivated people around you makes

sticking to good nutrition so much easier. Ideally these people are doing the same thing as you and can aid you in the process. This is especially important the first few months when eating better. Many people are confronted by resistance from friends/family when first changing their nutritional behaviours. Having some support to counteract this can make the difference between

success and failure.

7. Learn to use nutrition protocols Get educated in nutrition, adding in some advanced protocols such

as intermittent fasting and carb cycling can make the process much quicker than the typical traditional diet.

8. Set yourself a goal

Write down exactly what you want to achieve, how you will achieve it, how you can measure it and when you must complete it by. Be realistic but challenge yourself. At the end of every day ask yourself if you have taken yourself one step closer to that goal or one step back. Set short (daily), medium (weekly) and long term

(monthly+) goals, and write them down - but keep them visible to look at daily. When complete, tick it off and get attacking the next

one.

9. Have a mentor Have somebody who you know can bring you to your goals, has done what you want to do and can provide all the guidance you need. On top of this, you should be able to work with them, like

and trust them.



10. Make it a lifestyle

A fat loss goal is great, but you should aim to incorporate all of the above rules and strategies to your nutrition every single day of the year, no matter what your goals. Then you will never need to ‘diet’

again.



Macronutrients – The Breakdown The first thing we will look at is macronutrients; Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats. This is what makes up the majority of our meals. Most one ingredient foods usually comprise of one macronutrient e.g. chicken breast is protein, rice is a carbohydrate. Of course, many foods will have trace amounts of other macronutrients in them e.g. chicken has trace amounts of fat, but for most this is too small to be relevant or worth considering. Don’t get caught up in the little details. Fats Fats are no longer the macronutrient to avoid, and this manual will quickly make you realise this once you start eating more of it. An extremely low fat diet leaves you with a poor hormonal balance, lower testosterone levels, joint pain and poor neural recovery, to name a few things. Also, for many, this is the body’s preferred energy source. Therefore your goal is to keep your daily fat intake high - every single day, no matter what your training/diet goal. The benefits are clear and even the health authorities are accepting that monounsaturated fats can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, and the essential fatty acids (Omega 3 & 6) are required for life itself. Even the once vilified saturated fat is now being re-classified as 'not so bad after all', which is great as it’s necessary for proper cell membrane function. Simply put, fats are essential and will not make you fat. It's also important to mention that fat products should (just like protein) be derived from high quality sources. Ideally your meats should be classified as 'organic/grass-fed/wild', and your oils should be extra virgin. This is due to the potential harmful toxins that can be stored in animals and their fat when they are fed a poor diet and/or kept in less than ideal environments. There are 3 types of fat – saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Eating all three kinds should be the goal, with equal amounts from each to ensure optimal health and fat loss.



If you eat the foods from the list below, you will have no trouble making up high-quality, balanced, fat containing meals. Essential Fatty Acids - Omega 3 oil Extra Virgin Olive Oil - use this sprinkle food/salads - do not cook with it Organic Virgin Coconut Oil - including coconut flour, butter, milk - cook with this oil Nuts & Natural Peanut Butter - including almond butter & milk Whole Eggs - organic/free-range being best Fish - fresh wild Alaskan Salmon Fresh Avocado Butter - organic being best 80%+ Dark Cocoa Grass-Fed/Organic Beef Protein Protein is very important to us, mainly to supply important amino acids that provide us with the building blocks to recover from our training and therefore improve our performance next time. Your plan also ensures you are receiving ample protein to achieve any health and fitness goal. I have experimented with a wide range of protein intakes and believe no athlete (including physique) requires more than 1g per pound body weight of protein per day. You should be eating a source of protein at every meal – ideally one that comes from an animal. For protein; quality over quantity. If you can afford the most expensive option then buy it. The following is a list of protein packed foods that should make up most of your meals: Plain Fish e.g. mackerel, salmon fillets, any white fish Chicken Breast - boneless/skinless - organic/free-range is best Lean Beef/Steak – grass-fed/organic is best Milk/Hemp/Pea/Whey protein isolates Whole eggs - organic/free-range being best Dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt) Nuts & Seeds



Carbohydrates No matter what your sport/hobby or current physique goal, you can get just as good results without large quantities of carbohydrates. This of course is providing fat intake is set to a high level (and somewhat protein too). This is the same for ultra low carbohydrate diets, they may make you lose fat quickly but it is not a sustainable plan, nor are the results long lasting. Carbohydrates provide us with quick dense energy, and as active people, training hard means we will require energy in our daily diet. As already mentioned, fats and proteins must always be kept high, meaning carbohydrates can be much lower than the typical average person’s diet. Carbohydrates should be consumed on the basis 'eat for what you have done, not what you might do'. So not only should our carbohydrates level be based on what we have earned, but after we have earned them. In fact, the large majority of our daily macronutrients should be consumed after our day’s performance (even if you only plan on sitting on the sofa all day). This is when we are in the best position to receive a lot of nutrients, and also enables us to decide how many carbohydrates we have earned - based on our performance level for that given day. Therefore we should only ingest starchy carbohydrates, that isn’t a fruit or vegetable (this includes foods such as rice, pasta, potatoes), in the last meal of the day. This macronutrient is where most people go wrong, as many are consuming much more than they require, in the wrong form and at the wrong times. We have already discussed that we do not need so many carbs providing protein and fats are high enough, nor do we need to eat them in the early part of the day to achieve our daily performance goals. There is even more to consider when deciding on what carbs you should eat. In the past, the strong recommendation was oats, pasta and breads etc, however these products are loaded with wheat and gluten. Everybody, including those concerned mainly



about their physique, should eliminate these types of carbs as much as possible from the diet. The same applies for lactose found in dairy products; it too seems to regularly have a negative affect on a person’s performance. Most people have some sort of intolerance to at least one of these, and probably do not know about it. By eliminating these as much as possible, your body will thank you. You may or may not instantly feel the difference, but if you were to reintroduce these foods, I could bet that you will see a performance drop. So if there are typical carb sources that have not made my 'good carb list' it is not that I have forgotten them, but more than likely they are not as good for you as we first thought. In most cases I have offered an alternative that will taste just as good. Some of the items on these lists may be completely new to you, and you may ask yourself where on earth are you going to find them? Well the truth is most of the big branded supermarkets are now stocking these food items, and you simply need to hunt them down. Vegetables, particularly of the green colour variety are also classified as a carbohydrate. Vegetables are where we want to get the majority of our energy from. You want to ingest vegetables every time you eat, in addition to a lean protein source. Buy in bulk so you never run out and prepare them in advance. Rice (plain rice, rice cakes, rice milk) – Jasmine rice tastes awesome! All types of potatoes Oats – gluten-free being best All type of beans, including lentils Fruits - limit to 1-2 servings per day Malto Dextrin, Dextrose, Waxy Maize Starch, Vitargo, Palatinose - post training only Vegetables Manuka Honey



Shopping List We have looked at which foods belong to which macronutrient, what they do for us and when we should eat them. Now we can build a shopping list to take to the store, so we can cook some of the high quality meals we should be eating. If you buy from the list, then you will have no problems adhering to your nutrition plan and creating tasty, varied meals. While you are there you will need to pick up some Tupperware containers. Try to avoid the cheap plastic ones due to the cheap chemicals they are made from, as they can leak these when we add hot food items to them. Metal containers are much superior and will last longer too. To Buy

