Nutrtition Tips
By: Joel Scutt

I hate to say it, but it’s so true; you are what you eat.

And if you want to lose weight (or gain weight) stay off that treadmill and don’t touch those weights until you’ve first taken a long, hard look at what you eat.

The trick to good nutrition (and therefore faster results) is to feed your body a combination of protein and carbohydrates every few hours, this ensure proper recovery from workouts AND optimal energy levels throughout your day. Balanced nutrition is the key. And believe it or not, for best results, you should eat 5-6 (small) meals each day instead of the “3 square meals” you’re used to.

Here’s a quick “ingredients checklist” you want to stick to when creating your own meals from now on (after the challenge) . The better you stick to this, the better your body will be…

· Protein - Choose a portion of lean protein, such as chicken breast, ground turkey, fish or steak. Protein is essential for building toning and building muscle.

· Carbohydrates - Choose a portion of complex carbohydrates, such as a small baked potato, sweet potato, a 1/2 cup of brown rice or a slice of whole-wheat bread.

· Vegetables - Add a portion of vegetables with at least two meals each day.

· Essential Fats - Consume one tablespoon of unsaturated oil daily (olive oil is best) or 3 portions of salmon per week. Not all fats make you fat!

· Water - Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water each day.

Again, balanced nutrition is the key. You can do all the workouts in the world, but you just won’t be maximising your results until you fix the way you eat. That’s why you need to start with nutrition first, because otherwise a lot of the time you spend exercising is wasted.

Here’s Some More Helpful

Nutrition Tips For Speedier Results

Your Rumbling Belly Is Lying To You, You’re NOT Hungry: A lot of times when people feel hungry, they’re not. They’re just dehydrated. If you drink enough water, your body will be balanced and function the way that it’s meant to. This is very important to aid the release of stored fat.

A good rule of thumb is 8-12 glasses per day. But If you live in a warmer, more humid climate or are on the heavier side (not for too much longer!), then you’ll need to drink even more.

What “Catabolic” Really Means: When the body is breaking down its own tissue, this is referred to as a catabolic state. This happens when you don’t eat enough protein, you’re body essentially eats itself! Not a pretty picture.

You MUST eat enough protein everyday so your body doesn’t have to eat itself!

The Importance of Snacks Each Day: Most people have time to eat a good lunch and dinner, but it’s the snacks in between and getting a complete breakfast that are the most difficult - and the most important!

That’s when having a good meal replacement product is required. In choosing a quality meal replacement product, you’ll want to look for one that has a good balance in protein, high fiber, and a low glycemic index. Typically healthy shakes and bars are excellent for this, they’re convenient and give you all the good stuff, stock-up!

Supplement Yourself: When I talk about supplementation, I’m NOT talking about stimulants and artificial-type-products. Those are dangerous and should be avoided at all times.

What I’m talking about are whole-food, natural, and organic nutrition-supplement-type-products. Things like multi-vitamin minerals, antioxidants, meal replacement, and exercise recovery products. These type of supplement products are essential to provide your body with the nutrients lacking in our food today.

A study showed that 97% of all Australians don’t get the nutrients they need from food alone, and this includes you! You must supplement to get complete nutrition today. Again, I can point you in the right direction with supplementation. There’s a lot to know and it’s a bit of a minefield if you don’t know what you’re doing. Please feel free to e-mail info@allsortsfitness.com or call 3358 5796.