CSM Game-Changer Issue with Cristiano Ronaldo 2019 BODY ISSUE - Lauren Flodquist | Page 166

CSM: How do you keep yourself educated or updat-
ed for latest trends and information in healthy living
or lifestyle?
MARCO: I keep visiting fitness and health expos all
over the world. Furthermore I keep attending semi-
nars with the best coaches there are in the industry. In
order to get the best you need to learn from the best
and that was always my attitude.
CSM: How important is food and nutrition to you as
a model, athlete or as an individual?
MARCO: Food is life I‘d say. I think if you save
money on food you‘re doing something wrong.
There is a saying which goes by the word „you are
what you eat“ and I really believe in these words.
In order to keep your health on an optimum level
you‘re required to get good quality food with a good
diet, not just for a couple of weeks, it should be for a
lifetime span. Health isn‘t everything, but without it,
everything else is nothing. When it comes to my job
as a professional fitness model and personal trainer I
really practice what I preach. In fact that means that
I‘m staying in shape year-round. It goes without say-
ing that this is only doable with a really strict and
healthy diet.
CSM: Describe the essential skills to be effective in
maintaining your figure or shape.
MARCO: My secret is simple. My body works best
on a low fat - high carb diet with medium protein.
This is due to the fact that I have a really good insulin
sensitivity or in other words my body knows how to
deal with carbohydrates really well. So, I keep fol-
lowing my diet pretty strictly, but sometimes I also
like to get a cheat meal. I do this to challenge my me-
tabolism and usually it doesn‘t affect my shape - it‘s
only beneficial in terms of losing further bodyfat if
you strategically implement a cheat meal every now
and then. Furthermore it‘s a great way to keep a good
balance in life, because you can still eat meals you
really like that are not the best when it comes down
to the macros.
CSM: What are your ideas about non-organic food
versus organic?
MARCO: I‘m clearly pro organic. Before I went
vegan I was following a meat-based diet where I was
actually comparing organic vs. non-organic chicken.
The results were shocking. I bought 200g organic
and 200g non-organic chicken and noticed a differ-
ence in the color of the meat. You don‘t see it in the
store, because of the lights. In the fresh air it looks
different. The organic chicken is dark yellow and the
non-organic one is pink. Then I kept frying both of
the chicken in the same pan for the same amount of
time. After frying the organic one had a weight of
172g and the non-organic one was 162g. So, the non-
organic chicken was retaining more water which
might be a sign that it has been treated with steroids
or other type of medication. I just believe that gener-
ally speaking organic has a much better quality to
offer than non-organic
CSM: What are your views on an all-meat diet versus
a vegan diet?
MARCO: I don’t want to define what is better or
worse. Each diet has benefits and drawbacks. When
being on a meat-based diet you get for sure a better
source of protein when it comes to muscle building.
When it comes to general overall health I do have
another opinion. Some people may not know, but as
a matter of fact animals are not getting treated well in
many farms around the world. Those animals are per-
manently under stress so they produce a lot of stress
hormone (cortisol). Furthermore, the worldwide re-
quest of meat is massively increasing. As a result of
this high demand the farmers are required to meet the
higher demand and use methods where they use ste-
roids in order to cope with it. Imagine you’re eating
this kind of meat every day?! In opinion, this can’t
be healthy long-term, because you’re putting a lot of
toxins in your body. Apart of that you need to decide
for yourself if you really want to support it. I person-
ally don’t want to do it! Another fact is that meat is
full if purines and uric acid. People that are on an
omnivore diet generally tend to have high uric acid
levels which are not so healthy for your joints since
it can lead to gout and later on arthritis.
On the other hand, you have much less risk of a bacte-
rial or parasite infection when following a vegan diet.
Furthermore, the vegan diet is lower in purine and
uric acid and contains more alkaline which is good
in terms of lowering general acid levels in the body.
You will feel this when it comes to recovery post
workout. It’s just better that’s what I can tell from my
personal experience. To sum up I’d say for general
people the key a good balance in-between meat and
plant protein. If you turn vegan you’re doing a great
thing especially for yourself and the animal world.
CSM: What groups of food do you usually eat?
MARCO: As a vegan I eat a lot of legumes like chick-
peas, lentils, peas or kidney beans since they contain
good plant protein. A further advantage is that they
belong to the foods that contain a good amount of
protein and carbohydrates which makes them kind
of unique. Furthermore I eat meat replacement foods
such as Tempeh, Tofu or Seitan that contain similar
if not more amount of protein like meat. Another
source of protein are vegan protein powders like rice
and/or pea protein that I also keep using in order to
get enough protein throughout the day. Last but not
least I do have some healthy fat sources in my diet.
These are those that contain good amounts of omega
3 like avocado, flaxseed oil, almonds, walnuts or bra-
zil nuts.