My Experience: There comes a point when you really start to understand your body.  When I initially started working out the goal was to focus on weight loss through a proper diet.  I went to a nutritionist who put me on a Low Carb, low to no – sugar diet. The diet is designed as a lifestyle change more than a quick weight loss program.  You eat 5 times a day every 2 to 3 hours and drinking 2 liters of water per day.

I think in my life I have had this diet structure explained to me a few hundred time with my opening question being, “so how do you stay so lean” I guess I was looking for a different answer but the truth is that without the proper diet, and structure you will not get the results you are looking for.  The good news is that it’s a simple weight loss diet program that gets a little boring but yields great results.

Lets discus 5 times a day, I’m actually eating more than that but most of the time I am “grazing” on snacks.  My diet worked as such:

8:00 am – (Post workout) Bowl of Cheerios with Non-Fat milk (today I use the Whey Protein in water instead of milk)

10:00 am – An apple, a few almonds, soda crackers, oatmeal cookie (no –sugar)

12:00 pm – Turkey Sandwich, no Mayo, wheat bread, lettuce, tomato, pickles, sprouts / chicken or fish with steamed veggies / chicken or tuna salad (no olive oil) vinegar only.

2:30 pm – An apple, a few almonds, soda crackers, oatmeal cookie (no –sugar)

5:00 pm – Chicken or fish with steamed veggies / chicken or tuna salad (no olive oil) vinegar only.

7:00 pm – An apple, a few almonds, soda crackers

There are variations of snacks and meal plans like the South Beach Diet which allows you to be more creative with your meal plans but as a single guy working full time I needed an easy way to take the guess work out of the process.  You will be hungry all the time so make sure you have those snacks handy, if you’re drinking of water and I drink coffee that also helps tremendously curbing the appetite.

You are going to cheat, I cheated, the most important thing is to enjoy that moment, pick yourself up dust yourself off and get back to your program.  It took me 6 months this last time to get to the point where now I am increasing Carb intake in order to put muscle on, cut back on cardio, increased the weight training and getting plenty of rest so relax it’s not forever once you get to a certain point the diet becomes more relaxed and so long as you continue working out you will burn it all off!

by Omar Pinto

Please join us on Facebook

A balanced diet must contain carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins, mineral salts and fibre. It must contain these things in the correct proportions.

Index

Carbohydrates: these provide a source of energy.

Proteins: these provide a source of materials for growth and repair.

Fats: these provide a source of energy and contain fat soluble vitamins.

Vitamins: these are required in very small quantities to keep you healthy.

Mineral Salts: these are required for healthy teeth, bones, muscles etc..

Fibre: this is required to help your intestines function correctly; it is not digested.

Balanced Diets: we must have the above items in the correct proportions

Healthy Eating 

Tips for a Healthy Diet and Better Nutrition

Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible – all which can be achieved by learning some nutrition basics and incorporating them in a way that works for you.

Choose the types of foods that improve your health and avoid the types of foods that raise your risk for such illnesses as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Expand your range of healthy choices to include a wide variety of delicious foods.  Learn to use guidelines and tips for creating and maintaining a satisfying, healthy diet.

Healthy Eating: Strategies for a healthy diet

Here are some tips for how to choose foods that improve your health and avoid foods that raise your risk for illnesses while creating a diet plan that works for you.

Big picture strategies for healthy eating

Eat enough calories but not too many. Maintain a balance between your calorie intake and calorie expenditure—that is, don’t eat more food than your body uses. The average recommended daily allowance is 2,000 calories, but this depends on your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity.

Eat a wide variety of foods. Healthy eating is an opportunity to expand your range of choices by trying foods—especially vegetables, whole grains, or fruits—that you don’t normally eat.

Keep portions moderate, especially high-calorie foods. In recent years serving sizes have ballooned, particularly in restaurants. Choose a starter instead of an entrée, split a dish with a friend, and don’t order supersized anything.

Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes—foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, low in fat, and free of cholesterol. Try to get fresh, local produce

Drink more water. Our bodies are about 75% water. It is a vital part of a healthy diet. Water helps flush our systems, especially the kidneys and bladder, of waste products and toxins. A majority of Americans go through life dehydrated.

Limit sugary foods, salt, and refined-grain products.   Sugar is added to a vast array of foods. In a year, just one daily 12-ounce can of soda (160 calories) can increase your weight by 16 pounds. See suggestions below for limiting salt and substituting whole grains for refined grains.

Limit sugary foods, salt, and refined-grain products.   Sugar is added to a vast array of foods. In a year, just one daily 12-ounce can of soda (160 calories) can increase your weight by 16 pounds. See suggestions below for limiting salt and substituting whole grains for refined grains.

Don’t be the food police. You can enjoy your favorite sweets and fried foods in moderation, as long as they are an occasional part of your overall healthy diet. Food is a great source of pleasure, and pleasure is good for the heart – even if those French fries aren’t!

Get moving. A healthy diet improves your energy and feelings of well-being while reducing your risk of many diseases. Adding regular physical activity and exercise will make any healthy eating plan work even better.

One step at a time. Establishing new food habits is much easier if you focus on and take action on one food group or food fact at a time

 Source

Please join us on Facebook

Carbohydrate (meaning “carbon plus water”) is the most widely eaten food in the world. Along with fat and protein, carbohydrate is an essential nutrient, but what makes carbs different is that they are easily converted to energy by the body. Also, glucose, the simplest carbohydrate, is essential fuel for the brain. Any healthy diet must include carbohydrates.

Choose Good Carb Foods

1. Fruit & Vegetables

Fruit and vegetables are generally low in calories and packed with nutrients like vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber. This means they are a healthy addition to any diet, especially if you are trying to lose weight. Studies show that people who eat plenty of fruit and vegetables have a lower risk for heart disease and some cancers. For optimum nutrition, eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day – fresh, canned, frozen or cooked.

2. Whole Grains

This group includes pasta, rice and noodles – the starchy carbohydrates – your body’s main source of energy. All these foods begin life as a grain, such as wheat, rye, corn, rice or barley. Potatoes and grains are very healthy and filling, but for optimum health and glycemic benefits choose unrefined whole grain versions of these foods over refined versions.

Unrefined carbohydrates are medium-calorie and because they contain the whole grain, including the bran and the germ, they’re higher in fiber and keep you feeling fuller for longer – great if you’re trying to reduce weight. Examples include basmati or brown rice, Uncle Ben’s Converted long grain rice, wholegrain bread, porridge oats, and whole-wheat pasta.

Curiously, the leanest and longest living people in the industrialized world are the Japanese whose diet contains regular amounts of these healthy wholegrain carbohydrates.

Source

My Experience – When I was 40 lbs over weight and starting from square one of my diet and exercise program I needed to strip a lot of the carbs out of my diet.  It absolutely worked for me, I would eat oatmeal or a high fiber cereal with non fat, lactose free milk for breakfast and a turkey sandwich with alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, tomatoe and mustard on whole wheat square bread and snacked on apples and whole wheat soda crackers when the hunger kicked in.  After 4 pm I was done with carbs dinner was protein and veggies.

I would work out early in the morning on an empty stomach and drank lots of water through out the day.  This stage depending on your weight could last 2 – 4 months.  Once your metabolism kicks in and you begin to excel in your weight training you will feel the loss of energy in the gym and that is when you need to re-introduce carbs more heavily into your diet you will need for fuel throughout your day.  If you are falling asleep at work or need to take naps your blood sugar is low and needs a boost.

You will start to get to know your body inside and out within the first 6 months of working out.  Today I have to be eating carbs all day until 6pm or 7pm pastas, whole grain rice, whole grain breads, lots of fruits and veggies all day long because my body consumes so much of it.

By Omar Pinto

Please join us on Facebook