Well lately I have been doing a lot of reading on nutrition.
I believe I am a relatively healthy eater and feed my family with nutritious choices.
BUT this is an area I also can improve on...
First there is my everyday nutrition. What I have been focusing on lately is Eating CLEAN!! This is the latest buzz in the health and wellness industry. Basically what eating clean is eating food in its most natural state, or as close to it as possible.
In today's society there is WAY TOO MUCH processed food....and this is what we fall back on because it is quick and easy.
So what I try to focus on for my everyday nutrition and my family is choosing foods in their natural state. So fresh veggies, fruit, meats, and low fat dairy and keep away from refined sugars.
I do have a few downfalls in this department...first is breakfast. I think for as long as I can remember I have eaten Special K with blueberries. Where this cereal actually is quite low in sugars and fats it is still considered processed and there are other healthy choices.
My other downfall is snacks for kids.....I tend to pick granola bars, fruit snacks, bags of cookies etc...again because they are quick and easy. What I am working on now is more cut up fruits, veggies, whole wheat crackers etc.
I know I cannot take out all the processed food out of our diets but my goal is to do a 80/20 split on a daily basis. 80% clean eating and 20% "not" so this can be processed or what I call CHEAT foods...yes I can admit I love my ice cream and cookies etc...
For me changing my diet is not about weight loss. I am at a weight I am happy with, for me it is how I feel. I feel better when I am eating good plain and simple.
Another thing I have done for me and my family is we now take a supplement called VEMMA. It is a basically SUPER JUICE! A liquid vitamin and mineral antioxidant. Me and my whole family takes it and I can see the difference in our health in the few months we have introduced it. I love it so much now I even sell it! check it out at www.vemma.com
The last piece for nutrition for me is Spot nutrition. What I eat leading up to a race, and on race day. I think I had this BANG on for the 70.3 this year. So my plan is to do a lot of research and ensure I have this aspect of my training completely on. Bad nutrition can break a race.......and can be avoided with proper guidance and training!
As my journey to Ironman 2012 continues so will be journey about proper nutrition!
Good post Candice. I don't believe in 99% of the fad diets out there. Having said that, clean eating is something that has become trendy (in some circles at least) that I completely stand behind! Basically it's how our bodies are meant to eat.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to feeding the kids, that's my downfall too, but I've gotten a lot better. The only crackers I buy are trisquits. They're still not perfect, but the ingredient list only has three things on it. I also try for the fresh fruit as much as I can. I do some of my own baking (in big batches) and freeze it. That way I can use whole grain flours, and it's better then what I would buy in the store.
When it comes to race day and prerace nutrition, I'm still trying to get it. I don't try to go clean with that (I use sports drinks and gels), but I don't think I've quite got the right balance for it yet either. I've spent most of my adult life in "eat to lose weight" mode (though not always successfully), and it's still an adjustment when I go into "eat to fuel" mode. A good adjustment