MEAT & DAIRY OTHER

Extra Lean Beef, 0.5-1kg Whey Protein Powder, 1kg

Skinless Chicken Breasts, 0.5 -1kg Coconut Milk, 2 liter

Turkey Breasts, 0.5-1kg Virgin Coconut oil, 1 tub

Fish Fillets, 0.5kg Natural peanut butter, 1 Jar

2 dozen free range eggs Rice cakes, 2 packs

Organic Cheese Long grain rice, 1kg

10 Bacon Rashers Organic Coffee

Puffed Rice cereal, 1 box

VEGETABLES & FRUIT Extra Virgin Olive oil, 1 bottle

Ripe bananas, 4-6 Mixed nut blend, 1 bag

Fresh oranges, 4-6 Mixed berries blend, 1 bag

Fresh Lemons, 2-3 Salt & pepper

Fresh Avocado, 3-4 Meat seasonings

Fresh apples, 4-6 Stevia

Whole chestnut mushrooms 80%+ Dark Cocoa

Cucumbers, 1-2 Gluten free oats, 500g

Fresh red tomatoes, 4-6 Grass Fed Butter (Kerrygold)

Blueberries/Raspberries, large Pack

Fresh washed spinach, large pack

White/Red onions, 1-2

Fresh glove garlic, 1

Potatoes, 2-3



The Carbohydrate Sweet Spot Everybody can have carbs in their diet. In fact they should be in the diet, as they can provide some awesome benefits such as increased metabolism (better fat loss and health), full glycogen stores (more energy and improved performance), increased leptin levels (controlled appetite and less cravings), improved libido (you know this one) and increased anabolism (more muscle mass/strength). Without carbs, we are missing out on some great performance enhancing benefits, yet this can be a double-edged sword. Eat too many carbs and at the wrong times, you are going to be worse off for it – usually in the form of excess body fat. So how do you go about eating enough carbs to get all the benefits from them, but not any of the negatives? The answer – by finding your carbohydrate sweet spot. The goal should be to find your carbohydrate 'sweet spot', the ideal amount of carbs that provides the body with enough energy to perform optimally, but not so much that fat is gained. If your performance is solid on a daily basis and you can improve at your sport while also getting leaner and building muscle mass, you have found your carbohydrate sweet spot. If your performance is solid on a daily basis and you are improving at your sport but you are adding body fat, then you need to reduce your carbohydrate intake. If your performance is hit or miss on a daily basis and you are not improving at your sport, then you need to increase your carbohydrate intake. For me, this is what makes nutrition such an individual practice, as I have yet to find two people with identical carb sweet spots. This is what requires some experimentation to fine tune, but the results are more than worth the effort.



It’s impossible to guess someone’s sweet spot, but there can be some indicators that will usually give us an idea as to the ballpark figure to start from: Body type can play a factor in one’s ability to handle carbohydrates, with typical ectomorphs being able to consume more carbs than their endomorph or mesomorph counterparts. Current bodyfat to muscle ratio shows how tolerant someone is likely to be to carbs. Typically, the more muscle mass you carry and/or the less body fat a person has, the chances are they will be able to consume greater quantities of carbs on a daily basis. Activity levels play a large role in how much energy you burn and therefore how much you require to top-up. The more active a person is, the more carbs required to replace the energy being used to perform and recover. This is why I always recommend high-intensity weight-training over most other exercise techniques, as it has been shown to burn much more energy during, and post training. On top of this, you build some nice muscle too. Based on these factors you can then form a ballpark figure on how many carbs you should start to consume in order to find your sweet spot as quickly as possible. For those I work with on a one-to-one basis this is exactly what I try to find for them based on the information given to me and then tweaking it from the constant feedback. Some general guidelines to follow: - - Many people’s sweet spots are much lower than they would like, so start low and increase as required. - Do not start lower than 50g per day. - If you do zero exercise one day, you may find you do not need any extra starchy carbs that day. All of this will require some body awareness and will take time to tune into your own unique body to learn what it asking of you.



Body Awareness Body Awareness means you decide whether you eat a higher carbohydrate evening meal (and also what type of carbohydrates) if your level of performance that day means you have earned them, and whether you feel you need them. So if you have had a great training session that day and are really hungry throughout the day, then listen to these signals and reward yourself with the higher carbohydrates. The opposite will also apply too. If you didn't quite find the time to train as long that day, nor are you particularly hungry then it makes sense to eat a lower carbohydrate evening meal. This is basic body awareness. This should also be used to decide how many meals per day you require. Listen to your body and it will tell you when it is ready for more food. This does not mean to be greedy - show some will power or you will only be cheating yourself. Make the right food choices for your meals/snacks and eating frequently is not a bad thing, if that’s what your body is telling you. Some find the opposite; they only require 3 solid meals per day, which again is fine if that suits and you are making adequate progress. The myth of having to eat 6+ meals per day to be lean and healthy has been debunked. It should be based on how often you get hungry and your schedule. Get hungry often and have a non-stop daily job – eat fewer but larger meals. Get hungry often but work from home – eat more frequent but smaller meals. Body awareness is something many people must acquire over time and it should be applied to your daily nutrition habits. The term 'eat for what you have done' is the ideal eating strategy you should work on developing. It has a quick and positive effect on the person with increased performance and body composition.



Real body awareness can take time to develop and many can mix up the signals that their body is sending them. If you do not feel you have acquired this yet, then this is something you should start to think about on a daily basis - 'how do you feel, and how did you perform today?’ Your nutrition should reflect this.



High Performance Food Choices The goal of any performance-seeking person is to have an extreme sense of body awareness. From a nutritional stance, you would no longer require the need to eat to a calorie or macro number to achieve optimal results. The nutrition methods used in this manual will help to improve this awareness, and provide the best system to then reap the most results from using it. This body awareness will extend to not only how much you feel your body needs but also what macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats) you need too. For a performance-seeking person, a calorie is not just a calorie. Your meals are geared for maximum performance. Whether you want to simply jump higher, lift heavier, drop fat, or all of these - then there are certain foods that are better for achieving your goals. The type of food you ingest will have an important impact on your end results. If you eat mainly junk foods, chances are you will gain more fat than muscle, while if the quality of your food is low when dieting, chances are you will end up losing muscle. A great advantage from this style of eating is that you have the option to eat a wider variety of foods so you will enjoy eating, never lack key nutrients, nor put yourself into a craving spiral that only a large pizza and chocolate dessert will satisfy. You will also find that even when you might fancy a change from the typical 'weekly shop' menu, you find yourself cooking up healthy and nutrient-packed meals. The first port of call and usually the easiest, is to highlight the rubbish foods so many of us are eating on a daily basis without even knowing it. This sounds easy, right? Skip the take away and alcohol – how about we look at all the ingredients that are found in these typical junk foods and discover why they really are killing us. And guess what, they are not just found in foods we call ‘junk’, they are also in our average breakfasts, lunches and dinners, right under our noses. The typical Western diet is made up of roughly 70% carbohydrates: cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and pasta/rice dishes on an evening. Sure, it may be only half a bowl



of cereal with a splash of milk, or maybe it is only two slices of bread for lunch instead of the ‘triple-decker’ you once enjoyed, but this doesn’t solve a thing. Cutting back on these foods does not help us create a lean and energetic body. The first thing to focus on is a basic elimination diet, as the common foods we eat are the root cause to what is making us lazy and fat. Below is a list of foods and ingredients that should be avoided on a daily basis to improve your results – they are not in order, they are all equally important. Sugar I like to call this an ‘addictive poison’, due to its powerful affects on hormones and the brain, making it a leading cause of obesity worldwide. The underlying problem with sugar is the fact it is made from two molecules: glucose and fructose. Fructose is our main enemy here as this is metabolised by the liver which, unlike glucose, does not get used by any of the other body’s cells for energy. Further, our liver cells do not store large amounts of fructose, meaning stores are quickly topped up and excess is then easily turned into fat and put back into the blood stream, ready to be stored by the body. Eating sugar gives us pleasure, we enjoy it, and evidence shows this can become very addictive due to its powerful affects on the reward system in the brain, similar to other addictive substances. It can stimulate the same neural pathways as nicotine and cocaine, leading to strong cravings, over consumption and addiction. So avoiding a substance for which the body has very little use, which has addictive properties, and is easily stored as extra body fat should make complete sense now. Let’s move on.



