Nutrition Tips

7 Helpful Hints

• Commit to 4-6 small meals per day.
• Pay attention to nutrition labels and be mindful of portion sizes
• Eat foods slower. Take time to enjoy what you’re eating. You may see that you need less to be satisfied.
• Limit junk food, sodas that are high in fat and foods with a lot of sugar.
• Drink 8-10 glasses of water each day.
• Fiber creates the feeling of fullness, so try to take in 20g-30g each day.
• Eat until you’re not hungry, not until you’re full.

2 Important Questions:

1) What is the most efficient way to reduce body fat and then keep it off**?

The benefits of Aerobic Exercise: Research indicates the optimal approach to weight loss combines a mild caloric restriction with regular aerobic exercise. The tremendous advantage to aerobic exercise of a moderate nature is its superb efficiency. Sustained aerobic exercise can elicit the greatest caloric expenditure when compared to any other form of exercise.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends an energy expenditure of 300-500 calories per exercise session and 1000-2000 calories per week. Accompanied with this of course is a mild calorie restriction of not less than 122 calories per day. Typically, one must exercise four to six times per week, for thirty to sixty minutes at approximately 70-85% of one's predicted maximum heart rate (PMHR) to burn enough calories to be considered an effective weight loss regime. A realistic and safe rate of weight loss is approximately one to two pounds per week. It has been demonstrated that this amount of aerobic exercise may:

• Elevate the basal metabolic rate (resting metabolism) and sustain this elevation up to four hours post-exercise.
• Help maintain an individual's FFB which in turn helps sustain the basal metabolic rate during the aging process.
• Help retard the resistant phase (plateau) of weight loss.
• Increase an individual's fat utilization in the more aerobically training individual, at rest and during exercise.
• Help regulate the appestat in the hypothalamus of the brain so that the appetite is able to respond more appropriately to the body's physiological needs. This "appetite center" may function more effectively when one exercises regularly, thereby facilitating the maintenance of a desirable weight.
• Stimulate a more rapid passage of food through the digestive system and thus discourage surplus food storage. When a meal directly follows exercise, the metabolic rate exceeds the sum of both alone.

Permanent Success Through a Moderate Diet

• By drastically restricting one's caloric intake on a rapid weight loss diet, fat loss is typically accompanied by loss of lean weight, or muscle. This is especially true if exercise is not incorporated along with the diet. Since muscle is metabolically active tissue, loss of lean weight would result in a reduced basal metabolic rate (BMR). This loss of lean weight is often regained as fat. Therefore as the number of weight loss/regain cycles increases, greater caloric restriction is required to obtain similar weight losses. It becomes more and more difficult to lose fat, let alone keep it off.
• Gradual, sustained weight loss through a combination of aerobic exercise and a moderate diet appears to have the greatest permanent success. Although, it usually takes a considerable length of time for most people to accumulate the excess fat they desire to lose, many are unrealistic concerning the length of time they should expect to spend in a weight loss regime. In other words, no one should expect to lose in several weeks what took years to gain.

2) What is fiber and how much do I actually need in order to be healthy**?

Fiber is essentially the component of plants that is resistant to digestion. Unlike other nutrients, it simply passes through the stomach and intestinal tract without being broken down by digestive enzymes. What also makes fiber important is its special ability to pick up other molecules in the course of its journey through the digestive system. One such molecule is water. Since heavier stools are generally better moved stools, fiber helps avert constipation by adding "weight" in the form of water to the system. Fiber also has a penchant for picking up substances like hormones, vitamins, and bile acids which accounts for its apparent role in preventing cancers of the colon and breast, reducing cholesterol, and minimizing the complications of diabetes. In a fruit, vegetable or grain the amount of fiber depends on the age and type of the plant from which it is derived. Insoluble fiber includes wheat bran, the skins of fruits and vegetables, the whole of strawberries and raspberries, buts and beans. Soluble fiber, best known for its role in reducing cholesterol through the form of oat bran, is also found in barley and lima beans.

There is no agreement on exactly how much fiber we need. The American Dietetic Association recommends from 25-35 grams of fiber per day. Since most sources have between one and three grams per serving you can achieve this amount by eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, along with a cup or two of whole grain cereal most days and two slices of whole grain bread daily. A word of warning: Increase your fiber intake gradually by adding a serving or two a day. Because fiber absorbs water, remember to drink at least six 8 ounce glasses a day.

**Source: http://www.nutritionrx.com/education_center/faq.html

Meal Plan Example***

Breakfast:
2-3 egg whites/Cereal high in fiber with skim milk
Banana/Apple/Grapefruit

Mid Morning Snack:
Yogurt (fat free)
Smoothie

Lunch:
Grilled chicken breast/grilled salmon
Steamed vegetables

Mid Afternoon Snack:
Balance bar gold caramel nut blast
Handful of almonds
Fruit

Dinner
Grilled chicken/salmon/tilapia/cod
Steamed vegetable

***Adjust the amount of carbohydrates you consume depending on your level of activity 3 hours after eating. Remember eat until you’re not hungry, not until you’re full!

^Finding a nutritional and exercise program is a self-study for you to evaluate what works best for you. Remain open and curious to continue to learn about how your body and mind work and react to certain things.

NOTE: You can also google 1200 daily calorie meal plan to get a great variety of meal plans

Here are some additional and useful links to alternative meal plans:

Yourself Fitness.com

Firstpath.com

Changingshape.com

Shawn Johnson from the US Womens Olympic Gymnastics Team says “I don't really follow any specific diet. I just eat very healthy, well balanced meals and try to stay away from sweets. A normal breakfast for me is yogurt and scrambled eggs, lunch might be a wrap or salad with some fruit, and for dinner I eat a lot of fish or chicken and fresh vegetables.”