The Importance of Diet and Fitness

The Importance of Diet and Fitness Why Healthy Eating during Personal Training is so Important ChaptersKeeping a Food DiaryAlarming Signs of Bad HealthKeeping Fit by Watching What You EatGet Healthier with a Certified Personal TrainerThe Personal Fitness-Proper Nutrition LinkOvereating, fast food, rich diet: poor diet choices come in many forms and are constantly beguiling us with their salt content, sweet taste and attractive packaging.To say nothing of how they dance on the telly and pose seductively in adverts.Or how they feature beloved cartoon characters to entice our children into forming bad eating habits as early as possible.Meanwhile, the battle rages between the food industry and its corresponding regulatory bodies.And, reporting from the front lines is the NHS that, in spite of all unhealthy food promotions, advocates for fresh choices and puts accountability for our waistlines, clogged arteries and diabetes squarely back on us.How dare they!In the flux of all this sometimes contradictory nutritional information: eggs raise your cholesterol / no they don't... how is anyone supposed to know what to eat these days?One could be driven 'round the bend with all of the conflicting information...But you don't have to be.To avoid anyone obsessing over the subject, let us now have a frank talk about healthy eating.food science wasn't even a science. In the daily struggle for survival, little concern was given to lipids, glucides and proteins, and how they act on the human body.That till-then undeclared frontier revolutionised consumers' attitude toward food.Today, knowledge of food and its effects on our bodies is a bit like the stock market: hard to understand unless you are trained, certified and in the thick of the discipline.And what impact do carbs and protein have on your body and fitness goals?Whether you are trying to lose weight, gain muscle mass or simply want to eat right for health's sake, keeping a food journal is the first step to shaping up.You should write down everything you eat and drink - and how much of each, as well as record any e xercise programs you take part in.  Calculating your Basal Metabolic RateYour basal metabolic rate â€" or BMR tells you how much energy, or calories your body needs to sustain optimal function of basic life systems, such as:breathing: your lungs require a certain amount of energy to work properly, even while you sleepcirculation: your heart must (obviously!) continue to beat in order for you to livedigestive system: as you rest, your innards are hard at work, processing your meals and converting them to energy.For which, ironically enough, they too need energyEvery body is different: in size, height, mass, and even in nutritional needs.Smaller frames can thrive on 1300 calories per day while larger musculoskeletal frames would only just survive on that caloric intake.We haven't even figured on anyone's level of activity, yet!Basic human activity, such as walking or working â€" even at a desk job, accounts for approximately three- to four hundred calories each day.Knowing that, to ke ep your current clothes size, you can calculate your ideal daily caloric intake like so:Weight maintenance = intake of required calories (BMR) + calories to fuel supplemental activities.For a handy guide on how many calories ordinary, daily activities â€" and a few fitness activities consume, you can refer to this chart.You'll notice that high-impact step aerobics can burn more than 700 calories per hour!If you are too weak to pick up a cup of tea, your health may be in danger! Source: Pixabay Credit: SilviaritaAlarming Signs of Bad Health“I'm always so tired!” lamented Kathy, popping a Tim Tam. Discarded sweets wrappers and an empty pack of biscuits lay on the table in front of her.What we eat has a direct impact on how we feel and function.Certain physical signs can clue us in to potentially life-threatening conditions such as: diabetes, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease:Excessive thirstinsatiable hunger â€" especially for sweetshaving no appetite â€" never feeling h ungry could also be an indication of diseasefatigue, especially in those people whose sleep is neither restful or restorativevision troublefrequent infections, or infections that are hard to clear upwounds that take a long time to heal can also be a sign that there is something wrongtingling in the extremities â€" a constant feeling that your hands or feet have fallen asleepsexual dysfunctionIf you experience any or all of these symptoms, you should immediately visit your GP.Food Types that Precipitate Serious Health ConcernsLet us proclaim right now: no food type or cooking method is inherently unhealthy â€" although we do concede that some prepared foods don't necessarily do a body good, even in moderation.However, health and nutrition experts agree: excess is the real culprit.Binging on Netflix while binging on crisps or sweetswhat is a bag of crisps without a refreshing cola?Even diet colas have tons of chemicals â€" aspartame, to sweeten them, for examplefried foods, especially deep-fried: fish 'n' chips, anyone?Red sauce, mayonnaise, prepared salad dressingscakes, pastries â€" not just from the baker's but also factory-producedbleached flour products, including breads and breakfast cerealsReducing intake of these food groups â€" or omitting them from your diet altogether would go a long way toward preventing a cardiac episode and improving your overall health and wellness.Your personal trainer may advise stretching and functional training to start Source: Pixabay Credit: PexelsThe Fitness StepsLevel OneWhen you know what your weight-loss goals are based on your BMI, your should schedule a health assessment with an exercise physiologist.  