Posts
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Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Eat to survive but diet to train
In this day and age where image seems to be everything, it's easy to lose track of why we do things. Why do you pick Coke over Pepsi? Is it qualitative or personal or an image induced reason?
Personally, I avoid fizzy carbonated drinks for qualitative and personal reasons.
I dislike the amounts of sugars and additives in fizzy soft drinks - qualitative- , but also I avoid processed sugary foods as a rule anyway for personal health reasons, but not due to any illness - I just want to continue and preserve my health, and one way of doing so is to watch and decide carefully on what I eat.
We all know what is good or bad for you, but we don't necessarily stick to it. I've been known to have the odd tipple and a smoke, but I view what I eat with a much more discerning eye, for we are quite literally what we eat.
Eating processed foods, like reconstituted proteins or sugary snacks or fried crisps/chips/fries heavy in trans-fats we all know is detrimental to our health in the long run and everyone who's seen Supersize Me knows that it doesn't take that long for the body to react to the substances we intake.
The detrimental fats and processed foods have been proven to debilitate the brain's natural functioning, kids have increased attention deficits and their capacity for learning is impaired, energy levels are low and in adults in particular, it causes lethargy, lack of libido and general poor health, with associated psychological effects too.
You are what you eat!
Everyone knows that fresh fruits and vegetables, good proteins and good, natural carbohydrate sources are what you should eat in a balanced diet to best promote good health, but not everybody sticks to it.
If you're a martial artist, and want to peak your training regime and push yourself, then the first thing you need to factor in is not the amount of time you train in a week, but how are you supplementing your body's needs to maximise your training.
As you age, your bodies natural response to toxins and unhealthy substances slows, so its best to get into a habit of eating good foods whilst your body can clean out the years of abuse you've given it before.
So start eating as part of your training, as any athlete will tell you.
Stick to fruits or natural, unprocessed snacks like oatmeal or muesli bars with fruits and nuts, and shy away from processed, high street chocolate (organic chocolate is better). If you can afford to, buy organic foods when you are not buying fruits and veg, like organic yogurt, ice cream etc.
READ the calorie count on the packets, though this is tedious, and I have my own method - look at the fat count per 100g/ml - anything over 15g per 100g is a no no.
Also look at the sugar present, anything more than 15g is also way too much for me.
Instead of a portion of chips/fries, go get a baked potato - less fat, easy to digest carbohydrate. Instead of pizza or a kebab, get a chinese or thai take out. Instead of soft fizzy drinks, try 100% pressed fruit juice like Tropicana (not from concentrate).
Get unprocessed meats like steaks or chops, not hot dogs or reconstituted chicken breast. Better yet, go for fish and seafood, although the marine stocks are depleting due to overfishing, so instead look to freshwater or farmed fish stock, especially trout, salmon etc. Shellfish is hugely good for you as they contain certain enzymes which break down fats amongst other things.
Remember, despite the foods you eat, its when you eat and how much you eat.
We all know breakfast is important for everyday, so make sure you have a little breakfast, be it just cereal or a fruit, and the occasional fried breakfast is not amiss.
But, next point, in moderation. A fried breakfast is nice to eat, but having one everyday will load your body full of cholesterol and fat.
When you eat, you know when your stomach is full, so just learn to stop when you get there. The world will not end if you do not eat your whole plate.
Request smaller portions so you are less tempted to eat more.
Eat carbs and drink plenty of water at least an hour before you train and after training make sure you have the time to eat some good proteins and rehydrate in the two hour window after. If you train in the evening, make sure you have a couple of hours wind down time before you sleep.
Just ensure you meet your requirements of roughly 2000 to 2200 calories for men and 1800 to 2000 calories for women, give or take a few hundred depending on your body size.
Remember that a lot of your body is water based, so keep drinking water and juice to top up your body's levels.
Lastly, just look after yourself in general - if you dont look after your body, your body can't be relied to look after you. Take the time to think about what you do to your body, the environment you put it in and the lifestyle you lead. Are your living quarters clean and hygienic? Is your commute to work a friendly and environmentally clean period of time? Do you surround yourself with conveniences, luxuries or necessities? Are your habits beneficial or detrimental to you or others?
Don't live life for someone else, live life for yourself, but with the least detrimental impact on others. It starts with yourself, so take time to care for yourself, and you'll learn to care for others, and keep that in mind, for a true martial artist is diligent unto others as to themselves.