Artificial Sweeteners If we can’t eat sugar, we can replace it with sweeteners, right? Wrong! And although these may be calorie free, there is strong evidence to support a correlation with obesity and other related diseases. Most sweeteners are man made, manufactured in a lab and designed to create an addiction response just like sugar – food companies are not stupid, they know this stuff. For example, do you crave a burger and chips, or do you crave a McDonald’s? Exactly! Artificial sweeteners are becoming increasingly popular as people are becoming more educated on the problems of a high-carb type diet coming from sugars. Food manufacturers have realised this and have replaced sugars with sweeteners instead. To further confuse people these products are typically sold to us as ‘diet’ or ‘low fat’ products and marketed as ‘health foods’. This could not be further from the truth. Along with this, these factory-created products do not contain much ‘real food’ anymore, and are actually much less nutritionally dense than their natural counterparts. Sure, they might be low in calories and carbohydrates, but they are still adding to our obesity problem, while causing severe harm to our health. While we are on the topic of chemically-modified foods, another increasingly manufactured macronutrient is fat, particularly trans fats. These are the worst for us and are added to some processed foods, really playing havoc with our health. Other popular processed fats are seed and vegetable oils. The problem here is the high omega 6 contents, which have been proven to be harmful to us, in excess. Grains The grains component in a person’s diet is usually the single most important factor for holding someone back from achieving a lean body. It has been known that grains are extremely energy dense yet at the same time, not particularly nutritious.



The result was a switch to ‘whole’ grains, but it is clearly evident this was not a magical cure to help us create a lean and energetic body. The truth is, the majority of us need to be prepared to substantially reduce the grains from our diet when seeking optimal fat loss. The reason again comes down to how foods affect our hormones and the related responses from this. When we consume starchy grains (carbs) such as bread (including ‘whole’ grain) we get a large rise in blood sugar levels, which releases the hormone insulin that cues a signal for the body to store the excess energy – usually resulting in body fat. On top of this, a sharp rise in blood sugar is usually matched by a sharp fall, crashing energy levels and making us hungry again. Most grains also contain a protein called gluten, which is a binding molecule added to our foods during manufacturing. Evidence shows that up to 50% of the population are sensitive to gluten, yet most will see benefits from eliminating this completely from their diet. Obvious signs of sensitivities are poor digestion, stomach pain, bloating and tiredness. Many common grains are also home to other nasty ingredients such as sugar or other processed foods. As a result they offer minimal nutrient benefit to most people and should be replaced with ample amounts of seasonal fruit and fresh vegetables. There are no nutrients in grains that we cannot get from other food sources. Poor grains like bread and pasta should be avoided, while others such as rice and potatoes should be consumed in moderation, depending on your goals.



The Modern Superfoods There are a number of foods we eat that have been classed as ‘superfoods’, yet most of these lists have never been updated to reflect new findings, or the research we are conducting today. Also what exactly contributes to classifying a food as ‘super’? Some would agree this term has been made up by marketing companies claiming their products are superior to others and they offer something more to the consumer. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a superfood in the general sense is ” a food considered especially nutritious or otherwise beneficial to health and well being.” I would take that one step further and say that the foods suggested below are those that are going to give us some serious High Performance Living - to feel, look and perform awesome. After all, that’s our goal, each and every day. Lets get started, some of these might surprise you: 1. Coffee

So that stuff you have been shoveling down your neck on a daily basis turns out to be damn good for you. For years many people believed this wasn’t the case – how could something that not only made you feel better but also taste great be good for us? Well, the truth is, coffee is actually one of the best antioxidants we can add to our diet. It is high in caffeine, that is great for increasing metabolism and burning body fat, and also contains a decent amount of vitamins (mainly B vitamins) and minerals (potassium and magnesium).

With a higher metabolic rate we will not only lose weight faster but have a greater overall energy turnover, meaning we can actually eat more food.

The caffeine in coffee also makes you feel good and has been shown to actually increase athletic performance when taken pre training. This works by a number of methods but mainly via the mobilisation of fatty acids from fat tissue within the body. The benefits of coffee do not stop there. Research continues on the



substance and it appears it may even lower your risk of type II diabetes, Alzheimer’s and liver cancer. Pretty awesome stuff, right?

From experience, coffee can be a double edged sword. After all, it is a stimulant and these need to be managed to some degree. Ideally you should limit your intake to 1-2 cups per day. The best times for these are first thing in the morning and again pre training (to boost performance and fat burning). Caffeine is what makes up pretty much every pre/during energy workout supplements, so save your cash and stick the kettle on instead. If you are sensitive to caffeine, it is best to stop all intake of coffee before 2pm. This will help reduce any intolerances to the caffeine and reap the most benefits from it daily.

Lastly, it’s important to consider the quality of your coffee, as it is one of the most sprayed crops when growing - making organic the preferred choice.

2. Grass Fed Butter

Butter has been given a hard time in the past, due to its high saturated fat content. As a result, it was replaced with one calorie sprays and vegetable oils, as these were touted as being the more ‘healthy’ option.

However, this is ‘old hat’, saturated fats are highly nutritious and contain an abundance of fat soluble vitamins. Also, recent studies show that there is no association at all between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease. In fact saturated fats have now been shown to improve satiety and increase fat burning.

The key thing to note is that your butter should come from grass fed cows. This provides a source of higher quality fats such as conjugated linoleic acid, which may boost metabolism leading to improved weight loss. Grass fed butter also contains more fat-soluble vitamins, mainly vitamin K2 which is associated with preventing a number of diseases.

One final important reason why butter is a superfood is the fact



that it makes most things taste damn tasty too, and good tasting meals are essential for long-term results.

3. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is another high saturated food making the modern superfoods list. This should be our cooking oil of choice, as it is around 90% saturated fats, making it highly stable at greater temperatures, keeping its benefits even after high-heat cooking.

Coconut oil is also comprised of medium chain triglycerides, fatty acids that can be used to provide instant energy for the body and brain. These fatty acids do not require digesting by the stomach, and therefore go straight to the liver where they can be converted to ketone bodies.

This can greatly benefit body composition too, as it can encourage the body’s ability to use fat for energy and increase energy expenditure compared to other fatty acids. Coconut oil is also anti-bacterial, protecting us against many infections and viruses due to its lauric acid content.

Use coconut oil for all your cooking, it tastes great too. For the ultimate super food boost, you can even add it to your coffees to create one powerful cup of high performance goodness. 1 tablespoon added to your favourite organic coffee will provide you with instant energy, fat-burning properties, higher performance and a ton of antioxidants. I call it ‘Rocket Fuel’.

4. Whole Eggs

This question still gets asked - how many yolks should I have? The answer is always the same - all of them.

Eggs have been given an unfair hearing for many years by food geeks mainly due to the concern they may cause heart disease via increased cholesterol levels. It has now been proven that dietary cholesterol, such as that from our eggs, has no affect on cholesterol levels in the blood. In fact, quite the opposite can occur as they can actually improve our good cholesterol readings (HDL) by converting the bad (LDL).



What is the best breakfast? You’ve guessed it, whole eggs, and lots of them. The high fat content provides ample amounts of energy to start your day, along with a feeling of satiety. Eggs contain sufficient amounts of protein to support and build a lean and strong body. Their low carbohydrate level means we can continue burning body fat throughout the day, as our body learns to use fat for energy and not sugars.

Eggs are also full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, with most of the good stuff being found in the yolk – never, ever, throw them away.

Like all our healthy fats, it’s important to buy these from a high quality source, with omega 3 enriched or pastured eggs being the best. Find some eggs with the deepest and darkest orange colour and you will have found a good quality supplier.

Finally

All of these foods have once been vilified, yet it appears this should not have been the case. Perhaps if this had not happened then today’s society would be in much better health and shape…



The Essential Supplements

Supplements can be a minefield these days. With so many different options and promising claims, it can be difficult to know what exactly we should be taking and if it will even work. When truth be told, if a supplement claims to do something that sounds too good to be true, then this is usually the case and you are better off saving your hard-earned cash.

