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The low fat rule
The message is to think about the fat intake and the fat content of foods. Only 10% of fat eaten goes into the muscles, the other 90% is stored into the fat cells. The fat cells are like balloons, when you blow into them they become bigger. Women store fat more readily than men because oestrogen is connected to fat storage.
Naughty foods high in fats include chocolates, cakes, pastry, pringles. The intake of these foods should be reduced as much as possible. Although dairy products are a good source of calcium, swimmers should try to drink skimmed milk, which has a fat content of 20% compared to full fat milk, which contains 60% fat. The intake of cheese should not be excessive because of the fat content and eggs should not exceed 4 per week. There are good sources of calcium such as oily fish, green vegetables and low fat yoghurts.
Butter and margarine should be avoided as much as possible. If it is used in sandwiches, the rule is to scrape on and scrape off and avoid on jacket potatoes.
Any food/meal should not contain any more than 30% fat. A cooked breakfast consisting of 2 sausages, fried egg, 2 slices of bacon and fried bread contain 70% fat. Two croissants contain 50% fat.
A healthy breakfast for two swimmers of 2 weetabix, low fat milk, a sprinkling of sugar and 1 banana contain only 8% fat. A healthy cooked breakfast of beans on toast also only contains 8% fat. With their breakfast a swimmer should drink 1 litre of fluid (includes milk on cereal). Good choices of cereal are shredded wheat, weetabix, porridge, bran flakes, and low sugar muesli. Cereals with a high sugar content e.g. frosties, sugar puffs, should be avoided. If the swimmer finds it impossible to eat before early morning training they could be encouraged to have a milk shake made of half a pint of milk mixed with liquified fruit.
Examples of healthy fats include oily fish, some nuts, avocados and olive oil. Pasta can be mixed with olive oil instead of a cream sauce.
It is better to grill, boil, or bake foods instead of frying.
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