Part two of our series on how to improve your workout is on nutrition.
First off, stop thinking in terms of diets. When we think diet, most of us think of some short term fix that involves some painful process of self-denial.
Lets get this real straight now, diets or short term fixes DO NOT WORK in the long run. In essence, my recommendation to people is that if you arent willing to make a specific change for the rest of your life, then dont bother doing it.
Healthy lifestyles are about LONG TERM NUTRITION CHOICES.
Now, does that mean you can never eat a piece of cake for the rest of your life? Of course not! Part of good nutritional planning is actually having a certain percentage of cheat meals. Think of your nutrition kind of like intervals, there are percentages where you are more strict and percentages of meals where you throw it out the window. This helps us keep our sanity and is actually good for our body. There are many different plans, but most experts agree that about 10-20% cheat meals throughout the week is good.
The mistake that some people make is that they really kind of cheat for more like 60-80% of the meals and then wonder why they arent getting results. Again even with this we dont have to be drastic on our strict meals. It simply is making some shifts in our eating habits to have better overall nutrition. When I work with clients, I dont want to overwhelm them so I like to keep things simple, such as a list of 3-5 things to focus on that get great results, and then continue on from there by adding details slowly.
So here is a quick list of how you could shape up the 80% of your good meals (not the cheat meals).
Lower your carbs! We dont have to go nuts and never ever ever eat carbs, but the average American eats way too much sugar and refined carbs. Easy first steps to do this are things such as tossing the bun from burgers or sandwiches, avoiding pasta, lowering cereal intake, stop eating bread as a side item, and avoiding some sauces that carry tons of carbs and trans fats.
Up your Protein! This applies to both men and women. Some women avoid protein because they think it will make them bulk up or get muscular. That is completely false. We all need a good amount of protein to support healthy and active lifestyles. It helps with everything from muscle recovery to basic body functions. Our body MUST have protein (the amino acids from it specifically) and if you dont feed it to your body it will basically break down the muscle tissue you do have to get it! As a result, you lose muscle and increase body fat by percentage! In order to have a more overall nutritional plan, up your protein by focusing on eating chicken, leat meats, fish, etc.
Eat the right fats! There are good fats and bad fats. You should read more on this topic, but to keep thing simple: Trans Fats=REALLY BAD, Saturated Fat=BAD, Unsaturated Fat=GOOD! Of particular interest in the good fats are Omega 3s. These are very necessary for our health, recovery, fighting inflamation, and a big list of other good stuff. So how do we get these? Fish and seafood is a great source. An easy example is salmon. Plant sources can be a good source of unsaturated fats, but fatty fish are still the top dog so to speak.
Water! If you have ever bought one of the gadgets on TV that are Guaranteed to make you lose weight, one of the things in small print is almost always that you must drink a large amount of water. The reason is that they know that most of America walks around dehyrdrated and that simply getting you to drink more water will help your body function better and you will lose weight, but they will give their gadget all the credit for it! Anyway, toss out any rules about 6-8 glasses of water.thats too low. Aim higher! Shoot for at least half of your bodyweight (pounds) and convert the number to ounces. If that number is less than 100, eventually try to bump up to 100 ounces per day. At first it will seem like a big deal, but in a very short time you will get used to it and realize a huge difference in your endurance, energy, ability to lose weight basically everything!
Nutrition Supplements!
Some people believe that we can get all the things we need just by eating right. These are the same people also might believe in the tooth fairy. In the real world, we must realize that most of our food supply today is over processed and the whole trend of convenience has generally robbed many food items of their potential nutritional value. In other words, we know that our nutrition plan is not going to be perfect, so thankfully scientists and nutritionists have put together supplements that help us get what we need. That being said, the fad of the day or the magic pill sold at 2 AM on TV is NOT what Im talking about here. I am talking about fundamental nutrition.
There are many things out there but there are FIVE supplements that you MUST have (or at least consider) if you want to reach your goals. They arent glamourous, they arent advertised as much and they arent some miracle cure. However, if you take them, you may find some pretty big differences in how you feel, how you look and how fast your reach your goals. They are (in no particular order): multi-vitamin/mineral, fish oil (omega 3s), probiotic, protein/meal replacement, antioxidants. It really is that simple. Now within those 5 supplements, it helps to know a bit about exactly what to look for and that will be precisely what my next nutrition article/blog will be about, so stay tuned!
iAutoblog the premier autoblogger software
Commenti
Posta un commento