NJUTRITION GUIDE

INTRODUCTION

This guide has been developed to help you create a nutritional plan that fits your
needs and can be as basic or advanced as you please. I’ve had lots of questions
asking, “why don’t I just supply a nutrition plan with each training plan?”
When it comes to nutrition there are so many factors that come into play, and
everyone’s goals and personal needs are different. Unless you have a specific goal
there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’.

Thus I created this guide to give you a brief outline of what everyone should know
about the basics of nutrition. Often guys and girls in the services feel that just by
training the house down, they can get away with poor nutrition. Physique wise yes,
often you can to a certain degree, but health and energy wise you will be severely
limiting your performance and it won’t be long until your physique also starts to
show the effects of a poor diet.

When it comes to nutrition, there is truly no lack of information. I’m not sure on the
exact percentage, but its not hard to see that around 60-70% of the world are
overweight.

“Is that because of a lack of information?”

I think not! There are well over 1,000 diet and nutrition books on the market. Often
the real problem is information overload. Many people try everything but only for a
few days to a week at a time, not really giving their body time to adjust then giving
up quickly, going back to their old ways discouraged. I want to keep this guide as
simple as possible so you can walk away with actionable steps and not just
information overload.

Through this guide I will give you these actionable

steps that will see you get started on cleaning up your
nutrition. With just enough information needed so
you have a clear knowledge of the right fuel to feed
your body with. This is NOT a guide where I
will be trying to show off by
using big scientific words
and extremely difficult to
follow guidelines to make
myself look smart. That will
just leave you frustrated
and still standing at square
one.
 STEP ONE

It’s all good and well to want to be bigger, leaner

or have greater energy but the first thing I want
you to do is set a goal. You need a reason to be
eating the way you are, otherwise why the hell
would you stick to it. The definition of a Goal is
Example of a general goal;
the object of a person’s ambition. More “I want to be able to see the
specifically and to the point, it is the outcome that veins and vascularity in my
you expect by a certain date. When you make your arms”
goals, it is fine to make general goals and they can
be a real motivator but also include a specific goal Example of a specific goal;
“I will lower my bodyfat % from
alongside it. 14% to 10% in the next 12
weeks”

Writing your goals down here shows you have taken a stand and decided what
you want. You should turn back to this page often and remind yourself why you
started and see how far you have come. Today was the day you took control of
your nutrition and your life. Don’t let yourself down.
 STEP TWO

Time to really get started now. Setting the goal is the easy part and now it’s
time to take action to achieving them. One of the biggest problems with people
and their nutrition is they surround themselves with crap and then expect
themselves to be disciplined. I’m all for self-discipline but there is no reason to
purposely put yourself in situations that set you up for failure. There is nothing
wrong with making your life easier in certain ways.

Step one: I want you to go into your home and enter the kitchen.
Step two: Open your pantry, all of your cupboards and the refrigerator. Take
everything out, well everything that is yours (you can’t throw all your housemates
food out even if it is all junk). Now place it all on one table or bench in the kitchen.

From here take a good look at what’s in front of you and you will quickly realise
whether what you’re looking at is going to help or hinder you on your mission.
Whether or not you are your own worst enemy. What you have in front of you is
what is currently fuelling the machine. For some of you, you will be cruising along
like a finely tuned machine but for others, you will need to make great changes.

Realise that what you put into your body, you will be absorbing. The food you eat
doesn’t care whether it makes you weak, lethargic and sick or if it makes you
strong, energetic and healthy.

Now I want you to be fully honest with yourself right at this moment. Take a look
around at the food you have in front of you and locate any and all that could be
holding you back from achieving your goals. Specifically any cakes, donuts, candy,
cookies, pretzels, potato chips, white bread, ice-cream, pop tarts, chocolate, soda
or anything that you think also should fit into this list.

