I want to give you an introduction to the importance of nutrition. We will go in more depth in coming days but I feel that an emphasis on nutrition is important. Hopefully this will give you a better understanding of the importance of proper nutrition and a starting place if you are searching for one.
"Fitness and nutrition are not mutually exclusive. Proper nutrition is like the fuel that powers a car. If the fuel is inappropriate or inadequate, the car will not be able to function. The human body functions in the same way. A lack of fuel--or eating non-nutritious foods--can impede physical performance." (see reference 8)
No one wants to be on a "diet" when it comes to your food intake. However, for the purpose of this blog and our topic of fitness and nutrition, diet will refer to the kind of nutrition you will need to meet and maintain your fitness and health goals. Your diet will change as your goals change, for example if you are working on losing weight then you may need to restrict the amount of certain types of foods, however if you are building muscle and toning up but not trying to lose weight you may need to increase some of the types of foods you had to restrict to lose weight. Remember to feed and water your body regularly to get the results you want. A well balanced and nutritious diet is just as important as your workout plan when it comes to losing weight or building strength to power up!
The next step is to figure out how many calories you will need to reach your fitness and health goals. There are a number of different calculators out there that will give you an estimate of how many calories you will need depending on your age/weight/height/level of activity/fitness or health goal (see references 1, 2, 3 & 4 below). However, you must consider the type of activity/workout you are doing and the amount of calories you are using to accomplish your workout (see references 5, 6 & 7 below). Use the estimated calorie amount as a starting point but adjust it if you feel you are not getting adequate nutrition or if you think you are getting too many calories. A rule of thumb for healthy weight gain or weight loss is: plus or minus 500 calories a day (of your needed total daily calorie intake) for about one pound a week of weight gain or weight loss.
"Watching calorie intake is a must when trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Whether eating carbohydrates, proteins, fats or a combination of different types of foods, if more calories are eaten than are burned off, weight gain will occur. However, even at rest the body needs calories to survive and carry out basic functions such as breathing, digestion, muscle contraction, keeping the heart beating, manufacturing enzymes and hormones and repairing cells, states the Mayo Clinic. When not enough calories are consumed to sustain the body's basic needs, the basal metabolic rate will actually begin to slow down to conserve calories, reports the Mayo Clinic. Starvation diets lead to the body attempting to hold onto the weight to save itself. If weight loss does not occur when eating a healthy amount of calories, it is safer and more effective to add (additional) exercise to your routine to burn calories off, instead of restricting calories too much." (see reference 9 below)
Caution: tweak your diet as you see fit a little at a time until you find the right balance that will help you reach your goals.
An example 1:
~~~~~for the P90X2 program an individual's calorie intake could be between 2,400 and 2,600 calories (this is based on the calculation that was provided in the nutrition guide that came with the program). The goal is to maintain current weight (so we will not subtract or add an additional 500 calories for weight loss or weight gain), and to continue to tone up.
Once you have figured out what your starting point will be on how much to eat (daily calories needed) you will need to figure out how to distribute the calories among the different food groups and how much of each food group you will need to meet your calorie needs and your fitness/health goals.
An example 2:
~~~~~for the P90X2 program an individual will need between 2,400 and 2,600 calories a day to maintain current weight and continue to tone up. According to the nutrition guide provided the following diet plan is what is estimated for this need. Note: this is an estimate and I will need to tweak the diet depending on how the person feels (tired/fatigued/constantly hungry) and whether or not the person is able to maintain the current weight: protein: 6 servings, dairy: 2 servings, fruits: 1 serving, veggies: 3 servings, fats (good fats): 1 serving, grains: 1.5 servings, legumes: 1.5 servings, condiments: 1 serving, snacks: 3 single servings snacks (can be from any of the food groups listed in the diet plan).
Note: these different food groups is how the P90X2 nutrition guide has broken the types of foods out for the purpose of this program. Other websites or programs may have the diet plans setup differently and the food groups broken out differently. Find a plan what will work for you but be aware that it will need to be something that will fit your needs and that you will be able to stick to until you reach your goal.
