The D word most people haven't figured out
Confused about dieting? You are not alone. According to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) 2/3 of American adults are said to be overweight. This doesn't take into account people who are anorexic, children or teens who are overweight, etc. However, while being overweight is a result of a bad diet there are other issues that happen as a result of having a diet and they all contribute to having a body that cannot perform at its best.
Before I got on the diet for the Insanity Program I was on a "SEEFOOD DIET"- I eat what I see. At that point in my life I ate for taste, I ate to be full and sometimes ate to put on a show (during special events). About 2 months after I first started Insanity I decided to "eat healthier". What that meant was that I only drank water, all my carbs came from whole wheat foods, fruits and vegetables, and my proteins came from all types of meat good and bad. I did improve my diet in that 2 month period, but it wasn't enough. I had an idea of how to eat healthy, but I didn't know how to use it to get the results I wanted to be athletic.
After I acquired the Insanity program it came with a nutrition guide which taught me how to eat. The nutrition guide taught me what each nutrient is used for and how to use it. It dispelled some myths and cleared up concerns I had about dieting. In conclusion dieting is used to fuel your body for a desired result. With that said dieting or diet doesn't mean to eat less, the word diet simply means eating plan. So if you have "no diet" it is still a diet you just have no plan for dieting. Another key thing the nutrition guide taught me was that the main thing to focus on isn't what you should stay away from, but more so what you should eat to fuel you for your daily activities.
The goal of most when making a diet is to lose weight, tone up, etc. This all plays a role with your metabolism. Metabolism is simply your body's ability to break down the nutrients in food. The higher your metabolism is the more weight you can lose because the nutrient that are broken down are made more available for use. Usually people eat a lot of foods that tend to be high in carbs and fats. If this is done with little to no exercise involved then your body stores the carbs as fat. However, this is NOT to say that carbs and fats are bad to consume, what I am saying is that over consumption of nutrients that you don't need is bad. So if you are eating a lot and you're not exercising you're going putting your body in a bad spot. Not exercising can also lead to slowing down your metabolism, which increases your chance of becoming fat. To start taking measures against this you want to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). To find it out click here. Just fill out the form and it will tell you your caloric count. That number is the amount of calories you should aim to consume in a day, however this calculation is assuming that you aren't working out. If you're planning on using a Beachbody program, it will provide a guide as to how much you should be eating and it is usually a little more calories than what is calculated to be your normal intake. Lastly whether you're working out or not you'll need to decide how you'll ration your food. To give you an example, when I doing the Insanity workout program my ratio was 40% carbs, 40% protein, and 20% fat. The Beachbody programs generally prioritize proteins, carbs and fats over all the other nutrients. It doesn't emphasize eating less sodium, cholesterol or the other nutrients because the body doesn't require as much as those nutrients as much as it need proteins, carbs and fats. However if you, seeking to lower your sodium or cholesterol intake there are always food that can help you to do so while striving to consume the adequate nutrients your body needs.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculator link
Now stop, take a breath and tell yourself you can do this and as always I'm here for help. To see a couple foods that are good to eat then you may click on these links:
*Foods that are usually in my diet
*Michi's Ladder
*How to create a diet
*Beachbody dieting videos
Before I got on the diet for the Insanity Program I was on a "SEEFOOD DIET"- I eat what I see. At that point in my life I ate for taste, I ate to be full and sometimes ate to put on a show (during special events). About 2 months after I first started Insanity I decided to "eat healthier". What that meant was that I only drank water, all my carbs came from whole wheat foods, fruits and vegetables, and my proteins came from all types of meat good and bad. I did improve my diet in that 2 month period, but it wasn't enough. I had an idea of how to eat healthy, but I didn't know how to use it to get the results I wanted to be athletic.
After I acquired the Insanity program it came with a nutrition guide which taught me how to eat. The nutrition guide taught me what each nutrient is used for and how to use it. It dispelled some myths and cleared up concerns I had about dieting. In conclusion dieting is used to fuel your body for a desired result. With that said dieting or diet doesn't mean to eat less, the word diet simply means eating plan. So if you have "no diet" it is still a diet you just have no plan for dieting. Another key thing the nutrition guide taught me was that the main thing to focus on isn't what you should stay away from, but more so what you should eat to fuel you for your daily activities.
The goal of most when making a diet is to lose weight, tone up, etc. This all plays a role with your metabolism. Metabolism is simply your body's ability to break down the nutrients in food. The higher your metabolism is the more weight you can lose because the nutrient that are broken down are made more available for use. Usually people eat a lot of foods that tend to be high in carbs and fats. If this is done with little to no exercise involved then your body stores the carbs as fat. However, this is NOT to say that carbs and fats are bad to consume, what I am saying is that over consumption of nutrients that you don't need is bad. So if you are eating a lot and you're not exercising you're going putting your body in a bad spot. Not exercising can also lead to slowing down your metabolism, which increases your chance of becoming fat. To start taking measures against this you want to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). To find it out click here. Just fill out the form and it will tell you your caloric count. That number is the amount of calories you should aim to consume in a day, however this calculation is assuming that you aren't working out. If you're planning on using a Beachbody program, it will provide a guide as to how much you should be eating and it is usually a little more calories than what is calculated to be your normal intake. Lastly whether you're working out or not you'll need to decide how you'll ration your food. To give you an example, when I doing the Insanity workout program my ratio was 40% carbs, 40% protein, and 20% fat. The Beachbody programs generally prioritize proteins, carbs and fats over all the other nutrients. It doesn't emphasize eating less sodium, cholesterol or the other nutrients because the body doesn't require as much as those nutrients as much as it need proteins, carbs and fats. However if you, seeking to lower your sodium or cholesterol intake there are always food that can help you to do so while striving to consume the adequate nutrients your body needs.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculator link
Now stop, take a breath and tell yourself you can do this and as always I'm here for help. To see a couple foods that are good to eat then you may click on these links:
*Foods that are usually in my diet
*Michi's Ladder
*How to create a diet
*Beachbody dieting videos
