The Nutrition Hierarchy Of Importance
In my last post I spoke about how it's easy to gloss over the finer details and focus purely on the basics. But what are these basics? I actually got a question about what factors are the most important things to get right?
In this short post I just want to quickly go through the hierarchy of importance for nutrition.
One of the biggest mistakes I see with nutrition is missing the forest for the trees, or failing to see the bigger picture whilst focusing attention on the the details.
And it’s the big picture that matters.
You may have heard of the hierarchy of importance (credit to Eric Helms), which essentially focuses on the key components of your diet in order of importance.
So.
Adherence - Whichever strategy you choose, this is without doubt the most important thing to do. If you can’t stick to your diet it simply won’t work, which is which is why anything drastic is always a no no.
Energy balance - Or how much you eat, digest and absorb compared to how much energy you expend (A slightly more complicated version of kcals in vs kcals out).
Macronutrients - Food group partitioning (carbs, fats and proteins).
Nutrient timing - Eating around exercise and meal spacing
Nutrient density - the quality and make up of your food (less important for body composition, whereas for health I would have it above timing)
Supplements - Yep, bottom of the list!
And out of the above 6, energy balance and macronutrients probably account for about 70% of what’s important to get right, get these right and you’re more than half way there.
But instead of this, many choose to focus on the small things….
Getting a protein shake IMMEDIATELY after their workout (but not getting enough daily protein)
Taking all the supplements to get massive (but not eating enough food)
Taking fat burners and drinking green tea to lose weight (but eating too much food!)
Adding cinnamon to food to blunt insulin (when it doesn't do anything - https://www.boxnutrition.co.uk/single-post/2017/01/12/Understanding-carbs-and-fat-loss)
The point I’m making here is rather than trying to find little short cuts, supplements or magic bullets to help you with your goal, try not look beyond the amount of food you’re eating and its makeup.
Get that and I promise you you’ll be well on your way. Not sure where to start? See The Box Nutrition Framework, which runs through the key stages of improving your diet is your perfect start.
Or make sure you get a copy of the book, which walks you through literally everything needed to build a successful diet. Get your copy here.
