When you go to pump your car up with gas, normally you have three options. Regular, that middle option that literally no one uses, and premium. Yes there is diesel too, but that doesn’t matter right now. The only kind of cars that you see filling up with premium, are supercars. These exotic, beautiful, expensive, and powerful cars that were made to be enjoyed in every way imaginable. The premium fuel keeps everything inside of it clean and running optimally
Sounds pretty good right?
What if I told you, that your body is exactly like those super cars. It has the ability to do amazing things, at any one time, and one of the biggest things that you are missing, is that premium fuel for your engine. What we put into our bodies is more important than any kind of exercise you choose to do. Proper food choices shapes how your body functions throughout the day. Fuel your body with garbage, and you are probably going to feel like garbage. Fuel your body with premium fuel, and you are going to feel like a million dollar Ferrari!
““What we put into our bodies is more important than any kind of exercise you choose to do.””
So, what kind of foods should we be fueling our body with? Here is a list of foods that you can never go wrong with!
Lean cuts of protein
Leafy greens
Vegetables rich in color
Whole source carbs like rice, potatoes, and whole grains
Olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil or some other natural cooking oil
Fruits - especially berries
Nuts and seeds (whole grains, nuts, beans (in limited amounts))
This list is great, but how do we implement these foods into our already complex lives? Here are my quick tips for starting to revamp your nutrition habits!
Incorporate some kind of protein and vegetables into every meal:
Protein and vegetables should be the backbone of every meal. Protein is made up of amino acids, which serve as the building block for everything in our bodies. It’s what makes us big and strong, and repairs the tissues in our body. Vegetables are full of micronutrients - these are vitamins and minerals that help our body recover and function as optimally as it should.
Add whole source Carbohydrates:
Carbohydrates are the fuel you need to run the engine. Let carbs drive you to live every day, fuel your workouts, and aid in recovery, while the proteins rebuild your body and fats make everything work correctly. If you don’t have some carbs in your diet, you won’t make it too far down the road.
Limit the junk food:
I am not saying that you have to get rid of the junk entirely, but the processed foods, the extra snacks, sweets, all of this needs to happen in moderation. When we binge eat junk food, we are taking away from the premium fuel that we are trying to give to our bodies. Use junk food during special occasions, or as part of a celebration, but not as part of a daily routine. I promise you will feel better about it this way.
Stick to a plan that you can adhere to:
Adherence is key. It is probably the most important point on this list. There are so many eating styles on the internet nowadays that it can almost cause paralysis by analysis. Keto, carnivore, fasting, high carb low fat, low carb high fat…etc. none of these are any better than the other. Why do I say this? Because if you choose a diet that you like and that you can stick to, then that is the best diet for you. If you said you hated fasting, and I told you that the only way to lose weight was to fast, you would probably get pretty upset and frustrated, you probably would say forget it and not even try.
When trying to make habits stick for a long time, we need to incorporate them slowly, so that we can succeed at them, and then make them habitual, before adding in another lifestyle change. The constant flux of starting and stopping is very harmful to our habits in life. It throws to many stressors at the body all at once and we cannot adapt to that as humans. If we want to have successful change, it needs to be slow and steady. Patience is key.
Your body is a complex machine, but your nutrition doesn’t have to be. Nothing that I have stated above should be ground-breaking information. It’s the implementation of these new habits that is the hardest part to making life long changes. Treat your body like the supercar that it is, and make one small change today, that is going to help you feel like a Ferrari tomorrow.