Get rid of it!! I know it might seem like a waste of money but you need to get it out
of your sight. Give it away if you can’t handle seeing it go to waste.
 STEP THREE

Now that you have taken away all the food’s and liquid that are holding you back. It’s
time to take stock of what will help your performance / physique and get you closer
to the goals you set previously.

All natural food such as Fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, chicken, fish, lean beef, eggs
will automatically stay and be staples in your diet. As a simple rule, the closer the
food is to it’s natural form the more nutrients it will contain. If a food is packaged and
contains huge amounts of additives /
preservatives, the likelihood is that it isn’t
conducive to your goals.

Now that you know what you are getting rid of

and what you are holding on to, put
everything back in your cupboards where it
belongs.

I want to now give you a basic guide to food shopping. It’s a lot easier to eat healthy if
you are shopping correctly. I understand it can be very difficult and the
supermarkets aren’t set up to make your life easy. As soon as you walk in the door,
you are bombarded with marketing and fancy looking packaging, claims of the next
big thing!

Be careful because some packaging claims are often false. This is specifically true for
those foods that claim to be ‘healthy’. Many fat free, sugar free foods that claim to be
good for you, but very often they are not and include other nasty additives. It is very
important that you spend time checking and reading the nutrition information on
the back for yourself.

Beware of the sugar free

A lot of product now are ‘sugar free’ yet this sugar is just replaced with unhealthy
artificial sweeteners.

Beware of Fat Free

Fat does not make you fat! We need healthy fat to function. Some ‘fat free’ products
take that natural fat out and replace it with added sugars and other artificial rubbish
that is bad for you. So again read that ingredients list and check this for yourself!
 STEP THREE

Before you purchase your pre-packaged products, it is important to check over the
nutrition facts on the back so you can really know what you are getting. There are a few
things to take note of when understanding what’s in your food.

There will be a list of ingredients on the back of products that contain more than 2
ingredients. The longer the ingredients list the further the food is from its natural state,
and the less healthy it is likely to be. Remember as you read through that the ingredients
on the back must be listed in order of weight with the main ingredient first.

Nutrition facts are displayed on the back in a table the usually looks something like the
one below. Not all of them look the same but they all contain the main information we
need to know. It is a quick easy way to asses what you are getting.

Beware of the serving size- Sometimes this can

be very misleading and one packet often contains
more than one serve. The values in this table are
displayed as per serve, but often also shows per
100grams.

Your Nutrients- This part is very helpful in

knowing what you are consuming and how it fits
into your requirements. I always focus on protein
and making sure there isn’t too much sugar in
each serve.

Daily Value - Something we won’t worry about

too much since we will be working out our own
macros and daily requirements for each week.
We can track this easily in your my fitness pal
app. However, this section is helpful when
looking at your vitamin and mineral daily intake.
 WORKING OUT YOUR MACROS

A high Protein intake is extremely important no matter your goals when it comes to
nutrition. You will notice as we go through the other macronutrients that your
consumption levels of Fats and Carbs will vary but your protein intake will remain
reasonably consistent.

During this program, you will be breaking down your muscles regularly and if you
are not providing your body the required amount of protein, you won’t recover
optimally and you definitely won’t grow the muscles you desire. A value that is often
thrown around is 1g of protein per pound of body-weight.
For example: If you weigh 180lb, you would be consuming 180g of protein per
day.

This works well and is a good beginning number to strive to, for performance and
aesthetics. The only time we run into problems with this number is if you have a
very high bodyfat %.
For example: If you weigh 300lbs and are 40% bodyfat, you can lower this
number to 0.7-0.8g per lb.

Depending on how much protein you

require and how many meals you decide
to have per day, a good number to hit is
30-50g of protein per meal. If you can hit
this number with solid food, go for it but
if not this is when I recommend you look
at protein supplementation. This also
comes down to convenience.
A shake with 30g of protein is faster to
digest and much easier to consume
directly after a hard training session than
a large tin of tuna.
For a lot of you guys, if you are currently
serving and spending large amounts of
time in the field I understand it isn’t easy
getting the required amount of protein.
You cant go running round with a tub of
protein on your back.
Try taking Beef Jerky / Biltong or small
amounts of whey with you when you
deploy so you can at least hit 0.5g of
protein per lb of bodyweight each day.

