Nutrition

Fueling Up To Play England Touch Rugby

13th June 2017

By Harriet Mallinson | Published on June 13, 2017


Health food and fitness blogger, Jon Weston-Stanley (aka. Healthy Jon) was determined to pay attention to his nutrition after dislocating his left shoulder twice and his right shoulder once while playing rugby.

He required surgery on both and the second was so severe, he was told that he couldn’t play contact sports again for the rest of his life.

Jon didn’t give up, however, and instead turned to touch rugby, progressing quickly. He now plays the sport for England and has his eyes on the next World Cup.

MACROS caught up with Jon to find out more about his diet and what drives him to be so healthy.

 

Did your approach to nutrition change after your accident?

As a result of my operations, I spent a year or so out of sport which played havoc of my physique. I soon realized that if I wanted to break into the England Touch Rugby team I would seriously need to work on pretty much every aspect of my fitness, and, obviously, a big part of that is nutrition.

So, I read and I read and I read, slowly developing my own training and nutritional regimes, until I got to a point where I could compete at an international level.

 

 

What does a typical day look like, food-wise?

I have five meals every day at 7am, 11am, 2pm, 6pm and 9pm to distribute my nutrient intake and fuel my rather high basal metabolic rate and training endeavors.

My meals start big and gradually taper throughout the day as my evenings tend to be fairly sedentary so I don’t need large meals late in the day. I get most of my training done before lunchtime.

Every morning I have a three egg omelet with a bowl of porridge and some fruit. Next up is my Multipower 100% Whey pre-workout shake and a black coffee. The following three meals will all be different but will revolve around the premise of a handful of meat, veg and low-GI carbs. I’m also a sucker for a lamb shoulder or a spicy homemade curry.

 

What’s your inspiration to persevere with being healthy?

Wanting to keep my spot in the England team and particularly make the next World Cup team is a great motivator. However, in the process of educating myself about proper training and nutrition, I’ve learnt to love it; as such, keeping my place in team is no longer my primary focus.

For me, it’s now about being as healthy as possible, I haven’t had a cheat day in five years because I don’t desire them – I don’t put anything in my body that doesn’t benefit my body.

That said, I do occasionally have little pleasures such as 100% dark chocolate (the Hotel Chocolate Rare & Vintage range is very good) and I don’t live a day without Meridian peanut butter.

 

– RELATED: MACROS’ Definitive Guide To Protein Balls: Part One –

 

Is your diet crucial for your training?

Absolutely; there are younger, quicker guys in the England team and they will beat me over 20m, but their lack of knowledge and interest in nutrition in some cases lets them down. Come game day (or long four-day tournaments where the difference can be much worse) I am always the last one standing, because I know how to best fuel myself for the activities ahead.

 

What’s your fitness goal?

Most people’s goals are visual – they want to look a certain way – but I simply want my body to perform to its true potential in everything that it does: from the more obvious sporting attributes such as lung capacity and endurance, to less obvious qualities such as having a stronger immune system and healthy digestive system.

 

 

Do you have any healthy eating tips?

The one piece of advice I give anyone who asks is: if you make a temporary change your results will be temporary; if you make a permanent change, your results will be permanent. Make small incremental changes to your lifestyle and you’ll notice the difference. Fast fad diets don’t work in the long run because they aren’t sustainable.

I personally have never taken any diet seriously, in fact there are some that are plain laughable. That’s not to say I haven’t tried them for a week or two simply out of professional curiosity, but I do my own research; if I deem a food healthy, I will eat it, if I don’t, I won’t. I have carved out my own diet and I think that is the best way for others to approach the situation.

 

Jon-Weston Stanley is a Multipower ambassador. For more information visit www.multipower.com