Good Food: Phase II. The Food

Keep in mind I’m not a Nutritionist, I am your average Joe. This stuff is so simple though and not complex that who needs a nutritionist to tell you these fundamentals!
In my last blog we started out with the beginning of the Good Food Phases

Phase I. Water

Next is the hard stuff. Good Food

Phase II. The Food

So were drinking all this good water and we probably have lost a little weight already but now the food stuff. The stuff we’re truly dreading! Really we shouldn’t though. This is all about eating healthy and eating right. The problem seems to be as a culture we take all this beautiful bountiful food and ruin it by deep frying it, covering it with ketchup etc. We really don’t need it and its adding tons of extra salt, sodium and calories. The idea is simple. Great food equal great fuel!

1. Fast Food- I can’t take credit for this quote but my trainer Michelle Evans got it stuck into my head and its great “If it has a drive thru….DRIVE BY!” Makes complete sense right. The only exception to this rule is Subway. The idea being that any restaurant with a drive-thru isn’t going to provide healthy food for you! Think of all the drive-thru’s you know. Which ones offer you that low call fat free meal not deep fried or off a greasy grill? Even those that offer salads are horrible. Though that’s a better solution than the cheeseburger their dressings are fat free usually and all the stuff on top are just as bad, tons of cheese etc. Just avoid it.

2. What’s In There- Another great habit I got into is that if I didn’t cook it, I didn’t eat it! This was great for me in the beginning. Early on in all this there is either going to be success or failure! Until all of it gets engrained into you its just easier to avoid the temptations for now. KNOW WHAT’S IN YOUR FOOD! Basic isn’t it. If you cook it you know exactly what you put in it. If you go to a restaurant or fast food then your guess is as good as mine!

3. Food As Fuel- We talked about the importance of fueling your body with the right gas. But why? Most people think, ok I’ll just cut back on my calories, maybe workout and boom I’ll lose weight and be fine! If it was that simple then we wouldn’t have tons of these magic pills, and magic diets! It is simple but we have to break some bad habits we have gotten into. Once we get into the exercise Sections you will begin to see that we are doing so much great exercise we need more fuel. The idea is that we are building muscle and losing fat. Muscle burns calories 21 times more efficiently then fat does and to make sure we have enough energy to build these muscles we need good food! Carbohydrates as much as they have been represented as the evil of weight over the years it just not sensible! How can you live a healthy LIFESTYLE on a low carb diet! You could never run a long race or do anything exerting a lot of energy for a good period of time. Now that said there are 2 types of Carbs, Complex Carbs and Simple Carbs. The names give them away. Complex Carbohydrates are basically those in wholegrain form such as wholegrain breads, oats, muesli, brown rice and most vegetables. Complex carbs are broken down into glucose more slowly than Simple Carbohydrate and thus provide a gradual steady stream of energy throughout the day. The problem with Most Complex Carbs is that they are so high in starch that its very hard to lose weight! Switching to things like Whole Wheat Pasta and getting most of your carbs from Vegetables (except Corn and Potatoes). Simple Carbohydrates which are found in fruits and dairy products are more easily digested by the body. They are also often found in processed, refined foods such as white sugar, pastas, and white bread. Because they break down more easily they don’t provide very effective energy sources for the body. Food For Fuel!

4. Great Foods- So we know now what we’re talking about carb wise but what about the other stuff. We will need to get more protein for muscle growth which will talk about next. We need to be sure we are eating less fatty foods. Also a lot of this is learning again what a good food is. Learning to read labels is a huge deal! Looks at what you are buying label wise. What are the calories per serving and the serving sizes as well at calories of fat etc. Soon I will be posting some great new recipes that I have lived by and they are not only easy to make but great tasting. We will talk in the next Phase about calories.

5. What’s This Thing Called Protein- Protein is going to be essential when building all this muscle. Increase protein does 2 great things for us. 1. There is tons of research to show that an intake of Protein before and after a workout helps in muscle grow and recovery of the stressed muscles happens much faster than without! And since were in the business of building muscle verse fat that’s awesome. 2. It also helps to curb our appetite. I truly didn’t believe this till I had cut my protein shakes out and was forced to start cutting back on my servings. I started back on my protein shakes and bam I noticed a dramatic loss of craving and hunger after I drank it!
Another great way of getting protein is Ground Turkey. Though I am against almost all processed meat this is one that gets the A+. Though the sodium levels can be kind of high you get some much protein out it verses ground beef (which is linked to colon cancer) you would be foolish to not eat it. It is extremely versatile.

So now we are drinking tons of water and have a great idea on what we should be eating! Think about your meals and how you prepare them. How can adjust this and make it better. Bake more of the foods you eat. Use a 0 calorie Spray Butter. There are tons of ways. Think about it and see how you are doing! Next blog I’ll talk about Calories! YAY!