9 Months to Tri

[Jamie] I met with Chris yesterday for our first official nutrition session. I have to say that I am so very impressed with where he is, being just over 1 week into this program. A few things that he has hit right on the money include:

1) Eating small meals throughout the day. This functions in multiple ways: first, it helps to prevent the body from getting too hungry OR too full at one period in time. There have been numerous studies documenting that the longer we go without eating, the more food we will consume at the next meal sitting. Secondly, eating small meals helps to keep blood sugar stable, which prevents feeling sleepy and groggy (too full!) and being moody, cranky, and feeling just out of it (too hungry).

2) Choosing natural foods. Now, by natural, I do not mean coming from a natural food store. By natural, I mean just that: the closer a food is to its natural state, generally the better it will be for you. So, raw nuts are a better choice than roasted and salted, and plain regular oats are better than packages with sugar and salt. Make sense?

3) Including a little protein with each meal/snack. Chris was already doing a great job at this and I was so impressed! Protein is one of a number of foods that helps slow the entry of the meal into the bloodstream, and this helps us to maintain better blood sugar control. This also helps to preserve existing muscle mass and support muscle growth.

After a whirlwind of a session, Chris and I worked on setting up a few more goals to strive for until we meet next. One of these is not depriving yourself and learning to control yourself around food. Chris is going to be eating one small serving of Tostitos each day that he desires - but not more than 1 serving (not many chips!). However this will ultimately help to prevent resentment, which is one of the main reasons why diet DO NOT work. A second goal we discussed is to work in more healthy fats, especially during cooking. These are unsaturated and will help with Chris’ cholesterol goals, and will also help to increase fullness at a meal.

So, great job Chris and keep up this awesome work! Talk to you next time!

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