HEALTHY NUTRITION FOCUS

FOCUS – HEALTHY NUTRITION PRINCIPLES

1. DO NOT “DIET”:

Make long term, lifestyle changes: repeated research has proven diets to be unsuccessful in long term weight loss and maintenance! By adopting good habits over the long term you will achieve your ideal weight and maintain it. Think principles and habits you can see yourself adopting for the long term.
a. What are the 3 worst nutrition habits you can change now?
b. What are some other changes for later on?

2. EAT NATURALLY:

Avoid processed, packaged and refined foods (the four white devils are white sugar, white salt (do use 100% unprocessed sea salt), white flour and white processed milk. If you can’t pronounce what’s on the label –don’t eat it! (preservatives, colors etc) Processed/packaged foods are full of junk and create stress and inflammation internally. The longer the shelf life – the more harmful it likely is! This principle also helps makes decisions. When faced with two choices – choose the most natural.
a. What are some processed foods that you can stop eating now?
b. What are some natural foods you can add to your diet?

3. HAVE FOOD TYPE TARGETS: In order to try and maintain a healthy balance of foods AIM to eat:
a. Vegetables = 4-5 serves
b. Fruit = 2 serves
c. Dairy = 2 serves
d. Protein = 1-3 serves
e. Healthy Oils = 3 serves,
f. Starches = 3-5 serves.

4. TRACK YOUR CALORIES OCCASIONALLY – Tracking calories can be tiresome if you think you have to do this forever but checking your calories for 2-4 weeks occasionally is a very smart thing to do. This takes the guess work out of your eating (and keeps you honest). Many people are just taking in too many calories and don’t realize it. A great app for tracking calories is myfitnesspal.com You just login on computer or phone and create a profile with your age, activity level, goals etc and the app lets you know how many calories you can have and makes it very easy for you to track what you are having.

5. FIND THE RIGHT STRATEGIES FOR YOU:

There is no perfect diet just like there is no perfect training plan. The best approaches are the ones that you enjoy and laso the ones that have some scientific validation behind them. Here is a short list of what we know works:

a) Calorie Tracking – see point 4 above. This is the most simple and prefferred method and works with any other strategy and allows you to keep improving your choices as you go.

b) Low Carbohydrate/High Protein works well – (not no carb) Generally lowering carbohydrates, removing sugars and increasing protein is a helpful start for fat loss and weight maintenance. Click this link for more info – Low carb tips

c) Intermittent Fasting – This is a very healthy long term startegy but harder to apply and maintain for some. For our resources on this click here – Intermittent Fasting Reources

6. EAT LESS THAN YOU NEED: Run with your Fat Loss Fuel Light On. At the first signs of hunger don’t rush to the fridge or cupboard to grab a snack. Monitor where you are at. Like the fuel gauge on your car you know you have a certain amount of km’s to go before you need to re-fuel. Get to know your body and monitor how hungry you really are or if you could wait until the next meal instead of snacking. Avoid skipping meals!
a. Are you eating less than you need?
b. Are you eating too little?

7. ROTATE  YOUR FOODS – Variety is the spice of life for more than just taste reasons! Eating varied foods will help your enjoyment but also provide more varied nutrients and help to prevent food allergies and side effects. Food rotation can also help to identify which foods work well for you and which do not.
a. Do you eat the same things most days?
b. What are some alternatives to your “usual”?

8. EAT LIKE A PYRAMID – If want a “V” shape body use an upside down V (pyramid) approach to your diet. Bigger breakfast. Medium Lunch. Lighter Dinner. If you skip breakfast, light lunch and big dinner you will get fatter!
a. What is your biggest meal of the day?
b. Do you eat for what you have done or are about to do?

9. USE THE 80/20 RULE – Focus on making good principles part of your daily routine. Try your hardest to stick to your principles the majority of the time. But allow yourself days where you can have your treats as well. A smart practice is to be good during the week and allow yourself 1 or 2 treats on weekends. These extras can be burnt off by doing a bit of extra exercise next time you are at the gym or going for a walk or bike ride on the weekend!
a. What are some treats you will allow yourself?
b. What are some treats you will remove or limit?

10 . DRINK PLENTY OF WATER – Drink 80% of your body weight (kg) in water (L). For example: A 100kg man should aim to drink 4 litres of water per day. A 50 kilogram woman needs 2 litres per day

11. Plan and prepare – if you take the time to plan and prepare your meals, you’re much less likely to reach for something convenient and unhealthy. Planning and preparing makes you much more conscious of what you’re going to eat and when

12. Listen to your body (not your head) – it’s not your body telling you that you want a triple Choc fudge Sunday, that is your head. Your body only ever wants nutrients and sustenance, and that is best achieved from healthy choices. Plus if you feel more healthy after eating certain foods, most likely they are the best ones for your gut and your health versus things like sugar and caffeine which can give you highs and lows.

If you have any questions please email me. See you soon.

Consistency and progression are the keys to success.

“From sacrifice, bliss”

Next step in the 12 week process = Nutrition Tracking

Our bella vista, personal trainers take a lifestyle to approach to helping our clients enjoy better health and fitness. With over 25 years of personal training experience in the hills district we are some of the most experienced personal trainers in our industry and have helped numerous people look, feel and function better for sports and life!

We have trained international level athletes and 70 year old nannas and know that a scientific approach to training can be tailored for anyone wanting to improve any aspect of their health and fitness.

We do not promote quick fix strategies or products and encourage our clients to take a holistic – long term approach to achieving their goals. This means looking at exercise, nutrition, motivation and lifestyle change.

Too many people get sucked into the empty promises of “quick fix” products and programs in the fitness industry. We promote good health, fitness and lifestyle and have attained amazing results in doing so.

We are helping people in bella vista, baulkham hills, norwest, caste hill, glenhaven, glenwood, kellyville, kellyville ridge, the ponds, beaumont hills, kings park, schofields, kenthurst, dural, rouse hill, annangrove, galston and even have clients coming form outside the hills district and Sydney to our Lexington Road service.

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