Saturday, November 23, 2013

Ten Commandments for Improved Nutrition

Follow these ten rules:
  1. Feed your body, five to six meals a day.  Some of those will be snacks.
  2. Get the right number of calories. This means keeping track. Make a game of it.
  3. Each meal, even the snacks, should be balanced. A carb, a vegetable, a protein, and a fruit.  If you feed your body balanced and regularly, it will not torture you with great hunger and it will not hoard nutrition in case it needs it later.  Try hard to figure out what balanced nutrition means. Everyone agrees that it's important. No two people agree on what it is.
  4. Don't binge, eat smaller portions.  In most restaurants, aim to take half of your main course home.
  5. Avoid temptation. Don't even go to Mexican restaurants. If you must go, say NO THANKS when they put the salsa and chips on the table.  Don't eat even one...Never think about desert or sweets. Don't have dreams.
  6. Before you take a drink with alcohol, think hard about the calories.  Ditto for any salad dressing or sauce. Drink water all the time.  Accept that you'll never sleep through the night again and most meetings will be torturous. Drink lots of water. You'll be uncomfortable but won't be fat or have heart attacks. 
  7. Some foods are better than others. Almonds are less fatty than cashews. Avocado's are fattier than...anything. Get good glasses and study the labels.  
  8. Track your habits and improve them.  Think and talk about nutrition all the time. Of course, it's going to bore a lot of people to tears.  Find other people who care and be nerdy with them about nutrition and calories.  You can also use a service like FitnessPal. It has no personality but lots of info. And is available on the web, on your phone, and on your tablet. You can give your trainer access and she can point out what a job you are doing.  
  9. Hang out with people who eat sensibly. At night, don't eat. Hungry? Drink more water.
  10. Plan to eat well. Spontaneous meals are nearly impossible to manage. Don't be spontaneous. Don't drink.
Fun fun.

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