Lifestyle and Advice

 

What’s in a healthy diet? It’s hard to know these days, isn’t it? Regardless of the type of diet you eat, most nutrition professionals agree on three basic concepts:

 

Balance
 Providing balance in your diet involves an intentional inclusion of different foods in proportion to each other based on the value that each food has to your total goal. For some, food choices might include a specific macronutrient balance. Most health organizations recommend a diet consisting of a balance from Carbohydrate at 55-65%, Protein at 10-15% and Fats at no higher than 30% of total calories. Other programs sometimes recommend that the nutrient balances be altered to a 40%: 30%: 30% or 75%: 15%: 10% Carbohydrate: Protein: Fat total calorie percent balance, respectively. Lastly, balance refers to choosing healthier foods more often than foods that are less healthy.

 

Moderation
With obesity incidence growing at epidemic rates, one of the biggest concerns for people should be portion control. Moderation first involves learning how much food is enough and how much is too much. Many dieting programs are very successful simply because they are very good at helping clients learn to plan food portion sizes appropriately.  The feeling of fullness in the stomach can take as long as twenty minutes to register to the brain, it is important to regulate how much food is ingested before waiting for a full-feeling. Moderation, therefore, also involves learning the distinct difference between hunger, satisfaction and fullness.

 

Variation
All healthy diets involve the inclusion of several food-types. The primary reason for this is health. Including a wide-variety of foods increases your likelihood of obtaining the required amounts of essential nutrients. It is well recognised that vitamin and mineral composition is food-specific. While some fruits are high in vitamin C, they are low in Calcium. Also, variation helps to avoid food-boredom: trying new foods can be interesting and exciting.

 

Want to know more? 

Need tips on altering your diet in order to maximise results for your training?   Then book in for a free lifestyle evaluation with one of our qualified instructors.