However, there are a small number of supplements that have been scientifically researched and field-tested to show they work. And guess what? The ones that work do not have any fancy names or shiny packaging and are usually consumed already via our diets. The supplements recommended below are merely vitamins, minerals or oils that can be sourced to natural origins, not artificial powders or liquids made in a factory.

So why should we supplement natural nutrients when following a healthy eating plan?

Well the research shows that increasing the levels of certain vitamins and minerals is needed to get the most benefit from them. Usually, these levels are much higher than we can typically get from our food sources alone, even when eating high quality foods. We should also consider the overall quality of our foods in today’s society - pollution is higher, crops are sprayed more frequently and many items are heavily processed before reaching us. The quality of our food is not up to scratch any more and is often lacking some of the key nutrients which it is supposed to provide.

In addition, many of you reading this are also training hard, to push you closer to your ideal body composition and health goals. This can be depleting on the body, as it adds further external stressors, which also require extra energy and nutrients to aid recovery in order to force the body to adapt to the training stimulus.

As you can see, boosting natural levels of some vitamins and minerals via supplementation is important for our optimal performance and health. Providing your nutrition is dialed in, and



you are eating correctly with high quality foods, I strongly believe the below supplements can benefit you and help you reach your goals. 1. Vitamin D – Health, Strength, Muscle Builder & Fat Loss Supplement

Most of us in the UK are deficient in this vitamin, due to the lack of sunlight we get. It has been shown to improve mood, aid immune function, fight off cancers, burn body fat, and improve bone health. It’s also been shown to boost muscle strength and growth, mainly due to its potential to increase testosterone levels in males.

Dosage: Take 2000 IU (summer) – 4000 IU (winter) daily of liquid/spray form vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol – the more potent form of the vitamin.) 2. Omega 3 Fish Oil – Health, Fat Loss, Muscle Builder & Strength Supplement

Fish oil contains the essential omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which are known to provide a number of health and performance benefits due to their highly anti-inflammatory properties. From a health perspective these fatty acids appear to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, while from a performance aspect they can help to prevent muscle breakdown, enhance joint healing, improve brain function and achieve greater fat loss.

Dosage: Take a total EPA/DHA value of 1-2g per meal per day. Liquid form being best. 3. Green Tea – Fat Loss, Energy Production & Health Supplement

Green tea contains compounds called catechins, including EGCG, the primary active ingredient for its thermogenic properties. EGCG has the ability to inhibit an enzyme that breaks down norepinephrine, the neurotransmitter involved in regulating metabolic rate and fat burning. Green tea also contains caffeine, which helps boost energy levels and provide further fat burning actions. It can also serve as a great antioxidant, and may help reduce certain cancers and provide other health benefits such as



improved joint healing.

Dosage: 3-4 cups of high quality green tea per day, along with 500mg of green tea extract with every meal. (The extract has been shown to be more effective in smaller doses and may also be absorbed better by the body – if you can choose only one, use the extract) 4. ZMA – Health, Strength, Muscle Builder & Fat Loss Supplement

This is a combination of zinc, magnesium and vitamin B6. Its benefits are supported by clinical research as it has been shown that hard-training individuals may be deficient in these minerals. You will see improved hormone levels aiding better recovery, sleep and strength.

Dosage: Take 30-50mg zinc, magnesium oil spray to back of knees/legs and 10mg vitamin b6 on empty stomach 30 minutes before bed. All-in-one tablet forms are available.

Lastly, I often get asked the question, “Can I just take a multi-vitamin instead?” The answer to that is no - multi vitamins do not have high enough quantities to provide the benefits that the higher dose protocols can. Just like with food, the quality of our supplements matters too - always buy the highest quality product your budget allows. If a supplement falls well short of the typical dosages I recommend it is more than likely poor quality and a waste of your money. Not only that, you would have to take more of these in order to reach the ideal dosages, so in the long run you would be spending just as much. Also, many of the cheaper products contain fillers and further ingredients to bulk up the product, therefore it is always best to buy the higher quality option in order to know exactly what you are taking.



Your Nutrition Plan You now know the goal is to develop great body awareness, which is the secret to HPL. This is a learning process and the first part of this is to strictly follow a bespoke nutrition plan. This is the most important factor in learning more about your body and getting the results you want. The next step is to assess the results of this over a few weeks -how do you feel, how are you performing? Then adjust your food amounts/macronutrients levels based on this. Again, re-assess and adjust in a similar fashion a couple of weeks later. This technique is naturally going to improve your ability to achieve body awareness, right up to the point that you can do it successfully, each and every day.

The above schedule should also be used for those using their plan to seek maximum muscle mass or fat loss. Aside from constantly assessing your performance on how you feel and perform (which should always be held the number one priority) you also need to develop awareness of your body composition - how is your body looking, are you gaining muscle, losing fat, both, or neither? Again, the first thing to do for ongoing progress is to adjust your macronutrient intake to match your physique goals. If you want to gain lean muscle mass, your goal should be to see a slow body



weight gain of around 2lbs per month. It is best to weigh yourself on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, after any bowel movement. If your goal is maximum fat loss, your goal should be to see a body weight decrease of 0.5-1lb per week. One of the key take home points when seeking maximum muscle mass or weight loss is to reap the most from the least. This is extremely important to ensure performance is kept high and continually improving. For fat loss, the aim should be to keep calories as high as possible, to supply the body with the nutrients it needs. So if extra fat loss is what you are seeking, then increased activity should be a priority over decreasing calories. Finally, your goal should be to achieve complete body awareness that will then dictate how much nutrition you require each day based on performance feedback. This method is much more effective than constantly counting macro ratios and hitting calorie limits - so the above recommendations should only be starting points for those first developing their plan and learning the basic steps to body awareness.



Daily Breakdown We can now form a daily eating schedule, based on a number of effective performance-enhancing nutritional techniques. We will break our day down into morning, afternoon and evening and describe the typical techniques used at these times of day and why. Morning - Fast Period This is a key nutritional tool I use for many clients, even if it is just one day per week. Having experimented with this method for the last couple of years, if followed properly, it results in greatly increased performance. This is the basic guideline for fasting: - 1. Eat your first meal of the day when you are hungry. Many people do not wake up hungry - the body is still sleeping, particularly the digestive system. The best time to have your first meal is usually a couple of hours after waking, when your body’s digestive system is fully functioning and you are getting slight hunger pangs. Of course, if you are hungry upon waking, then eat. For those that are completely new to fasting in this manner, it may appear to simply come across as simply 'delaying breakfast'. However, there are a host of benefits associated with restricting nutrients for portions of the day. Our key goal to make you become more body aware, and fasting is a great way of doing this, as you will discover that your body can go for periods without food intake, and also what it feels like to do so. During the fasted period, your body will begin to detox itself, which will make you instantly feel better and healthier. You will have more free time in the morning to undertake tasks that were usually spent thinking about, preparing and eating food. For those simply interested in muscle gain and/or fat loss, fasting has great benefits in providing improved nutrient partitioning (how well your body uses the nutrients you give it) and improved insulin sensitivity (how well your body processes glucose



(carbohydrates)). I believe these are the two most important factors for physique athletes, and are strongly associated to gaining quality muscle and dropping body fat simultaneously. Mid Morning/Afternoon – First Meals of the day Once we break our fast, start by consuming a protein, fat and vegetable meal. Depending on your weight, this usually makes for a good sized meal, and due to the high fat content, will supply you with plenty of energy and provide that fullness factor throughout the day. By keeping carbohydrates minimal in these meals we are primarily doing three things: 1. Not spiking insulin levels (with the presence of carbs) so we continue to burn fat throughout the day; 2. Not getting any energy slumps during the day due to fluctuating glucose levels and; 3. Improving our body’s ability to handle/use carbohydrates when we do introduce them. Evening/Post training: Last Meal of the day This final meal of the day is consumed after all the day’s work and training/performance is complete (typically 6-8pm). This is when you consume your daily carbohydrate intake and the remainder of your protein/fat intake. For those simply using body awareness, this is when you conclude on your day’s performance level, and let that dictate what this meal should include and how much. This is a great way to enjoy your carbohydrates, all in one big meal, so take time in its preparation. The body has been designed to go periods of higher activity, low food, followed by low activity, high food. From a performance point of view, aside from being a stress-free way of eating, your body is primed to receive the carbohydrates, as you are now much more metabolically efficient. If you have trained that day too, your body will be even more efficient and accepting of carbs – they will soak them up like sponges!



