Nutrition
Nutrition is just as important as working out. You may get in fantastic shape, but unless you eat well, you won’t be able to see your results as much.
As I am not a Registered Dietitian, I only recommend certain principles. These principles are as follows:
1. Eat local: Attending a Farmer’s Market and purchasing some local greens and other produce brings a ton of good to your body. The nutrients, vitamins, enzymes are fresh and have been picked recently. The difference between locally purchased produce and supermarket produce is huge. You taste and feel the difference. Check out my blog for more info.
2. If you consume Dairy, make sure it is Organic and from Grass fed cows. This will prevent you from drinking garbage you may not want to like hormones, pus, antibiotics and other crap that got into the milk. I recommend Organic Valley or milk from the Farmer’s Market.
3. Beef, Bison and meat are all good for you. Red meat contains components so beneficial to your body, and it’s creatine phosphate nature is not found anywhere else naturally in other foods. It’s extremely important you are VERY selective with beef. The cows that get slaughtered and are shipped to your regular supermarket may have been slaughtered because they’re sick and not up to par. Also, chances are they’ve been pumped with steriods, biotics, and have been fed a non-natural diet of grain most likely their entire life. Cows and bison were meant to eat grass, not grain. When you feed them grain, you have altered their digestive system, normal bodily growth and functioning. Also, keep in mind that the grain being fed to them has a high chance of being genetically altered, as corn is one of the largest GMO crops in the world. I recommend purchasing meats from sustainable farming systems, to help protect land, toxic waste and help support farmers who really care about their practice and animals. I highly recommend bison as a red meat source as it has lower cholesterol and fat than chicken. Make sure your fish is wild caught as well.
4. Have the majority of your diet come from greens/plants. A good rule of thumb is 1/2 of you plate should be greens and vegs, 1/4 protein and 1/4 complex carbs.
5. Go gluten free if you can. Believe it or not, many autoimmune, muscle attacking diseases can be blamed on gluten. I recommend you all listen to a Seminar on gluten and celiac disease by a dietitan with a Master’s in Nutrition from Bastyr University. It will really open your eyes up. Here is the website link, scroll down and you’ll find it. http://www.nourishingmeals.com/
6. Make your own food. You have no idea of the amount of garbage put in processed and pre-made foods. Make it yourself. It’ll taste better and be better for you.
7. Cut out Corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. Corn is everywhere, more than you think. Chances are it’s been genetically altered as well. A must read book is the Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan.
8. Listen to your body. If your body is lacking in something, you’ll crave it. So instead of waiting til you want to go crazy and eat a bunch of crap, eat what you need when you need it. Be aware and attentive to your body’s needs. For instance, if you’re craving grapes, get some grapes.
9. Eat a variety of foods. Your body is a complex, wonderfully made system. It functions using a beautiful, complex and intricate host of systems that all require different things. If you’re eating the same thing all the time, you aren’t serving a complex system and are coming short of what your body needs to function beautifully and efficiently.
10. Have discipline and be honest with yourself. I think deep down everyone knows what they’re doing wrong if you’re not seeing results. Work on them step by step. It takes time to get in shape and look good, if you do it the right way. There is no easy fix, and if you fall for them, you’ll be disappointed and will have wasted hard earned money on a product that doesn’t work.
Don’t fall for gimmicks that say you can shed a bunch of weight doing nothing. Don’t fall for fads that says all you have to do is drink a berry juice. You’re body is way more complicated than that. Be smart, diligent, have discipline and be honest with yourself and what you’re doing right, and what you’re doing wrong. When you do the right thing, eat the right foods, it’s addicting. You’ll feel amazing. You’ll feel how you were supposed to feel, how God created you to feel.
So don’t fall for gimmicks folks. Be educated and discerning and the results will show!
