Passion for nutrition
Hello everyone, I have a huge problem which is going to hinder my weight lost journey.
See I'm so intimidated by nutrition because it's a hard subject for me to learn. I open up these muscle magazines and see these well thought out meal plans with all the carbs, proteins, and fats carefully planned in each meal. I really don't unstand any of this, let alone where to start. I would like to be able to make my own meal plans with food I like one day.
So maybe someone can give me advice? Maby a book or something? I would be extremely grateful for ANY advice.
If you have a passion for loosing weight and building muscle mass, you need to develope a passion for good nutrition and exercise.
Two books that have helped me were written by Raw Foodist although I am not one.
Kevin Gianni is a Personal Trainer and has a book " The Busy Person's Fitness Solution". It has helped me with nutritional information, free weight exercise that is easy to do, and ways to both set and keep to a goal.
David Wolfe is a world renouned nutritionist and has a book out called "Superfoods The Food and Medicine of the Future". In this book he lists the most nutrien dense foods from around the world, the history, nutritional values, health benefits, and recipe's that include some of these superfoods. I have to admit that I work under David in a company called Elements for Life but have no financial ties with David's books.
Along with the 2 books here is some basic nutrition 101 information that may get you started on your journey. A
Personal Trainer will definitly help in this lifestyle transformation. A good one will start off very basic with you and build up your knowledge on nutrition and exercise.
So here we go...
Nutrition Balanced Diet: Breads, Cereals and Other Grains Group
This food group is the staple diet of the world. Everything else revolves around them. For example, the rice of the Far East, the bulgur of the Middle East, the pasta of Italy, the breads or rotis of India, the kasha and black breads of Russia, the tortillas of Mexico-all are central to their people’s cuisine. The grains group, which includes foods like bread, cereal, rice and pasta, should provide the majority of the energy you need daily.
These foods are high in complex carbohydrates, which are the body’s favorite fuel, and give your child the energy to play, pay attention in school, and do many other activities.
At least half of the grains you consume each day should be whole grains, such as oatmeal, brown rice, and rye bread. Whole grains contain dietary fiber that can help protect against diseases like heart disease and diabetes, and also help control your weight. They are different from refined grains, such as those in white bread and white rice, which have been processed, and many of the nutrients have been taken out.
In fact, breads and cereals contain no more calories per gram than meats and far less than fats. They provide complex carbohydrates, some incomplete protein, B vitamins, iron, magnesium, traces of other minerals, folacin, and all-important fiber. The protein in breads, cereals, and other grains becomes complete when they are eaten with foods containing the missing amino acids, such as legumes or milk. Foods from this group can replace the calories you might otherwise be getting from sweets and fats and will better satisfy your hunger.
When whole wheat is refined into white flour, it loses much of its bran and germ, the most nutritious parts. What remains is the white, starchy endosperm. However, most refined white flour (and the bread made with it) is enriched with thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron. And refined cereals may be fortified with vitamins not normally found in grains, such as A, B12? C, and D. It’s a good idea to include in the diet some of each-whole grain and enriched, refined grain products. Rice undergoes a similar transformation, but to a lesser degree. Converted white rice is nutritionally close to brown rice but lacks much of the fiber. Therefore, converted (parboiled) rice is a second-best choice after brown. Enriched white rice is a third-best choice.
Grains are the seeds of food grasses. An exception is buckwheat, the seed of a different family or herbaceous plants. Of all the grains, buckwheat has the best quality protein, for it contains lysine, an essential amino acid found only in low amounts in other grains. Oats too are high in protein as well as iron, calcium, and phosphorus. Rye flour and whole-wheat products follow closely in nutritional value. Rice is less nutritious, and corn still less.
What’s a serving? If you don’t ordinarily include many foods in this group in your diet, four or more servings perhaps sounds like a lot. But the size of the servings is really rather modest:
1 slice of bread
1 pancake, muffin, roll, or tortilla
1/2 English muffin
1/2 to 3/4 cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta
1 ounce (approximately V2 to 1 cup, according to density) ready-to-eat cereal
At least one serving should be a whole-grain product, and at least one a cereal. If no cereal is eaten, it is better to have five servings from the group. That’s not difficult if you have a slice of bread with each meal, rice, and two whole-grain crackers.
I chose to eliminate the refined flour, sugar, salt, etc from my diet and get the fortified nutrients through very nutrient dense superfoods.
Hope this helps.
