We are what we eat! Sound familiar? Yes? So why, if fat and weight loss are your goals, do you still consume inadequate foods containing an absorbanant amount of unhealthy, empty calories? Food is fuel. Fuel enables our bodies to move and perform. Activity will help and promote fat and weight loss. So tell me, are you eating to fuel your bodies to move and burn?
Fat and weight loss is a stategic process that needs a specific attention to the details that make up your exercise and nutrition game plan. When your current plan is not producing results the data needs to be analyzed and then adjusted.
1. How many calories are you consuming daily? How many calories does your body need on a daily basis?
2. How many weight workouts and cardio sessions do you perform a week?
3. How many hours of sleep do you get a night?
4. How is stress affecting your nutrition, your workouts, and your sleep?
The best way to analyze the data is to track your daily nutrition for two weeks. Do not edit, nor alter exactly what you eat. Honestly report what you have had every day. If you are not truthful you are merely cheating yourself of the ability to learn what may be sidetracking your effort to lose weight.
Keeping a chart of your daily/weekly workouts is helpful when analyzing the data in order to see what is working and what is not. Consistency is key to weight loss. Every person will have a distinct and specific "weight loss" formula; daily calorie requirements are individualized as well as each body will respond diversely to exercise.
When I ask my clients about their nutrition it is not surprising that most think they eat better than they actually do. Two boilded eggs and two pieces of bacon will not help you shed those extra pounds that you are carrying around, nor will:
processed foods, toxic fats ( trans and saturated fats), sugary foods and drinks, processed meats (lunch meat), white flour, chemically laden foods, artificial sweeteners. However, if you do not eat breakfast within 60 minutes after you wake up you could be setting yourself up for blood sugar failure for the rest of the day, causing you to reach for any sort of food that will satisfy your hunger, rather than nourish your body.
Exercise frequency, duration, and intensity is also a confusing part of the fitness equation for most of my clients. Not all workouts are treated equally: each body will respond differently to a workout, and it may take a particular amount of time to figure out how much and how intense your personal exercise plan should be. Here's where it is important to track the data in order to produce the results you are striving for. Some bodies will respond to high intensity training, while others are more suited for long, slow distance paying particular attention to heart rate. I suggest checking in with your nutrition and exercise game plan every 21, 42, 63, and 84 days. Have you lost weight? Body fat? How are your clothes fitting? Do you feel more energetic? Are you sleeping more soundly? Have your food cravings subsided? Take notes at each 21 day interval and begin adjusting after 6 weeks of consistent weekly workouts if small changes are not occuring.
Though I am not training for fat and weight loss, I am still in training. My goal is to complete the Silver Rush 50/50 on July 15th and 16th. 50 miles of mountain biking and 50 miles of trail running! Woo! Hold on please, I need to take a breath.....
Analyzing the data is key to completing this race successfully and injury free. I track my daily workouts, how I feel in each workout, how my body responds to the training, and how the food that I am consuming is contributing to my performance and recovery. This past Sunday I discovered:
1. I need to increase my weekly miles to prepare for the weekend long runs.
2. I need to add a stretching and foam rolling plan to my training program.
3. I am dehydrated and need to pay attention to my H2O consumption on a daily basis.
4. Sweet potatos and eggs is not a good breakfast at all before a 20 mile long run.
5. I need to perform more brick workouts during the week. (bike to run transfer)
Your nutrition and exercise game plan is a process that will need constant adjustment. Track and analyze the data. Make small changes one at a time. Take notes on how your body responds. What works for you will not work for another person, and vise versa. Every person's process will present obstacles that will need to be confronted in order to produce the results you desire.
"You don't always get what you wish for; you get what you work for."
No comments:
Post a Comment