Ben Coomber
Body Type Nutrition
Eat your way to a
better you
Ben Coomber – Performance nutritionist
 Nutritionist, coach, speaker, writer, unashamed geek
 work with anyone who wants to be MORE AWESOME
 Athletics, MMA, rowing, gym goers, strongmen, rugby, you
name it nutrition is the same
 Specialist in obtaining awesome levels of health and
energy, increasing recovery and inspiring greater change
 Used to be 16 stone, went down to 10.5 stone, now 13
stone – consider myself a bit of an athlete-ish now.
Why call it performance nutrition?
How does food affect the body…
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Energy
Sleep
Concentration
Focus
Motivation
Feeling of ‘umpf’
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Willingness to exercise
Body composition
Weight loss / gain
Libido
Uni / school grades
Symptoms / disease
Who lacks one/some of the above?
What is the optimal
human diet?
Which diet is best?
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Paleo
Vegan
Low fat
Intermittent fasting
Eat stop eat
Low carb
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Gluten free
Dairy free
Primal
Vegetarian
Carb back-loading
Eat anything…
Eat anything…
….as long as it’s REAL FOOD!
My favorite diet, just REAL FOOD
Meat, veg, fruit, nuts,
seeds, some dairy,
starches in relation to
activity & preference,
don’t worry if you miss
a meal – you wont
starve, drink clean
fluids, don’t stress!
It’s largely a 1 ingredient food diet…
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Eat one ingredient foods
Eat breakfast with decent protein and fat content
Eat tons of veggies
Eat natural and free range foods where money allows
Eat a balanced macro lunch and dinner
Snack and eat meal sizes to what your appetite dictates
Live life to the full, enjoy food, don’t stress, sleep lots,
exercise intelligently, enjoy cooking, embrace the change!
How does this look compared to
what were currently doing…
But what’s wrong with healthy whole
grains?
 Very low in nutrients calorie for
calorie compared to vegetables and
fruits
 Contain gluten, a potential allergen
to many people (flour based
products like bread, cereals etc)
 Biggest affect on insulin and blood
glucose levels…
Blood glucose levels
What affects blood glucose?
 Protein
 Fat
 Fiber
Play the breakfast game…
Gluten & Dairy
Exclusion diet for 30
days….
 Dairy
 Gluten
 Wheat
Find out if they affect you
www.whole30.com
How do you know if you have a food
intolerance?
Exclusion diet for 30
days….
 Dairy
 Gluten
 Wheat
Find out if they affect you
www.whole30.com
Definitely the good guys…
 Calorie for calorie VERY
nutrient dense
 High in anti-oxidants
 High in micro-nutrition
 Filling due to fiber content
with low calorie intake
FAT – The old phobia – not evil
Basics:
 Needed for optimal hormone function
 Creates satiety
 Helps you absorb nutrients
 A low fat diet is non optimal for ‘optimal’ function
 Butter, coconut oil, nuts, seeds, oils, avocado, dark
chocolate, dairy, good quality animal fat
 AVOID: vegetable oils for cooking, low quality meat fat
and vegetable spreads
CARBS – The new phobia – not evil
Basics:
 Needed for optimal performance
 Aids satiety
 Good source of nutrition, especially fruit/veg
 Aids in optimal thyroid function – metabolism
 Vegetables, fruits, potatoes, quinoa, oats, rice, pulses,
cereals, bread
 AVOID: Gluten & wheat grains if problematic for YOU
THOUGHT 1: PROTEIN
 Eat a source of protein at EVERY main meal
 Essential for consistent repair and recovery
 Keep you full and building (anabolic)
 Get variety, chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, oily fish, white
fish, pork, liver, eggs, cottage cheese, dairy, offal, game,
wild meat
THOUGHT 2: NUTRITION
 Protein 1st, then vegetables, then fruit – an athletes diet
should be as nutritious as possible.
 You should think how much vegetables can I eat!
 This is the basis of your key nutrient intake, vitamins,
minerals, fibre, anti-oxidants, phytonutrients, energy cofactors, enzymes, pre-biotics
THOUGHT 3: CARBS OR FATS
 Do I have a need for them at this meal? – Am I recovering,
pre exercise, feel good on them generally?
 If not then maybe most of my meal should be vegetables
and fruit – nutrition must be 1st thought.
 So once we have protein, and nutrition, we then decide how
much carbohydrate we NEED, then we either add more
nutrition, or add carbs, or add fats.
 Carbs and fats are our key energy sources
Carbs = energy
Why not just eat carbs at all meals,
carbs = energy right?
Yes and no…
MEAL THOUGHT PROCESS
 Protein – chicken, fish, eggs,
beef etc
 Nutrition - vegetables and or
fruit
 Carbs – potatoes, rice, bread
 Or Fats – avocado, nuts,
butter, cheese, oil etc
Questions so far?
