You may remember that my first law of exercising is “Do No Harm”. This is crucial in your quest to remain healthy.
You may be amused to find laws concerning exercise, has a dietary component and this is to drum home the point that you can never achieve your optimal performance by exercising only. No matter your goal you will need to adopt an appropriate meal plan to cross the finish line. A look at the food pyramid (we will discuss this at a later date) that was modified in 2005 places a huge premium on exercising. Exercising and nutrition are inter-related and you neglect one at your own peril.
If you look at people’s limiting factors in terms of their ability to be healthy, to lose fat, and to gain muscle, there are essentially only three main limits and these are:
· The genetic makeup
· Physical activity patterns
· Nutritional habits
Everything else falls into one of these categories. It does look easy on paper but I know how daunting it sometimes can be.
Good nutrition will feed muscle and shed fat. It will improve recovery and mood so that you can exercise harder, longer and more frequently. Good nutrition will help you get the body that you have only been dreaming of or only see on the cover of your favourite magazine.
The goals of every nutrition programme should be:
· To improve body composition
· To improve health
· Improve performance
All three points stated above are quite vague but over time we will discuss how to make our goals SMART (specific, measureable, achieveable, realistic and time bound). A majority of people are working out with aesthetics in mind. We want to lose fat, gain muscle, achieve a flat “stomach” and generally look great naked. Often as a result of these strong motivators we are easily lured into a world of powerful drugs, invasive and risky surgeries, and ridiculous crash diets. These strategies while sometimes improving the way you may look in the mirror temporarily, can sacrifice your health and wellbeing in the long run. It is thus important that we do not only focus on the aesthetic aspects but in addition we should work at decreasing bad cholesterol and elevating the good one, reducing diabetes risk, reducing body fat and increasing muscle, making our heart stronger etc.
Getting Appropriate Help
If you have a medical condition such as diabetes, heart or kidney failure etc DO NOT get dietary/nutritional help from diet sheets or self-proclaimed experts. Make sure you talk to a dietitian. Most people do not have the requisite skill to give you the appropriate dietary plan.
Always eat a balanced meal
You may have come across protein diets, Atkins diet, south beach diet, weightwatchers etc the list grows on and on and whenever we care to ask there is definitely a new diet on the block. The plain truth is we need all the components of a balanced meal to be healthy. It is the type and quantities that matter most. Fat has been condemned over the years but we definitely need to have the right types in our diet. We need fat for several body functions.
Getting the quantities right
In general, the quantity and proportion of food that you need depends on your gender, metabolism and level of physical activity.
· Most women have a lower metabolism than their male counterparts so their calorie input should be less even if they have similar levels of activity
· Since our metabolism slows with age we expect to put in fewer calories as we reach our 30s
· Someone trying to put on muscles should not eat” like an ant” since no matter the weights you workout with you will not be able to grow the appropriate muscles by starving yourself
· We also expect sedentary (sitting, little movement) workers to consume less than those whose work involves a lot of physical activity. Please note that “brain work” still falls under the category of sedentary, little wonder many people gain weight during examination week. If your work involves a lot of physical activity and you eat “what a sedentary worker should”, you lose energy and your performance will drop in the course of the day.
Place of supplementation
I am certain we all agree that it is best to get all our nutrients from our meals. Sometimes we either do not have access to adequate nutrients e.g. from fruits and vegetables etc or we do not have the time to consume the recommended portions. Supplements should not be thrown at everyone but should be decided on a need basis. Essentially one should be assessed by a professional and supplements recommended when necessary. There is really no need to go on a supplement cocktail for fear of losing out on some benefit. First watch your diet and change your buying patterns if necessary. Finally seek professional help to determine if you need supplementation and which types to take. Remember that though rare we could get an overdose of certain vitamins and the diagnosis is often not like a walk in the park.
Some of us try hard to avoid eating certain foods but still purchase them to serve to our visitors or give out to our children. A line of caution here “when we carry food or keep it in the house, we will eventually EAT it” and I know this for sure. Your guess is as good as mine.
References:
· Nutrition: The Complete Guide. By John Berardi, Ryan Andrews
