WHAT IS THE PERFECT DIET PLAN? PART II

In PART I we talked about all of the different ideas and thoughts about meal or diet plans that are coming and going each year.  This part, PART II, is going to be about how you can change your life through healthier habits without having to pay a company or nutritionist to do so for you.

First though, I want to cover some important logic:

To make this very simple I am going to say, most of the diet plans mentioned in PART I have something wrong with them.  American’s eating habits, in general, are very poor.  We live in a world where we want to eat on the run and we want to eat what “tastes good.”  Slowly over time we have lowered our nutrition standards and what we now have is a result of a compilation of these lowered standards.  So, really any eating plan you do will get you results because anything is better than the fast food diet that is so common in today’s world.  Now, rather than rant about all of these poor habits and get nowhere, let’s focus on how to change this. 

Some food for thought (no pun intended): if I asked you to pour sugar or salt down the gas tank of your car, would you?  Most likely your response would be “Hell no, why would I do that?”  That sounds ridiculous, right?  Well we know that it is bad for our cars and by no means do we want to ruin our car.  Why then, knowing also what is bad for our bodies, are we willing to eat it anyway?  Are we therefore saying our vehicle is more important than our body? 

“But eating healthy is expensive!”  I agree completely, but so is gasoline.  We are willing to fill our gas tanks and continue driving despite the rise in prices, so why then are we worried about the price of healthy food?  See below…

Logical solution (maybe too logical for some):  

1. Buy a bike
2. Save money on gas
3. Use saved money from gas to buy healthier food
4. Between the bike and better food you become a much healthier person

Now all of these things do us no good if we can’t stick becoming a healthier individual.  So then let’s talk about how realistically we can do this…

Much like we slowly lowered our nutritional standards over time, I have found that the best way to re-gain control of our lives and what we eat is by using the same formula that got us to the point at which we currently are.  If we try to quit eating unhealthy food and make the switch to only healthy food all at once, we are set up for failure.  Like we slowly lowered our standards of eating over time, the simplest way to raise the standard is by doing it slowly over time.  The easiest way is by introducing one new healthy habit at a time.  If you stick to this one habit for a week or even two weeks prior to introducing a new habit you are, over the course of time, more likely to integrate these into your lifestyle.  So say for instance, your first habit might be simply drinking more water on a daily basis.  If the goal is to drink half of your body weight in ounces per day (example: if you weigh 200 lbs you would drink 100 oz of water per day).  If you do this for a week and then introduce a new habit each week, by the end of a one year period you will have introduced more than 50 new habits.  At that point you are more likely to stay with these habits and also see the results you have been longing for.

So to finish this article I am going to leave you with a few healthy habits that you could introduce to yourself that can change your life.  These are broad topics that can be broken down into smaller step-by-step habits which may be necessary for sticking with each of them.

• Drinking more water on a daily basis (half of your body weight in ounces)
• Eat more fruits and vegetables (try to get one serving of both a fruit and vegetable with each meal)
• Eat lean meat only (chicken, fish, lean red meat)
• Eliminate sugared beverages from your diet (this may come in small steps as followed)
• Switch from regular soda to diet
• Cut the amount you drink in half each week until you are at 0
• Slowly eliminate processed foods from your diet (choose whole foods over processed)
• Find a good quality nutritional shake to incorporate into you daily routine
• Get more sleep each night (ideally 7-9 hours)
• Get a minimum of 3 workouts in per week

These all seem like simple things you can do, but realistically these are all lacking in most people’s lives.  If you can change these simple things and continually strive to incorporate more habits like this, you will both look and feel better!

If you are interested in some guidance along the lines of lifestyle habits, nutrition, and fitness, stop in and see us at Warrior Performance Gym so you can see how we can help you reach your goals.

-Jon

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www.warriorperformancegym.com

WHAT IS THE PERFECT DIET, PART I

Over the years you will see a lot of different things go in and out of style.  Diet plans are no different.  So how do you tell which one is the best?  Or is there even one out there that you should follow?  What you need to realize is that each diet has their own niche, with people exclaiming their success stories about how it changed their life and they are so much better off now.  Each diet will also have either a doctor or health professional promoting it and saying that it is backed by “ground-breaking” science.  So what does it come down to?  To begin, they are all the same in that they will probably work initially by helping you lose weight and maybe even body fat.  The problem then becomes that if you want to keep it off, you will have to continue with that diet the rest of your life, otherwise gain back everything you lost.  Meaning you will keep paying them money for their products or fall off the wagon and your money will have been a waste. 

Here’s a little secret: YOU DO NOT WANT EITHER ONE OF THOSE SCENARIOS! 

Now to set the record straight, everything I just talked about are considered “diet plans,” not diets.  Your diet is what you eat, regardless of the plan you are on.  Now, those are the commercial diet plans.  The other side of the battle is health and fitness professionals and what they are telling you to eat.  Most of this advice will vary depending on the individual you are working with.  Some professionals in the field say that you should eliminate all meat consumption and stick to foods like fruits and vegetables, much like a vegan diet plan.  Others might diagnose you with a lack of nutrients and suggest a certain type of supplementation, most often in the form of a shake or nutrition bar.  Another common diet plan that a trainer might give out is to eat chicken or fish with rice as your main source of food, maybe with some steamed vegetables thrown in there every now and then.

So, with all of this information out there on cleaning up your diet and getting results, how do you know what to believe?  What is really going to work for you?  Where should you spend your money for the best results? 

Are you feeling overwhelmed to the point it makes you not even want to change?  Stay tuned for “WHAT IS THE PERFECT DIET, PART II” where I will talk about how to filter out the bad information and easy ways to eat better and get results. 

If you are looking for help in the area of nutrition and fitness, stop in and see us at Warrior Performance Gym and we will get you on the RIGHT track.

-Jon

www.warriorperformancegym.com

STICKING WITH YOUR FITNESS PLAN

It’s March, daylight savings time has begun, and summer is just around the corner.  Now, before we dream anymore about warm weather and spending time on the lake or at the pool, let’s take a look back a few months.

Were you one of the many that began 2012 with your sights set on making a lifestyle change?  Was it dropping a few pounds to look good at the beach this summer?  Eating healthier and training hard to gain a leaner body?  Was your goal to just get in better shape so you can have more energy?  Regardless of what your resolution was, the fact of the matter is that most people have given up already.  It’s the middle of March and we are about 20% of the way through 2012.  That means you should be at least 1/5^th of the way to attaining whatever it was you wanted to change, right?  You’ve had roughly 10 weeks since January 1^st.  That is a good amount of time to meet some short term goals.  So the question is then, are you still on track? 

If you are, great job and keep up the hard work.  If not, I have good news for you: It’s not too late, you still have 80% of 2012 left and that is more than enough time to get the results you want!  Want your results sooner so you can have them by the summer?  That’s ok too, you can still get there!  Don’t wait though because the clock is ticking and the air is getting warmer.  There are still roughly 10 more weeks before June 1^st and if you get to work, you can still reach those goals you dreamed of! 

The Warriors here at Warrior Performance Gym are making progress each and every day.  They have been relentlessly in pursuit of their goals and are well on their way.  You are more than welcome to stop in and try out a free week of training to see how you can get on pace with your goals.  Our methods will help you meet your goals faster, while enjoying the process.  Stop in to see us and we will help you reset your goals and get the results you want.

-JON