Enjoying Your New Eating Habits

Easy Like Sunday Morning...

As I have recommended to many of you - be careful what you read, watch and listen to, guard your senses.  In general for your warrior training stick to the success lessons, recommended readings I've shared on Instagram and pay attention to the other blogs I've shared to educate yourself.  You only have so much time for this area in your life, chose your time wisely.  I will point you in the right direction for discovering your own interests as well.  My goal is to create leaders and in turn you will do the same.  There is so much information available to us now with the internet, social media, YouTube etc. one can get lost in it.  I have had many students be too much in their heads and get lost down the rabbit hole... stay focused, and stay on the warriors path.

Diet & Nutrition -

There are so many diets out there and so many so-called experts in losing weight and transforming your body.  It's a big money maker and it seems like everyone is jumping in the bandwagon.  Remember, losing weight is not what any of us want to do.  Think about this... who loses weight?  The sickly do!  We don't want to lose weight, we want to burn fat, build muscle and transform the physique. Losing weight means losing muscle tissue that support metabolism and fat burning.  Not a good idea if you want long term fat loss.  Be cautious of anything that sounds to good to be true. 

So, what works?  SIMPLICITY!  The reality in fat burning is to take in less calories than you body burns... that's bottom line.  As simple or technical as that may sound, that's the truth!  Everyone is a bit different and one plan may work better for one person than for the other. but if we keep in mind that calories is the issue, then things get simpler to understand.  I don't believe in counting calories or using technical diets that tell you what to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Actually, I detest those kind of "prearranged" diets. I even dislike the word, DIET.  I much rather use a Healthy Eating Plan.  There are apps available now that can take the guessing work out, it's a lot of work at first but in time it gets easier to follow and then the new habit is formed, discipline is essential.  Discipline yields results! 

I have tried it all in my 25 years of weight training and sports performance training.  By following some simple guide lines I had success.  I did follow a pretty strict eating regime in the professional training days.  But today I have learned to keep it simple most of the year.  These are the top five things that I do to keep my weight at a lean state.

1. Don't drink calories:  Stop drinking soda's, juice, sweetened tea, etc.  Athletes don't drink sodas! Keep it simple... drink water!  I like my coffee and sometimes ice tea.  

2. Snack sensibly:  My favorite snack food is almonds and cashews. They have good fat and will satisfy your hunger.  I will also eat a boiled egg or an apple.  It's really simple... if God made it, it's good!  Stay away from anything man made.

3. Eat Veggies:  Fill your plate with veggies.  They are high in fiber and are nutritious and fill you up. Look for dark green and bright colored ones.

4. Eat breakfast:  Make breakfast your largest meal.  Skipping breakfast will only make you overeat at lunch.  Breakfast helps fuel the body after the fast that you went trough in sleep, and it actually helps to speed up the metabolic rate.

5. Stop when you are full:  You don't have to clean your plate.  If you are full - STOP Eating!

If you have any questions on specifically what to eat, let me know. But the whole idea is to keep the foods as close to nature as possible.  Stay away from processed foods and drinks.  You could call it Natures diet.  Simply put, if it's made by nature, it's good.  If it's put together by man, no good!  Nature didn't create fried potato chips or doughnuts.  Use your common sense.  I like baked goods and ice cream like the next guy, but I keep my splurging to weekends and follow a tight plan all week long.

You know the old saying,  "You are what you eat," you are what you digest.  This is absolutely true and all you have to do is look at someone and you can usually tell the type of eating habits they have.  Whether you're looking for better performance, healing yourself or to just feel better throughout your day your eating habits affect your mind and body.  For overall happiness I highly recommend keeping a well-balanced diet that is good for you,  Extra weight is hard on your heart your knees and back to name a few.  Once you have a few wins in your diet goals your confidence will increase and you'll not only be helping yourself but those around you as well.  Have a wonderful day!  

Train Hard, Train Smart & Finish Healthy,
Sifu Jeff Hughes