Dos and Don’ts of Dieting

It’s that time of year again. The gyms are bombarded with new members working off the holiday calories, nutrition and fitness books are flying off the shelves, and diets of all sorts are being put to the test. The excitement that new health and fitness goals bring may wind up a success or leave you disappointed and back at square one next year. To ensure that you kick off the year with healthy habits here are a few do’s and don’ts of dietiing.

Don't severely slash calories

Cutting your caloric intake to an amount that only a small cat could survive on is not the way to a lean fit body. Oh yes, you will drop weight fast. Relish it for a week or so, because within a day or two of your hardcore diet your energy levels will plummet, your focus and work performance will suffer, and your metabolism will drop. When the cravings strike, (and they will) and you have no choice but to give in you’ll store every last one of those sweet and savory calories as fat and your body will hold on to them with a death grip no matter how hard you sweat it out in the gym. If there’s one thing your body fears- it’s starvation.

Do: Cut back on your calories with a healthy approach

• First determine how many calories your body needs. Factor in the amount of calories you burn at rest, your lifestyle, and your energy expenditure from exercise. There are many calorie calculators on the web that offer this information.
• Next create a mild deficit. Only cut back about 15-20% of your total calories. For example, if you were averaging 2000 calories cut back by 300-400 calories per day. Simple food swaps can easily help you cut back, and of course don’t negate exercise for extra caloric burn
• Finally, keep track of your daily intake and make sure you’re getting your calories from clean food sources that are unprocessed and full of nutrients.

Don't cut out all carbs or fat

There are many diets out there that eliminate carbohydrates or go very low in fat. It doesn’t matter if you’re abandoning them for life or only for a week or two- your body doesn’t like it. Carbohydrates fuel activity. Without glycogen stocked in your liver and muscles your body is forced to break down precious lean muscle mass to supply energy. In turn this slows down your metabolism, making your diet efforts even tougher. Healthy fat is necessary for many bodily functions like the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. You need to eat fat to burn fat. Eliminating or going too low on any nutrient is counterproductive.

Do:

• Select healthy carbohydrate options like whole grains, vegetables, and fruit
• Pair carbohydrates with protein and/or healthy fat to help regulate blood sugar levels
• When you’re trying to lose weight make sure you start your day off with complex (slow digesting) carbohydrates like oatmeal or whole grain breads/cereal. Continue to consume complex carbs throughout the day, but wean off the starchy carbs as the day progresses. Focus on low impact carbs from vegetables for dinner and your evening snack.
• Be sure to get a moderate amount of carbs in after your workout. Breakfast and post workout are the two main times of day that you should consume higher glycemic carbs like a sports drink or even jelly since the insulin effect from these fast digesting carbs can help spur recovery and protein synthesis
• Fats should make up 20-30% of your total calories. Be sure that only 10% or less of the fat in your diet comes from saturated fat.
• Consume healthy fats like fish such as salmon or tuna just a few times per week; they’re packed with omega 3-fatty acids to help battle inflammation. Swap the mayo for creamy avocado, snack on raw nuts spread natural nut butters on fruit or whole grain crackers, cook with healthy oils such as olive oil, sprinkle ground flax seed onto your cereals or salads, and get a healthy dose of fat from supplements such as fish oil or CLA.

Don't be exercise crazed

You’re not going to burn off every single calorie that was in last night’s indulgent dessert on the elliptical just as burning 700 calories in a marathon sweat session doesn’t mean you can devour a chipotle burrito. Exercise is excellent for strengthening your heart, building lean muscle mass, and burn fat, but too much of a good thing can be detrimental.

Do:

• Make sure you gauge your starting point and start at the appropriate level for any type of exercise.
• Set a goal and a training schedule. Form measurable objectives of how you will achieve this goal. How many days per week will you workout, what exercises will you do each day, what’s your duration, and intensity. Try writing it down in your planner at the beginning of each week and tracking your progress.
• Seek assistance from fitness professional when necessary. Do your homework to make sure they are fully equipped to help you so you don’t waste and money.

Don't let the scale be your only means to track progress

Weighing yourself each and every day is an easy way to determine whether or not you’re making any progress. Don’t let it be the voice of reasoning that tells you to throw in the towel or not. The scale is only one method to track your progress.

Do:

• Employ various methods to track progress
• Try girth measurements
• Maybe you’re not losing weight yet, but perhaps you’re losing inches
• With a tape measure, measure your waist, upper arms, hips, and thighs. Record your measurements, stick with a consistent exercise and healthy diet and take your measurements every 4-6 weeks.
• Can you fit into your skinny jeans yet?
• Set a goal to fit into your favorite pair of jeans, dress, or even regain a notch on your belt
• Test your body fat
• Measure your body fat with skin calipers. Fitness professional at your local gym could help with this.
• Track your fitness level
• Maybe it’s week 2 and there’s no change in your body yet, but you’re amazed at how much easier the same workout was this week compared to last week when you first started. Perhaps, you’re more coordinated, balanced, have more energy, endurance, strength; whatever your improvements it’s a success. Your health and wellbeing is improving- that’s something to be extremely proud of.

Don't give up too fast...or at for that matter

Nothing worth having was ever accomplished in a day. If eating a healthy diet and maintaining a fit physique were easy then our country would not have the problems we do, and I would be out of a job!

Do:

• Get real with yourself. It’s not fun to step on the scale, test body fat, or take a fitness test after a stretch of indulging in food and not exercising, but in order to make a change for the better it must be done
• Get informed. Learn about different options. It’s critical to find a means that fits your lifestyle whether it’s meeting with a nutritionist or trainer, attending a boot camp, or joining a health and fitness website and online community
• Take action and stick to it. Having the desire is common, taking action is noteworthy, but being consistent is exceptional. Choose to be exceptional.

I wish you the best of luck as you work towards your health goals this year. Comments and questions are always welcome. For online nutrition plans and email/phone consulting please contact me at kelly@kellygonzalez.com.

Eat smart and train hard!