New Year, New Nutrition Plan
As we look forward to 2023, it’s time to start making a nutrition plan for the year!
This doesn’t necessarily mean changing our diet or how we eat in our daily lives, but optimizing our nutrition. And a new year is a great time to start paying attention to our nutrition!
As you know, what we put in our bodies is extremely important in ultimately determining or dictating what we can expect from our body. Whether that’s from a performance standpoint, how you feel every day, what type of energy levels you have, how your skin feels, your nails, your hair, etc. is going to be impacted by what we put in our body.
When we focus on nutrition, you know, what does that mean? There are so many different diets and different ways to go about eating that people subscribe to. From being vegan to being pescatarian, eating plant-based foods, eating paleo, eating ketogenic, having meal replacement shakes, there are many nutrition plans to choose from.
But what’s most important is finding a nutrition plan that is right for your lifestyle and your body.
Let’s talk about the steps to creating this plan for you.
- Eat Real Foods
First and foremost, you need to try and prioritize eating real food. Preferably, the fewer things that come out of a package, the better off you’re going to be. Eat foods that have a very small ingredient list on the label. The less ingredients, the better!
Think about a banana. That only has one ingredient, and it’s banana. It’s also very good for you and full of nutrients that your body needs. No matter what type of diet plan you subscribe to, that is almost always one of the first recommendations that’s given. Real foods have been around forever, and processed foods have not. Think about that!
- Consider your Protein
Where are you getting your protein sources, and how much protein are you consuming? Whether you’re talking about maintaining a certain body composition, maintaining strength, preventing decline and muscle loss with age; protein is extremely important.
Proteins are extremely important for satisfying or satiating us from an appetite standpoint, because protein digests a little bit slower in our system. It’s going to make you feel full for longer. It’s also going to help you maintain your level of muscle mass, or potentially build muscle mass on your body and help you burn more calories.
So, where are you getting your protein from? How much are you eating?
We typically recommend eating one gram of protein per pound of body weight, if you’re regularly exercising. This could also be your lean body mass, and we recommend working with your doctor or nutritionist on the specifics, but that’s a general rule of thumb.
We also recommend getting your protein from meats, veggies, and other real foods as opposed to primarily protein powders or any sort of processed foods.
- Decrease Processed Sugar Consumption
So after you eat real food, after you dial in your protein, one of the other more important things is decreasing, or trying to virtually eliminate processed sugar that you are consuming.
Think of things like donuts, candy and cookies and other things that generally come in a package or have a lot of processing that goes into it.
Sugar is addictive, and not the best for our bodies; especially when it’s processed and added to foods. Want some sweetness in your life? Add honey, fruits, and natural sugars into your diet instead.
If you try eliminating or heavily decreasing processed sugars from your diet, it’s basically guaranteed that your body will feel better in general. It’s challenging, but you can absolutely do it.
- Practice mindful eating
Mindful eating means not considering what you eat when you eat it. It’s all too familiar to sit in front of the TV, veg out on some chips, snack on whatever is in the pantry when you’re bored, and eat a bag of candy without even realizing it.
Enjoy the time and the food that you’re eating. Stop eating when you’re full. These are ways to practice mindful eating instead of zoning out and eating whatever is available without giving it a second thought.
Eat until you’re satisfied, not overly full, and put away distractions while you eat. Enjoy your food.
- Stay hydrated
There are so many hidden calories and hidden added sugars in the drinks that we consume. Soda, juice, energy drinks, iced coffees, you name it.
That’s why it’s important to stay hydrated with water instead of sugary alternatives, because water is what will truly keep your body hydrated.
You want to consume half of your body weight in ounces of water per day. If you aren’t close to this right now, do not try to accomplish this tomorrow. Just make it a goal to get better about staying hydrated each day. If you sweat and lose water during the day, try supplementing it with electrolyte packets in your water or electrolyte supplements.
These five action items towards building the best nutrition plan for your body may be gradual steps. Working towards the nutrition plan that you want and deserve is a process, and you’ve gotta start somewhere!
Try these five things out in 2023, and let us know how it’s going for you. If your nutrition is thriving, we definitely want to know. Good luck!
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