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 in 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 chocolate, 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 only drink skimmed milk which has a fat content of 20% compared with 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 other good sources of calcium such as oily fish, green vegetables, low fat yogurts.
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 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 the 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 eg frosties, sugar puffs, should be avoided. If the swimmer finds it impossible to eat before early morning training they could be encourage to have a milkshake made with ½ pint of milk mixed with liquidised fruit.
Examples of healthy fats include oily fish, some nuts, avocados and olive oil. Pasta can be mixed with olive oil instead of a creamy sauce. It is better to grill, boil or bake foods instead of frying.