My suggestion to you is to try and follow your diet plan as best you can. Example 2 noted above gives you an estimation of how many calories you will need and what food groups and serving amounts are recommended to meet your daily calorie intake. The good thing about this kind of layout is that it doesn't tell you exactly what to eat but rather what food groups to eat from which allows you more options and variety. However, some individuals find it easier to follow and stick to a specific meal outlined diet plan that will list what you will eat at each meal and snack week by week. Find what is right and what will work for you.
If you have access to a dietitian or nutritionist I would recommend you sit and outline a diet plan to meet your nutritional and fitness needs/goals. If you do not, try searching credible sites to find a diet plan that will work for you (see reference 10 below for some information). If you would like to see how the P90X and P90X2 diet plans are laid out email me and I can send them to you. Remember these plans on based on a 6 day a week workout plan where the workouts burn an average of about 600 calories and are a combination of intense weight training and cardio exercises.
References:
1. Baylor College of Medicine - Adult Energy Needs and BMI calculator:
http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/caloriesneed.htm
2. Mayo Clinic - Calorie Calculator:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598
3. Muscle and Strength site - Calorie Calculator - BMR:
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/tools/bmr-and-daily-calorie-calculator.html
4. P90X, P90X2, Insanity, Insanity Asylum, and other Beachbody programs come with a nutrition guide that will help you calculate how many calories you will need for the program and the kind of nutrition from the different food groups they recommend (will also include a variety of food options and recipes).
5. WebMD - Calories Burned for over 600 exercises and activities:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-fitness-calorie-counter
6. My Fitness Pal - Calories Burned from Exercise:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/exercise/lookup
7. Health Status - Calories Burned Calculator based on age and activity:
http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
8. Read more @ LiveStrong.com - Importance of Nutrition:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/67303-importance-nutrition-fitness/#ixzz1oU2aywOC
9. Read more @ LiveStrong.com - Side Effects of Not Enough Calories:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/325139-side-effects-of-not-enough-calories/#ixzz1oUJCpPmm
10. Read more @ LiveStrong.com - How to outline your healthy eating plan:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/249554-how-to-outline-your-healthy-eating-plan/
"Fitness and nutrition are not mutually exclusive. Proper nutrition is like the fuel that powers a car. If the fuel is inappropriate or inadequate, the car will not be able to function. The human body functions in the same way. A lack of fuel--or eating non-nutritious foods--can impede physical performance." (see reference 8)
No one wants to be on a "diet" when it comes to your food intake. However, for the purpose of this blog and our topic of fitness and nutrition, diet will refer to the kind of nutrition you will need to meet and maintain your fitness and health goals. Your diet will change as your goals change, for example if you are working on losing weight then you may need to restrict the amount of certain types of foods, however if you are building muscle and toning up but not trying to lose weight you may need to increase some of the types of foods you had to restrict to lose weight. Remember to feed and water your body regularly to get the results you want. A well balanced and nutritious diet is just as important as your workout plan when it comes to losing weight or building strength to power up!
The next step is to figure out how many calories you will need to reach your fitness and health goals. There are a number of different calculators out there that will give you an estimate of how many calories you will need depending on your age/weight/height/level of activity/fitness or health goal (see references 1, 2, 3 & 4 below). However, you must consider the type of activity/workout you are doing and the amount of calories you are using to accomplish your workout (see references 5, 6 & 7 below). Use the estimated calorie amount as a starting point but adjust it if you feel you are not getting adequate nutrition or if you think you are getting too many calories. A rule of thumb for healthy weight gain or weight loss is: plus or minus 500 calories a day (of your needed total daily calorie intake) for about one pound a week of weight gain or weight loss.
