Nutrition - Where to Start?

Nutrition - Where to Start?

You've heard it a million times - the first week is always the hardest. By and large those people would be right. But, there's ways in which you can make things easier for yourself! If you want a bit more in depth detail then you can check out my previous articles:

1. ​Nutrition - The Truth
2. Introduction to Nutrition
3. Nutrition: Macronutrient Intake

First things first , rather than worrying about all the things you think you have to be doing , focus on nailing the basics that you might not be doing already. Long term progress/adherence is built on good daily habits not extreme acute incidents.

By that logic , let's look at what we need:

1. Fluid - I don't need to bore you with the whole "your body is made up of ≈ 80% water so its important you drink it" , you already know all of that stuff. What you need is ways to make it easier. My biggest tip for this is buy yourself 2 bottles. One 2L 'storage' bottle and a smaller 500-750ml 'sippy cup' . What you do then is you fill up both of them at the start of the day , but you only drink out of the 'sippy cup' . Whenever the smaller bottle is empty you go and fill it up from the bigger one. Why? How often do you fill a 2L bottle with the intention to drink it. 3 hours have gone passed and you've barely made a dent? At least this way you're more likely to get through the smaller bottle quicker and have a small sense of achievement of having drank water in the first place. Simple but effective strategy. In addition , any sort of additional sugar free flavouring is welcomed if water isn't for you.
2. Sleep - Goes without saying that you should be aiming for 7-9 hours of sleep. In an ideal world you would go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. In reality for certain populations we know this isn't feasible. These include; people who work shift, parents of young kids, highly stressed individuals. For these populations it can be a goal to work towards. For everyone else you've no excuse. Go to bed at roughly the same time every night, wake up at roughly the same time every morning, sleep in a dark, cool (roughly 18/19 degrees) room to speed up the onset of sleep, avoid heavy use of electronics before bed (phone, tablet or laptops) as blue lights affects melatonin production which induces sleep. It also helps having a pre-bed routine like washing your face and hands and brushing your teeth and having some wind down time. All these will aid in getting quality nights sleep which will help with appetite regulation, hormone regulation, normal digestive function and maintenance of energy levels. 
3. Regular Movement - This one goes a long way to helping. Most of the time people who want to get in better shape are coming from a place of very little activity and try and go zero to 100 real quick and it doesn't work that way unfortunately. You have to make your fitness efforts fit you, rather than trying to fit yourself into a pre-conceived idea of what you think you should be doing. The only thing you should be doing is more than you were previously. Whether that's adding in a 20/30/60 minute walk in 2-3 times per week or 1 or 2 gym classes per week. Remember, it's relative to where you are in your journey. The goal should be to make movement a part of your lifestyle and not this arduous effort that mentally & physically drains you. Whatever that may be, you are in control of that!
4. Enough Calories - For more info. on exactly how many you should be eating then check out the articles I've linked above! It's a massive area people fall down on. They have great intentions but they just get it so wrong sometimes. In the initial stages of a 'diet' change, you cannot simultaneously increase the amount of energy you expend and restrict the number of calories you are eating, it's disastrous. It's akin to trying to drive a car 100% faster with 50% less fuel, it works for a while and then all of a sudden you run out of fuel and you break down. If you're serious about long term change then you have to give it time. Fuel your body with enough calories to support this new level of activity. Feed your body with the nutrients it needs to support energy production and burning fat. Set a platform first of solid nutritional habits and a healthy lifestyle before worrying about anything else.

As far as being healthy goes and starting your fitness kick, this is where you should start! Not your detoxes, not juice plus cleanses, not going to the gym 5 times a week , not trying to run 5k every day. Start small. Layer things every week or two and get this right for the first 4-6 weeks and this puts you in a much better position long term. You don't want to have a great first 10 days and end up hating yourself and quitting because you're exhausted. 

If your interested in more , then sign up for your free online coaching consultation here. Start to take control of your own fitness journey!

Slowly slowly catchy monkey!