Nutrition fads. There are more different ideas and schools of thought on nutrition than there are movements in Crossfit. First and foremost, let me say that I, by no means, claim to be an expert on the subject. Also let me say, I certainly do not think you need to be an expert on the subject in order to very quickly and drastically affect your health and fitness with nutrition.
Have you heard about a “new” thing in nutrition? Have you read an article about the new latest and greatest? Have you watched something that presented all kinds of convincing evidence? Great. Now you have heard one side of that particular story. The fact is, for every thing you read, watch or hear saying one thing that is backed by all this scientific evidence; there is something completely conflicting being presented by someone else backed by another mountain of scientific evidence.
There are all kinds of things out there promising results. What works for one person, may have terrible results for somebody else. That’s where the real problem comes in. There is no “magic formula” to nutrition that fits everyone. If we start with “calories in versus calories out”, we can get a good foundation for nutrition. Our body requires fuel. The amount of fuel is going to change based on our activity level throughout the day. Very, very simply, if we are putting in a whole bunch more fuel than we are using, it is going to be in excess and we will not “lose weight”. On the other hand, if we aren’t taking in enough calories to sustain us throughout the day, this is going to send the body into panic mode and we will not be losing weight effectively and certainly not in a healthy manner.
Once we have found a happy number of calories for our body, we need to make sure they are quality calories. A chocolate bar and a chicken breast might have the same number of calories. However, that chicken breast is going to be used far more effectively than a chocolate bar. One simple tip we share with new clients quite often is “shop the perimeter of the grocery store”. In today’s crazy set up grocery stores this may not apply to a “T” but in grocery stores of old it for sure did. Another very simple tip is “if it has an ingredients label on it, it’s not food.” I heard another good one in relation to our meats a while back also. “The less legs it had, the leaner the meat”. Cows and pigs have more fat than chicken and turkey which have more fat than fish and seafood. Of course there are exceptions to all this but we’re keeping it simple.
While the intent of this blog is not to offer a bunch of advice, there are all kinds of great, easy tips out there. Keep things simple and make small changes. One small change followed by another and another will be much easier to stick to long term than one big drastic change. Before you decide to hop on the “latest and greatest” bandwagon because of some information you came across, make sure you do a little bit of your own research on the back story. While there is nothing wrong with making changes, doing so without proper research isn’t always going to be a good thing for you.
At 306, we are lucky to have Rebecca on staff who is a Certified Precision Nutrition coach. If you want some particular advice and guidance, she would be happy to help you out. As we said earlier, what works for one person might not work for another. She has the knowledge and can spend the time working with you to see what gets you results! If you want to dial things in, this is the way to go.