Throw Away Your Calorie Counters!
An incredibly simple way to manage lifestyle nutrition is to eat food that is REAL, simply meaning, you know where it came from.
Choosing to eat natural, whole and unprocessed foods, removes the confusion of reading food labels. So without a calculator or the latest calorie counting APP in hand, you will nourish your body with the macro and micronutrients that you're designed to digest and use efficiently. Additionally you’ll no longer have to decipher the hundred different terms for sugar or even worse attempt to understand the massive amounts of chemicals, additives and preservatives that heavily laden all processed foods.
The result….., you will nourish your body, you’ll receive stable energy without the sugar “spikes”, your mental health will improve and you’ll sufficiently support your training whatever it maybe. Oh, and your body composition will change safely and progressively without being “hangry”.
Quick 101 on macronutrients, they are; muscle promoting protein, brain and hormone fuelling fats, and immunity boosting, good quality carbohydrates.
To put that into real food speak, the foundations of your everyday nutrition should be vegetables including lots of leafy greens, meats and seafood, nuts and seeds, full fat dairy, good oils and fruit.
There is room for some good quality grains, but this is dependent on your individual tolerance to grains, exercise demands and your body composition goals. A very important additional note is to make yourself aware of any intolerances you have. Wheat, gluten and dairy are common ones but your hormonal balance could be out of whack from a food that you’d never considered like tomatoes or almonds!
Processed food is everything else not mentioned in the list above. Basically it’s anything that comes in a packet!
Processed food contains highly processed fats and sugars and alongside chemicals and preservatives, it’s combination that puts lethal pressure on our liver and digestive system. Our bodies are not designed to manage such a concoction of nasties and although it can definitely handle a small amount, in large amounts our bodies really do have a daily battle. You’ll certainly function but you won’t be operating anywhere near your potential!
The rule of thumb is to keep it simple, if its real food, eat it, if it comes in a packet, it offers very little nourishment. Of course there is room for a treat or a meal out or a glass of alcohol, life is definitely for living and we all love food. But take empowerment in knowing what is going to get you functioning at your optimum and what is not, then it’s your choice.
