Nutrition
“the more you know about your specific nutritional needs, the quicker and more permanent your results”
Today we are inundated with nutritional information. Nutrition is an extremely frustrating and complex area of study, dumb-founding even the experts. I think the most important step to take with nutrition is to find out what works for you. An excellent way to do this “detective work” is to write it down in a journal. This will be your private journal, so please be honest with it! My clients are always amazed when they see the unfolding saga on paper.
That way after months or maybe a year of nutritional documentation, you can visually track what does not work, and more importantly, what does work. The bottom line is if you are in good health, and your nutrition is coordinated with your exercise program, you should be seeing fat loss of approximately ½-1 lb. of body fat per week. If you are not experiencing this, check with your doctor to make sure there are no underlying metabolic issues. Fat loss is simple, but not easy!
A time tested eating plan with a great record of accomplishment is the heart healthy program recommended by the American Heart Association. This is a great place to start as it has all the nutritional factors/components for healthy fat loss:
- Reading Nutritional Labels
- Whole grains and legumes.
- Low fat protein
- The use of good quality oils
- Being careful with surgery treats
- Keeping sodium at bay
- Drinking plenty of H2o
There are a myriad of eating programs available to you. It has been my experience that the more consistent and sensible you keep this end of the equation the better your results will be. Another great feature of A.H.A. eating program is that it is free. All you need to know to get started is provided at their web- site (see below).
I strongly recommend that you keep a nutrition journal of your new fat loss program at least for the first three months. I know you will find the information you have gathered to be invaluable. You can buy an already printed journal, so all you have to do is fill in the information, or just get a blank notebook and create your own (examples are given on Documentation page).