Losing it my way!
By Nelson Roque
Diets! We all have been on one from time to time and some of us never get off trying different diets in hopes of shedding the excess pounds. We often talk about the perfect diet for ourselves and the best way to keep our energy up when we workout (workout nutrition). After reading many opinions on this subject I have come to a conclusion that there is a difference between the perfect regimen and the perfect regimen for YOU!
I am not talking about the diet that creates the best physical response. We all can agree on that some dietary practices are very close to perfect, but either people don’t stick to them because these diets are too strict or remove the foods that you love to eat from the diet.
We all have heard the phrase "The best diet is the one that you will stick with." But yet most do not follow this simple rule that is needed to keep off the pounds for life.
Pick out a diet book/program and try to follow it to the letter and I guarantee you that within a week you’ll either have quit the program or moved on to another program. You will only last so long doing a diet just as it is, everyone must take a diet and make it their own.
Over the past two years I have been on a journey to designing a diet that both I can stick with and a diet that my body absolutely loves and gives me the needed energy to do my workouts and see the results I desire out of my daily efforts.
• I rely on chicken, turkey, beef, tuna and eggs as my main protein sources with small amounts of whey protein around my workouts and evening snack. I could do better in variety of course but this is what works for me and it’s easier to meal plan.
• One thing that I have learned over these two years is if the food tastes too good I will overeat it! One of my strategies is to not make my meals too tasty but keep them edible this prevents me from overeating and keep me accountable to my goals better.
• Most of the time I eat the exact same foods every day, I know not too tasty and its boring but its edible, easier to prepare, I can cook in bulk and this saves me time for the more important things in life such as caring for my parents.
• Since my carbohydrate tolerance is very low I do need to watch how many grams I consume of carbohydrates each day this ensures that my performance does not decline and my body is a happy camper. I also need to limit my fruit intake as this triggers my body to pack on the body fat.
• When I travel I either take almonds or a protein bar with me, this has saved me money and has kept me accountable to my goals and most importantly my love for fast foods has been diminished and that’s a very good thing!
That's my top 5 things that I do to make a diet my own. Curious what you all do make your diet your own.
Conclusions?
I believe that a person needs to establish the amount of calories he/she needs to eat to maintain there weight and fuel up workouts this will make it easier for the person to shed the pounds more effectively after all it’s the energy balance equation we are looking for, eat too many calories then what your body burns and you will gain body fat burn more calories then what you consume and you will lose body fat it is simple but most people don’t use the energy balance theory.
Some people can eat many things, many people can only eat some things, a few people can eat anything, any people can eat a few things and all people have to figure out for themselves what things they can and can't eat. I can't tell you what will work for you and personally I'm not listening to anyone else but my own good judgment for myself and what my body tells me. It's worked pretty well for me going on two years now.
By Nelson Roque
Diets! We all have been on one from time to time and some of us never get off trying different diets in hopes of shedding the excess pounds. We often talk about the perfect diet for ourselves and the best way to keep our energy up when we workout (workout nutrition). After reading many opinions on this subject I have come to a conclusion that there is a difference between the perfect regimen and the perfect regimen for YOU!
I am not talking about the diet that creates the best physical response. We all can agree on that some dietary practices are very close to perfect, but either people don’t stick to them because these diets are too strict or remove the foods that you love to eat from the diet.
We all have heard the phrase "The best diet is the one that you will stick with." But yet most do not follow this simple rule that is needed to keep off the pounds for life.
Pick out a diet book/program and try to follow it to the letter and I guarantee you that within a week you’ll either have quit the program or moved on to another program. You will only last so long doing a diet just as it is, everyone must take a diet and make it their own.
Over the past two years I have been on a journey to designing a diet that both I can stick with and a diet that my body absolutely loves and gives me the needed energy to do my workouts and see the results I desire out of my daily efforts.
• I rely on chicken, turkey, beef, tuna and eggs as my main protein sources with small amounts of whey protein around my workouts and evening snack. I could do better in variety of course but this is what works for me and it’s easier to meal plan.
• One thing that I have learned over these two years is if the food tastes too good I will overeat it! One of my strategies is to not make my meals too tasty but keep them edible this prevents me from overeating and keep me accountable to my goals better.
• Most of the time I eat the exact same foods every day, I know not too tasty and its boring but its edible, easier to prepare, I can cook in bulk and this saves me time for the more important things in life such as caring for my parents.
• Since my carbohydrate tolerance is very low I do need to watch how many grams I consume of carbohydrates each day this ensures that my performance does not decline and my body is a happy camper. I also need to limit my fruit intake as this triggers my body to pack on the body fat.
• When I travel I either take almonds or a protein bar with me, this has saved me money and has kept me accountable to my goals and most importantly my love for fast foods has been diminished and that’s a very good thing!
That's my top 5 things that I do to make a diet my own. Curious what you all do make your diet your own.
Conclusions?
I believe that a person needs to establish the amount of calories he/she needs to eat to maintain there weight and fuel up workouts this will make it easier for the person to shed the pounds more effectively after all it’s the energy balance equation we are looking for, eat too many calories then what your body burns and you will gain body fat burn more calories then what you consume and you will lose body fat it is simple but most people don’t use the energy balance theory.
Some people can eat many things, many people can only eat some things, a few people can eat anything, any people can eat a few things and all people have to figure out for themselves what things they can and can't eat. I can't tell you what will work for you and personally I'm not listening to anyone else but my own good judgment for myself and what my body tells me. It's worked pretty well for me going on two years now.