“You are what you eat. What would YOU like to be?” – Julie Murphy, Nutrition Across A Lifetime

Photo by Kattymouse – Photobucket

Before you figure out if the newest diet craze works or if its even a good fit for you, before you pore over testimonials, discuss it with friends and family, or even strangers on forums, ask yourself this one question first.

What is good nutrition?

Good nutrition meets the following three essential criteria and it meets all three, every time.

1. It will fortify health

Good nutrition will never ever sacrifice your health in order to lose weight or achieve low levels of body fat. This is a big one here. The premise of most diets is to lose weight at an extremely fast rate. The need to achieve extreme results can put your health at risk.

How can you tell if a nutrition program is putting your health at risk?

If your program is either inclusive or too much of one thing (the cabbage diet) or it excludes entire food groups altogether, like carbohydrates, (Atkins Diet) then it’s likely to be detrimental to you health. No one food item can provide your body with all the essential nutrients your body needs to thrive.

It’s important to closely examine every nutrition plan to make sure it fortifies your health.

Don’t sacrifice your health in order to lose a few pounds, it’s not worth it.

2. It supports performance

A good nutrition program provides all the fuel you need to be your best. Whether on the field or in the gym a solid nutrition program supports your activities by providing the energy you need to train and perform.

One of the common traits that you’ll find with many diets is that they often recommend low calorie intake. The lower calorie intake may help you lose weight but with out enough energy to exercise you’re going to see a decrease in your performance and fitness levels. This will ultimately result in lower metabolism and lean muscle mass adversely effecting your performance even further.

A good nutrition program will hep you meet your energy requirements and provide you with the right amount of protein, carbs, and essential fats you need to help you recover from your exercise sessions and athletic events.

3. It Gets results

Not that results are the primary focus of a nutrition program but achieving a healthy body weight and body fat level is important to all of us.

It’s not the you have to look like a fitness model or cut down to a low body fat percentage only seen in body builders or other physique athletes but we all need to keep our waistline and body fat percentage in check.

That’s because body fat percentage and waistline correlates with health and longevity. The higher your body fat percentage the greater your chance of acquiring health problems.

Your nutrition program should keep these levels in check and have the ability to improve them if needed.

This information can now be used as a litmus test for you and your nutrition plan. Ask yourself does your program fortify your health, support your performance and get you the results you’re looking for? If you answer yes to all three, then your program has passed with flying colors.

You know what good nutrition is all about.

If your program didn’t do so well and you need more help with your nutrition program, please contact me at 719-640-0141 or email me at info@precisionfitnesstrainer.com.

As a certified nutrition coach I can assist you in finding a good nutrition program appropriate for you or simply answer any questions that you may have.

In strength and longevity,

Edward Scaduto