For many people (there are exceptions), no matter their goal, performance is increased greatly using this approach, with many seeing great increases in energy levels during training/games. This proves the 'eat for what you have done' approach to your nutrition plan. Furthermore, when you are in high activity mode (training/job) and/or you are in a stressful environment (training/job) your body is simply not primed or efficient at processing carbohydrates, or high food intake in general. However, by fasting in the morning, consuming protein and fats during the afternoon and finishing on a carbohydrate based meal, you are still stimulating and fueling the anabolic physiology for maximum lean body mass gains and burning body fat. Awesome!



Water Do not forget about water. I recommend a bare minimum of 2 litres of fresh water per day. It is easy to consume as it can be placed strategically into your nutrition plan. For example, the fasted mornings are ideal times to sip on some fluids. You should also mix your protein shakes with ample water which all counts towards your daily total. If you are training that day, you will naturally want to take on some fluids during training to keep hydrated. Follow this with another glass or two with your meals and you will have consumed plenty of water. Finally, not all water has been created equal. Quality mineral water (filtered is good too) is important to those drinking large quantities, as typical tap water does not contain as good fluoride levels or nitrogen balance. It also tastes better.



Workout Nutrition For those weight training, or undertaking an intense sport that can break down muscle tissue, or fatigue the central nervous system, then workout nutrition is essential. This will aid recovery and boost results by providing key nutrients in easy-to-digest form to the body. The basic recommendations are simple - 1 serving of whey protein powder (if dairy tolerant) in 1 cup coconut water/milk blended with 1 ripe (brown spoted) banana, 1 cup of frozen berries, dash of cinnamon. A more advanced protocol would be; 20g Casein Hydrolysate, 5g L-Leucine, 5g Citrulline Malate mixed in ample amounts of water. Consume half before training/game and the other half during. 30-60 minutes post exercise I recommend the above mixture again. Casein Hydrolysate is the highest quality protein powder on the market and contrary to its name is also absorbed much faster than any other intact protein or amino acid. This provides the body with a complete amino acid profile and instant delivery of these 'building blocks' which will boost performance by reduced fatigue, faster recovery, increased endurance and heightened protein synthesis. L-leucine is the power house of amino acids and aside from boosting the protein power from the hydrolysate casein by increased protein synthesis, it also helps preserve lean tissue, supplies your body with energy when under stress (i.e. when performing athletic activity), preserves muscle glycogen (glucose which is stored in the muscle tissue used to power your movements), maintains nitrogen balance, and enhances mental clarity when performing intense physical exercise.



Citrulline Malate is a unique combination of the amino acid citrulline and the organic salt malate that offers athletes a potential method of improving performance, delaying fatigue and accelerating recovery. It is particularly useful for people involved in high-intensity exercise such as weight-lifting and sprinting. Citrulline aids in the removal of toxins such as lactic acid and ammonia, which are by-products of intense physical activity, protein metabolism and catabolic states.



It’s All About Balance Combining a high protein diet along with frequent, intense and prolonged training can have an acidic affect on the body. It is important to consider how the acid base balance of the body is critical to your health, your body composition and even your exercise performance. You should therefore be interested to find out how some simple food substitutes/additions can correct this.

Every cell of the body functions optimally within a certain Ph range. If you continually put your body into an acidic state, the cells that require more alkalinity have to fight to neutralise the acid in the body. The body, at all costs, wants to operate at a stable ph. The biggest problem with this, aside from wasting a person’s energy, is that we are left with a negative nitrogen balance due to the high levels of acids within the body. Over time this can actually lead to bone and muscle loss. To help balance your acids you should aim to consume the following on a daily basis; - 1. Plenty of fruits & vegetables (particularly fresh, unsweetened berries/raisins and spinach) 2. Glutamine (2-3g in every shake) 3. Salt - added every meal.



Low Protein Day Another nutritional strategy you can employ to combat high acidic levels is a low protein day. Your plan should incorporate a low protein day once per week. This should be placed on a non-training day or the day after a game/meet with no more than 50g of protein consumed. This improves our performance in a number of ways: 1. It gives your digestive system a break from a constant high protein diet; 2. It improves the body’s nitrogen balance which will in turn actually provide us with a better anabolic environment in the long term; 3. It provides an opportunity to eat alternative food sources on this day that helps limit potential allergies to the typical high quality protein sources we consume, and therefore provide you with a varied selection of nutrients. On this day, I recommend that your food be mainly from green vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries and oils. Avoiding wheat, gluten and dairy is also highly recommended - this includes protein shakes and all supplements.



How Many Meals Should You Be Eating Per Day? The ‘optimal’ meal frequency debate continues on and general advice these days can range from one large evening feast to the old tradition of 6+ meals per day. So which of these are right? Well, it depends. Nutrition must be matched to your physiology and current goals. Of course, for long term success it must also fit your lifestyle and be manageable on a day to day basis.

There are ‘success’ stories for almost every nutrition protocol/strategy, whether it’s the result from eating 2 meals per day or 8. This indicates that overall daily food intake could be the key factor in someone’s results, not how many meals they have had. The results usually come down to the fact that the person has found a nutrition system to suit them, and that it helps them adopt a healthy lifestyle as a result.



What this does show us is that some of the time honoured myths can now be firmly put to bed:

1. More Frequent Meals Increase Metabolism

When we consume food we get what is known as the ‘thermic effect of food’. This is the amount of energy that is expended by the body during digestion. When we eat food we get a slight rise in our metabolism, however eating more meals per day does not provide any significant increase to metabolism and therefore fat loss. It is actually the total amount of daily food consumed that equates to our daily energy expenditure on digestion.

Simply look at the numbers. If you consume 3 meals per day at 1000kcals each, or 6 meals at 500kcals each - you get exactly the same daily energy turnover. 2. You Must Eat Breakfast Upon Waking

Eating upon immediately waking has been suggested to help us with improved fat loss. This is not the case as it does not kick start the metabolism for the day. In fact, it has been shown that going periods without food (usually skipping breakfast) can actually increase metabolism. On top of this we can get additional health benefits such as improved insulin sensitivity, nutrient partitioning, greater fat loss and induce the cellular clean-up process known as autophagy.

When to eat more frequently?

1. When building more muscle mass and strength

To gain muscle we need to provide the building blocks in order to do so - this needs high quality food. This is when it would be best to eat more frequently to ensure maximum muscle protein synthesis. Research indicates that this can be maximally achieved every 4 hours, so a typical eating schedule could look like 8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm, with high quality protein in each meal.



2. When suffering from metabolic damage or food issues

If you are suffering from post ‘yo-yo’ dieting weight gain, or have been extensively using a low calorie diet approach, it would be best to return to a more regular eating pattern with increased food quantities. This is to restore homeostasis within the body and to balance hormones.

This is also true for those with previous or current issues with food such as general cravings or binge eating cycles. This is to ensure blood sugar levels are constantly steady and we never reach a point of hypoglycemia.

A typical 4 meals per day approach spaced every 3-4 hours would be ideal with healthy snacks between meals if required.

When to eat less frequently?

