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HELPING YOU GET THE BEST FROM YOUR
JLC PLAN
Here you'll find all the tips and guidance you need to help implement the JLC meal plans into your lifestyle. Theres the resources to help you understand more about your own personal nutrition.
Any questions? Just send us a WhatsApp!
Macro Calculator
Here at Jetlagged Chef we not only provide you with high quality meals, we also want to empower you with the knowledge to improve your understanding of nutrition.
The following tool will guide you on planning your nutritional targets in relation to your personal goals.
We're also on hand to offer guidance to anyone who is undertaking our meal plans.
Managing expectations
Setting you up for Success
Before implementing a change in your current lifestyle with regards to your nutrition, it is important to consider what 'trade-offs' may need to be made in order to reach your desired goal.The main aspect you'll need to focus on is consistency.
The JLC meal plans will give you a large amount of your daily calorie intake but not necessary all of it. Use the tools on this website to help you understand how you can best implement the plan into your own lifestyle. Of course we're more than happy to help should you need any further assistance.
*Exercise and Nutrition go hand in hand. If you're active and exercise regularly, your results on the plan are likely to be significantly improved.
Macros
All foods are made up of the macronutrients; protein, carbohydrates and fat.
A balanced diet has a good mix of macronutrients. The Jetlagged Chef Lunch and dinner plan is high in protein, moderate in carbs and low in fat. Each of these nutrients have their own specific functions:
Protein: The most important macronutrient for body composition. It’s what muscle is made of. Protein is an essential nutrient needed for growth, repair and to influence and affect all base bodily functions. Meats, fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and even supplements supply us with the valuable building blocks of protein we need. Eating protein rich foods has a pleasant side effect; protein makes you feel full, it is more satiating than fat and carbohydrate, which can help prevent overeating. 0.7-1.0 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight daily, has been shown in multiple scientific studies recently to not only maximise muscle building, but also to help with fat loss.
Fats: Your body needs fat from food - It's a major source of energy. It helps you absorb some vitamins and minerals. Fats are essential in the human diet, notably omega 3, 6 & 9. The body must get these through diet for optimal health. Good fats come mainly from vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fish. Fat is relatively high in energy. Each gram contains 9 calories. In comparison, protein and carbs only contain 4 calories per gram. In other words, you need less than half the amounts of fat to provide the same number as calories that protein and carbs provide.
Typical fat targets are: 20-30% of your overall calorie intake.
Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are important for you, they are used by your body to support bodily functions and physical activity. Carbohydrate quality shouldn’t be overlooked when making your choice of food; some types of carbohydrate-rich foods are better than others. Go for unprocessed or minimally processed whole grains, vegetables, fruits and beans, they deliver vitamins, minerals and fiber. Avoid the simple and added sugars, they have little nutritious value and have little to no health benefits. Depending on how active you are will depend on how much carbohydrates to consume.
An optimal amount of carbs prior to exercise is around 1g of carbs per kg of bodyweight.
How much to eat
To make a diet successful, you need to understand calories
How much you need to eat per day depends on your goals and energy balance. Your energy balance is the amount of energy your body needs for to maintain your current weight. 'Energy in' (the foods and drinks you consume) vs. 'energy out' (calories being used in the body for our daily energy requirements).
Depending on that goal, you will have to create a caloric deficit (fat loss), surplus (muscle gain) or maintain your current intake.
For weight (fat) loss: Energy in < Energy out
For weight (muscle) gain: Energy in > Energy out
For maintenance: Energy in = Energy out.
There are many factors that influence energy in and energy out, such as your muscle mass, the amount of exercise you do, stress levels and the amount of energy spent moving when not exercising. Because of these variables, balancing your energy isn’t as easy as it looks. Your energy in and out doesn't have to balance every day.
It's having a balance over time that will help you stay at a healthy weight for the long term. You can work out your own individual requirements using the JLC Macro Calculator. While the total amount of calories you consume will determine whether you lose or gain weight, you should not overlook the type of food you get your calories from. The quality and type of food you get in will have a massive effect on health and body composition (what is lost or gained; muscle or fat). Just imagine having a diet consisting of 2000kcal of ice cream, or 2000kcal of whole foods, meat and vegetables. This is were the Jetlagged Chef Lunch and Dinner plan comes in, helping you understand how to best fuel your body for the lifestyle you lead.
