7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutritional Programs

If you are ready to go all in, adopt all seven principles today and commit to 21 days of planning out and journaling your meals and snacks and you will be celebrating that you made what seemed impossible, possible in less than a month! If moderation is your mode, add one new principle each day for the next week, and you will see one habit feeds success into the others and you will look and feel much better in four to six weeks from now.

If you prefer a slow and steady pace to adopt the 7 habits, commit to one new principle each week and make it a 7-week plan to your lifestyle transformation.

With any new habit, the more you do it the more automated and simple it becomes. Any nutrition plan worth starting is one you can maintain for the rest of your life, “Diets” die, learning how to feed your body with real food lasts a lifetime!

Let’s Review
Follow these steps to ensure a balanced and healthy approach to nutrition!
Step 1: Eat Mostly Whole, Natural Foods that are Minimally Processed
- Eat mostly whole, natural, fresh, high quality foods.
Step 2: Eat Early, Eat Often
- Try to eat every three hours and immediately upon waking in the morning.
Step 3: Be a Protein Pro
- Eat lean protein with every meal.
Step 4: Carbs are Not the Enemy…But Choose Wisely
- Eat mostly complex carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Step 5: Divide and Conquer your Fats
- Keep your total fat content low, but divide your fats evenly between saturated,
polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated sources.
Step 6: Boost your Liquid Assets
- Drink mostly non-calorie beverages and plenty of water (no soda!)
Step 7: Prepare for Success
- Proper preparation will make steps 1-6 manageable.

Preparing Healthy Food

You can undo many good qualities of food by cooking them improperly or adding ingredients
that increase calories and saturated fat. Here are some food preparation tips to keep you meals
healthy.
1. Cook Light: avoid deep frying foods and instead choose to grill, broil, or bake. Also, cook in
small amounts of healthy oils instead of butter or margarine.
2. Don’t Smother: additions to your food, such as mayonnaise, cheese, salt, and butter, can add
high amounts of fat and calories. Learn to enjoy the natural taste of food.
3. Modify Recipes: learn to substitute or modify your favorite recipes to limit bad ingredients
and fats.

Nutrition & Performance

Athletes have special needs when it comes to nutrition. Follow the simple steps listed below to ensure you are getting the most out of your training and performance:

1. Listen to your Body: each individual is different, so pay attention to the signals your body is giving you. If eating or not eating before exercise leads to lightheadedness, cramping, upset stomach, or low energy, switch up the program and find what works best. Once you find the plan that allows you to perform optimally, stick with it.

2. Time your Meals Carefully: eating a large meal immediately before strenuous activity can lead to cramping, upset stomach, or sluggishness. Try to ingest a small meal or snack that agrees with your stomach, allowing at least an hour to begin digestion.

3. Drink Plenty of Water: sweating is a way of regulating your body temperature during exercise. This increase in water loss can lead to dehydration if not replaced. Make sure to sip water continuously, as gulping or chugging water can lead to cramping or upset stomach. Gatorade and other electrolyte drinks should not be used as a substitute for water unless the physical activity will continue for over 1 hour.

4. Take Advantage of the Golden Hour: your body stores energy in your muscles in the form of glycogen. Within an hour of exercise, you should replenish these glycogen stores by ingesting simple, fast digesting sugars such as sucrose, glucose, and fructose. Also, ingesting protein can provide the raw ingredients for rebuilding muscle tissue that has been broken down during exercise.