1. When focusing on fat loss

Providing you have a good relationship with food, follow a healthy lifestyle and food choices, skipping meals may be beneficial in your quest for lower body fat. This provides the opportunity to feast on larger meals to provide that feeling of fullness despite the lower overall daily intake of calories. A typical 3 meal per day approach could be applied such as 8am, 12pm, 5pm, or if using intermittent fasting on a morning, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm. 2. When your lifestyle says so

Some people have extremely active and busy lifestyles, eating every few hours may not be an option, nor do these people particularly want to either. This doesn’t have to hold you back from your goals. The body is well adapted to under eating at periods of intense activity/workload and feasting after. If you want only 2 meals per day and enjoy this way of eating then there is no problem with doing so, providing your overall nutrient requirement to match your goals is being met.



Finally

Match your nutrition to your lifestyle, and not the other way around. Good healthy food should enhance our life, not hold us back.

The most simple method to decide how many meals you should eat:

1. Eat when you are hungry.

2. Stop when you are satisfied.

3. Repeat.



Eat More to Lose More Working in the health & fitness industry, along with being a competitive athlete, it’s fair to say I have spent quite some time talking and watching guys and girls with those physiques we admire and aspire to have. To describe these people we typically use the words ‘motivated’, ‘dedicated’ or perhaps even ‘hardcore’. This is because they train every day, sometimes twice and can usually be seen carrying a huge amount of tupperware boxes containing vast quantities of food that could feed a family for a week.

So what can we take from this? Well we know these people have a large yet strict and consistent diet, and they like to train a lot - a heck of a lot. This is the secret to their success - they are using a basic principle known as ‘Energy Turnover’. Sure, this might sound like an ‘eat healthy and train a lot ‘mentality but the fact of the matter is, when you exercise more, you can eat more, when you eat more, your body has the ability to change more. This is basic energy turnover; the relationship between the amount of energy put in from your nutrition and the amount of energy out via exercise.

I have spent a lot of time playing with various nutrition protocols and techniques to enable us to eat more food while still achieving our health and fitness goals, but it has been evident that this is largely capped without the inclusion of exercise. For example, a non exercising person could expend 1500 calories per day yet eat 2000 calories, resulting in a daily excess of 500 calories. On the other hand, an exercising person could expend 3000 calories per day and could therefore eat 3500 calories to result in the same 500 calorie excess. In theory it appears we would get the same result, and therefore we would do just fine without the added exercise. In the real world, this is clearly not the case and much greater results are created using the higher calorie and exercise protocol. The increased calories and therefore greater energy turnover appears to be the key to adding more lean muscle, reducing body fat and feeling awesome in the process. It is a result of an increased metabolic rate, creating a better body.



Our goal should be to create the highest energy turnover we can on a day-to-day basis, meaning daily exercise is essential to do so. This is exactly how athletes have trained forever, including those solely interested in aesthetics. They know a high energy turnover will develop a leaner, faster, stronger and healthier body, much better than reducing calories.

This all works by improved nutrient partitioning – our body’s ability to use the food we give it. In other words, more calories go to our muscles for growth and repair, while less are put to fat cells for storage. We are also eating more high quality foods, meaning more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are available to us, providing a much better recipe for long term success.

More often than not, those who do not exercise must cut down their calories in order to lose body fat, which over time can lead to deficiencies in critical vitamins and minerals. This will lead to a lower energy turnover, food cravings (resulting in binge eating), poor hormonal profile (loss of libido/lack of menstrual cycle), poor digestion, mood swings, poor energy levels and generally a worse bill of health. On top of this, the results expected are not achieved and the person will always have the inability to ever reach an optimal body composition when using this approach. In the end, all motivation and determination are lost, which results in going back to the typical unhealthy lifestyle.



Therefore, our goal (including when seeking fat loss) should be to eat as much as we can, while still making progress.

We can do this by exercising more. How much more?

Ideally, we exercise daily in some shape or form. I always recommend at least 2-3 full body weight training sessions per week with 1-2 high intensity interval sessions, such as sprinting, and then 1-2 low intensity sessions such as walking. This allows maximum energy turnover while providing exercise variety, alternating stimulus and still ensuring ample recovery periods between sessions.

It’s important to build up to all of this. Remember, Rome was not built in a day. Slowly start by trying to conduct some exercise every day, even if this is just some walking 3-4 times per week on top of your weight training routine. If you are eating in accordance to what I promote here on Exceed Nutrition (and if you are not, then you need to address this first) keep it similar and slowly increase calories on the days you do extra exercise.

It’s important to remember that the energy turnover principle can be matched to any goal, not just for fat loss. The training and nutrition choices you make must always match your goals, and you should have accurate plans to achieve this.

Finally, if you dream of your ultimate body, a lean, strong, energetic and healthy physique, you had better make sure you are eating and training enough to support this. Nobody has built and maintained a great body by under-eating and training less.



The High Performance Gut Our gut allows the foods and water we eat to enter the body while preventing dangerous toxins and compounds from getting in. When our gut is not working optimally, or it is in a state of distress, these dangerous compounds can enter the body. You will also not be fully absorbing the key nutrients your body requires for the tasks you ask of it. The digestive system’s basic function is to break food down into small particles that the body’s cells can use for energy, repair and growth. Depending on the food ingested, it passes through the digestive system and is broken down into amino acids, glucose and glycerol. We have good and bad bacteria in our gut, which continually replenishes, based on the diet we follow. It is hugely important to look after your gut bacteria and ensure it is doing the correct job. There can be a lot of influences that we have control over that can unbalance the good gut bacteria that can result in an irritated and/or inflamed gut wall. This is known as leaky gut. Leaky Gut Causes 1. Acute/Chronic Stress As usual, the negatives of a stressful lifestyle strike again! Stress can be linked to pretty much every illness yet it is not uncommon for most people to suffer from it on a regular basis. If you are constantly under stress, then your digestion will slow as it reduces blood flow to these organs. Leaky gut can be greatly increased when the gut has reduced blood flow. 2. Poor Diet Yet another reason not to constantly stuff your face with crap such as sugar, trans fats and processed foods. These foods have all been shown to inflame the GI tract. However, even those following a 'healthy diet' can suffer from other offenders such as gluten (think grains), dairy (think casein/lactose) and fructose (fruit sugar).



A diet low in fibre can play a significant role too, as fibre keeps us regular and therefore excreting dangerous compounds in the process and regulating the bodies PH balance (the body likes to operate at a stable Ph). 3. Medication Antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs will cause havoc on your gut and kill off good bacteria. When this happens we create a prime environment for yeast (candida) growth which can damage your small intestinal lining. How to resolve the problems Here are some things to apply to ensure your gut is fully functioning and absorbing those high-quality nutrients you feed it. 1. Remove the rubbish/known intolerances Usually the easiest yet most effective method for those with basic symptoms. Minimise sugars, trans fats, dairy, gluten and alcohol consumption. Usually one or more of these are the root cause for many leaky gut problems. An elimination diet is ideal if new, then slowly reintroduce these food groups to test tolerances and allergies. Highly recommended. 2. De-stress and relax Find ways to chill out and relax, get away from the day-to-day stressful chores. Find something you enjoy doing and do it often. Learn to enjoy your food, take time in its preparation and eat it slowly to improve digestion. Lastly, eat when you are hungry, as force-feeding food is never a good idea and is received as a stress to the gut. 3. Pre & Probiotics A course or two of probiotics will always do you more good than not, especially if you've recently completed a course of antibiotics. A variety of strains is best and the high quality products will need to be stored in a fridge. Pre biotics are fuel for the existing good bacteria, and probiotics are the actual good bacteria. Ideal food choices to naturally



increase levels are: bananas, manuka honey, garlic, onions, artichokes and leeks. 4. Antioxidants and Glutamine Glutamine can help reverse leaky gut and minimise free radical damage by offering itself as a preferred food choice to the small intestines. Take 5 grams x 2-5 daily. ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid) is superb at reducing free radical activity and regulating antioxidants to ward off gut infections. Aim for 100-300mgs between meals NAC (N-actyl Cysteine) is a powerful antioxidant and immune support supplement. It works by reducing gut damage and further boosts the immune system. Try 1-2g daily. 5. Enhance Your Flora Sauerkraut is ideal to eat just before a main meal to aid the digestive process. Kim-chi is similar to the above but is a fermented cabbage - enjoy! High-fibre fruit and vegetables should be a staple part of all your meals. These can protect the colon against bowel disease, including cancer. Increase fibre slowly, you have been warned. However, some gas can actually be a good thing when it comes to fibre as this can be a sign of the intestinal flora adjusting.