((You won’t be building big muscle with

this, but best case scenario you will
preserve your current muscle mass and
wont come back from the field looking like
pee wee herman.))
 WORKING OUT YOUR MACROS

When it comes to carbs, it can get confusing. Carb cycling, carb backloading, low
carb, no carb, you will hear it all and what is supposedly best for you. These all work
perfectly fine depending on your goals but we are going to keep it as simple as
possible here. For carbohydrate intake, we are going to slightly vary based on our
activity levels each day.

For carbohydrate intake, we are going The carbohydrate sources provided in

to slightly vary based on your activity
levels each day.
Very light activity/Rest day 0.5g per lb
Training day 1.2g per lb
Heavy Training day 2.0g per lb
Example
For a 180lb man, he would consume
90g on a rest day, 220g on a training
day and 300-360g on an intense heavy
training day.
the shopping list are great for before
and after training but during training
you will stick to fast acting sources.
Examples are;
Gatorade
Kool Aid
Fruit Juice
Dextrose (25-50g)
Ideally you will consume 60-80% of
your carbs around your training. 25-
50g of carbs an hour or two before
training and again 25-50g immediately
after training.

Carbohydrates will be your main

source of fuel for your training days so
don’t neglect them. On a rest day,
however you don’t need a great deal of
energy. Lowering your carb intake on
rest days will actually improve your
insulin sensitivity so that when you do It is best not to consume
up your carbs again, your body will use fats pre, during or post
them more effectively. training. Although when I
say this, I am talking about
within a 1 hour window
either side.
 NUTRITION
WORKING&OUT
SUPPLEMENT GUIDE
YOUR MACROS

Fats aren't the enemy they were once thought to be. They are extremely important
for brain function, healthy hormones and actually ingesting fat helps the body to
utilize your own fat as a fuel lowering your body fat levels.

By severely limiting fat, you will cause negative effects on your testosterone levels
among other hormones. Testosterone is the super hormone which helps build
muscle in men and women.

More muscle = a higher metabolism causing greater fat loss so win win.

Focus on consuming healthy fats such as the examples on the shopping list. Keep
the majority of your intake of these fats away from your training.

One great thing about fats, other than that they are very easy to consume and are
often tasty, is that they are very calorie dense. As you have seen above, 1g of fat = 9
calories. When you are looking to lose
weight this may not be helpful to you
but when trying to gain weight, once
you have hit your protein and carb
requirements for the day, you can really Some fats actually are the enemy.
lift your consumption of fats. One important note that you need to
be aware of is that almost all takeaway
and fried food shops fry their food in oil
that is trans fat. It isn’t just the high
calories that you need to be aware of.
This oil that most takeaway shops use
throws your body chemicals out of
whack affecting your hormones it is
also near impossible for your body to
use as energy so is immediately stored
as fat.

Think about that the next time you

decide where to go for a take out meal.
 This list is only a guide of a few examples in each category and not the exact list of
ingredients you should buy. Use it to help you stay on track.