Commitment – Health – Flexibility
100/0 - Optimal, yet idealistic
90/10 - High performance people
80/20 – Good results with flexibility
70/30 – Lower well-being / health
60/40 - Anything less than 70% needs
work
Making a diet flexible…
You can still enjoy the foods you like, but you must understand
the calories in your food, the implications of your choices, yes a
diet should still be 90% of the good stuff, but a diet shouldn’t be
dogmatic, its their to be enjoyed and
Spend time learning what’s in food
Myfitnesspal.com
 Learn how many calories are in protein
(Chicken: 1 Kcal per gram, Pork: 1.5 Kcal per gram, beef: 2 Kcal
per gram, Lamb: 2-3 Kcal per gram, Fish: 0.8-2.5g)
 Learn what high fat foods contain like nuts
(small handful around 4-600 Kcal)
 Learn the calories in your chosen carb sources
 Invest time to boost your calorie/nutrition knowledge,
spend a month tracking your food, it will be invaluable
How to calculate calories:
 BMR for Men: 24x weight in KG
 BMR for Women: 22x weight in KG
 1.15 for low activity (injured), 1.3 for gym 2-3x a week, 1.5-1.7 for
people that are very active (in season)
 Set protein intake at a minimum of 1.5-2g per KG of BW
 Set fat at 0.5-1.5g per KG of body weight depending on your
personal response to food
 Carbs make up the remainder, but fat and protein can be higher
 Carbs = 4Kcals, Protein = 4Kcals, Fat = 9Kcals
Example:
 Me – 84kg
 84 x 1.5 (training 5x a week + walking) = 126
 126 x 24 = 3024 calories needed a day (BMR)
 Protein: 84kg x 3g = 252g x 4 calories = 1008
 84kg x 1.5g = 126g x 9 calories = 1134
 Remainder as carbs = 882 / 4 = 220g carbs
 3024 calories, 252g Protein, 126g Fat, 220g carbs
Is as little as possible best?
No, if you eat…
 Too much = FAT
 Too little =
tired, slow
metabolism,
lethargy, low
libido, poor
performance,
weak, slow
brain
 Eat as much as you possibly can
But remember, its not all about
calories
If you ate a bowl of cornflakes, an apple and a chocolate bar
totaling 600 calories
Or
a salmon fillet, a mixed green salad, oily dressing, an orange and
6 brazil nuts
Would it have the same effect on the body? Raise your
hands…..
Example shopping list
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Turkey breasts
10% fat beef mince
Mackerel fillets
Pollock (white fish)
Green vegetables
Root vegetables
Big bag of potatoes
White / brown / wild rice
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Handheld fruit
Frozen berries
Dairy products
Condiments
 Butchers
 Green grocers
 Supermarkets
Uni Fruit
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Every Tuesday 10am-4pm at the student union
Fruit / veg / fish
Better priced than all local supermarkets
You have a voucher…. USE IT!
Valid for 2 weeks
Healthy food isn’t boring…
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Have an awesome spice rack
Have the fridge fully loaded
Have back ups in the cupboard
Have back ups in the freezer
Learn new ways of doing things
Don’t be afraid to experiment, be bold
Learn how to marinade
Buy a slow cooker
Learn how to roast, broil, stew, fry etc – kitchen skills!
Hydration…
Not enough is not good…
2-3 liters for active women
3-4 liters for active men
Increase fluid intake over next 2 weeks gradually
Make a ‘diet’ fit your lifestyle and
your body, not a lifestyle around a
diet
Making your diet work
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A diet must fit your lifestyle, not the other way round
If its convenient to eat at 10am then do that
The best diet is the one you will stick too
Consistency is paramount
If your craving things all the time then your not doing it
right, but the occasional craving or want can be handled
with a flexible approach to nutrition
Exercise nutrition / Nutrient Timing
 Carbohydrate requirement is increased with greater exercise
volume / intensity / duration
 What ever your ‘normal’ daily carb intake, this will increase
with greater exercise loads
 Time carb allowance for the pre/post workout window
 This is the only time I would warrant simple sugars in a diet
 A must for athletes - but a process which needs fine tuning
for their goals and sport / intensity
Carb cycling / exercise nutrition …
 MEAL 1: Spanish omelette made with 3-6 whole eggs, 2-3
servings of vegetables cooked in real butter/coconut oil
(could swap some veg / fat for more carbs i.e. banana)
 PWO: Smoothie with whey protein, banana, dextrose, frozen
berries, creatine etc. – OR – tuna with oven baked potato,
fresh fruit salad, olive oil
 MEAL 3: Chicken salad with cucumber, peppers, celery,
tomatoes, feta cheese, olive oil and small plum
 MEAL 4: Home made beef & vegetable stew
Essential supplements
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Vitamin D (Sept-May) – 3000IU a day
Fish oil if don’t eat enough fish – 3g a day
Magnesium and Zinc if you train hard
Multi-vitamin ONLY if you think you don’t get enough
nutrients from fruit and vegetables
Fat loss tips
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High quality Asian green tea leaves, 2-4 cups a day
Oolong tea, great mixed with green tea
Omega 3 fats, 6-12 caps a day
Coconut oil
Muscle building supplements
 Creatine post training
(5g if sub 80kg, 8g if 80-100kg, 10g if 100kg plus)
 Lactate buffering agents
(Load-up from genetic supplements)
 Whey protein ONLY for flexibility and convenience, there isn’t a
‘need’ for it
CALORIES!
The perfect human diet
 Whole one ingredient foods, vegetables, fruit, animal
protein and fish, nuts, seeds, dairy, starches,
 Sleep between 10pm and 6am
 Stress comes in many forms, address each one in time
 Exercise intelligently, a mix between weights and cardio
 Fall in love with cooking, embrace amazing food
 Walk where possible, take time for it – outside
 Find balance, make a diet work for you
 Read a broad spectrum of sources, be a skeptic
Get educated…
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What are you reading?
Who’s blogs do you follow?
Its all about life skills
Do you apply logic to things you read / watch?
My podcast is AWESOME, over 120 of FREE learning
Keep an open mind, keep learning, always!
My links
Facebook: Ben Coomber
FB: Body Type Nutrition
Twitter: @bencoomber
www.bencoomber.com
@bodytypenutri
iTunes: Ben Coomber Radio
www.bodytypenutrition.co.uk
Let’s have some questions….