The High Performance Hormones Us nutrition geeks have decided that our diet should be individual to the person, and it should be tailored using numerous factors such as body type, diet history, lifestyle and so on. Every person will see various results from different strategies, and no one system can work for all.

However, when we achieve rapid improvements in body composition and health, you can be sure no matter what the system used to get there, it will have optimised the person’s hormones in the process. The truth is, if you want to lose weight, you need to eat less than you burn. If you want to gain weight, you need to eat more than you burn. The variations in macronutrients, daily calorie intake, meal timings, supplement use and so on will vary depending on the person. But behind all this there is something much more important going on and this is what needs to be considered when establishing any sort of successful long-term eating plan. You see, in the long run, a calorie is not just a calorie and the reoccurring macronutrients (think protein, fat, carbohydrates) that we are putting into our body’s daily, are having long term affects on our hormones and metabolic rate. This is why we must have at



least some basic understanding of our hormones and how they work for us, and against us. What hormones are we talking about exactly? The two hormones I believe to be the most important, when wanting rapid improvements in body composition and health are insulin and testosterone. And let me tell you why... Insulin is the anabolic hormone in the body. It is a potent inducer of amino acid uptake and protein synthesis. All dietary carbohydrates are broken down into glucose in the small intestines, which is then absorbed by the blood stream. This will either be used as an immediate energy source or it will be stored in muscle tissue, the liver or as body fat - as directed by insulin. Testosterone is present in everybody and is a steroid hormone from the androgen group. In humans, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females. It has a whole host of functions including increasing muscle mass and strength, maintaining bone strength and ensuring the sexual organs are in working order. Testosterone can fall below normal levels, and is typically seen during the ageing process. Let’s talk testosterone As we already know it is a very powerful hormone, and one of the best natural ways to ensure optimal levels of testosterone is via an improved diet. The main testosterone boosting macronutrient is fat. There are 3 types of fat - saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Eating all three kinds in a healthy balance will dramatically improve fat loss and health. Most people are not eating anywhere near enough fats in their diet, and it is stopping them from building muscle and losing body fat. However, for the purpose of this manual, we are talking testosterone, and for that we need more saturated fat. Yes, you heard right, more saturated fat. It won't clog your arteries, it won’t



give you heart disease nor will it raise bad cholesterol levels - scientific evidence now supports this too. What should I eat? Firstly we need to understand that saturated fat is comprised of short, medium and long chains. Each has their own benefits and more importantly their ideal food choices they can be found in. This means we need a varied high saturated fat food selection to ensure we are getting the whole spectrum of benefits it has to offer. Secondly, many of the foods below are ones which you have probably typically tried to avoid. For this manual the key point to remember is that saturated fat positively affects hormonal function as it provides higher levels of free testosterone (even cholesterol is used to produce testosterone). Short chain fats are rapidly used for energy as they break down quickly in the digestive system. The best forms of this come from butters, particularly grass-fed butters when from dairy. Cow's butter, goat’s butter and almond butter are my favourites. Medium chain fats can become a very efficient and easy energy source for the body, as many can bypass the digestive system entirely, straight into the liver. These are mostly found in tropical oils with coconuts being the most favoured. Coconut oil is great for cooking, as it remains much more stable at higher temperatures, as it is almost all saturated fat. Coconut milk is a great replacement for the crappy cow’s milk we have in the UK. These also have anti-viral and hypoallergenic properties so most find these a great alternative to dairy. Long chain fats typically come from polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats which are used by the body for a host of bodily functions, including the protection of the heart. Foods like beef, dark chocolate and extra virgin olive oil are ideal. Use extra virgin olive oil to sprinkle on foods or salads, as cooking with it destroys its good qualities.



Finally, the other main sources of high fat foods that should be in your diet are organic/free-range eggs, natural peanut butter, mixed nuts (almonds/macadamias), wild Alaskan Salmon and other dark meats. When should I eat to boost testosterone? Just like protein, you should have a serving of fat at every meal, except in any during/post-workout shakes/meals. At this time we want to drive nutrients, particularly glycogen (carbohydrates) quickly into the muscles, and fat will only slow this process down. How much should I eat? I am not one for counting every gram of food that goes into someone’s body and I know when you are eating steak and eggs, pouring EVOO on salads, and munching on mixed nuts for snacks daily, you will be getting adequate fats. As with most things, variety is the spice of life, so regularly include any number of the above foods in your meals and you will be rewarded with better testosterone levels. Supplements for improved testosterone 1. Vitamin D3 Is a fat soluble vitamin found in certain foods and also functions within the body in response to exposure to the sun. However, it can also be described as a pro-hormone and is critical for a person’s growth and maintenance of a healthy body. The studies and research now completed on this vitamin has proven it to be a very valuable vitamin for athletes. I encourage you to have a read of www.vitamindcouncil.org for more information and further benefits. Obviously those who are exposed to more sunlight require less vitamin D supplementation, however if living in the UK, this will still increase during winter periods. For those just starting out with vitamin D supplementation, I recommend 5 days of 10,000IU spread evenly throughout the day.



For summer months I like to get 2,000IU per day and 5,000IU per day during the winter. 2. Zinc Is an essential trace mineral and micronutrient that is found throughout the human body, mainly in the muscles and bones. Supplementing zinc can help prevent sub-clinical zinc deficiencies that may hinder testosterone levels. Zinc is therefore a very anabolic element and its effect on healing, tissue repair and muscle growth is maximized during sleep. Therefore zinc is best taken 30 minutes before bed – around 50mg is ideal. Anything else to improve testosterone? Yes, lower body fat, and at that I’m talking about 12% or lower. I’m convinced lower body fat improves not only your test levels but all of your hormones, making you much healthier. If you are deliberating over increasing calories yet don’t have visible abs, then diet some of that fat off first and you will rewarded come the next time you increase calories. Lower body fat will also have a dramatic effect on how your body responds to the next important hormone we are going to be discussing – insulin. What should you expect to feel with improved testosterone? If you are going from naturally lower levels to moderate/high levels you will quickly feel the benefits. Usually this in the form of elevated mood, improved energy, better recovery, increased libido and increased strength. Those with already naturally higher levels appear to not respond as well to natural test boosters, hence the mixed reviews on most products. Let’s talk insulin As we already discussed, insulin is another very powerful hormone in our bodies, and how we handle it can have a drastic impact on our body composition and overall health. Unlike testosterone we are not looking for an all-round permanent boost of this hormone. Instead, insulin needs to be elevated and



suppressed to get the results we are after – increased muscle mass and less fat. It’s all about improving insulin sensitivity… The more insulin ‘sensitive’ you are, the better nutrients are partitioned to help you get leaner and more muscular, so it works in your favour. Nutrient partitioning is essentially how our body uses the energy we provide it from the foods we eat. The simplest method of improving this is by paying attention to carbohydrate type and timing. I am assuming you already know that constantly pounding your body with excess carbs results in permanently high insulin levels, which has been linked to nearly every degenerative disease known to man. The best time to elevate this hormone is around our training and our last meal of the day. At all other times the goal should be to keep it suppressed. This means we should be consuming our carbs in our pre/during/post-workout meals and in the evenings to ensure we are creating an anabolic environment for when we need it most (post-training & and pre-sleep). This seems to work very well for most people, but of course there are exceptions to the rule. Eat too many carbs at the wrong time or the wrong type of carbs, and they’ll be converted to fat. Also, excessively high carb diets decrease insulin sensitivity which will also stall your muscle building and fat loss. This is typically seen in obese people and diabetics, they have become insulin resistant (the opposite to sensitive) and therefore do not partition their nutrients well. Essentially, the more insulin sensitive we can make our bodies the better we partition nutrients, which potentially leads to less fat storage and better lean muscle gains.



