You must start your journey to overall health by listening to your body. Your body is the key to everything...it is your temple. It is important that we take a deeper look at what is happening...we must find solutions to heal and to grow into healthy individuals. It is through the concept of wholeness and remembering that everything is connected. It is time to take responsibility for what we put in our mouths each and every day...so we can create and maintain a strong foundation in our bodies. Instead of listening to gimmicks or philosophies on nutrition...listen to your body and your mind.
In Part 1 and Part 2, I discussed the importance to being mentally present and motivated when starting your nutrition action plan. Also, I discussed the understanding of portion sizes and how you must choose a nutrition plan that applies to you as an individual and applies to your fitness goals. Make sure you read Part 1 and Part 2 before you continue on to Action Plan Part 3.
I now want to discuss the food groups that must be present in your nutrition plan. Most of the foods we eat contain a combination of three energy-producing nutrients, also known as
macro nutrients- protein, carbohydrates, and fat. These nutrients are responsible for providing the energy necessary for you body's engine to run well, and very essential to your health. Along with these nutrients, your body also needs vitamins, minerals, and water...which will be discussed later.
The first food group I want to discuss is the most versatile player on the nutrient team,
PROTEIN...the building blocks for muscle tissue. Its purpose is to build, repair, and maintain your body's tissues, including muscles, skin, and internal organs. Protein helps you digest food and tells the body whether to store food as energy versus fat. It helps you burn calories, keeps you feeling full, and helps your body build muscle and burn fat. It is an interesting path on how the body operates, but know that the body burns more calories digesting protein than it does to process carbohydrates and fat.
Protein is made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen and one more element none of the other nutrients have-nitrogen. Proteins take much longer to digest and are broken down into their smallest components, amino acids. Understand that in order for your body to use the protein you ingest for muscle-building, all necessary amino acids must be present. The body can only produce only some of these amino acids. Amino acids, for the most part, do not stimulate insulin secretion like a simple carbohydrate (piece of fruit or candy bar) would. The others, which are also known as your essential amino acids, must be from the foods we eat.
Protein is supplied by both animal and plant foods, including meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, legumes, nuts, and grain products. It is important that you concentrate on the proteins that best helps build your muscles. Research has shown that animal protein builds muscle better than soy or vegetable protein does. For example, choose poultry, fish, and lean cuts of beef or pork over tofu and other soy-based products.
It is important that you get enough protein in your daily food intake. A great starting point/average protein intake is about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day- that is about the amount of protein your body can use every day. For example, a 130-pound woman will take in 130 grams of protein in her day. You must understand that exercise frequency and intensity also would play a role in the amount of protein you want to take in. Also, if you are getting ready for a sport event or a fitness/figure/bodybuilding competition you would consume more protein. The average is around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day, but you can increase to 1.5 grams of protein if needed. Special circumstances and situations will allow for an individual to increase to even 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight.
It is also very important to have a well-balanced eating plan and to have a little protein with each meal. When a carbohydrate is eaten in
COMBINATION WITH a protein (well-balance), it becomes a new source of energy on a molecular level. This combination allows less glucose to enter the bloodstream, and it is released over a longer duration of time. This then lowers your insulin level so your body can burn the carbohydrate as
FUEL as opposed to storing them as fat. Also, by eating a little protein at every meal, you will reduce your cravings for certain foods.
It is crucial that you understand how certain foods work in your body. When you eat sugar or a carbohydrate alone, it raises/spikes your insulin levels,
BUT WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN! So when your insulin level drops, it creates a craving for more sugar or carbohydrates for immediate energy because now you are feeling tired and lethargic. But the solution is when you eat a little protein with each meal, it forces the secretion of glucagon (the hormone that stimulates insulin secretion), your insulin level balances out so your body doesn't go through the insulin roller-coaster ride. The
END RESULT is a sustained, well-balanced energy level throughout your day.
Also, it has been proven that reducing your carbohydrate intake to a minimum and earthing a high-protein eating plan is too extreme and unrealistic in the long term. So why is the fad of high-protein diets in every fitness magazine and every other commercial? Studies have shown that high-protein diets elicit a certain hormonal response that facilitates rapid weight loss by putting the body into a state of ketosis. Ketosis is an abnormal increase of acidic biochemicals in the blood and urine and a sign that the metabolism is impaired. These acidic biochemicals are produced when there isn't enough glucose in the bloodstream. High levels of ketones make blood abnormally acidic. I don't think any of you would agree that this is a very healthy way of life!
The reason high-protein diets have been so successful is because
INITIALLY (key word) many people see rapid weight loss due to the body being shocked into doing this, but they
EVENTUALLY (next key word) will hit a plateau. It is important to note that people on high-protein diets cannot sustain this way of eating for longer than three to six months. So then what happens next. The sad thing I have seen is that all the effort they put into a high-protein diet ends up backfiring on them. Most people will go back to their old way of eating, many will end up where they started, while others will take a turn for the worse and put on more weight then they started with.
There are three important factors you must take into consideration with high-protein diets. First, they are hard to maintain. Second, they are typically high in saturated fat, which will
EVENTUALLY (same key word) contribute to clogged arteries and an increased risk of heart attacks. And last but not least, there is not enough long-term studies to prove that eating a high-protein diet is safe for you. You must fully understand that a
HIGHER-PROTEIN DIET is different from a
HIGH-PROTEIN DIET (one that dramatically reduces carbohydrates)- due to long-term studies showing that they have a greater success rate in reducing body fat and maintaining weight loss in the long term.
Through my experience with my own body and as a personal trainer, I believe that a
HIGHER-PROTEIN diet works very well for approximately 75% of the population for weight reduction and weight management. It is also important to note that by including a higher-protein in our daily eating plan we feel fuller faster so we ingest less calories per meal. In Part 4 of this Action Plan to Nutrition, I will begin the blog entry by listing and describing the proteins that you want to include in your daily intake, along with the vitamins and nutrients attached to these proteins.
"You need to listen to your body, because your body is listening to you."- Philip C. McGraw
George, M. Body Express. ppgs. 41-43.
