I have been racking my brain tyring to decide what to write about for my first blog. There are so many topics but the one I feel is most important is nutrition. What you eat is 70-80% of what you do that affects your health and how you look and feel. Exercise is only one part of a small time commitment to your health and fitness program. It’s what happens outside of the gym that has an emormous impact on the results you are trying to achieve. You should provide adequate and well balanced nutrition to your body. The food we eat supplies nutrients needed for muscle growth, recovery, and daily life activities. What you eat affects how your body performs. Here are my top “rules” for a well balanced diet that will have you looking and feeling your best.
1. Eat every 3 hours – Eat 6-8 smaller meals throughout the day. Your body is receiving a constant stream of nutrients and maintaining glucose levels throughout the day. Going longer than 3-4 hours puts your body into “starvation mode”, a natural response to protect itself. In starvation mode your metabolism slows down to conserve energy, your body uses lean body tissue (muscle) for fuel and stores fat. This is one reason why many people struggle to lose weight and also, as we age, lose muscle. The meals should contain protein(chicken breast ,fish, lean red meat), carbs (fruit ,veggies, rice, oatmeal) and healthy fats (raw nuts, olive oil, avocados). Stay away from sugars, processed foods and fried foods. Food should be eaten as close to it’s natural state as possible.
2. Stay Hydrated – Drinking water is vital to our health. Water prevents fatigue, aids in digestion, detoxifies the body, moisturizes the skin, prevents muscle cramps, and transports nutrients and oxygen into cells and muscles. You should be drinking at least one gallon of water a day, more if the weather is hot or you workout.
3. Don’t skip the Carbs – Eating carbs balances your mood. Carbs produce key chemicals in your brain that stabilize your mood. Carbs give you energy to get thru the day and your workouts. They also preserve and build muscle tissue, along with protein. Carbs can be tricky to figure out which to eat. Here is my rule of thumb here in deciding whether a food is “good” or “bad” carb….where does the food come from? Food at its most natural and unprocessed state contains the most nutritional value and is considered a “good” carb. Examples are fruits and vegetables, oatmeal, yams, brown rice. Bad” carbs are mostly processed , especially those that are white and refined, such as pasta, white bread, bagels, crackers, white rice, pretzels etc contain very little nutritional value and will cause spikes in your insulin making fat loss very difficult.
4. Portion Control – Don’t think that because you are eating healthy, you can eat as much as you want. Eating too much of anything will cause weight gain, a calorie is still a calorie. So be conscious of what AND how much you are consuming.
5. Don’t skip Breakfast – This is so important and a big mistake many people make. You are replenishing your glycogen stores and jumpstarting your metabolism for the day. A good breakfast would be oatmeal and egg whites or Greek yogurt and fruit.
So in a nutshell….eat 6-8 small meals every 2-3 hours, include lean protein, carbs, and healthy fats, remember portion control, drink a gallon of water per day, and please don’t skip breakfast. I know it can seem overwhelming but take it day by day, week by week. Slowly incorporate or change one or two things, make a plan, write it down and before you know it you will have created a new eating lifestyle.
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I’ve been on a journey recently……what am I talking about?! I’ve been on a journey for the last sixteen years – the art of letting go. I have read dozens of parenting books. I regularly seek the counsel of friends and family. Yet, I am convinced that absolutely nothing prepares you for the day you realize that your little boy is becoming a man – the day he enters high school, the day he drives away for the first time without you in the car, the day he goes on his first date. It’s hard. 
