In order to ensure that our bodies are healthy and performing to the best of their abilities, during exercise and everyday life, you must provide yourself with the correct fuels. Our bodies are complex machines and it's important that we are consuming foods that provide the raw energy and materials that it needs to function and flourish. This means taking responsibility for our own eating patterns and ensuring that we are eating the correct types, and amounts, of foods.
It's important not to think of being healthy as being "on a diet." Dieting is hard work and usually implies that you have to deny yourself of certain food groups in order to lose weight. Being healthy means that you don't have to deny yourself of anything, you just have to take more control of the types of food you are eating. You need to eat a balanced diet so that your body gets all of the vitamins and minerals that it needs for to function at it's best. You can still eat the foods that you want and that you like, even if they're "bad," the key is moderation and knowing when you've had enough.
The trouble with our society is that there are so many theories and ideas about what is healthy, how we should look and what we should be eating in order to look that way. Every time you open a magazine or newspaper there is a new fad diet or quick fix that promises to be the answer to all of our problems. It's difficult to know whether they are to be believed or whether they do more harm than good! The important thing to remember is that everyone's body has it's own shape and it's not about the size of that body, it's about how healthy it is and how well it functions. A combination of exercise that continues to challenge your fitness and a balanced and varied diet are the only tools you need enjoy your body and your life.
It's also important to keep hydrated and the best form of hydration comes from drinking water. Water is responsible for taking nutrients from the food we eat and moving it around the body to where it is needed, as well as regulating body temperature and housing the body's chemical reactions. We lose 2-2.5 litres of water every day with little or no exercise in normal temperature and humdity. This water needs to be replenished - even more if you are exercising regularly.
If you would like to improve your health by improving your diet, I can offer a full nutritional breakdown which will achieve the following:
Your daily calorie requirement based on your height, weight, activity levels and dietary goals.
Full breakdown of calorie requirements for certain food groups.
Assessment of your current eating patterns.
Advice on improving your health and wellbeing by looking at any nutrients/vitamins/minerals you are missing.
Tips on improving your diet with healthier cooking methods/ingredients.
Assessment of lifestyle choices which could be damaging your health.
This information will be gathered from the results of a detailed food diary that you will keep for an agreed amount of time (usually 3-5 days). It is important to eat as you normally would throughout this period and be honest in order to get the best results. Contact Me for more information.
