…Eat well; you are what you eat!
(Make to the bottom of the page for weblink to track your goals)
Welcome to the first edition of the 2009 Mandarins’ Conditioning Corner. When it
comes to making changes in your body, the most important piece of the puzzle in getting
body fat down and lean body mass up is going to be NUTRITION! Lets take a look:
Obesity:
Obesity is more than a cosmetic concern. Having body fat >22% for males
/30% for females puts you at greater risk of developing such serious health
risks as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and
cancer.
The good news is that even a moderate weight loss of 5-15 pounds can bring
immense health improvements. In many cases this can be accomplished by
committing to eating healthier, exercising, and changing lifestyle decision-
making.
With a positive attitude, you can lose body fat. Yet, before pursuing any plan to take off
excess weight understand that crash diets and other quick fixes can do more harm than
good.
Causes:
Weight is largely determined by how you balance your intake of calories from food with
the energy you use in everyday activities. If you consume more calories than you burn
with activity, you gain weight by storing energy as fat. Overeating and lack of physical
activity are the main causes of obesity, especially in combination. But many factors
contribute to obesity.
Taking Steps Forward:
The amount of weight you need to lose to improve your health may be much less than
what you feel you need to lose. The first goal in dealing with obesity is to achieve and
maintain a healthier weight. Slow and steady weight loss of 1 or 2 pounds a week is
considered the safest way to lose weight and the best way to keep it off.
Dietary Changes
The number of calories you need to maintain weight each day depends on several factors,
including your age and activity level. Fasting isn't the answer, either. Most of the weight
you lose is from water, and it's not good for your body to go without food for extended
periods. The Mayo Clinic weight experts recommend that to lose weight and keep it off
you must eat moderate amounts of nutrient-rich, low-fat, low-calorie foods.
Fundamentals of a Healthy Eating Program: this is the important part!
1. Eat smaller portions more often. You
should consume 5-6 small meals per day.
Often we enlarge waistlines because of
excessive volume consumption. It is hard to
plan out this many meals so you don’t just eat
whatever is around or fast food. Realize
veggies (celery with low-fat peanut butter),
trail mix, and a glass of water is a meal. It's
especially important to watch serving sizes
when eating out, as most restaurants serve
oversized portions. Cut all portions of meals
eaten out in half, and stop eating when
satiated instead of stopping when "full," or at
max capacity. (look this word up if you do not
know it…and don’t feel bad, most Americans
don’t).
2. Look at the calories you are eating and where they are coming from. You should get
approximately 45-50% from carbohydrates, 35-40% from proteins, and only around
10-15% fats. To put the %’s in perspective the normal American diet is probably 70%
carb, 20+% fat and only 10% protein. The high protein/no carb diet fads we see only help
initially because it gets us out of the funk of what we are doing, but they are not safe for
the long term. We do eat too many carbs, and not enough veggies, fruit, and lean
proteins, but carbs are an essential part of the natural human diet.
3. Choose healthy foods. Healthy foods include vegetables, fruits, grains and lean
sources of protein, including beans, fish, low-fat dairy products and lean meats. These
foods optimize nutrition and taste and promote a healthy weight. Eat a variety of healthy
foods in lieu of junk foods.
4. Drink water…LOTS! Most of us should consume greater than 80
ounces a day. Practice days, and 2 days before, you should get in over
100 ounces. Also, if you drink 1-2 sodas per day right now, you can
drop nearly 5 pounds in just over a month by changing every drink
you take in to water. You can drink your calories or you can eat
your calories! I like to eat.
5. Eat increased fiber and you can take in more calories. Choose the right
carbohydrates. Steer away from simple carbohydrates such as table sugar and other
sweeteners, and limit fruit juice, which is a type of carbohydrate concentrated in calories.
Instead, try to eat plenty of complex, high-fiber carbohydrates, such as whole-grain
bread and pasta, brown rice, and fresh fruits and vegetables like celery.
6. Reduce fat. It has more than twice the calories of
carbohydrate and protein ounce for ounce. Foods high
in fat include most fast foods, pastries, red meat, some
dairy products, oils, margarine, butter, salad dressings,
mayonnaise and some nuts. Think 'energy density.' A
tablespoon of butter has the same number of calories
as 10 cups of leaf lettuce or 4 cups of
broccoli…..think about it!
7. Avoid candies, cookies, muffins, pies, and
doughnuts= Dense calories. Better choices: fig-bar
cookies, low-fat frozen yogurt, and sherbet.
Time to start!
A great tool to use that is free online is The Daily Plate weight tracking and healthy
eating @ www.thedailyplate.com :
1) Sign up as a new user; min age of 14 is what the disclaimer says.
2) Go to “my calorie goals”
3) Enter height and current weight
4) Set goal for gaining or losing 1-2# per week depending on your goals. Remember
it is not healthy for long term weight management to lose or gain much faster than
these limitations. Steady wins the race!
5) Chose activity level only to estimate your daily activity outside of your fitness
routine if you are going to exercise and track it on the site.
6) Hit “save and calculate,” and at the top of the page you will see the number of
calories recommended for your daily intake
7) Now you are ready to start entering daily what you are eating. Consistency is key
for those that are serious about making changes. For those near their ideal weight
already it is fun to see what our goals and calorie intake should be and where our
calories come from. This program has popular restaurants (Chevy’s, Subway)
and also homemade estimates based on peoples recipes (tuna casserole, salmon
and asparagus). They aren’t always exact on the percentages, but it is pretty close
and works great to have that many options to chose from
But remember, the percentages that we discussed above (50% from carbohydrates,
35% from proteins, and only around 15% fats) will likely lead to better results if you
are exercising consistently and performing in an activity like drum corps. Once you start
tracking foods, the pie chart on the right hand column of the page will be key in tracking
where you get your calories from. Sometimes the % daily at the bottom of the tracking
page is a bit off, but looking at the pie chart is visually easier and nice to access. You can
also track your weight through the months on “MY Weight,” which gives a nice line
graph to see trends. Take weight at the same time each day for best results. Good luck,
and healthy eating!
Bonus questions…
How many times was the word vegetable in the article?....hmmmmm