NEW YEAR, NEW APPROACH!!
By Betsy Sharpe
Have you set any nutrition and fitness new years resolutions?
Have you heard yourself saying things like “Now that the
holidays are over” and “ I ate soooo much over the
holidays” ? Most of us are hitting the gym hard and trying
to make good on our New Year’s resolutions. As I am a fully
qualified S.P.N. (Specialist in Performance Nutrition), it seems
like now might be a good time to share some of the information
I have come across lately with regard to fitness training and how
to eat properly in conjunction with it.
Try to avoid any diet that:
- Promises unrealistically fast results
- Has rules too rigid to abide by
- Eliminates any specific food group
- Blames weight gain on a specific nutrient
To ensure that you don’t start off with all sorts of determination
and quickly deplete your energy stores and tap into your hard earned
muscle by not eating enough carbohydrate to feed your energy needs,
here are a few things to keep in mind…
Try to eat 5 to 6 small meals each day
- Try to eat carbohydrate, protein and fat with each of those
meals - Give your after-holiday physique a break and cut out the prepared
foods. Start cleaning up your diet by eating fresh foods when
you can, not packaged processed foods. - Drink more water, especially if you sweat a lot.
When anyone asks me how much they should eat or what foods they
should eat, I must tell you, that is such a difficult question
because it pertains to each individuals needs and tastes as just
two of the many criteria necessary to answer it. Think of an average
80 kg man who takes part in the fitness classes at ADHFC. This
would include weight training 3 times a week, cardio work 5 times
a week and is quite faithful to his routine. He will require approximately
2300 – 2600 calories a dayon a fat loss
program. He will need to eat enough protein (app. 185g),
to feed his muscle development, enough carbohydrate (app. 300 – 350
g) and fat (app. 35 – 45 g) to feed his energy needs. Don’t
cut out the food, all you will do is sacrifice your muscle and
make yourself too tired to maintain your workouts…Try eating
better, it should make all the difference.
Make 2004 the year you nourish your body and mind and give yourself
a chance to successfully become the person you are working so hard
to be!!!
- 51 reads
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