Many of you don't know, but I have struggled with a major blood disease for over 8 years now. After many different treatments we have finally found one that helps. I can never be cured of the disease but we are figuring out how to manage it!
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| Blurry shot, but Bob and me at our last workout |
Part of the reason I am so healthy right now is thanks our personal trainer/food coach/therapist/everything! His name is
Bob Davis and he runs an Arizona program for kids up to age 18 called
Strength of America as well as doing group and individual training for adults. Honestly I can't say enough about what
Bob has done for me! He has me exercising every day (only 2.5 months ago I was in bed 23 hours a day receiving treatments). He has me eating right. He has me feeling healthier than ever and I am still at the end of my treatment.
Needless to say I am excited to have him post! Here he is with a post on healthy eating.
With
all the media blitz, diets, experts pushing fad diets, good fats, bad
fats, all protein no carbs, good carbs, bad carbs, energy drinks, sports
drinks, protein after workouts, carbo loading... Forget it, I’m just
going to get a cheeseburger!!!
It’s
no wonder we have such a large part of our population obese, New York
City alone has over 60% of their population considered obese. There are
about 20 million Americans with Diabetes, children and adults, and 79
million are Prediabetic!
A
big part of the problem is we over think what to eat, then get
frustrated, or are starving then we don’t think and eat anything we can
get a hold of.
I am a big believer in MODERATION. Here are some basic rules in controlling your weight and energy at the same time.
- Portion control
- Get a Protein in every meal
- Fiber with your protein
- Fruits and vegetables 3 times a day
- 4, 16 oz bottles of water each day
- Don’t drink your calories, unless it’s your meal
Portion Control-
We only need about 300-500 calories in each meal. A meal does not have
to be a sit down fill the table with food. It can be a half sandwich
on whole wheat with a vegetable, hand full of almonds and a piece of
fruit, a protein shake. With this recipe of small portions you can eat
5-6 times a day and less mess in the kitchen with those big meals.
Protein-
We need to rethink protein. Many believe it is only needed if you are
an athlete wanting to build big muscles. Proteins help regulate our
blood sugars. Think about your breakfast, the most important meal of
the day, right? If your last meal the day before breakfast was 8-10
hours sometimes 12, then you have carbs, even fruit, not even talking
about a doughnut, then you wonder why an hour later at work or school
you are sleepy. You put in your empty tank sugar, tasted good, you were
eating fruit, but crash, the sugar now drops your energy down. By
simply adding a protein, not high fat protein, it helps to regulate and
slowly use that energy you just consumed. We generally consume less
than 5% of our total calories from protein, we need 20-25% of our
calories from protein. Protein such as nuts, beans, chicken, lean beef,
pork, turkey, fish are great sources. With the portion guidelines we
only need 15-20 grams of protein in each meal.
Fiber with your protein-
When protein and fiber are eaten together they are digested more
slowly, this keeps you satisfied longer and keeps your blood sugars from
spiking then crashing. Adding fruits, veggies or whole grains to each
meal with your protein will put you on track and taste good also.
Fruits and Veggies 3 times a day-
These are good sources of fiber to go with your protein. So with a
fruit or vegetable 3 times each, that covers your 6 meals a day. If you
stick with your portions and calories, an apple or orange, carrots,
broccoli, etc you will not exceed you calories from carbs-sugars. We
need carbs, not doughnuts. :-)
Four 16 oz. bottles of water each day-
And not just for those of us in Arizona. Our bodies are composed of
about 60-70% water, so why do so many of us think we can operate
efficiently without it? Caffeine dehydrates your body. You cannot
count the water in coffee toward your daily requirement, you have to
drink more water because of the coffee. An easy calculation to figure
how much water you should drink, is to take half you bodyweight and
drink that in ounces. A 100 pound person should drink about 50oz. of
water each day. See how much you should be drinking. When most of us
calculate that and the protein we take in, now it starts to make sense
why we don’t have as much energy during the day. Our brain is about 75%
water.
Don’t drink your calories unless it’s your meal-
I’ll have a glass of orange juice in the morning with breakfast that
counts, doesn’t it? A typical glass of orange juice is like eating at
least three oranges. Too much sugar at one time, and don’t think that
it counts as your three servings of fruit, the body doesn’t save it for
later. Otherwise once a day at a buffet we would all be good, but have
you taken a look around and the sizes of most bodies at the
buffets. The body doesn’t store it the way we want. If one of your
meals is a protein shake, then great. Calories such as sodas, juice or
alcohol all count in our meals! A typical drink is anywhere from
200-600 calories, that’s a meal in your new guidelines.
Stay
tuned for more details on the basics of eating and exercising healthy
in a way that you can live with. Forget the diets, stick with the rules
above and keep it simple. :-)
Have fun and see you next time! If you have questions visit my website or email me.
Bob Davis
Strength of America Founder since 1989
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Not too late to sign up for summer camp, starts week of June 4th, but prorate or make up classes available if gone on vacation.
Make sure your athlete is safe this upcoming season.
"Hard work is important, but Working Smart is the key to success"
Me :-)
