Nutrition, the obsession of my life

I've always been interested in food and exercise, but in the last few months it has morphed into an nutritional obsession (as Teague can tell you!)

Precision Nutrition, a Toronto based nutrition outfit, is my basic source of information on this. Check them out, they are a great source of knowledge, pointers, and motivation for eating healthy, exercising, and being healthy in general:

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/

John Berardi is my nutrition guru. Here's what he says:

1. Keep your body weight and body fat in check

While we like to talk about exercise and nutrition as the key factors in disease prevention, one huge factor in health is body weight. Simply put, even if you exercise and eat well, if you’re still overweight/overfat, you’re at risk. If you’re exercising and eating well, yet your body weight and body fat are too high, you’ve gotta get that body weight down.

2. Exercise as often as possible

In most cases, doing some form of exercise every single day is one of the best prescriptions for health and disease prevention. Based on the research, at least 5-7 hours of exercise per week is ideal.






This is me, can't you tell?

3. Eat lots of fruits and veggies

As a society, we eat too few plants. That’s reflected in our waistlines and our disease prevalence. Both epidemiological and experimental research shows that eating more veggies and fruits lends us a huge amount of prevention. So what are you waiting for? Start increasing your intake today. Shoot for 10 servings (in most cases 1-2 cups = 1 serving) of fresh or frozen veggies and fruits every day.

4. Take your supplements

Sure, supplements aren’t necessary if the diet is complete. The only problem? In my entire life, I’ve only met a few folks with a complete diet. Many of us have borderline or full-fledged deficiencies in vitamins, minerals, and key phytochemicals. By including a broad spectrum multi-vitamin, an omega 3 supplement, and a green food product, we can help prevent key deficiencies that lead to poor health.

5. Prioritize sleep and rest

In Western society we prioritize long hours and hard work over sleep and rest.This can be a problem when it comes to health and longevity. Sleep and rest help us keep a clear and focused mind – leading to more productivity and better relationships. Sleep and rest help us dampen down stress – allowing us better control over our hormonal physiology. For health, people should be getting, on average 7-9 hours of restful sleep each night. 

Since my adoration of John Berardi and Precision Nutrition, I can honestly say I've never felt better ... so something must be working.