5 Nutrition Rules Everyone Should Follow

As personal trainer it is crucial to teach my clients the principles of sound nutrition. I always stress that exercise can only take you so far and that there is virtually no workout I can create to “out-train” poor nutrition. Here are five guidelines I would strongly recommend to anyone striving to achieve a lean, healthy body frame.

#1) First and foremost-eat at least 5 meals per day, everyday. The standard two to three meals per day will simply not cut it. Two of these meals may be classified as “snacks” as long as they are providing adequate calories and energy to last until the next meal. By adhering to this rule, your blood sugar and insulin levels will be well controlled, you will receive small and consistent protein intake throughout the day to promote muscle growth and recovery, and (most importantly) body fat will be burned for energy and not stored! It is crucial to follow this rule, as eating too infrequently will actually activate hormones inside your body to store fat in preparation for (what it believes) to be a “famine” situation.

#2) As a general guideline, each of your meals or snacks should contain an approximate caloric ratio of 1 part fat, 2 parts protein, and 3 parts carbohydrate. This is an excellent place to start– depending on your body type, training regimen, and overall fitness goals, one may need to adjust this slightly. Fat is essential for overall good health and is used to make many different hormones, so please do not avoid fat! Rather, avoid the “bad” types of fat (i.e. saturated fats from animal sources) and fill up on the “good” types of fat (i.e. unsaturated fats from olive oil, natural peanut butter, almonds, fish, etc). Choosing low glycemic carbohydrates-the ones that produce only small fluctuations in our blood glucose and insulin levels-is the secret to reducing your risk of diabetes and heart disease and is the key to sustainable weight loss. Finally, lean protein sources need to be included in each meal or snack to promote lean muscle growth that will enhance your fat-burning potential.

#3) Before each meal or snack, I suggest you ask yourself the following question: “What will I be doing for the next 3 hours of my life?” If you are going to be stuck sitting at your desk, try to minimize carbohydrate and fat intake. If you are meeting your personal trainer at the park for an intense workout session, consume more complex carbohydrates and fat to fuel the workout. In other words, adjust you carbohydrate and fat intake to account for the expected energy output. In doing this, you will be less likely to store your food choices as unwanted fat.

#4) Losing fat quickly requires a negative calorie balance. In other words, one must burn more calories throughout the course of the day than what they are taking in. Conversely, to gain muscle, you need to take in more calories than what you will burn off daily. So is it possible to increase muscle and lose weight at the same time? The simple answer would be yes. To achieve this, however, one would have to alternate periods of negative calorie balance with periods of positive calorie balance. In this way, it is possible to add lean muscle for a short period of time and then cut calories and increase cardiovascular activities to promote fat loss for a similar period of time. By alternating back and forth, you can work towards both goals at once.

#5) It is very difficult to obtain all of the important nutrients and minerals your body needs to remain healthy and active from food alone. It is therefore often necessary to supplement your diet with vitamins and/or minerals or other supplements. A basic multivitamin (in my opinion) can help to ensure that your body will be in prime condition to tackle those weight loss, muscle building, or body-shaping goals. Of course, I would always recommend consulting your doctor before taking any new nutritional supplement.

These 5 rules for optimal nutrition will exponentially increase the chance of meeting and sustaining fitness goals when combined with the proper exercise plan. Remember, exercising is only a small piece of the fitness pie-proper diet and a healthy lifestyle are absolutely necessary, yet often overlooked.

Composed by Dr. Bradley Campbell, Personal Trainer, Doctor of Pharmacy

In-Home Personal Trainer Chandler, AZ; Online Personal Trainer; In-Home/Online Personal Training AZ

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