Ciao, J
Personally, I avoid fizzy carbonated drinks for qualitative and personal reasons.
I dislike the amounts of sugars and additives in fizzy soft drinks - qualitative- , but also I avoid processed sugary foods as a rule anyway for personal health reasons, but not due to any illness - I just want to continue and preserve my health, and one way of doing so is to watch and decide carefully on what I eat.
We all know what is good or bad for you, but we don't necessarily stick to it. I've been known to have the odd tipple and a smoke, but I view what I eat with a much more discerning eye, for we are quite literally what we eat.
Eating processed foods, like reconstituted proteins or sugary snacks or fried crisps/chips/fries heavy in trans-fats we all know is detrimental to our health in the long run and everyone who's seen Supersize Me knows that it doesn't take that long for the body to react to the substances we intake.
The detrimental fats and processed foods have been proven to debilitate the brain's natural functioning, kids have increased attention deficits and their capacity for learning is impaired, energy levels are low and in adults in particular, it causes lethargy, lack of libido and general poor health, with associated psychological effects too.
You are what you eat!
Everyone knows that fresh fruits and vegetables, good proteins and good, natural carbohydrate sources are what you should eat in a balanced diet to best promote good health, but not everybody sticks to it.
If you're a martial artist, and want to peak your training regime and push yourself, then the first thing you need to factor in is not the amount of time you train in a week, but how are you supplementing your body's needs to maximise your training.
As you age, your bodies natural response to toxins and unhealthy substances slows, so its best to get into a habit of eating good foods whilst your body can clean out the years of abuse you've given it before.
So start eating as part of your training, as any athlete will tell you.
Stick to fruits or natural, unprocessed snacks like oatmeal or muesli bars with fruits and nuts, and shy away from processed, high street chocolate (organic chocolate is better). If you can afford to, buy organic foods when you are not buying fruits and veg, like organic yogurt, ice cream etc.
READ the calorie count on the packets, though this is tedious, and I have my own method - look at the fat count per 100g/ml - anything over 15g per 100g is a no no.
Also look at the sugar present, anything more than 15g is also way too much for me.
Instead of a portion of chips/fries, go get a baked potato - less fat, easy to digest carbohydrate. Instead of pizza or a kebab, get a chinese or thai take out. Instead of soft fizzy drinks, try 100% pressed fruit juice like Tropicana (not from concentrate).
Get unprocessed meats like steaks or chops, not hot dogs or reconstituted chicken breast. Better yet, go for fish and seafood, although the marine stocks are depleting due to overfishing, so instead look to freshwater or farmed fish stock, especially trout, salmon etc. Shellfish is hugely good for you as they contain certain enzymes which break down fats amongst other things.
Remember, despite the foods you eat, its when you eat and how much you eat.
We all know breakfast is important for everyday, so make sure you have a little breakfast, be it just cereal or a fruit, and the occasional fried breakfast is not amiss.
But, next point, in moderation. A fried breakfast is nice to eat, but having one everyday will load your body full of cholesterol and fat.
When you eat, you know when your stomach is full, so just learn to stop when you get there. The world will not end if you do not eat your whole plate.
Request smaller portions so you are less tempted to eat more.
Eat carbs and drink plenty of water at least an hour before you train and after training make sure you have the time to eat some good proteins and rehydrate in the two hour window after. If you train in the evening, make sure you have a couple of hours wind down time before you sleep.
Just ensure you meet your requirements of roughly 2000 to 2200 calories for men and 1800 to 2000 calories for women, give or take a few hundred depending on your body size.
Remember that a lot of your body is water based, so keep drinking water and juice to top up your body's levels.
Lastly, just look after yourself in general - if you dont look after your body, your body can't be relied to look after you. Take the time to think about what you do to your body, the environment you put it in and the lifestyle you lead. Are your living quarters clean and hygienic? Is your commute to work a friendly and environmentally clean period of time? Do you surround yourself with conveniences, luxuries or necessities? Are your habits beneficial or detrimental to you or others?
Don't live life for someone else, live life for yourself, but with the least detrimental impact on others. It starts with yourself, so take time to care for yourself, and you'll learn to care for others, and keep that in mind, for a true martial artist is diligent unto others as to themselves.
Ciao, J