All non starchy vegetables are fine •Oat Bran Cereal

Some good staples; •Whole grain cereals (Shredded Wheat,
Special K)
•Green Leafy Lettuce •Oatmeal (Old Fashioned or Quick Oats)
(Green Leaf, Red Leaf, Romaine, Spinach) •Sweet Potatoes
•Broccoli •Potatoes
•Asparagus •Beans (pinto, black, kidney)
•Bell Peppers •Brown Rice
•Brussels Sprouts •Rice cakes and crackers
•Rice (white, jasmine, basmati, Arborio, wild
•Cauliflower
•Whole meal Pastas
•Celery
•Whole meal sandwich breads, bagels, pita
•Cucumber
bread
•Onions •Soft corn tortillas
•Garlic •Humous
•Tomatoes
•Zucchini
•Fruit: oranges, bananas, apples, grapefruit,
peaches, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries •Natural Peanut Butter (ingredients should
•Lemons or Limes only be peanuts and salt)
•Frozen vegetables (corn, peas) •Olive Oil
•Organic Butter
•Coconut Oil
•Flaxseed Oil
•Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast •Avocados
•Ground turkey, Turkey Breast Slices or cutlets •Raw nuts (any kinds, in moderation)
•Deli cuts
•Beef (aim for leaner cuts)
•Lean Ground Beef
•Lamb (aim for leaner cuts) •Condiments & Misc.
•Tinned Tuna (water packed) •Some good go-to options;
•Fish (salmon, trout etc.) •Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
•Shrimp (prawns) •Balsamic Vinegar
•Protein Powder (Whey or Pea protein powder) •Steak Sauce
•Egg Whites or whole Eggs •Chili Paste
•Mustard
•Spices (oregano, black pepper, Italian season-
ing, thyme)
•Chili powder
•Cottage cheese
•Milk •Low Sodium beef or chicken broth
•Butter •Plain or reduced sodium tomatoes sauce, pu-
•Greek Yoghurt ree, paste
•Lower fat cheeses (cream cheese, cheddar, •Vinaigrettes
mozzarella) •Salsa
 PROTEIN, CARBS AND FATS
EXAMPLES;
1– Protein oatmeal w/ blueberry's and peanut butter

2– Whole egg omelette, w/ vegetables and avocado, on
two pieces of wholemeal toast
3– Salmon w/ vegetables, sweet potato and organic
butter
PROTEIN, GREENS AND FATS
EXAMPLES;
1– Poached eggs on spinach and field mushrooms w/
avocado
•Eat as many non-starchy vegetables as you
like.
•Be sure to include 3 main meals in your
day spaced out around times that suit you.
•For balance include all of the three types
of meal groups for each day.
•Try to keep carb filled meals around
training times.
•Adjust calorie intake and macros according
to calculations from pages 10-13.

2– Turkey skewers w/ green beans and organic butter SNACKS

EXAMPLES;
3–Tuna salad w/ baby spinach, olive oil dressing or
vinaigrette 1– Protein shake & handful of nuts

2– Rice cakes with peanut butter or

cottage cheese

3- Celery & carrot sticks with humous

PROTEINS AND CARBS

EXAMPLES;
1– Porridge w/ whey protein and sliced banana

1- Chicken breast w/ grilled vegetables and potatoes

2– Ground Beef w/ chopped tomatoes and herbs on

pasta
 NUTRITION &STEP
SUPPLEMENT
05 GUIDE

From here, it really comes down to how far you want to take it. I’m not going to tell you
to track every calorie of every meal if you can’t adhere to it. This is a long term plan and
lifestyle change, not a quick fix diet.

If all you did was get the foods from the shopping list, followed the sample meal plan,
cut the crap and focused on training hard you are still going to achieve great results and
look and perform better than 90% of the population.

However, if you want to take it a step further, I really recommend you download the
MyFitnessPal app and begin recording your meals and tracking your calories through
this. It is far easier than spending all of your time reading labels, calculating calories and
keeping a written journal.

If you choose to take things a step further, follow these steps to figure out how many
calories you should be consuming for Fat Loss or Muscle Gain.

1.Measure your current height and weight.

2.Use a TDEE (Total daily energy expenditure) calculator to figure out your current
TDEE. These are easily found using google search.
3.Work out your Calorie deficit or surplus to hit your goals.**
4.Use MyFitnessPal to log your intake and take regular measurements of your
waist first thing in the morning each week. If you are aiming to gain muscle you
can also include chest, arm, quad etc measurements. Measurements are far
more effective than a scale.

