Top Ten Nutritional Mistakes Made By Active People

Many people think exercise alone is the key to reaching their fitness goals. While exercise does a lot of good, make sure you're not making these mistakes and you'll get more out of your workouts.

This post comes from the American Council on Exercise.

Though active people typically pay close attention to their fitness regimen – proper cardiovascular workout, strength training and stretching - they may be making crucial mistakes in their diet. Not putting the right nutrients in your body could ultimately affect the overall fitness benefits of an active lifestyle. To stress the importance of proper nutrition ACE shares the following nutrition mistakes commonly made by active people.

Skipping breakfast. Experts agree–skipping breakfast just means you’ll be hungrier later, which can make it more difficult to control both your diet and your weight.

Not eating before a workout. Providing the body with food for energy allows for a better, more productive exercise session. Try eating a pre-workout meal consisting of carbs, a little fat and some protein.
Waiting too long after exercise to eat. One of the best things you can do to prepare for your next workout is eat a small meal that includes both carbohydrates and protein within two hours of your last session.

Replacing meals with energy bars or replacement drinks. Many energy bars offer little more nutrition than your average candy bar and replacement drinks may lack adequate fiber. There’s really no substitute for healthy whole foods.

Eating too much protein and not enough carbs. The current popularity of low-carb diets has many people trying to fuel their workouts with poultry instead of pasta. But carbohydrates are essential to effective workouts.

Trusting the accuracy of dietary supplement labels and claims. Because the supplement industry remains largely unregulated, manufacturers can make unproven and untested claims about their products. Do your homework before putting anything into your body.

Not consuming the right amount of calories for the amount of activity you do (i.e., too many or too few). Your caloric intake should be sufficient to support your active lifestyle, but not so abundant that weight control becomes a challenge.

Believing that exercise means you can eat whatever you want. Whether you exercise a little or a lot, you still need to follow a healthy, balanced diet and watch you portion sizes.
Not drinking the right amount of fluids. Dehydration can be a serious problem, especially if you exercise in hot, humid environments. Drinking fluids before, during and after exercise will help you maintain adequate hydration levels.

Jumping on the latest diet craze in search of that elusive “edge.” It’s tempting to believe there is some magic formula out there that will dramatically improve our performance or lose weight, but the best approach is to stick to the basics and follow a healthy, balanced diet.

Stop Drinking Calories and Start Losing Weight

Stop drinking your calories. Many of your favorite soft drinks and flavored coffee drinks can contain 200 or more calories. Drinking a couple of these a day can add up to major weight gain. First make sure to stay away from super sized beverages (stick with 8 to 12 ounces), second making the switch to water can lead to a 20 pound weight loss or more over the course of a year.

Also drink plenty of water. Aim for .6 to .7 ounces per pound of body weight. For instance if you weigh 160 pounds aim to get at least 96 ounces per day. Having 16 ounces of water upon waking in the morning is a good idea because you have been dehydrated during your sleep. With each meal you should also drink one to two cups of water. Carrying a water bottle to work or school and sipping throughout the day, helps keep you hydrated and full between meals.

Non-Diet Weight Loss

Find out how many calories you eat in a typically day. Track everything (including gravy and butter) for a few days to get an average. Once you’ve figured out how many calories you eat in a typical day start by cutting 200-300 calories from that, so if you currently average 2800 calories, try dropping down to 2500 a day. This may be as easy as cutting out high calories drinks or making healthier choices when eating out.

Next split the total between five to six meals to get your metabolism working for you. The goal is to eat more frequently, but less overall. Get an early start by eating breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning and eat every three to four hours after that. Follow up breakfast with a mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, dinner and if needed a light evening snack. With your busy schedule it may be hard to eat every three hours so be prepared to bring cheese sticks, low fat yogurt, apples, oranges and other whole grain snacks that provide fiber and keep you full.

Food Inc

If you want to feel better, have more energy and be sick less you need to workout regularly but you also have to provide your body with the right fuel.

I haven't seen this movie yet but it looks good. Check out the Trailer here

http://www.foodincmovie.com/

I'll try to post the video soon.