Properly fueling your body is very important and will directly affect the results you get from your workouts. You might have heard of the 80/20 rule of thumb or something similar to it, meaning it takes 80% nutrition and 20% exercise to see results. Nutrition plays in important role in your overall health and fitness plan. If you put healthy whole foods into your body you will get a healthier you. Of course, you should have a well-balanced diet to maximize the nutritional content of your everyday meals.
Now, I'm not going to go into the different kinds of foods or what you should eat at every meal. What I am going to talk about, is getting enough fuel throughout the day so you don't get so hungry that you end up eating whatever you can get your hands on without considering what it is exactly you are putting into your body.
I follow a pretty intense workout routine. I workout about 5 to 6 days a week (for about 1 hour daily) and I alternate my workout days between cardio and resistance training. For the most part the intensity level of my workouts is moderate to high. Following this kind of regimen takes some discipline and commitment but I will not get the results I want if I'm not properly fueling my body.
Many of you have asked me how much and how often I eat, which brings me to the point of this entry. 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:
A few examples:
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. WebMD - Calories Burned for over 600 exercises and activities:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-fitness-calorie-counter
5. My Fitness Pal - Calories Burned from Exercise:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/exercise/lookup
6. Health Status - Calories Burned Calculator based on age and activity:
http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
However, you must consider the type of activity/workout you are doing and the amount of calories you are using to accomplish your workout. Use the estimated calorie amount as a starting point but adjust it if you feel you are not getting adequate nutrition (feeling fatigued or hungry all the time) or if you think you are getting too many calories (not losing weight or weight gain). 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.
The calculation I use comes from my P90X nutrition guide:
1. Body weight X 10 = Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)
2. RMR X 0.3 = Daily Calorie Burn (DCB)
Note: use one of the following based on how active you are most of the day
0.1 for Sedentary, 0.2 for Moderately Active, and 0.3 for Very Active.
3. Determine how many calories you burn from your Daily Exercise (DE)
4. Plus (Calorie Surplus CS) or Minus (Calorie Deficit CD) 500 calories depending if you want weight gain or weight loss respectively per day. To maintain current weight use Zero (0).
5. RMR + DCB + DE (+ CS or - CD) = Daily Calorie Target (DCT)
Daily Calorie Target or DCT is what I use to 'estimate' how many calories I should eat daily. I'm not a calorie counter but this gives me a good idea of what kinds of foods to eat, how to space out my meals, and portion sizes to keep me from getting hungry and maximize nutrition and the quality of foods to best satisfy my appetite.
I try to eat every 2 to 3 hours. My eating schedule looks something like what you see below, note: this schedule spaces out my meals/snacks to about 2 to 3 hours apart. Depending on the number of calories you need (DCT) will be how you estimated calories per meals/snacks. Remember the kinds of foods you eat will also determine the amounts you can have at each meal. For example: Leafy greens contain very little calories and therefore you can eat lots of them.
Drink 16 to 18 oz of water
Meal 1: Breakfast - A green smoothie (See the Get Fit, Eat Right blog for some green smoothie recipes.)
Snack 1: A mini meal about 1/3 of the calories of a regular meal and water
Meal 2: Lunch and water
Snack 2: A mini meal about 1/3 of the calories of a regular meal and water
Meal 3: Dinner and water
Workout (drink water)
Snack 3: A recovery drink and sometimes a lean protein snack. I try to avoid carbs, sugars, and fats (good fats) this late in the day and drink water.
We are not all the same nor do we have the same fitness/nutrition goals but I felt that making an example of myself would help you understand your nutritional needs and hopefully help you reach your nutritional/fitness/wellness goals. Again, this is just an example and hopefully a good place to start/restart/add-on to your plans.
Other places to get information about the importance of nutrition:
LiveStrong.com - Importance of Nutrition:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/67303-importance-nutrition-fitness/#ixzz1oU2aywOC
LiveStrong.com - Side Effects of Not Enough Calories:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/325139-side-effects-of-not-enough-calories/#ixzz1oUJCpPmm
LiveStrong.com - How to outline your healthy eating plan:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/249554-how-to-outline-your-healthy-eating-plan/
Other blog entries I've posted regarding nutrition you can find using the 'Nutrition' blog label:
http://getfitbestrong.blogspot.com/search/label/Nutrition
See the Get Fit, Eat Right blog for ideas and recipes.
http://www.getfiteatright.blogspot.com/
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