When you hear the word “diet,” do you run and hide? Do you feel uncomfortable? Do you avoid that upcoming school reunion?
We’ve all felt like that at one point or another.
Whether it’s the media, family or friends, we are constantly reminded of our weight, how we should look, and begin thinking about ways to diet to lose that excess weight or body fat.
Many think losing weight is about some miracle in a bottle, because that’s what the supplement industry wants us to believe. The fact is the solution to losing weight has always been around and comes down to three simple facets – healthy diet, resistance training and cardiovascular exercise.
With a healthy diet, it comes down to having a balance of proper food calories (energy from food sources) to maintain a healthy weight or body fat for your current age and height. To get the right balanced percentages of daily nutrients (carbs 50-60 percent, proteins 15-20 percent and fats 20-35 percent, along with other essential vitamins, minerals, water, and fiber) to make up the majority of your food calories, you have to know what these nutrients are and the foods they come from as follows:
1. Carbohydrates: Simple carbs, usually the bad ones, are juices, jams, candies, etc., and complex carbs, the good ones, are starches like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, veggies, fruits, yogurt, etc.
2. Proteins: Complex molecules made up of units are amino acids. They aid with how our organs function and how cell tissue repairs itself. You can get these in the form of meats, fish, poultry, dairy products, eggs, beans, etc.
3. Fats: Saturated. You want to steer clear of saturated fats like butter, lard, coconut oil, candies, cakes, fast food, cream, etc. “Good fats” are unsaturated. These are olive oil, nuts, avocados, fish oil, etc. These are the healthy fats you want in your diet and help lower LDL cholesterol, blood pressure and help metabolize our foods.
By understanding the aforementioned nutrients that go into a food calorie, you are better equipped and can begin to understand how a healthy diet is not the same as going on a diet or dieting to lose weight.
Like with any health and fitness advice, always seek guidance from your family doctor or medical professional.
Next time, I will continue with the second facet to losing weight: resistance training.
Tom “Mad Dog” Schneider, of Auburn, is a certified Army master fitness trainer and small group leader with more than 30 years of combined military and civilian fitness experience. For more information, email thomas.b.schneider@us.army.mil or call 253-736-5740.
