Your Health!

Nutrition is everything! Your ability to trim down and tone up rises and falls on mastering this one facet of fitness! Your longevity of life is dependent on proper balance of nutritious foods. Discover a few helpful "dos and don'ts" on healthy eating!

1. Raw Fruits and Veggies. It is obvious to say so, but it must be emphasized...eat your fruits and veggies daily! Researchers report that in order achieve optimum health we ought to consume 10-13 servings of raw fruits and veggies a day. This is certainly quite a task for the average American considering they are hard pressed to consume even 1 serving a day a raw fruits and veggies. Don't be discouraged or overwhelmed. You don't have to take on this task over night. Work your way up to the recommended amount gradually by starting with 2 fruits and 2 veggies (4 total) servings per day. Once that becomes a simple habit then increase to 3 and 3 (6 total), and continue until you get a total of 10-13 total servings.
2. Food Log. In order to fully grasp and visualize your nutrition habits you must start writing down what you eat during the day and review it at the end of the day. As a fitness coach, I periodically require my clients to send me an e mail every day of their nutrition for that day. It's incredible to see the change they make in their lives by simply seeing what they stuff into their faces every day. Nutrition logging is vital to the weight loss and fat loss process. You must keep track of it in order to reach your God-given fitness potential. Not keeping track of your nutrition is like trying to succeed in business yet neglecting to keep good records of finances and clients. Be a wise steward of your body and avoid fast foods; replace them with raw fruits and veggies....and lots of it!
3. Supplementation. Along with maintaining the proper nutrition plan, we must also consider supplementing our diet with good healthy, clean, able to be absorbed nutrition supplements. Notice I am not using the word "vitamin". Vitamins are not whole foods, typically. We want whole food type supplements. We want them to be as natural and "organic" as possible (not processed). My recommendations for supplements to the general public would include a good protein powder, fish oil, vitamins D and A and C. You will most likely not find these items in pure, clean forms at your local nutrition shops or grocery stores. You also most likely will not find it at your medical doctor's office. So, you will most likely need to search for nutritionists or chiropractors or holistic doctors/nurses or midwives in your area. There are some grocery stores or whole food stores that are a breath of fresh air when it comes to finding what I'm talking about. Some of you reading this may need to purchase your products online. No matter what, do your research on anything you put into your body for food!

CAVEAT: I am not a doctor or dietician. This article is not intended to give specific nutritional advice to any particular person. These statements may not be applicable to everyone. You must contact your doctor or nutritionist and perform your own well thought out research before taking on any new diet plans or supplements.