**To work out your calorie deficit or surplus,

you will take your TDEE and if you want to
lose fat, decrease this number by 10-20%. If
you want to gain muscle, you will increase
this number by 10-20%.
if your TDEE is 2500 calories that
would mean you will maintain your
current weight following a 2500
calorie diet.

To lose fat you would consume

between 2000—2250 calories
To gain muscle you would consume
between 2750—3000 calories
 SUPPLEMENT GUIDE

When it comes to supplements, we are dealing with an even bigger façade than
when it comes to food. The marketing, the lies and promises made will leave you
confused, broke and with no improvement in performance or body composition
than before.

The other problem I have with supplements, and this is on you! The user. Many
people are looking for a supplement to give them that 1% increase while they eat
like crap and stay dehydrated. Searching for a 1% increase while sacrificing the
other 99% is the fastest way to failure. Remember what the name is
“Supplement”, and treat it as such.

I will start with the basics before moving on to supplements that are more
focused on you guys serving and needing that little bit extra. The first most basic
supplements I am going to recommend, you can get from your food. The problem
is that now days, our produce is providing us with less and less nutrients than
ever before. This is due to many different factors including soil conditions,
environment, pesticides, processing etc.

So to get enough of certain vital nutrients, you now need to

eat a lot more food than before. This will cause you to eat
more and more calories to get your daily requirements.
Don’t feel like after
To kick it all off, I’m going to start with the two most reading this, you need to
important supplements that I recommend everyone take. rush out and get every
supplement that is
mentioned. Stay within
your budget and focus on
eating healthy and
Multi vitamins are a great way to ensure your body gets the drinking adequate
essential vitamins and minerals it needs to run efficiently. I amounts of water first.
recommend taking one first thing each day and in times of
high stress taking an extra one before bed.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) cannot be produced by the body and

are massively important to maintain healthy cells. A decrease in
inflammation, improved mood and brain function, along with a
myriad of other benefits should be enough to convince you that
Fish oils are a great addition along with a healthy diet.
 SUPPLEMENT GUIDE

Once you have these previous two covered, then you can start looking at other
supplements. Don’t rush out and buy pre-workout, creatine and testosterone boosters
etc, before you have these basics sorted.

