Healthy Eating Tips

·       Shoot for 5 – 6 meals a day.  Decrease the portions in each meal. 

·       Protein Intake: This can get a bit tricky at times.  Many times you hear people say that the protein they were taking was awesome and it worked so well because they gained weight. And then when they got off of it they lost the weight.  It’s not as black and white as that.  The protein shakes that are manufactured all have extra calories in them. This means, if you continue to do the same work and eat the same foods and then add on some extra calories from the shake…you have no other choice but to gain weight.  If you stop taking the shake, but everything else remains the same, then you’re not intaking those extra calories any more. Thus, weight begins to decrease.  We should not take the protein to gain weight per say.  You can take it to maintain, or not lose any weight during the long days of working out.  I have provided a list of good proteins that can compensate for any shake.

·       It is very important to eat after workouts.  Your body has about a 30 minute window after workouts when your muscles, ligaments and tendons are hungry for nutrition.  Protein bars and shakes are good. REAL food is best!

·       We’ve all heard it before, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”.  There is a reason why you repeatedly hear it…because it’s true.  If you are receiving a good night’s sleep then you should be starving by the time you get up. 7 or 8 hours without any food is way too long.  Break the word down, BREAK-FAST. It’s telling you that the meal you are about to eat in the morning is BREAKING up your FASTING.  At the time when your body is at its peak of needing important food you need to take care of it the most.  Skipping breakfast will slow down your metabolism, make you lethargic and increase the time that you have been fasting. 

·       Stand clear of fried foods and soda!!

·       Skip the Fast Food places to. All of their food is processed; we want the food to be as close as possible to its natural state. 

·       Natural juices are a quick and easy way to get a good healthy snack.  Throw all kinds of fruits in a juicer and it’s an instant healthy choice.  Be careful of the juices you buy at the store. Many times they are very high in sugar.

·       Mix in vegetables EVERY SINGLE DAY!! Greens and other colorful vegetables are essential to a diet.  Learn to like them; they are very good for you. 

·       Learn to read the nutritional labels on foods.  If the food is high in fat, saturated fat, sugar or sodium stay away. 

·        Nuts are an easy snack.  Nuts are high in fat, but its good fat.  Nuts are natural and very healthy for you.

·       Resting is just as important as working out and eating.  All three feed off of each other.  If you are not getting the proper rest, (enough sleep) you are not maximizing your potential.  Sleeping and resting is what gives the body a chance to recuperate and grow. 

·       Hydration begins the day before, not the day of.  Water is an absolute MUST.  Soda’s and coffee are not the proper kinds of liquids you want to be drinking.  It used to be 8 cups of 8 oz. of water a day. That number has changed over the last couple of years to about 10 cups.  Every system in your body depends on water. Including muscles, which are about 75% water.

·       Make sound healthy choices that will help you in the present but also the future.