Ditch the Dieting -- Nutrition For Lasting Health

Ditch the Dieting -- Nutrition For Lasting Health

No more diets! Follow these five simple habits for optimum health and improved results from your workouts

By Earl Salzman



In my role as a fitness trainer and nutrition consultant, I've come to see how we need both optimal fitness and nutrition to be truly healthy. My clients come to me with the goal of becoming fitter, and I've found that the chief obstacle to their success isn't their commitment or the quality of their workout. It is poor nutrition! I'm going to outline five simple habits that I stress for our bodies to get all the nutrients they need.

Your reward for following them will be increased energy, improvement in every measurable health marker, such as blood pressure and cholesterol, reduced fat, increased muscle, and finally, hugely improved results from your workouts!



Habit #1

Eat every two to four hours, or five meals per day. This is different than what most of us have been taught- eating three meals. These more regular feeding intervals stimulate the metabolism, balance blood sugar, and help maintain lean mass while giving the body a reason to burn off extra fat mass.

Habit #2

Have lean protein with each meal. It sounds like a lot, but it's the best way to stimulate your metabolism, increase muscle mass, and reduce fat. Each serving of protein should be about the size of your palm. Women should have one serving (20-30g), and men should have two (40-60g) per serving.

Lean protein examples: Lean ground beef, chicken, turkey, venison, salmon, tuna, cod, egg whites, cottage cheese, yogurt, partly skim milk, cheese, beans, lentils and tofu.

Habit #3

It turns out both grandma and mom were right. Eat your vegetables and fruit - 10 servings per day. That sounds like a lot but they provide all the basic vitamins and minerals that we need. One serving is one-half cup of chopped vegetables or fruit, one medium sized fruit, or a full cup of green, leafy vegetables.

Habit #4

Eat higher calorie starchy carbohydrates, such as bread, pasta, rice and potatoes, only after exercise. Eat sugary carbohydrates such as breakfast cereals, fruit juice, muffins and bagels before and during exercise. You've got to earn those higher calorie meals!

Habit #5

Eat healthy fats daily. About 30% of your diet should come from fat. Sources include: olive oil, vegetable oils, nuts, avocado, flax seeds, and fish oil. These plus the fats contained in lean protein and carbohydrates should be sufficient.

That's it! No need to count calories. Just follow the five recommendations, start working out if you haven't already, and be amazed at the changes in your body! The one objection I hear most often: "I haven't got the time," I counter with: "Make time for your health. There's nothing more important!."

To make things easier, here are some time saving tips:

Precook your protein and pre chop your vegetables days in advance.

Have whey powder and veggie powdered supplements on hand to make into liquid nutrition.

Consult the web. Here are some great sites:

www.gourmetnutrition.com;

www.healthykitchensmakeover.com;

www.whfoods.com;

www.fitbuff.com;

www.healthycookingrecipes.com

Last thought:

Be good to yourself. Changing eating habits is a gradual process. Any change is good, even if you start with something small, like committing to eating breakfast daily. Be prepared to fall off the wagon. Don't give up. Just climb back on, and keep moving toward a healthy lifestyle. The results are absolutely worth it!

Earl Salzman is a Markham-based Certified Personal Trainer, nutrition specialist and educator, providing one-on-one and group training to private and corporate clients. Contact: 416-529-7173 or muscleandmusic@rogers.com

http://www.healthylivingmagazine.ca/ditch-dieting