Food is not the enemy

Great article from nutritonist Amanda Carlson of Core Performance I wanted to share with you. Enjoy:

FOOD IS NOT THE ENEMY

It is, in fact, our very good friend

By Amanda Carlson

Food is not the enemy. In fact, you should view nutrition as your training partner. Proper nutrition not only fuels your body for every training session; it also ensures proper recovery.Don't look at food as something that adds pounds onto your frame and seconds onto your time. If you think you need enormous amounts of food to maintain your size, think again. Others of you may think nutrition has nothing to do with your training or performance.Fueling your body optimally will increase your energy levels, enhance the quality of your training, help you to get the most out of each of your training days, improve your hormone profile, decrease inflammation, and decrease your chance of overuse injury.It is worth reiterating. You must begin to view nutrition as your training partner, your essential tool to optimizing your health, your training, and your performance.We spend so much time strengthening, stretching, and training to achieve a body that is in balance. But, what does a body is in balance look like on the inside? There are many amazing athletes who, on the outside look like they have the ultimate body in balance. They train hard day in and day out, they are lean and they are competitive. However, with one look inside, you may find that this picture of perfection is actually on the brink of a complete meltdown. By not fueling the body properly, the environment created on the inside is one of chaos. By not giving the body the correct fuel that it needs, it becomes catabolic or in breakdown mode.When the body becomes catabolic, it begins mobilizing fuel from inefficient sources like muscle. When the body is not fueled properly it is also in a constant state of stress. Your cortisol:testosterone ratio is out of whack as a result of increased cortisol (nasty stress hormone) and decreased testosterone (building hormone). The microscopic damage to the muscle never really gets a chance to fully heal. Your resting heart rate may increase and you may have decreased endurance and power. This unbalanced state sets the body up for a greater risk for sickness, fatigue, depression, inflammation, injury, loss of competitive drive, and ultimately underperformance.Proper nutrition is one of the tools that can be used to put the body back into balance after training and prevent the chaos that can occur with prolonged insufficient nutritional habits. Ensuring you are getting enough calories and all of your nutrients each day will allow the body to run efficiently and energy stores to be full.Engaging in a pre- and/or post-workout nutrition routine after each workout will help to restore your body's hormone profiles to normal, refuel your body, and jumpstart the recovery and repair of the body. Proper nutrition day in and day is one way to prevent the body from slipping into a spiral of overtraining and injury risk. Proper nutrition is one way that you can control to enhance your health and performance.Below you will find some simple rules to live by to ensure you are on the road to optimal nutrition, optimal health, and optimal performance.

10 NUTRITION RULES TO LIVE BY

1. COME BACK TO EARTH!!! Try to choose the least processed forms of food. Fruits, veggies, and whole grains.

2. Eat BREAKFAST every day!

3. Eat smaller portions more often, spread evenly across the day. No excuses -- you should be eating 5-8 meals/day!

4. Stay HYDRATED (.6 x body weight = ounces of water per day) by drinking only non-caloric beverages (water/green tea).

5. Include a LEAN protein source with each meal.

6. Choose foods, especially carbs, rich in FIBER (25-35g/day).

7. Add a multivitamin with anti-oxidant complex and an omega 3/omega 6 blend into your daily routine.

8. Eat fruits or vegetables with each meal. Green vegetables are key!!!

9. Drink a mixture of carbohydrate and protein before and/or after your workout.

10. Last, but not least. Get some rest. The body recovers and repairs when it is sleeping.