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.

1. 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!

2. 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. 

3. 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. 

4. 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. 

5. 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!

The post New Year, New Nutrition Plan appeared first on Physio Room.

Whether you travel frequently for work or you go on the occasional family vacation, it’s important to know 2 things; 1. That you can actually make healthy choices while on the road (or in the air) and also 2. How to actually make those choices.

So today let’s talk about 3 ways you can set yourself up for success when traveling!

The truth is, travel presents a lot of situations that are simply out of our control and it can make putting your fitness foot forward or putting your health first when you’re traveling.

There’s going to be a lot of things out of your control.

You’re not going to be able to control if the flight gets delayed.

You’re not going to be able to control if somebody sitting in the row next to you is keeping you awake and you’re trying to get some sleep.

You’re not going to be able to control the fact that there’s a child on the plane who’s having some challenges and they’re crying or just being loud.

But there’s a lot of things that are in your control. Those are the things we’re going to focus on; control the controllable!

1. Sleep

Have you ever experienced jetlag? It can throw off your entire routine and make traveling a bit rough. One of the best things you can do before you travel (especially if you’ll be crossing multiple time zones) is getting adequate sleep beforehand!

Don’t go into your trip sleep deprived. When your body’s clock gets thrown off a little bit during travel, you’re going to be well prepared to buffer your sleep. The more you focus on your sleep beforehand, the better off you’re going to be on your trip. You can even try to shift your body’s clock a few days before you travel to prepare yourself for a new timezone by going to bed 30 minutes earlier or waking up 30 minutes earlier.

You could also be more intentional with flight times if you have the option. If you have a 6 or 7am departure, you’ll probably need to wake up around 3 or 4am to get to the airport in time. As opposed to picking a 10am flight which would afford you more sleep and set your travel day up better for success.

2. Hydration

Hydration is underrated. Especially if you’re at a high altitude. So be sure you’re hydrating appropriately with adequate water intake. Hydration isn’t just about water intake, though. Electrolytes play a big role. We suggest making sure you have a good ratio of sodium, potassium, and magnesium. This is especially important for those traveling for athletics or exercise.

Now, let’s talk about that drink cart on the plane. It is very common for people to drink things whether that’s alcohol, soda, ginger ale, orange juice, or any of the other drink options that are complimentary on your flight. If you can avoid those highly sugary drinks on the plane, that’s going to set you up so much better to feel better during your travel.

3. Snacks

Packing your own snacks when traveling can help you stay on top of your goals and provide quality fuel and energy throughout your day. When choosing your snack, prioritize protein and healthy fats if you can. Here’s a few travel snack ideas:

Beef jerky

Greek Yogurt

Nuts

Protein powder

These types of snacks are going to sustain you, satiate you and make you feel full significantly longer. The more we can reduce the highly processed sugary carbs that are going to be very easy and quick and convenient during travel, the better.

So there you have it! Three simple ways you can set yourself better for success when you travel so you don’t feel sluggish and completely depleted of energy when you’re on your way to your destination.

Did you find this helpful?

If so, share this blog with a friend that could benefit. It’s the small choices we make daily that make the biggest difference. If you master those, you’ll be unstoppable – even when life becomes out of our control.

The post How to Make Healthy Choices While Traveling & Stay on Top of your Goals appeared first on Physio Room.

Physio Room opened doors a little over one year ago and we are excited to be growing our dedicated team. We currently staff 2 PTs, a front office manager and a marketing/social media director. We are looking to hire an additional PT to help continue to grow and manage the Highlands Ranch location. 

PTs working with our clinic are passionate about fitness and about providing our unique brand of individualized care. PTs are asked to teach workshops on a monthly basis and hold a high degree of active community involvement. We are looking for an enthusiastic go-getter who wants to work with the owner to build this unique business, not someone only interested in working within the business and for the owner. An ideal candidate wants to work for a high-energy and innovative company, has a strength/conditioning/performance background, strong manual therapy skills and is looking for an amazing opportunity to learn and grow personally and professionally alongside our team. 

Bonus if interested in women’s health/pelvic floor physical therapy as this would be a big asset to our company.

Please send your resume with attached cover letter and references to Chris Robl: chris@physioroomco.com

We look forward to you joining the team!

The post We Are Growing! Are You our Next Physical Therapist? appeared first on Physio Room.