Other strategies to improve insulin sensitivity 1. Intermittent Fasting (IF) By fasting you are keeping insulin extremely low for a long period of time which in turn makes you more insulin sensitive. IF does not work so well with females, so start out with short fasts (1-2 hours in the morning) if you want to try it. The same goes for men, start slow and only use it for short periods of time e.g. 4 weeks. Reap the instant benefits from it and move on. 2. Fewer meals This is in line with the IF approach and is something that goes against the typical bodybuilding/athlete eating philosophy. By combining some of your meals so that you are only sitting down to eat 3-4 times per day you are not spiking your insulin as much throughout the day as if you were to eat 6+ meals. Although you may not be eating carbohydrates in these meals, we can still get an insulin response from just eating protein and fat based meals. 3. Don't stress Again this arises, and it's now pretty clear that stress is like a poison when working to create your ideal body. Too much stress will reduce insulin sensitivity and trigger increased fat storage. Don't worry about life's little things, ignore the haters and nay-sayers, find something you love to do and do it often, relax a lot, sleep a lot and have plenty of sex. Stop and have a look around from time to time, enjoy life. Supplements for improving insulin sensitivity 1. Omega 3 The omega 3 fats, EPA and DHA, help the body to increase insulin sensitivity and optimize nutrient partitioning by reducing inflammation within it. Our typical diets are very pro inflammatory which is usually the result of a high Omega 6 content. Essentially we want to balance the omega 6 to 3 ratio to ensure we are not creating inflammation within the body. My favourite supplement stack for this is 1g of Omega 3 fish oil and 1g Cinnamon taken at each solid meal. This is a good starting point for most people but you should increase the amount of fish



oil per meal to decide the best level for you. Cinnamon works by helping lower blood glucose levels following a meal. Omega 3 fish oil is an incredible supplement but many of those on the market are simply too low a quality. When I say 2g, you should be aiming for at least 2g from a total of EPA and DHA content. How should I feel with improved insulin sensitivity? Unlike testosterone you will not feel any physiological changes, however energy levels will improve which will bring enhanced mood. The real benefits from good insulin management comes in the form of improved body composition. Finally This will hopefully serve you as a ‘go to’ guide, to help you achieve an improved hormone profile, and to understand why it is essential to do so when pursuing your physique & health goals. When it comes to achieving your optimum physique, you can bet at some stage you will have to address these hormones, so get a head start now and try implementing the ideas mentioned. You won't regret it.



Ignite the Fire Every day I log onto my social media channels and see some great images and posts that have been carefully designed and thought out. They have been created for the sole purpose of inspiring and motivating people in order to push them that one step closer to their health and fitness goals. But this isn’t what drives those who have been successful in their quest to change their body. That comes from within - a burning fire deep down inside. I enjoy posting and sharing fitness images and posts, I’m all for the mantra ‘every little helps’, and most of the time people are thankful for the free information and guidance. However, I have decided that all the inspiring images and knowledgeable posts are being lost on the people that require them the most. They are not doing as good a job as the creator had intended, they are reaching the wrong audience. How did I reach this conclusion? From my own experiences. The question I asked was ‘does a few fitness images on my media feeds every morning mean I will be sure to turn up to the gym that day and push my body to its physical limit? Will these informative articles on the latest eating protocol ensure I prepare all of my meals for the following day?’ My answer, “hell no!” This is not what inspires me to get out of bed at the crack of dawn every morning to ensure I can better myself every single day. So where does this come from? This drive comes from within, an inner motivation that tells me I must do more. For years people have asked me how I find the energy to exercise every day and adhere to a lifestyle that goes against modern day society. My answer was always the same, ‘I don’t really know’. Until now. You see, I have recently thought long and hard about what really makes us do this, and have come to the conclusion that it is a strong emotional attachment to something that feeds us this inner fire. I have found that an attachment to something that occurred in the past is much stronger than say one that may occur in the



future, and is therefore more likely to produce better long term results. Without an emotional attachment to our fitness goals, the best pictures and articles are meaningless, they will have no relation to that reader. In fact, even the best training and nutrition plans will be wasted too, producing lack luster results. You must ignite the fire. Find your emotional attachment to your goals and this will provide you with all the drive you require to push on and continually seek improvement from yourself. In doing so, play this to your advantage. Accept it, feed it and never let go of it. This inner fire will pave your way to success. Do not change it. Do not hide it. This makes you an individual. Embrace it. Be unique and show it to the world. Be yourself. Your inner fire can come from anywhere, be it a childhood challenge, current health problem, or a future event that simply scares the crap out of you. Everybody will be different. Mine comes from my upbringing, being from a single parent family with no other siblings I had to be independent from a young age. I quickly learnt to look after myself and knew I had to make my own path, nobody was going to do this for me. And so this continues on today. I thrive on independence and the ability to create my own direction in life. As a coach my goal is to find a person’s inner drive, ignite it and only then can I apply the best strategies to feed this and reap the rewards from acquiring it. This is what creates success stories and provides you with the long term motivation to achieve your ideal body composition and health. Now, it’s your turn, go and ignite your inner fire.



Action Plan - What To Do Now? So you have read the HPL manual and are ready for High Performance Living- to look, feel and perform awesome – all day, every day. Here is my step-by-step guide to applying it: 1. Write down your goals What exactly do you want to achieve from following this manual? Adding facts and figures to this goal will help you track your progress and evaluate the results. You can then review your goals and provide the relevant and correct advice. Use the SMART principle when setting goals; - Specific – What exactly do you want to achieve using this system? E.g. 6lb weight loss Measurable – What methods can you use to record progress? E.g. scale weight/Mirror Action – What do you believe is required to achieve your goal? E.g. better food choices Realistic – Can you achieve this goal, even with help? What might hold you back? Time – By when do you want to achieve your goal? 2. Take pictures Use up-to-date pictures to track your progress. You see yourself every day. Changes can be small on a weekly basis, and measurements sometimes do not reflect the actual progress being made. A picture can speak a thousand words. 3. Clear out the cupboards Throw away the existing junk foods in your cupboards and replace with the healthy nutritious foods from the shopping list previously supplied. 4. Create a tasty and varied nutrition plan Providing this adheres to the HPL principles and recommended food choices, you should aim to create a varied number of meals to meet your goals. This will initially serve you as your template to eat the correct meals at the right times, providing you with a master plan.



5. Keep a food, sleep and supplement diary Log everything on paper until this style of eating becomes a habit. This will show exactly how on track you are to achieving HPL, and clearly show any changes that might be required to enhance results. 6. Record measurements Record your weekly and monthly progress by tracking some key measurements (scale weight and waist size) along with regular full body pictures. Do not get number obsessed, but in the long term they can show the direction you are heading in. Still need more help? No problem. Many people do. It is not an easy task to apply all the above information and transition it into a new lifestyle overnight. This is why I have created the High Performance Living Online Coaching System. This is a 12-month package that provides: 1. 7 day custom-made nutrition plan, unique to you, and updated for continued progress. 2. Hard copy version of the High Performance Living Manual, for easy reference and reading. 3. Online membership to private forum with progress logs, food diary, training videos + programmes, recipe ideas, and an amazing community of people using the same system. 4. Dedicated 1-to-1 coaching from our nutrition experts. Now is the time to make the change. For more information, follow the link below: http://www.Exceednutrition.com/Our-system



Finally

I hope you have enjoyed reading the High Performance Living Manual and are ready to smash your new nutrition plan with a great understanding of the principles involved.

Remember, balance is key with nutrition. Achieve good balance and it becomes much less a chore and more like a lifestyle – a High Performance Lifestyle!

“Obey the basic principles, but do not let them command you” Bruce Lee. Thanks for reading. Ru Anderson.

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