Bodies by Martin

Personal Training - Online Training

Nutrition

Without proper nutrition, achieving your goal is extremely difficult. Your diet is equally as important as your exercise program if you are going to notice any results.

The food we eat is made up of three macronutrients: Protein, Carbohydrates, and fats. When it comes to our three major macronutrients, none should be avoided, as most fad diets would have you believe. Sure, if you eliminate all carbs from your diet, you'll likely lose weight, but that's only because you're taking in less calories. It's not healthy and you'll just end up gaining most of your weight back, if not more.

In order to achieve your ideal body weight, feel energized and improve your immune system, your daily food intake should break down roughly as follows:

-40% low glycemic index carbohydrates
-30% lean Proteins
-30% essential fats

Carbohydrates are broken down in our bodies into glucose/blood sugar and used as our primary source of fuel. Carbs are essential in sustaining our energy levels throughout the day. The carbs that we want to avoid come from refined flours and sugars such as white bread, pasta, cereals, muffins, pop, and more. Eating proper carbs is critical to keeping blood sugar / glucose levels in check. When glucose levels rise, insulin is secreted to transport glucose into our cells to be used for energy. When we eat to many "bad" carbs, insulin levels are increased resulting in our blood sugar levels crashing. When this happens we tend to feel tired, moody, hungry, we get cravings for more "bad" carbs, and all the excess glucose is stored as fat. The following are examples of "good" carbs:

Strawberries - Grapefruit - Oranges - Apples
Green Peas - Carrots - Sweet potato - Broccolli
Kidney Beans - Oatmeal - 100% Whole Grain Bread
Brown Rice - Cauliflower - Blueberries

Protein is the next macronutrient necessary in our diet. The building blocks of protein are called amino acids. There are 22 amino acids in total. Thrirteen of them are non-essential meaning that our body can produce them. The other 9 must be derived from our diet. Protein builds the framework of our body such as proper growth and repair of our muscles and connective tissues. It also tells our body when to use food as energy and when to store it as fat.

When choosing our protein sources, chose those that are low in saturated fats. This will mean more poultry, fish, and tofu. The following are great sources of protein:

Lean Turkey - Chicken Breast - Wild Salmon - Crab
Light Tuna - Egg Whties - Low Fat Yogurt - Skim Milk
Low Fat Cottage Cheese - Lean Beef or Pork
Proteing Powder - Tofu Burgers

Fats are the third macronutrient necessary in our diet. Proper fat in our diet is crucial when it comes to weight loss, energy levels, and much more. There are four major types of fats: Saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, monousaturated fats, and trans fats.

Saturated fats are found mostly in dairy products, animal products and tropical oils. Saturated fast are important for producing good cholestorol, but excessive amounts will raise the level of bad cholestorol. Therefore, saturated fats should be kept to a minimum.

Polyunsaturated fats are found mostly in vegetable oils such as safflower and sunflower oils. These fats can lower our bad cholestorol, however, excessive amounts will also lower our good cholestorol.

Trans fats are manufactured fats, the worse type of fat. Trans fats are extremely bad to our health and should be eliminated from our diet completely. These fats can be found in such foods as margarine, snack foods, microwave popcorn, and fried foods. When checking food labels, if you see "partially hydrogenated oils", keep moving.

Good sources of fat include:

Fish Oil - Olive oil - Avocados - Almonds
Walnuts - Sesame seeds - Cold Water Fish
Omega-3 Eggs - Natural Peanut Butter