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| Healthy Nutrition: Separating
Fact From Fiction
by Kathleen
Ekdahl |
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| As fitness professionals, we are frequently asked, "Where and
How" to begin this difficult process. Below are some sensible
suggestions for helping you begin the journey. No myths. No
gimmicks. |
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| #1 |
Seek advice from a
professional.
(Your mother's hairdresser doesn't count!) A professional is
defined as a nutritionist or registered dietitian. Even a
fitness professional, such as a personal trainer, is not qualified
to give in depth nutritional advice, only basic nutrition
guidelines. Educate yourself by researching information on sound
nutritional principles. |
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| #2 |
Avoid diets that
eliminate certain foods or entire food groups.
If you have successfully completed #1, this is a mute point.
Avoid any fad diet that requires eating only certain foods or
combinations of foods. These diets never work for long.
We are meant to eat a wide variety of foods in moderation and,
thus, should never label certain foods as "bad".
Eliminating foods or entire food groups from your diet inevitably
leads to deprivation and subsequent bingeing. |
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| #3 |
Have patience!
The safest way to lose weight is to take your time.
Nutritionists recommend 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week.
To lose 2 pounds/week, you must decrease your caloric intake by
7000 calories per week. That's a reduction of 1000 calories
per day. Think about it! That's a tall order for some.
Any diet that claims higher weight loss is dangerous, unrealistic
and short lived. The weight will always come back once you
stop the "diet". |
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#4
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Keep a food log.
Nutritionists recommend a food log as a way to track
types and amounts of food eaten, as well as eating frequency.
They also suggest keeping track of emotions or
"feelings" at the time of eating. This will help
you determine whether you are eating for reasons other than
hunger. A food log can help you "visualize"
your eating patterns so you can adjust these patterns if
necessary. When you keep your log, be completely
truthful about what you've eaten! Do not look at
the food log as punishment. You are not "bad" or
"good" because of what you have eaten. The only
way to fully discover your nutritional pitfalls is to be truthful
with yourself. The ultimate goal is to learn to seek
satisfaction in healthier, low fat foods, matching what your body
actually needs, with what YOU crave. |
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| #5 |
Add regular,
vigorous exercise to your lifestyle.
It is impossible to be successful at long-term weight
loss without exercise. Some people can lose weight by
adding exercise - without changing their diets - but this only
works if their diets are well balanced and safe. On the
other hand, trying to lose weight without exercising, is futile.
Not only is exercise essential for good health and fitness, but,
it raises your resting metabolism. A higher resting metabolism
burns more calories and reduces the likelihood that calories will
be stored as fat. |
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| #6 |
Balance your
nutrition with the 60-20-20 formula.
Most nutritionists recommend a daily calorie balance of
60% carbohydrates, 20% fat, and 20% proteins. Each meal
should also follow the 60-20-20 formula as well. In
addition to seeking this balance, look at total daily calories and
fat grams. |
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Make sure you get enough
protein at each meal. Experts recommend .5-.7 grams of
protein per day per pound of body weight, with .9 grams per pound
being the uppermost limit of useable protein. Most women
do not get enough protein, and consequently, cannot add much
needed muscle. This muscle helps raise metabolism and
creates that lean, strong appearance they seek. |
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| #7 |
Know your BMR and
feed your body the calories it requires.
Never eat fewer calories than your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
requires. Your BMR is the amount of calories your body needs
when it is at rest. You can calculate your BMR by
multiplying your current weight by 11. Women often eat much
less than their BMR. This slows down their metabolism and
sabotages their attempts to lose weight. |
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| #8 |
Eat every meal.
Eat throughout the day, without skipping meals. Skipping
meals will make you hungrier later. Your largest meals should be
taken earlier in the day. This gives you the opportunity to use
those calories via your exercise and daily activities.
Breakfast is extremely important, especially if you exercise in
the a.m. Theoretically, dinners should not be very large
meals, since shortly after, you will retire to bed. |
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Take a multivitamin if you
feel you are not getting enough fruits and vegetables. Drink
plenty of water, eat high fiber, multi-grain foods, and avoid high
fat, high sugar or high salt foods. Eat everything in moderation
while enjoying occasional "treats". |
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#9
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Accept yourself as
you are.
Finally, learn to accept yourself as you are. Women are
meant to be "rounder" and fatter than men. Men, by
genetics, have larger muscles and are leaner than women. You
are beautiful and good. Once you accept your
beauty, no matter how atypical it may be, you will move forward
towards giving yourself the gift of good health. |
Kathleen Ekdahl is an AFAA and
ACE Certified Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer with over 10 years
experience in fitness and a background in Clinical Research and
Cardiovascular Medicine. Kathy is a consultant and presenter for the
fitness industry and fitness professionals. |
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| Fitness success can be
achieved by following these simple rules: Kathleen
Ekdahl |
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| 1.