Find out what shape your body is in through a clinical test of endurance that will measure your cardiorespiratory fitness through a series of aerobic exercises.These are the same exercises a cardiologist would conduct for a heart stress test.Level TwoDiscuss the results of your fitness assessment with your personal train er. S/he will then work with you on a program design tailored to your current fitness level.S/he may also consult with a registered dietitian or nutrition specialist to help establish a sound nutritional program for you to follow.Your first step in fitness training may be corrective exercises, to prepare your muscles and joints for a more rigorous workout.If your goal is to get fit rather than lose any weight, you may start out with functional training: a series of exercises to improve movement in your daily life.In any case, functional training is the next level, after remedial workouts. Improved performance will clue your personal trainer that you are ready to move up the fitness ladder.Level ThreeYou can jumpstart your sports conditioning by working on your aerobic capacity: classes such as Zumba or other cardio workouts offered at the gym.You could also join a bike club, take up jogging and/or swimming, and dance â€" or exercise to music.Anything that raises and sustains an elev ated  heart rate is aerobic exercise.Exercise physiologists aver that alternating between fast and slow â€" on a treadmill or stationary bike works your heart better and helps get in shape faster.Be sure to consult with your fitness professional to see if you are ready for this type of athletic conditioning and, if so: how much?Overworking your muscles is just as dangerous as not working them at all!Level FourOnce you have attained a satisfactory level of sports conditioning, where your fitness goals take you is your choice entirely.Do you want:to continue losing weight, while toning your muscles?Resistance training is for you.a more sculpted look? To become a bodybuilder?You should talk to your fitness instructor about strength trainingto participate in athletic competition?Depending on your sport of choice, you may need to train one on one with an athlete of that disciplineWhat about fitness programs for the whole family?Considering the alarming rates of childhood obesity in Great Britain, it might not be a bad idea to get the whole family enrolled in a fitness program.Your family's fitness education is as close as your computer: you can find a group fitness trainer online, or search for a fitness centre  that offers family fitness classes near you.Nutrition and Exercise Science for Special PopulationsNot everyone can look to private training for their fitness and nutrition questions.Some aren't even motivated to seek out training programs... yet!For whatever reason, the most vulnerable segments of our population are at greatest risk of poor nutrition and suffer the extremes of poor physical conditioning.The obese, the disabled, the young, the old, the poor and disenfranchised have little to no access to health fitness education.Fortunately, our NHS takes the lead.On their page, you can find it all: senior fitness, youth fitness; even exercise programs for the disabled.You can learn about biomechanics and training techniques, and learn about exercising safel y.Don't leave yourself dead in the water; feed your body the fuel it needs! Source: Pixabay Credit: JodumaThe Personal Fitness-Proper Nutrition LinkAnyone in the fitness business will emphatically state that you cannot get fit unless you feed your body.Just as you would not put low grade fuel in your Audi A4 and expect high performance, you cannot put foods of nutritionally poor value in your body and expect to have a healthy body composition.Or any energy for anything â€" let alone physical fitness!Your personal fitness trainer would advise you to take in the proper fuel for your fitness goals:To build muscle mass, you should take in plenty of proteinand carbs, to give you the energy for those heavy barbells!To tone and trim your figure, leaner is betterplenty of fresh fruits and veg, whole grains, and lean meats (or other forms of protein)To build endurance â€" for crossfit and circuit training, or maybe registering for that marathon is what motivates youhere again, carbs are key. Any type of interval training, especially at high intensity for short bursts, calls on your muscles to give up glycogen for fuel.That is why carbs are essential to your fitness plan: they convert easily into sugar, that you will burn off as you work out.To determine your current level of fitness and knowledge of nutrition, you can take quizzes online.Again, our NHS leaps to our aid with this overall fitness challenge.From that page you can find all manner of help and insightful articles about various societal challenges that get in the way of our health and fitness plans.And at Superprof, you will find any number of certified fitness professionals who will help you overcome them, to become the best and fittest you!