My Fleep:
Health
Health
Three Big Rules for Eating and Reaching Your Fitness Goals
Whether your fitness goal is weight loss, athletic
performance, more energy, better health, or just simply
toning up, it is vital that you pay attention to your
nutrition and food intake to reach this goal. In my
experience as a personal trainer, working with thousands of
clients over a period of 16 years, I observed that the role
that food intake plays in a person reaching his or her
fitness goal is paramount. In fact, it makes up for more
than 75% of the influence of whether or not a person is
successful. The challenge for me was that people who would
be working very hard in the gym expected to see results and
couldn't understand why they weren't getting them, even
after all that work. I would always say to my clients and
anyone in the gym that would listen, "You can work out
‘till the cows come home, but if you're not eating well,
your body won't change, at least not cosmetically, period."
Frequently, that statement would be met with some confusion
and the response that they had been eating well, and things
just weren't working anyway. Well, upon further review of
the actual diet and food intake the clients actually had,
it usually wasn't difficult to see what could be improved
with them so they could start seeing the results (typically
weight loss) that they desired.
What I found was that people who want to lose weight
believe that the only way that is going to happen is if
they eat less food, which in many cases is actually counter
to what the person actually needs. They have been eating a
certain way for awhile and they are dissatisfied with their
appearance, so they take the food intake they have been
eating and they reduce the calories while they come to the
gym and work with a personal trainer. They get sore and
maybe see some change in the beginning of their program,
but it isn't long before they are at a plateau and
frustrated, because this plateau certainly isn't the result
of a lack of effort.
Here is where a basic knowledge of the way that food intake
actually influences weight loss is a tremendous help. It
takes some of the mystery out of the equation and allows a
person to make some intelligent choices that will help them
reach their fitness goals. There are three big concepts
that I find have really helped people get a grasp of the
basics.
The first is to EAT ENOUGH! As I said before, the tendency
is for people to really restrict their food intake in an
effort to lose weight. If a person comes into beginning a
fitness program having truly been an overeater, then a
reduction in calories is appropriate. However, the culprit
with most people who are overweight or overfat is not that
they eat too much, it's that their metabolism is shot from
a lack of exercise and bad eating habits. So, ironically,
one of the things that has to happen with a person who
wants to lose weight is that they frequently have to
increase their overall intake of food somewhat to keep up
with the demands of the new exercise and keep from
starving, allowing the metabolism to rise naturally.
The second is to EAT OFTEN. Rule #1 doesn't do any good if
all the calories you might be taking in come at dinner
after starving yourself all day. This is the biggest single
reason people have trouble with their physiques, this lack
of regular eating. Regular eating throughout the day never
lets the body get too hungry or too full, and the body
responds by raising the metabolism and burning more fat.
The ideal number of meals and snacks combined throughout
the day is from 4-6, spaced evenly starting with breakfast
as soon as you get up in the morning.
The last rule is to EAT BALANCED! I once had a client who
said that she was eating 5 times a day like I had
suggested, yet upon further examination I found that she
was eating a handful of Cheerios for three of those meals.
The result was that she wasn't eating enough food overall
to fuel her body, and she was missing some key necessities
in her diet, like adequate amounts of protein, that kept
her from reaching her fitness goals. Eating balanced means
getting adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fats,
fruits and vegetables spaced evenly throughout the day with
each meal, if possible. This controls appetite and keeps
the body feeling well fueled throughout the day,
contributing to fat loss.
----------------------------------------------------
About The Author: Charles Carter, BS in Exercise Science is
President of LIVE, llc of http://www.liveleantoday.com -
visit the website for more information on weight loss, core
fitness programs, optimal diets, and online personal
trainer and dietician services. For more information on
products go to http://shop.liveleantoday.com .
Whether your fitness goal is weight loss, athletic
performance, more energy, better health, or just simply
toning up, it is vital that you pay attention to your
nutrition and food intake to reach this goal. In my
experience as a personal trainer, working with thousands of
clients over a period of 16 years, I observed that the role
that food intake plays in a person reaching his or her
fitness goal is paramount. In fact, it makes up for more
than 75% of the influence of whether or not a person is
successful. The challenge for me was that people who would
be working very hard in the gym expected to see results and
couldn't understand why they weren't getting them, even
after all that work. I would always say to my clients and
anyone in the gym that would listen, "You can work out
‘till the cows come home, but if you're not eating well,
your body won't change, at least not cosmetically, period."
Frequently, that statement would be met with some confusion
and the response that they had been eating well, and things
just weren't working anyway. Well, upon further review of
the actual diet and food intake the clients actually had,
it usually wasn't difficult to see what could be improved
with them so they could start seeing the results (typically
weight loss) that they desired.
What I found was that people who want to lose weight
believe that the only way that is going to happen is if
they eat less food, which in many cases is actually counter
to what the person actually needs. They have been eating a
certain way for awhile and they are dissatisfied with their
appearance, so they take the food intake they have been
eating and they reduce the calories while they come to the
gym and work with a personal trainer. They get sore and
maybe see some change in the beginning of their program,
but it isn't long before they are at a plateau and
frustrated, because this plateau certainly isn't the result
of a lack of effort.
Here is where a basic knowledge of the way that food intake
actually influences weight loss is a tremendous help. It
takes some of the mystery out of the equation and allows a
person to make some intelligent choices that will help them
reach their fitness goals. There are three big concepts
that I find have really helped people get a grasp of the
basics.
The first is to EAT ENOUGH! As I said before, the tendency
is for people to really restrict their food intake in an
effort to lose weight. If a person comes into beginning a
fitness program having truly been an overeater, then a
reduction in calories is appropriate. However, the culprit
with most people who are overweight or overfat is not that
they eat too much, it's that their metabolism is shot from
a lack of exercise and bad eating habits. So, ironically,
one of the things that has to happen with a person who
wants to lose weight is that they frequently have to
increase their overall intake of food somewhat to keep up
with the demands of the new exercise and keep from
starving, allowing the metabolism to rise naturally.
The second is to EAT OFTEN. Rule #1 doesn't do any good if
all the calories you might be taking in come at dinner
after starving yourself all day. This is the biggest single
reason people have trouble with their physiques, this lack
of regular eating. Regular eating throughout the day never
lets the body get too hungry or too full, and the body
responds by raising the metabolism and burning more fat.
The ideal number of meals and snacks combined throughout
the day is from 4-6, spaced evenly starting with breakfast
as soon as you get up in the morning.
The last rule is to EAT BALANCED! I once had a client who
said that she was eating 5 times a day like I had
suggested, yet upon further examination I found that she
was eating a handful of Cheerios for three of those meals.
The result was that she wasn't eating enough food overall
to fuel her body, and she was missing some key necessities
in her diet, like adequate amounts of protein, that kept
her from reaching her fitness goals. Eating balanced means
getting adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fats,
fruits and vegetables spaced evenly throughout the day with
each meal, if possible. This controls appetite and keeps
the body feeling well fueled throughout the day,
contributing to fat loss.
----------------------------------------------------
About The Author: Charles Carter, BS in Exercise Science is
President of LIVE, llc of http://www.liveleantoday.com -
visit the website for more information on weight loss, core
fitness programs, optimal diets, and online personal
trainer and dietician services. For more information on
products go to http://shop.liveleantoday.com .