Set achievable, realistic, internally focused goals. |
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We all set goals in our
daily lives, and we need to do so with exercise as well. To make a
difference in exercise adherence, the goals must be achievable and
realistic. Most importantly, for the long haul, you must be
motivated by the internal desire to be healthy because it feels
great, not because your waist line will shrink. Goals such as
“I’ll lose 30 pounds in 6 weeks for that wedding” are
inappropriate and unachievable, not to mention, “externally
focused”. With a goal such as this, you will eventually fail
because the goal is unrealistic or even worse, you’ll lose
weight too fast, and once the wedding is over, it will all come
back because you were not motivated past the date of the wedding.
We all know people who lost 30 pounds plus, just to gain it back,
feeling worse than when they started. How self-defeating!
Finally, remember to reward
yourself once you’ve achieved your goals, and then set new ones.
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| 2.
Accept yourself for who you are. |
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Each of us has a body
type, a shape, a genetic gift that is ours. We may have shapely
hips, strong muscular legs, or an ample bustline, and this is part
of who we are. Accepting yourself for your genetic gifts, while
giving yourself continual positive feedback such as “I am
strong” and “I have a curvacious figure as all women are meant
to have”, will go a long way to making you feel good about
yourself. Negative self-talk achieves no purpose. It hurts us and
makes us feel weak and failing. Once we feel good about ourselves
on the inside and outside, we can overcome any minor setbacks that
may arise as we move forward in our fitness. |
| 3.
Choose an exercise that you enjoy. |
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This may seem like a
simple idea, but many people actually think they must suffer
through exercise in order to be successful. The exact opposite is
true if you want to find success. If you choose an exercise that
you truly dislike, you’ll dread your exercise session and hence,
you won’t do it! So, if you hate running - don’t run!
In order to address all aspects of
good health you need to incorporate cardiovascular endurance,
strength training, flexibility and nutrition. Even if you dislike
one of these aspects of fitness, there are ways to sneak a little
in here and there. By incorporating many different types of
exercise and including lots of variety in your program, you will
also be “Cross Training”, a proven way to beat boredom and
reduce the risk of overuse injuries.
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| 4.Schedule
your exercise time into your daily life just as you would any
other appointment. |
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Our lives are often so
hectic that we rarely have extra time to go to the grocery store,
let alone exercise. Exercise can be pushed to a low priority when
we become too busy.You must learn to manage your time more wisely,
making exercise a top priority. If you analyze your current
schedule, you will find places where you can insert an exercise
session. Instead of your weekly manicure, or lunch with your
friends, why not exercise instead? After all, which is more
important, your health or your nails? Many people find exercising
in the morning to be a good way to help them stick with their
exercise programs, but this is only feasible if you have open
morning time. |
| 5.
Don’t over exercise or under eat. |
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So many new exercisers
make the mistake of thinking, "if a little exercise is good,
more must be better." Even worse is this thinking: “if
eating less makes me lose weight, eating even less will make me
lose weight even faster.” Both of these ideas set you up for
failure and possible injury and illness. It is
possible to exercise too much, and injury is always the end
result. Overexercising or “overtraining”
can create “overuse injuries” such as pulled muscles, shin
splints, and knee, foot and back problems. Undereating is just as
dangerous, resulting in low energy, chronic sickness, slowing of
your metabolism and increased risk of injury. Even occasional
bouts of self-imposed starvation (DIETS), or bingeing and purging
can lead to serious eating disorders. |
| 6.
Be Patient. |
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Changing your physical
health takes time. Anyone, or anything that promises “quick,
guaranteed results” is not telling the whole truth, and does not
have your best interests at heart. They are only out to make money
at your expense. Depending on your initial fitness level,
creating positive changes in your health can take months,
sometimes up to a year. This is not to be pessimistic - this is
the truth! Think of any goal you may have, whether it is
saving for a new home, learning a new language, or training for a
marathon. Quick, guaranteed
results are unheard of in these examples, why do we expect them in
fitness? |
| Finally,
don’t hesitate to ask for help! While some people
manage to find fitness success on their own, many of us flounder
through a lengthy trial-and-error process before we figure out how
to achieve our goals. Finding a knowledgeable fitness professional
to help can dramatically speed up this process. Make sure that you
seek advice from a certified or accredited fitness professional
with references, if applicable. Remember that while books, the
Internet, or TV, often provide information about health and
fitness, not all of it is grounded in science as it should be.
Your best bet is to establish a one-to-one relationship with a
gym, nutritionist or personal trainer who will provide you with
healthy advice. |
| Remember to
always check with your doctor before beginning any new exercise
program. |
Kathleen Ekdahl is an AFAA and
ACE Certified Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer with over 12 years
experience in fitness and a background in Clinical Research and
Cardiovascular Medicine. Kathy is a consultant and presenter for the
fitness industry and fitness professionals.
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