NOW that the festive period is over many fighters will return to the gym with the aim of getting themselves back into shape for a long year of fighting ahead. This specifically means that fighters will pay particular attention to improving their diet and nutritional habits in conjunction with their training. However one aspect that many fighters may struggle with when changing and improving their diet is curbing that sweet tooth. This means that many may find it difficult to remove foods such as crisps, sweets and chocolate from their diet and replace them with healthy snacks.
I have therefore provided five different snack swaps below that will provide fighters with healthier alternatives to different junk foods. These alternatives should help to satisfy your sweet tooth and should make up part of your 20 per cent of foods that are slightly less healthy – as opposed to the 80 per cent of your diet that should be made up of quality, nutritious foods. Finally it is important to not over-consume with any of the below snacks and they should be eaten in accordance with your individualised nutritional goals.
Next: Swap 1 of 5 – Yoghurt
Marc Fell BSc (hons), MSc
Twitter: @MarcFell1
Email: j.m.fell@2014.ljmu.ac.uk
1. Swap fruit yoghurt with Greek yoghurt
ALTHOUGH many may believe fruit yoghurts are a healthy snack it is important to acknowledge that they contain high amounts of sugar as a typical 150g pot of fruit yoghurt can contain approximately 23g of sugar with only 5g of protein. Therefore swapping this with Greek yoghurt provides a healthier alternative as a 170g pot of Greek yoghurt contains approximately only 5g of sugar whilst also containing considerably more protein at 15g.
Next: Swap 2 of 5 – Crisps
Marc Fell BSc (hons), MSc
Twitter: @MarcFell1
Email: j.m.fell@2014.ljmu.ac.uk
2. Swap crisps with ‘healthy’ popcorn
‘HEALTHY’ popcorn provides an ideal alternative to crisps in that they contain considerably less calories alongside having a decreased carbohydrate and fat content.
Next: Swap 3 of 5 – fizzy drinks
Marc Fell BSc (hons), MSc
Twitter: @MarcFell1
Email: j.m.fell@2014.ljmu.ac.uk
3. Swap fizzy drinks with sugar-free cordial
CONSUMING high amounts of fizzy drinks within your diet will add large amounts of unnecessary and empty calories. These drinks are also not ideal choices when it comes to hydrating the body. Therefore swapping these drinks with sugar-free cordial provides a healthier means of hydration as they contain considerably less calories alongside providing a more appropriate method to hydrating the body throughout the day.
Next: Swap 4 of 5 – Sweets
Marc Fell BSc (hons), MSc
Twitter: @MarcFell1
Email: j.m.fell@2014.ljmu.ac.uk
4. Swap sweets with sugar-free jelly
ONCE again, swapping sweets within your diet with sugar-free jelly provides a better snacking alternative that will also provide you with a sweet hit. Sugar-free jelly is a better alternative due to it containing considerably less calories than sweets alongside also removing their high sugar content.
Next: Swap 5 of 5 – Chocolate
Marc Fell BSc (hons), MSc
Twitter: @MarcFell1
Email: j.m.fell@2014.ljmu.ac.uk
5. Swap milk or white chocolate with dark chocolate (75 per cent or more cocoa)
MILK or white chocolate should be swapped with dark chocolate due to the number of potential benefits associated with dark chocolate alongside the improved nutritional content. Dark chocolate has been associated with improving components of health, i.e. blood pressure, alongside also being found to reduce the oxygen cost of exercise (meaning that exercise should feel easier) in turn having potential positive influences on performance. Dark chocolate also contains certain antioxidant components which may be useful when recovering from exercise by reducing the soreness felt in the muscles, however this may not be useful for letting the body adapt to the exercise just undertaken. Finally dark chocolate is made up of less refined sugars than that included within milk or white chocolate.
Marc Fell BSc (hons), MSc
Twitter: @MarcFell1
Email: j.m.fell@2014.ljmu.ac.uk