"Watching calorie intake is a must when trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Whether eating carbohydrates, proteins, fats or a combination of different types of foods, if more calories are eaten than are burned off, weight gain will occur. However, even at rest the body needs calories to survive and carry out basic functions such as breathing, digestion, muscle contraction, keeping the heart beating, manufacturing enzymes and hormones and repairing cells, states the Mayo Clinic. When not enough calories are consumed to sustain the body's basic needs, the basal metabolic rate will actually begin to slow down to conserve calories, reports the Mayo Clinic. Starvation diets lead to the body attempting to hold onto the weight to save itself. If weight loss does not occur when eating a healthy amount of calories, it is safer and more effective to add (additional) exercise to your routine to burn calories off, instead of restricting calories too much." (see reference 9 below)
Caution: tweak your diet as you see fit a little at a time until you find the right balance that will help you reach your goals.
An example 1:
~~~~~for the P90X2 program an individual's calorie intake could be between 2,400 and 2,600 calories (this is based on the calculation that was provided in the nutrition guide that came with the program). The goal is to maintain current weight (so we will not subtract or add an additional 500 calories for weight loss or weight gain), and to continue to tone up.
Once you have figured out what your starting point will be on how much to eat (daily calories needed) you will need to figure out how to distribute the calories among the different food groups and how much of each food group you will need to meet your calorie needs and your fitness/health goals.
An example 2:
~~~~~for the P90X2 program an individual will need between 2,400 and 2,600 calories a day to maintain current weight and continue to tone up. According to the nutrition guide provided the following diet plan is what is estimated for this need. Note: this is an estimate and I will need to tweak the diet depending on how the person feels (tired/fatigued/constantly hungry) and whether or not the person is able to maintain the current weight: protein: 6 servings, dairy: 2 servings, fruits: 1 serving, veggies: 3 servings, fats (good fats): 1 serving, grains: 1.5 servings, legumes: 1.5 servings, condiments: 1 serving, snacks: 3 single servings snacks (can be from any of the food groups listed in the diet plan).
Note: these different food groups is how the P90X2 nutrition guide has broken the types of foods out for the purpose of this program. Other websites or programs may have the diet plans setup differently and the food groups broken out differently. Find a plan what will work for you but be aware that it will need to be something that will fit your needs and that you will be able to stick to until you reach your goal.
My suggestion to you is to try and follow your diet plan as best you can. Example 2 noted above gives you an estimation of how many calories you will need and what food groups and serving amounts are recommended to meet your daily calorie intake. The good thing about this kind of layout is that it doesn't tell you exactly what to eat but rather what food groups to eat from which allows you more options and variety. However, some individuals find it easier to follow and stick to a specific meal outlined diet plan that will list what you will eat at each meal and snack week by week. Find what is right and what will work for you.
If you have access to a dietitian or nutritionist I would recommend you sit and outline a diet plan to meet your nutritional and fitness needs/goals. If you do not, try searching credible sites to find a diet plan that will work for you (see reference 10 below for some information). If you would like to see how the P90X and P90X2 diet plans are laid out email me and I can send them to you. Remember these plans on based on a 6 day a week workout plan where the workouts burn an average of about 600 calories and are a combination of intense weight training and cardio exercises.
References:
1. Baylor College of Medicine - Adult Energy Needs and BMI calculator:
http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/caloriesneed.htm
2. Mayo Clinic - Calorie Calculator:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598
3. Muscle and Strength site - Calorie Calculator - BMR:
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/tools/bmr-and-daily-calorie-calculator.html
4. P90X, P90X2, Insanity, Insanity Asylum, and other Beachbody programs come with a nutrition guide that will help you calculate how many calories you will need for the program and the kind of nutrition from the different food groups they recommend (will also include a variety of food options and recipes).
5. WebMD - Calories Burned for over 600 exercises and activities:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-fitness-calorie-counter
6. My Fitness Pal - Calories Burned from Exercise:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/exercise/lookup
7. Health Status - Calories Burned Calculator based on age and activity:
http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
8. Read more @ LiveStrong.com - Importance of Nutrition:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/67303-importance-nutrition-fitness/#ixzz1oU2aywOC
9. Read more @ LiveStrong.com - Side Effects of Not Enough Calories:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/325139-side-effects-of-not-enough-calories/#ixzz1oUJCpPmm
10. Read more @ LiveStrong.com - How to outline your healthy eating plan:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/249554-how-to-outline-your-healthy-eating-plan/
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