Nutrition Made Easy

It is the intent of this chapter to help you understand the basics of nutrition. You will understand how proteins, fats, and carbohydrates work together to provide you with a well rounded nutritional program. Also in this chapter you will be given a list of quality food choices to use while on the road or at home.

In today’s fast pace world it seems almost impossible to follow a sound nutritional plan, however once given the proper tools and understanding you will find that it is not impossible at all. First you need to understand, what is a protein? In simple terms proteins are the essential building blocks for developing muscle. In other words if you want to increase muscle mass then you must take in lean protein into your diet. Next you need to understand, what is a carbohydrate? Carbohydrates provide the body with instant energy. Many diets are formulated around high carbohydrate intake and can give lots of energy, however take note that if you don’t utilize all the carbohydrates that you take in the remainder are converted to fat. Finally, I think it goes without saying we all know what fat is, but do you know the importance of fat? A certain percentage of fat is needed to stay alive. As for fat in your diet you will need to keep it around 15% of less of you total calories.

Now that you have a basic knowledge of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats it is time to understand how to put them together to provide a sound dietary plan. It will also be important to understand the frequency of the meals we eat. We have all been taught that we should eat three meals a day, but recently studies show that eating six smaller meals a day help to keep our matabalism (energy) up. I understand that you are saying to yourselves I don’t have time to eat three meals a day let alone six, but it can be done and I will show you how. Lets get back to setting up a meal. Meal 1 choose a protein and a carbohydrate form the quality food list. Meal 2 eat a supplement bar or shake ( look at the supplement chapter to see what we recommend or choose your own favorite). Meal 3 eat a protein, carbohydrate and add a vegetable. Meal 4 have another bar of shake. Meal 5 do the same as meal 3 and meal 6 could be another bar or shake. You should be eating about every 3-4 hours on this plan. You might be asking how much protein and carbohydrate should I be eating and the rule of thumb is this; your protein should be about the size of you palm, your carbohydrate should be about the size of you fist, and in my opinion you can eat as much vegetable as you like.