Magnesium plays a role in over 300 Vitamin D is something which is

essential chemical reactions in the
body and is an important mineral for
maintaining bone density and healthy
heart function.
One thing to be careful when
searching for a magnesium
supplement is the type of magnesium
you are getting. Any magnesium
oxide, carbonate or sulphide is
rubbish and will not do much to help
you.
Be careful with this as many
magnesium supplements will be
purely this so do your research.
Look for magnesium citrate, malate,
taurate, theonate, fumarate,
glycerophosphate among others.
If you are deficient in magnesium,
you will notice muscle cramps, head
aches, and most notably poor sleep.
often overlooked but most people
are deficient in it and it has great
benefits. If you spend a lot of time in
the sun, then you may not need this
supplement but if you spend all day
dressed in uniform and your skin
barely sees the sun than this will be
a great addition to your supplement
routine.
With the benefits of improving
mood, bone health, decreasing
blood pressure, preventing cancer
and diabetes.
Look at taking between 3-5000IU per
day. Often you will find Combined
Fish Oil and Vitamin D supplements
which is perfect and will help you kill
two birds with one stone.
 SUPPLEMENT GUIDE
I’ve listed Whey protein here but feel
free to use Pea protein if you are vegan
or just want an alternate source.
Protein is the building block of muscles
and essential for repair and growth of
muscle after exercise. I highly
recommend protein supplementation
for recovery, muscle gain and
preserving muscle when you are in a
caloric deficit.
Make sure when choosing a protein
supplement that you look at the label.
You want to find one with as little fillers
as possible. In a 30g scoop of protein
you don’t want to be getting under 20g
of protein. There are many quality
protein supplements but one I have
used greatly in the past and is always a
go to is Optimum Nutrition gold
standard.
Carbohydrate supplements are not
necessary for a person living a
sedentary life or someone just hitting
one gym session per day. Quite likely
you already are consuming too many
carbohydrates.
The times I do recommend these, such
as energy gels, is when you are
performing long endurance events. If
you know you will be going a long time
without a meal and know you wont be
able to stop to eat, then these are
perfect.
Creatine is one supplement that has
risen to great popularity over the years
and for good reason. It has many great
benefits for athletes looking for
increases in strength and power.
Beware though if you are going to be
limited with your water intake due to
field exercises I wouldn’t recommend
taking it at this time as you need to
increase your water intake when you
are supplementing with creatine.
There are many different types of
Creatine Supplements that you will run
in to however just the basic Creatine
Monohydrate powder is all you need. I
recommend just taking 5-10g per day
before training.
protein supplements but one I have
used greatly in the past and is always a
go to is Optimum Nutrition gold
standard.
Where creatine will help you with short
bursts of power, Beta Alanine is great
for athletes needing a boost in
performance over medium to high-
intensity cardiovascular exercises, such
as medium distance sprints.
Beta-alanine works by turning into the
molecule carnosine, which acts as an
acid buffer in the body, in turn helping
you to perform at a high intensity for
longer periods of time.
 SUPPLEMENT GUIDE
Caffeine supplementation which can
come from a wide range of sources
such as coffee, caffeine supplements,
tea, soft drinks, energy drinks and
chocolate but is most likely in your life
from Coffee.
Caffeine is a double edged sword. It
can be amazing but also be a negative if
you are not careful.
Having a black coffee first thing in the
morning can speed up your
metabolism and mobilize fat stores
allowing to use Fat for energy but if you
are not taking in extra water, it will
dehydrate you and lower your
performance.
By taking large amounts also, you can
find your anxiety levels rising and
putting you in a bad mood for no real
reason.
Be sure to limit your caffeine intake
also, taking in no more than 2 strong
coffees per day. By taking more and
more caffeine you will start to notice
negative side effects such as
headaches, muscle cramps, poor sleep,
it can effect nutrient absorption along
with stomach problems.
L-Theanine is a supplement I’ve only
recently started using but have seen
amazing benefits from it, with far
greater focus and the ability to be
incredibly switched on while staying
calm and in a good mood with no
feelings of
anxiety.
Its all good and well to be switched on
from coffee but if you are jittery and
shaking all over then you aren’t going to
be an effective operator either in
training or in your line of work.
By combining the two supplements
here, you will find yourself laser
focused, calm and in a happy mood
ready for anything.
You will find this supplement in 100-
200mg capsules and experiment with
doses between 200-400mg per day.
 FINAL NOTES

If I am to leave you with any advice it would be to take it slow and steady. The road to
fat loss or muscle gain isn’t something which you can achieve overnight or within a
very short time. By trying to speed things up you will often find yourself in an even
worse position than you were when you begun.

If you’re trying to lose fat and you cut your calories hugely and starve yourself, you
will not only damage your metabolism, and lower your testosterone levels. You will
actually hold onto fat and end up just eating through your muscle. This will only
further lower your metabolism and you will end up in a state we like to call skinny-fat.
This definitely isn’t what you want.

The same goes for building muscle. Try and speed up the process by increasing your
calories massively. Unless you are supplementing with PED’s (Performance enhancing
drugs), you will find yourself putting on large amounts of fat. The problem with this, is
that the higher your bodyfat levels, the harder it is to build muscle. You will also
destroy your insulin sensitivity making it harder and harder to make gains as you go
along. It does work for a short time but I would never recommend it.

Create a solid achievable goal and work towards it. Be consistent, stay focussed,
and be patient with the process. Now get out there and take what’s yours!!
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