Easy eating

Posted in Management

Good nutrition is just as important for us as it is for our horses, as Emily Morey explains

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As horse owners, many of us won’t hesitate to feed our horses with top-end feeds or supplements to keep them in the right condition, but all too often we don’t put as much thought into what we eat ourselves. 

Owning horses takes a great deal of energy, especially if we consider mucking out, poo-picking and all the other jobs we do before we even start riding. So, as riders, it’s important to consider what we eat, as eating properly will help with our riding fitness, performance and recovery, as well as reducing the risk of us developing certain diseases. Good nutrition is just as important for us as it is for our horses.

Good habits

These days, on social media and at competitions, we increasingly see a focus on the rider’s weight and the impact this has on the health of the horse. These kinds of messages can place pressure on us and even lead to some riders resorting to extreme diets in an attempt to lose weight. 

The good news is that it’s really not necessary to crash diet. All that’s required is a sensible approach to healthy eating that fits around your current lifestyle. There’s usually no need for expensive diet products because the key to success is building simple, consistent habits that contribute towards a healthy lifestyle. Start by trying to build one good habit that you can stick to every day, then increasing it to two or three. Over time, maintaining these habits will help you reach your goals or milestones, whether that’s feeling better in yourself, seeing your weight reduce or having more energy. 

Daily diary

If you have certain goals in mind, it can be helpful to keep a food diary of everything you eat and drink. An easy way to do this is to take photos of your meals and snacks over several days. Understanding your usual eating habits can help you identify days when you eat less healthily or explain why you lack energy at certain times. This can make it easier to implement changes or focus on building habits.

The changes could be as simple as incorporating breakfast if this is a meal you tend to skip, or perhaps adding a healthy afternoon snack to help with energy levels later in the day.

Balanced nutrition

There’s a misconception that nutrition is complex. Incorporating the foundations of a healthy diet into your day-to-day life doesn’t have to be difficult. All it needs is a little planning around your lifestyle, along with a basic understanding of correct portion sizes and what the different food groups provide us. 

There’s often no need for calorie counting, especially as this takes extra effort and can lead to the development of a bad relationship with food. An easier way is to use the balanced-plate method and visualise splitting your plate into sections for the different food groups. 

For this, base your meals around protein, with two to three portions of vegetables, and adjust the carbohydrates according to your energy requirements. On days when you’re less active, focus on protein and vegetables with around a quarter of your plate as carbohydrates. Then, on days when more energy is required, increase your carbs to match your energy needs. This could be either having a bigger portion of carbohydrate or adding another high-carb food to your meals. 

Top tip

For times when it isn’t possible to eat much, such as on a long hack, focus on a pre-hack meal with protein and complex carbs, and take snacks with you for the ride. Dried fruit and nuts, trail mix, flapjacks, malt loaf or fruit-and-nut bars are good options and easy to carry.

Top tip

If you need an energy boost before riding, choose an easy digestible carb source as it won’t be heavy in your stomach. Fruits, particularly bananas, are good options. 

Plate up 

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By thinking about the plate as a pie chart, you can visualise your meals, so you’ll better understand portion sizes and how to incorporate the different food groups to provide a range of nutrients. Try these principles…

  1. Fruits and vegetables provide energy as well as being an essential source of vitamins, minerals and fibre. Having up to half of your plate as fruits and vegetables (at least and potentially more than five a day) helps you obtain key nutrients.
  2. Protein helps build and repair muscles and tissues in the body. Key sources of protein are poultry, red meat, fish, eggs and dairy. For vegetarians, protein sources are soya, tofu, tempeh, legumes and beans. Around a quarter of your plate should be lean proteins.
  3. Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy for exercise and for brain function. Try to consume the majority of your carbs from wholegrains and starchy carbohydrates, such as bread, potatoes, cereals, oats, pasta, couscous and rice, as these provide a steady source of energy throughout the day. This means you’re less likely to have a spike of energy and a crash afterwards. On more active days, increase your carbs to a third or half a plate to match your increased energy requirements.
  4. Fats are often demonised, as they’re the most energy-dense food, but this doesn’t mean that they’re to be avoided. Instead focus on eating the right type of fats. Unsaturated fats such as avocado, olive oil, fish, nuts and seeds should be the main type of fat consumed while limiting saturated fats found mainly in animal foods, such as sausages, bacon, cheese and fast-food dishes. 

Did you know? 

While we should limit the amount of simple carbs we eat, such as sports drinks, cakes and pastries, they can still have a place in a healthy balanced diet.

Love your snacks

Snacking often has a bad reputation, but it has a place in our diet to increase energy levels or reduce hunger before a main meal. The key is choosing the right types of foods to achieve this. Try including a source of protein to help keep you full, and some carbohydrates for an energy source. 

Some ideas for snacks are Greek yoghurt and fruit, a handful of nuts and a piece of fruit, protein-based yoghurt drinks, half a bagel with peanut butter, a homemade smoothie, hummus and vegetable sticks or a slice of toast with egg. If you find yourself hungry after breakfast, have a snack mid-morning. Meanwhile, if you have low energy in the afternoons, integrate an afternoon snack into your daily diet.

Top tip

If you struggle for time in the morning, try making breakfast the night before. Overnight oats or homemade smoothies are great options, and can be eaten on the go.

Baby steps

Building new habits takes time and conscious effort, so don’t try to change everything at once. Instead, pick one or two habits to focus on initially. Identify areas you struggle with and then adjust them slowly, in a time frame you can manage.

Nevertheless, there are things you can do to help the process, including…

  • planning ahead – try to take five minutes to plan your meals for the week, perhaps creating one on your phone while your horse is eating
  • not skipping meals – it can be very easy to skip a meal, especially breakfast if you’re up early with stable duties before work, but breakfast helps set us up with energy for the day ahead. Try focusing on a breakfast with complex carbs and protein, such porridge with berries, or eggs on toast
  • pre-preparing meals and snacks – having your meals and snacks ready in advance can help you stay on track. If you’re riding straight after work, take a snack with you to eat around 30 minutes to an hour beforehand. A high-carbohydrate, easily digestible snack, such as a banana, some dried mango or a small malt loaf bar can be ideal to provide energy before you ride
  • cooking double portions in the evening so you can take a portion to work for lunch the next day. Having meals prepped not only saves time when you’re at work, but also means you’re less likely to buy fast food in your lunch break
  • introducing one or two more pieces of fruit or vegetable portions per day into your diet until you easily integrate this in your daily eating regime 

Top tip

Creating a weekly food plan will keep you focused on eating a healthy diet and will also save you time – and potentially money – when shopping, as you’ll know exactly what you need to buy and in what amounts. 

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