by Ashley | May 8, 2015 | Nutrition
Lets dig into some nutrition myths with common sense and end them forever! “Don’t eat after 6pm, you’ll get fat!” What happens in the fall when time changes and you gain an hour? Can you eat after 5pm which was technically 6pm? Your body doesn’t know what time it is! Anyone that still believes this needs to stop watching TV and reading terrible fitness magazines for their “fitness advice”. Having a full belly will help you sleep and will provide nutrients for recovery while you sleep at night. “Fat makes you fat” Fat doesn’t just get stuff into your fat cells when you eat it. Most people don’t realize it’s the excessive calories and carbohydrates that they consume that are making them fat. Your body needs fat to function properly, there are good fats and bad fats. Eat a variety of fats such as saturated fats from grass fed animals, monounsaturated fat from avocado’s, and medium chain triglycerides from coconut oil. “Clean Eating” Ask your average person what they think you need to do to lose weight and they will most likely reply with, “eat clean”. What does that even mean? Depending on who you ask, you’ll get an array of responses. Paleo eaters will say stay away from legumes, grains, and process foods. Vegans will say stay away from animal products. The USDA says saturated fat, cholesterol, and red meat are bad. Army Rangers will tell you vegetables are bad, eat only what you kill! The point is, there is no complete and universal definition of clean eating. Losing fat comes down to calories restriction and macronutrient manipulation....
by Ashley | May 1, 2015 | Nutrition
Why Nutrition Is your SECRET weapon! Food along with water and sleep are essential to life. Food is a critical component for fueling activities, recovery, and all of the chemical processes that occur in our body. Simply put, if you didn’t eat and drink water, you would die! Now that doesn’t mean all you need to do is eat and drink water and you’ll live a long and healthy life. Proper nutrition can reduce the risk of chronic diseases and is just as important for someone who isn’t “overweight” as it is for someone who is “overweight”. You can find millions of articles, opinions, and studies on nutrition, but I’m about to give you the basics you need to understand nutrition. Nutrition and Your Health Poor nutrition leads to increased chronic disease risk factors for adults and children. Often children learn their eating habits from their parents and carry them into adulthood. Have you ever heard someone say, “I’ve always been this size, it runs in the family.” That’s because that person learned to eat from their parents/family. Mom and dad fed them certain foods in copious quantities or didn’t restrict their eating. Some parents truly don’t have a clue about nutrition so they instill these bad habits without thinking about it. Developing proper eating habits is a life long process that starts with the basics done consistently. It’s never too late to start and it doesn’t mean you have to eat chicken and broccoli for every meal. Nutrition is highly individualized, but one of the best ways to start is to start keeping a journal of everything you...
