Hey Rik, do you believe the expression, “You are what you eat?”
I most certainly do Fredrico!
Me too...which leads me to believe that you've been gobbling up a lot of turkey lately.
Hardy-har-har Freddy!!!

Food for Thought – Part 1 of a 5 Part Series on Fitness and Wellness
It is generally agreed upon in the fitness industry that 75% to 80% of the health-wellness equation can be attributed to one’s dietary intake. Therefore, when Fred and I meet with clients we spend a fair amount of time discussing the importance of proper nutrition and provide guidelines to not only help them reach their morphological goals but to live long and healthy lives. One of the first things we suggest is to start journalizing their intake.

First Course: The Basics of Keeping a Personal Nutritional Journal
1. Write down every thing you eat and drink in a small book or note pad dedicated to the task – be detailed (e.g. the type/brand of cereal you had and what you put on it – ( e.g. type of milk: cow, goat, whole or skim, rice, soy, yogurt, fresh fruit, raisins, ground flax seed, etc.).
2. Make entries directly after each meal/snack rather than trying to recollect what you had during the course of the day and include the approximate time.
3. Measure in ounces or at least gauge/estimate portion size.
4. Note how you felt during and afterwards. Were you sluggish or did you feel energized?
5. Given what you know about nutrition now, how healthy is each meal (assign a number e.g. 1 = unhealthy, 5 = super healthy/nutritive)?
6. In addition to writing down everything you eat and drink, create a list of all the foods you like whether or not you’ve had them recently. Organize this list to include meat and/or other protein sources, fruits, vegetables, oils, nuts and starches. Healthy foods from this list will be used to “plug in the holes” of any nutritional deficits/gaps that your journaling reveals.
7. Do this for several weeks. We also suggest doing this for a few weeks each season if your diet tends to change, which it should.

Second Course: What the Nutritional Journal Should Reveal
Your journal can provide valuable information that you and/or a health professional can use to help you reach your goals be it weight loss or gain or simply feeling better. With a good journal one can recognize things such as eating too much or too little and/or too large or too small portions, or that you are only eating once or twice a day. It can also illuminate just how limited your diet may be (very little variety). It may also highlight overindulgence of sweets, salty, fried or fatty foods to name a few. The process of reviewing and therefore identifying poor eating habits (and good ones) is the first step in making positive changes and patting yourself on the back for healthy habits.

Caloric Intake - The simple equation for weight (fat) loss and weight (muscle) gain is: calories in vs. calories out in a given twenty four hour period. By using exchange guides which list the amount of calories in certain foods, one can get a bead on their caloric intake and adjust accordingly based on weight gain or loss given a certain expenditure during workout regiments and daily activities. It is important to be monitoring changes in composition (lean vs. fat mass) rather than just scale weight. This can be done several ways which will be discussed in parts 2 and 4 of this series.

Macronutrient Ratios - Macronutrients are carbohydrates, proteins, fats and water. A good rule of thumb for most people is a ratio of 60/20/20 (percent of caloric intake of carbohydrates, proteins and fats respectively). Carbohydrates (sugars) should be the highest as they are the preferred source of fuel for the body and the only fuel for brain function, a good source of fiber (all fruits and many vegetables), and have a hydrating effect as carbohydrate molecules store in the body with water. What is important is the choice of the carbohydrate. Unprocessed whole grains and fruits should be the majority of this intake – examples like multi/whole grain bread rather than white or plain wheat, wild or brown rice, purple rather than white potatoes and fresh spinach rather than ‘enriched’ semolina pasta. Proteins are the building blocks of all lean tissue (everything other than fat in the body) and are the most satiating of the three solid macronutrients. Protein sources should be lean (i.e. buffalo or venison rather than prime rib) and clean free range and/or organically grown. Fats provide cell permeability (which allows nutrients to enter and waste products to exit), joint lubrication and insulation. Furthermore, fat provides more than twice the energy as carbohydrates and proteins. Of the 20% total fat in calories the majority should come from non-saturated sources. All meals should have all these components except for pre-workout meals which should generally consist of a couple of hundred calories of easily digestible carbohydrates (unless the exercise duration is longer than 90 minutes).

Meal Frequency/Timing - Eating smaller meals more frequently (about every four waking hours) is very beneficial. Doing so keeps blood sugar (energy levels) consistent and high and one’s digestive system working (one of the main drivers of our metabolism). Eating this way rather than getting all your calories in one or two meals can ensure functioning systems have fuel and help burn unwanted fat. It is a good idea to eat at least three hours before going to bed for better digestion.

Water - A much better recommendation for hydration than 8-eight ounce glasses a day is half an ounce per body weight in pounds per day (e.g. 150 lb person should consume a minimum of 75 oz of water). This can be too little if you have sweat a great deal or eaten very salty foods. Also, drinking too much before a meal (especially alcohol) will hinder good digestion as this dilutes digestive juices and enzymes.

Dessert Cart - Seek out foods that you like that happen to be healthy for you

• Find joy in cooking for yourself and others
  
• Eat whole foods rather than processed
  
• Eat with the seasons
  
• Eat plenty of raw foods
  
• Never microwave or burn food
  
• Demand organic and local foods and/or grow your own
  
• Reduce salt, sugar, dairy, heavy meat consumption (especially red), fat, preservatives and chemicals and genetically modified foods
  

Next month we will be addressing topics surrounding cardiovascular (aerobic) fitness.

Erik and Fred hold advanced national personal training and coaching certifications and have over 25 combined years of formal experience in fitness and wellness. They are the owners of Outdoor Odyssey: Group Fitness and Adventure, coming to Jacksonville on August 30. As always, send questions, comments and witty asides to: LifesFitPageant@gmail.com.