datadoll's Journal, 01 August 2010

The problem is that most fitness and nutrition books are based on some little piece of obscure nonsense that it is difficult to reccommend one. If you are really looking to eat healthy, do some research online about nutrition. The basics are so simple that they are often ignored.

If you go to the government sites, medical sites you will see that the all say the same things and make the same recommendations that your doctor would. Eat a balanced diet, foods from every food group. Each food group offers something that is required for your body to run in a healthy and efficient manner. Get moving! Use your muscles. Now that is over simplified but the basics.

Now a step further, macronutrients and micronutrients. Macro... protein, fats, carbs. All are necessary for your body to function. The percentages can vary. Protein 15-25%, Fats up to 30%, and Carbohydrates the balance. Protein in small amounts throughout the day. Fats, a little more complicated. Three types, saturated, polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated. And trans fatty acids. Limit saturated fats (animal-meat and dairy) and eat more poly- and mono-unsaturated (vegetable) fats. Avoid trans fats. As far as carbs go, avoid overprocessed like white flour and empty calories like sugar. Eat plenty of whole grains, legumes and lentils. Eat fruits and vegetables of all kinds. The wider the variety the better. Avoid most packaged foods and restaurants. Notice only avoid them. That is not to say never use packaged foods or eat in restaurants.

Rather, try to use more fresh foods and foods that you prepare, they will be healthier because you control what goes into them. Learn to cook. If it can be purchased already prepared, you can prepare it cheaper, make it healthier and it will taste much better without the chemicals.

Restaurants are fine but you will enjoy them more the less you go, remember that almost all restaurants over portion their foods. (Funny, as I write this, I just realized they never serve enough vegetables. May 3 to 4 times the meat that you should be consuming, but not near enough vegetables. It is possible but very difficult to get a really healthy meal in a restaurant.)

Now the tricky part. The micro-nutrients. Vitamins, minerals and other nutrients required to keep you body fired up. The govenment as established minimum daily requirements for most. Remember, those are MINIMUMS. You should get as many of them from foods as possible. It is very difficult to get as much as you need of all of them through a "typical" American diet. Many doctors will recommend taking a multi-vitamin supplement. The requirements of some vary by age. The list is long and the advantages of each vary widely. With some research you can learn all you need to know.

There is also nutritional some really good nutritional software that you can use to track even the micronutrients. I use a very nice one that was not too expensive. That is where I log all of my food and activity. It is the nutrition side of the software that I find most useful in not only tracking what I eat, but in making the right choises as I plan meals.

I apoligize for the length of this post, but that is the truth about nutrition in a nutshell. ; )