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Eating Right Made Easy

By Brad Scott

There are three major factors in maintaining a fitness lifestyle including strength training, aerobic training and nutrition (eating right). Exercising covers two thirds of the fitness formula, but proper nutrition often evades even the best of us. The main is reason for this is because eating wrong is much easier than eating right. I will introduce some concepts to you that will make eating right just as easy.

To understand why eating wrong is so much easier these days; lets take a trip back into time. A time when people had to grow or catch whatever they ate. This created a culture of hunters and farmers which all but guaranteed their food was fresh and free of preservatives. Their meals consisted of fresh meats, fruits, vegetables and grains. No we fast forward back to the 21st century. Most people live in developed communities and buy most of the food they eat. I in no way mean to imply that all the food we buy is unhealthy, but rather stating that they average consumer chooses to buy unhealthy foods.

The modern day hunter is not a wise hunter. In history, a person that did not know how to properly farm or hunt did not eat and therefore went hungry. Today, we are all still farmers and hunters, the difference being that if we shop improperly we will not starve but what we buy still effects are health. So in order to eat right we must simply learn how to shop right.

Try this quick role playing scenario. You are hungry, so you go to the kitchen for a snack. In the kitchen you find a cola, cookies, ice cream, peppermints, white bread, cold cuts, mayonnaise, salted crackers and a drive-thru burger you picked up on the way home from work. So you reheat your burger, grab a cola, 2 cookies and a peppermint for after you finish eating. You just put away over 750 calories without even thinking about it. Do this three times per day and chalk up 2250 calories for the day.

Take these same scenario but in a different house. You go the kitchen to find apple juice, a bowl of fruit, celery sticks, carrots, wheat bread, peppermints, fresh deli cut turkey slices, honey mustard, unsalted crackers and no fast food was picked up earlier. So you pour some juice and make a turkey sandwich with a peppermint for after you finish eating (everyone still wants fresh breathe). You have reduced your calories to about 300 for just that meal. You could eat five times that day and still only have about 1500 total calories.

So simply put, in order to eat right, you must shop right. If the junk is not in your kitchen, it will not make it into your mouth. As with most of the general population, if you had a choice between a carrot and a cookie, must of us will choose the cookie. So how about we eliminate the choice. Don’t buy the cookies and they will not be there to tempt you.

Now in order to shop right, we have to know what we are looking for. But before we talk about what to look for, let’s get ready to shop. To shop effectively, follow 3 simple guidelines.

  1. Make a grocery list.
    It’s best to plan ahead then to drift around the store aimlessly. Shopping without a list creates a huge opportunity for unwanted items to find there way into your basket.

  2. Do not go grocery shopping when you are hungry.
    Grocery shopping when you are full is a great way to resist the impulse buys.

  3. Do no overstock.
    It is better to shop more often than to have plenty of food in the house at all times. Even healthy food becomes detrimental when taken in abundance.

Although simple, not following these guidelines will only slow your progress living a healthy lifestyle. Now that you have your list and a full stomach you are ready to walk into the store.

Have you ever taken the time to examine the layout of your local grocery store? It’s easy to break down the store into three major sections. Near the doors and checkout lanes you will find the impulse section. These are the items that you probably don’t need but are easy to grab while you are walking in or waiting on the lane. The center of the store is the processed section. Most of the items here are boxed, canned or bagged, ready to go and have an extended expiration date. The perimeter of the store is where most of the fresh foods are kept. You will find the deli, bakery, meats, and dairy. Most of your shopping should be done in the third section, the fresh section. If you can pickup 80-90% of your food items along the outside walls of the store, you are during great.

When you get home, prepare and put away your food. Make small baggies of snacks that you can grab instead of a bag of chips. Set you fruit out in a bowl so you can easily pick out a banana.

Eating right can be easy. Proper nutrition will make your other fitness efforts grow in leaps and bounds.

Live for the Moment.....Exercise for Life

About the Author:

Brad Scott is Owner and President of Sport and Life Fitness in Melbourne Florida. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and is a Certified Fitness Trainer and Specialist in Sports Conditioning with the International Sports Sciences Association. With over 20 years of experience, Brad offers a wide variety of fitness solutions for most anyone. Visit him online at www.SportAndLifeFitness.com today and start your fitness journey.