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N ew Year, new you! That tends to be the
prominent headline on most magazines and
newspaper at the start of January. Alongside
this, there’s also the suggestion of a detox, a purification
of all the self-indulgence we took part in over the festive
period. So what is a detox? What does it really involve?
And is it truly necessary?
Many of us who take our sport seriously, regardless of
our level, tend to be fairly structured and disciplined.
How else can you ensure that you train over three events
while also trying to balance work, friends and family
commitments? Over the festive period, this structure can
get rail roaded. Training sessions are swapped for
Christmas shopping and social occasions, while your
nutritional intake is made up of sausage rolls and mini
pork pies rather than actual training food.
While a welcome change to start with, after a few
weeks this lack of structure and change to your normal
practices can leave you feeling a little ‘out of sync’. You’ll
no doubt now be wanting to regain some form of
‘control’. But it’s this desire to get back on track with
your training and progress that can lead you to thinking
that a detox is the best place to start.
NATURAL DETOX
Some of you may have previously tried the more typical
methods of detox promoted in the media, such as juicing
or fasting. But before you embark down this path, it’s
worth knowing that our bodies are very resilient and
pretty good at achieving balance.
Our livers are very efficient at naturally ‘detoxing’ the
over indulgences of alcohol. And while our waistbands
may feel slightly tighter, with a few weeks of fairly
normal eating and light training, this’ll also be reversed.
In fact, the worse thing you could do is go on a
severely restrictive ‘detox’ programme. After a few
weeks of eating slightly more than normal, your body
will actually have raised your metabolism to cope with
the additional food intake. If you then drastically cut this
down, you’ll shock the body to think it’s ‘starving’ so the
body will actually work against you, not with you. When
the body feels ‘the threat of starvation’ it tends to go into
‘preservation mode’, which means it holds onto extra
body fat, making it more difficult for you to lose those
few extra pounds.
So what can you do to give your diet a kick-start? My
advice is to slowly start to make changes over several
weeks. Set yourself realistic targets. So, instead of
thinking ‘I’ll lose 2kg in two weeks’, tell yourself that over
Theworst thing you could do at this time of year is
to go on a severely restrictive ‘detox’ programme
NUTRITION
the course of January, you’ll aim to lose this extra 2kg.
This is far more achievable and means you won’t be
putting your body under huge amounts of pressure and,
in the long run, are more likely to succeed.
LIMIT, DON’T DEPRIVE
Start with looking at what’s become ‘surplus’ to your
normal diet. Is it alcohol and can you start by reducing
this to a few times a week rather than daily? Or maybe
it’s just the extra snacking, a handful of nuts every time
you walk past the coffee table; a slice of Christmas cake
with every cup of tea or coffee; or trying to finish up the
cheese and biscuits as a late-night snack?
Deprivation is definitely not the answer so why not try
to limit your choice to one of these a day? You’ll soon
reduce your overall calories in a week, without really
feeling like you’ve had to make drastic change.
As well as looking at your nutrition, the New Year is
also a good time to kick-start your training; if you haven’t
already, this is a good time to look at signing up to some
races. These don’t have to be major A-races, they can
simply be a commitment to do the parkrun every
Saturday during January. [Head to p118 to check out the
year’s offerings.]
Put it on the calendar so that it feels like an
appointment you can’t miss. Tick them off each week so
u feel that sense of satisfaction, while also re-
tablishing some structure.
RECORD YOUR PROGRESS
onitoring and recording your progress can also be a
ally useful aid to keep you focused. Don’t just write
own training times and distances, though, also think
out how you felt.
If you were running, did you engage your glutes – if
ot, can you think about this the next time you go out? If
u’re swimming, is there anything you can do to
improve your technique? Can you ask a friend to video
you while you train so you can see for yourself whether
changes need to be made to your posture or positioning?
Collecting all this information will help you stay engaged
in your programme and, while these may not be the key
outcome goal, they’ll help in the process of achieving it.
By February you should be back to your fighting self,
ready to hit training hard and achieve all those
springtime personal bests. Q 220
Renee McGregor’s latest book, Fast Fuel: Food for
Triathlon Success, is available at .
NEWYEAR FUELLING
The key to getting on course
with your New Year diet is to
start slowly…
Is there ever any need to detox? What’s the best way to give your diet a healthy kick-start
for the new year? Answering these questions and more it’s over to Renee McGregor...
SET ACHIEVABLE GOALS
Start with changing one meal or
snack over the course of a week
that’ll result in a calorie deficit but
without you feeling deprived.
INCREASE FRUIT & VEG
This’ll provide your body with
additional vitamins, minerals and
fibre to benefit your immune and
gut health.
DRINK PLENTY OF FLUID
KEEP ACTIVE
Make a commitment to do
something physical every day,
even if it’s just a 30min walk or
stretch. This’ll start to change your
mindset, easing you back into a
full training programme.
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PERFORMANCE