My diet's better than your diet

Posted by Nell Mead at 09:00 on 13 Feb 2012

A guest post from Victory's resident performance nutrition therapist, Dr Justin Roberts.

Wherever I go, I am baffled by the sheer number of opinions out there. “This diet is better than that diet”; “this supplement will get faster results that the next one on the shelf at half the price” and so on. But the bottom line is that we are all individual, all physiologically and biochemically unique.  Our individual digestive and metabolic processes influence how we break down and use the foods we eat. Our respective goals vary from person to person: Bob may be looking to lose weight, Jenny to gain muscle mass, Mary to simply improve health. In other words, your optimal approach to eating patterns, nutrients and intake will be completely different to that of Frank from Accounts (who's just told you about this awesome new diet he's trying...?), so any good nutrition programme should be individually tailored.

At Victory, each programme we run is designed to be individual in nature, specific to your unique objectives and goals. Whilst there are of course overlapping principles that apply to most of us, the aim of the nutrition consultation is to firstly assess your current health status, dietary practices, nutritional habits and personal goals. What is it that you wish to achieve? Underlying this is the key need to work closely with your general practitioner or medical consultant should specific conditions warrant this.

Before I even meet you, I'll ask you to complete a set of questionnaires designed to assess your background health, nutrition habits, related conditions, underlying concerns or symptoms, the foods you eat and the supplements you take. If you are an athlete, these will include questions about your sport, your training and performance practices and current objectives. Additionally, as part of the first consultation, I will analyse your diet to assess your current practice more objectively.

When I meet you, I will discuss your goals and objectives with you and produce a specific programme to help you achieve them. Typically, I will take some body composition measurements before you start the programme, so that we can assess the programme's effectiveness as you go through it. I can also help if you need any further diagnostic procedures or testing.

The aim of any applied nutrition programme should be:
1) To assess for any underlying medical conditions or concerns that may require additional support from your GP or medical consultant
2) To assess for potential nutrient deficiencies, dietary imbalances and wholefood requirements in conjunction with your overall goals
3) To provide a structured programme over a sensible time period, with regular assessment and monitoring, as well as personal support and motivation to help you achieve your goals
4) To provide on-going recommendations to adapt and tailor your programme specific to your situation and needs.

Essentially, I aim to offer you a top-quality, structured programme designed to help you achieve your health and fitness goals.

Things I can help you with:

Goals:
• Weight loss
• Increased muscle mass
• Improve energy, vitality and stamina
• Improved concentration and mental performance
• Improved peak performance at work
• Personal exercise and athletic performance
• Sports nutrition strategies for marathon and endurance events
• Sports nutrition strategies for power and strength sports
• Improve recovery and sleep
• Improve digestion and wellness

Health problems:
• Identification of any risk factors
• Tiredness and stress
• Poor quality sleep or recovery from exercise
• Poor concentration, lethargy
• High or low blood pressure
• Diabetes or blood sugar imbalances
• Skin related problems
• Weight gain
• Elevated cholesterol

Justin is available at Victory on Wednesday evenings.  To book your appointment, please contact us here, or e-mail Sarah Harvey.