Nutrition
Over the last 3-4 years I've become more and more interested in nutrition and diet. My wakeup call was having blood analysis tests done and not having the best results. Up to that point in my life I never really cared that much about calories, salt, sugar or much of any type of food intake considerations. I would say my diet at the time was typical American and consisted of meats, cheese, chips, bread, and way too much sugar and salt. Like many Americans I also really enjoyed craft beer.
Choosing a diet
I've experimented with several diet options in the last few years. One of my main considerations is to choose something that is a lifestyle and not something that you try for 3-6 months and then fall back into old habits. The first one I tried was vegetarian, not because I don't like meat, but because I had read there are many additional benefits to the lifestyle. I will say that I learned a lot about what is healthy by trying to be vegetarian, but I think its really difficult to maintain that lifestyle in Midwest America. I learned so much and found so many different food choices by committing to a vegetarian lifestyle for almost a year, and I did manage to drop about 20 pounds.
Intermittent Fasting
During my journey to better health and fitness I ran across this video discussing Intermittent Fasting.
After seeing this I immediately began trying it and haven't looked back since. Everything about it just makes sense and is the exact simplistic diet that I was looking for. Since adopting intermittent fasting I've dropped an additional 20+ pounds and I can really notice a difference in body fat. I can't say enough good things about making this your daily lifestyle and highly recommend adopting it.
| Nuts | Fruit | Vegetables | Legumes/Rice | Meats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pistachios | Apples | Broccoli | Rice | Burgers |
| Almonds | Bananas | Carrots | Black Beans | Steak |
| Walnuts | Blueberries | Celery | Black Eyed Peas | Wild Salmon |
| Pecans | Raspberries | Cucumbers | Kidney Beans | Pork |
| Brazil Nuts | Cherries | Zucchini | Lima Beans | Chicken |
| Cashews | Oranges | Cauliflower | Lentils | Eggs |
| Macadamia Nuts | Melons | Asparagus | Garbonzo Beans | |
| Hazelnuts | Strawberries | Brussels Sprouts | Chickpeas | |
| Peanuts | Grapefruit | Spinach | Peas | |
| Pineapple | Garlic | Soy Beans | ||
| Avocado | Kale | |||
| Pomegranate | Green Peas | |||
| Mango | Red Cabbage |
The main thing to understand is that the 2 main ingredients in highly processed foods are Salt(sodium) and Sugar. These ingredients are used because 1) they preserve food so their shelf life is longer, and 2) They make food taste better. Get to know how to read nutrition labels and try to choose foods that are low in both salt and sugar.
- Salt and Sugar
- Processed Food
- Canned Everything
- Crackers
- Chips
- Spaghetti Sauce
- Candy
- Cheese