Optimising results
Putting the Jetlagged Chef meal plan into practice.
Whether for Sports performance, fitness aspirations or simply to improve your lifestyle; at Jetlagged Chef, we aim to give you the knowledge to achieve your goals with proven methods of success. We'll help you put your nutrition goals together and turn it into a plan. The base of your diet should consist of unprocessed high-quality foods (think complex carbohydrates, vegetables, grain, legume (beans, peas, lentils), nuts or seeds and meat, poultry and fish. No matter what your goal is, minimise the junk food in your diet. Junk/processed foods are usually void of nutrients and full of sugar, salt or oil (think bars, potato chips, most cereals, pizza, sauces, etc.).
If you need any further guidance on your nutrition we offer a full nutritional consultation, free to anyone who signs up for one of our plans. Variety is key on the JLC meal plan and is of high importance to us when deciding what foods we prepare meals with, or what foods to use as staples when we create a weekly plan.
Rotating sources of protein will ensure that you do not develop any intolerances / cause any upset to the digestive system and provide bioavailability (how much protein is actually absorbed).
Varying carbohydrate choices ensures a wide coverage of nutrient intake. A range of foods that make up your fat intake will provide a spectrum of Omega 3, 6 & 9 and ensure that fat soluble vitamins A, D, E & K are properly absorbed. Most importantly, variety will keep your mind on track with eating for health by preventing your diet from getting boring, something we pride ourselves on!
If you can see yourself eating like this in a years time, that'll give you the consistency you need for lasting results. Supplements won’t help much if the basis of your diet isn’t good. Supplements should be just there to ‘supplement’ an already great diet. First focus on how many calories you are consuming, your macro- and micronutrients and food quality. If this is done, have a look at if there are still things missing in your diet and at whether you need to add in certain supplements.
Implementation
Tracking your food intake
To get the best results from the JLC plan you'll need to keep track of your nutrition. Keeping a food diary helps you to see how much you are actually eating (Too little as well as maybe too much), to be more aware of what you are eating, hold you accountable and to identify what you need to change in order to reach your goals. There are a few ways of keeping track of your nutrition. The more consistent you are in tracking your nutrition, the more you will find out what works for you and what you might need to change along the way to achieve the results that you want.
Calorie counting is the most accurate method of tracking your nutrition.
Calorie intake has by far the greatest effect on dieting success. The calorie and macro targets that you need to hit can be found using the JLC Macro Calculator. Getting close these numbers consistently will get results. The easiest way to keep track of your food is with the MyFitnessPal app. All our meals can scan directly into MyFitnessPal. The app has a massive database of food options and is used by millions of people worldwide. The app is really easy to use and makes tracking your nutrition a pretty easy thing to do. If you want to learn more about the app have a look at: http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/essential-guide-to-myfitnesspal/.
Step 1: download the app on your phone (or go to www.myfitnesspal.com) and create your profile.
Step 2: Adjust the calorie and macronutrient targets to the values given from the JLC Macro Calculator. (open the app, click ‘more’, then ‘goals’, then ‘calorie and macronutrient goals’ and adjust).
Step 3: Record your intake. Make sure you record ALL foods, ALL snacks and ALL drinks (water, tea, coffee, juice, etc.). To add these, tap the large blue ‘+’ button, and then tap ‘Food’. Select a meal category and then tap in the field, ‘search for a food’ at the top of the next page. Or, on the Diary page, tap ‘+ Add Food’ under a meal category in your diary.
Every time you eat or drink something, make sure you weigh the quantity or check the food labels, open the app and log what you ate/drank and in what amount. The app will automatically calculate the amount of calories and macronutrients the foods contain.
Step 4: When you go to the ‘Diary’ page, you can see how many calories you’ve already had and how many you have remaining. Scroll down and open ‘Nutrition’. This gives you an overview of the nutrients consumed. Check if you are on track for the day, and if not make sure you adjust the rest of your daily intake accordingly.
Confused? Reach out to us and we'll be more than happy to help!