Most people who start thinking about changing their habits wonder exactly where they should start. There are 5 main components to body composition change: nutrition, cardiovascular exercise, supplements, resistance training with weights, and professional assistance. It is very important to understand why we focus more on body composition than weight. The fact is, NO ONE knows how much you weigh except you and your doctor, and NO ONE cares. Therefore, it does not matter what it weighs; what matters is how you feel and how you look in your clothes. That’s! These 5 components focus on just that. Trust me.
Today we are only going to deal with the first and most important component, which is Nutrition. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to gain weight, lose weight, or stay exactly where you are; nutrition is essential. 75% of your appearance is what you eat.
These are the basics. Initially, HOW you eat is much more important than WHAT you eat. These are today’s tips:
* More than 55% of your calories should come from carbohydrates.
* Less than 30% of your calories should come from fat
* Your protein intake in grams should be 80% of your body weight in kg (to determine your weight in kg, divide your body weight in pounds by 2.2)
* Consume less than 2,400 mg of sodium per day.
* Eat every 3 hours while you are awake (every time you digest you burn calories)
* Eat more times, not more food
* Portion control: your body can metabolize a certain amount of calories in one sitting. The metabolic process involves digestion and the use of energy. Anything that your body does not metabolize will be stored as FAT.
* You CAN eat before going to sleep, eating before going to sleep does not make you GAIN weight, and Eating more is the BEST way to lose weight.
Check out my portion control guide below:
Beef, poultry, and venison
One serving = 3 ounces About the size of a deck of cards or 2 cassette tapes
Fish, shellfish and mollusks
One serving = 3 ounces About the size of a checkbook
Starches
Two servings = 1 tennis ball size cup of rice or pasta, scoop of ice cream
One serving = 1 pancake is the size of a compact disc (CD)
One serving = 1/2 cup of cooked rice is the size of a full cupcake wrapper
One serving = 1 piece of cornbread is the size of a bar of soap
One serving = 1 slice of bread is the size of an audiotape.
One serving = 1 cup of cereal flakes is the size of a fist
Stay tuned for Part 2: Cardiovascular Exercise