Keeping track of what you eat throughout your day is just as important as remembering to brush your teeth every morning or your daily cup of coffee. You don’t forget one of those two things do you? So, why can’t you create a new habit of writing down the food you consume in one day? Just get it done!
When we hand out Food Logs for new clients at our facility we usually get responses like “Wow it’s crazy to see how much I do/don’t eat.” It is always mixed between those who don’t eat enough and those who are surprised by how much they actually consume in one day. The one thing that remains the same is the blatant truth a food log states. It doesn’t lie if you keep consistent and it’s written down for you to see with your own eyes. Seeing a written copy of your nutrition is a big eye opener and that’s why it works so well. People need to see the hard copy with their eyes because me telling them what they’re eating goes in one ear and out the other.
There are many arguments out there about which meals are the most important every day. Whether it be breakfast, lunch, pre workout, post workout, or dinner my advice remains the same: DON’T MISS ANY! If you want to get the best results with your diet and stay consistent, you aren’t missing any meals. If you want half-ass results then you can give half-ass efforts. No matter what your job is, how many kids you have, or your schedule you still can find time to prepare your meals accordingly.
Going through the daily grind requires some energy and the best way to get energy is to get some rest and to eat. Many people like to say that breakfast is the most important meal and although you may not think it is the most important meal, you do agree it is important. You have slept all night and fasted throughout your sleep. This means that you have eaten nothing all night and when you decide to skip breakfast you might be going over 12 hours without eating! This is not good! Don’t skip breakfast!
If you have eaten breakfast when you woke up around 7 and do not have lunch until about 12 or 1 you should have some sort of snack in between to fight off your hunger. Snacks are an important staple in your day that need to be included to help fight off hunger. So if you have skipped breakfast and need to “Break your Fast” before lunch, a snack is a good way of giving your body some energy. Then you need to get some lunch.
It is definitely important to eat some time before a tough workout so you have energy and can handle the work load. I don’t get caught up in the specifics of when to eat before a workout because truthfully why create more stress? Eat if you are hungry and make sure it’s something that isn’t going to cause you to become sick during a workout. When you are done with your workout it is equally important to make sure you eat something to help replenish. Again, you should have worked up an appetite so eat when you are hungry. But you mustn’t skip this meal just as much as you shouldn’t skip breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Lastly, as much as it kills me to do, I need to touch on timing of food consumption. The problem with discussing when to eat is it just adds to another thing that people stress over. “So, I need to eat breakfast, what time is good? I need to eat within 30 minutes post workout? What if I can’t until 35-40 minutes?” Seriously, this gets ridiculous and the average gym-goer should not be stressing out like this over when to eat. JUST EAT! It is more important that you eat something than if you don’t at all. “It’s 8:30 p.m., it’s pretty late to eat dinner.” Well if you just worked out extremely hard and haven’t eaten since noon, I’d say it’s a great time to eat dinner! Those of you who are completing double sessions at the gym need to eat. If you work out twice and eat once it does not mean you will see double the results!
When we hand out Food Logs for new clients at our facility we usually get responses like “Wow it’s crazy to see how much I do/don’t eat.” It is always mixed between those who don’t eat enough and those who are surprised by how much they actually consume in one day. The one thing that remains the same is the blatant truth a food log states. It doesn’t lie if you keep consistent and it’s written down for you to see with your own eyes. Seeing a written copy of your nutrition is a big eye opener and that’s why it works so well. People need to see the hard copy with their eyes because me telling them what they’re eating goes in one ear and out the other.
There are many arguments out there about which meals are the most important every day. Whether it be breakfast, lunch, pre workout, post workout, or dinner my advice remains the same: DON’T MISS ANY! If you want to get the best results with your diet and stay consistent, you aren’t missing any meals. If you want half-ass results then you can give half-ass efforts. No matter what your job is, how many kids you have, or your schedule you still can find time to prepare your meals accordingly.
Going through the daily grind requires some energy and the best way to get energy is to get some rest and to eat. Many people like to say that breakfast is the most important meal and although you may not think it is the most important meal, you do agree it is important. You have slept all night and fasted throughout your sleep. This means that you have eaten nothing all night and when you decide to skip breakfast you might be going over 12 hours without eating! This is not good! Don’t skip breakfast!
If you have eaten breakfast when you woke up around 7 and do not have lunch until about 12 or 1 you should have some sort of snack in between to fight off your hunger. Snacks are an important staple in your day that need to be included to help fight off hunger. So if you have skipped breakfast and need to “Break your Fast” before lunch, a snack is a good way of giving your body some energy. Then you need to get some lunch.
It is definitely important to eat some time before a tough workout so you have energy and can handle the work load. I don’t get caught up in the specifics of when to eat before a workout because truthfully why create more stress? Eat if you are hungry and make sure it’s something that isn’t going to cause you to become sick during a workout. When you are done with your workout it is equally important to make sure you eat something to help replenish. Again, you should have worked up an appetite so eat when you are hungry. But you mustn’t skip this meal just as much as you shouldn’t skip breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Lastly, as much as it kills me to do, I need to touch on timing of food consumption. The problem with discussing when to eat is it just adds to another thing that people stress over. “So, I need to eat breakfast, what time is good? I need to eat within 30 minutes post workout? What if I can’t until 35-40 minutes?” Seriously, this gets ridiculous and the average gym-goer should not be stressing out like this over when to eat. JUST EAT! It is more important that you eat something than if you don’t at all. “It’s 8:30 p.m., it’s pretty late to eat dinner.” Well if you just worked out extremely hard and haven’t eaten since noon, I’d say it’s a great time to eat dinner! Those of you who are completing double sessions at the gym need to eat. If you work out twice and eat once it does not mean you will see double the results!
- Coach Nick
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