Proper nutrition is usually the MOST important part of a successful fitness program. Just because you exercise doesn’t mean you can erase all the bad eating habits you possess. However, many people think that proper eating means you have to starve yourself or eat foods that you don’t like. It’s not that at all. Here are some tips that can help you meet your fitness goals without starving:
Nutrition Tip 1: Chew your food. It’s really simple. The more you chew the smaller the pieces going into the stomach. The easier it is for the stomach to break down the food into smaller pieces which makes it easier to convert the food into something that will pass through the intestinal barrier into nutrients that the body can actually use. Also, doing this will slow your eating down which will allow you to absorb more nutrients from less food.

Nutrition Tip 2: Eat small portions. Large portions cause indigestion, which leads to less absorption of the energy and nutrients in the food itself. When your body believes it’s undernourished it will store fat to protect you. Regardless of the quality of the food. This is one of the biggest problems our society has. We’re overfed but still undernourished.

Nutrition Tip 3: Slow your eating down. There is about a 20–30-minute lag time between your stomach and your brain. So, when you feel full, you’ve eaten way too much. Therefore, by eating slower, you’ll eat less, enjoy it more, improve your digestion, receive more nutrients and become healthier. A simple rule of thumb is eat before you’re hungry and stop before you’re full.

Nutrition Tip 4: Eating the right foods doesn’t guarantee that your body is receiving it. Most food we eat today are processed. This means the natural enzymes in those foods have been eliminated. This keeps the foods from spoiling. But we need those enzymes on order to break down the foods. If you cook your food or eat foods from a can, it’s been processed, therefore you’re not going to get everything you thought you were.

Nutrition Tip 5: By now, you’ve heard of probiotics. Probiotics are healthy bacteria. This healthy bacterium makes up 70% of your immune system. It’s no joke. In a perfect world you should have up to 3 pounds of it living in your gut. The problem is that it’s so easy to destroy and so hard to grow. So if you want to stay healthy, you need to learn more about probiotics.

Proper nutrition involves your body actually receiving what it needs – not just putting food in your mouth and swallowing. To learn how you can implement simple habits into your daily routine that will maximize your results (calculator or app NOT required), please call us at 602-230-8581 or visit our website at billrossfitnesssolutions.com