There are 3 main principles you need to consider when it comes to Eating Right. This is especially important if you’re over 35, because you can Eat and Diet wrong all you want in your 20’s and early 30’s. But after about 35, with hormones changing, stress, family, finances, being on the go… it becomes a bit more challenging, which is why it is important to learn how to Eat Right!
Getting healthy and fit is not about swallowing more supplements and protein. Think of getting healthy like getting out of debt. What does Dave Ramsey say, “yes you need to earn more, but you also need to Stop Spending so much. Quit eating and doing the things that are making you physically worse and less healthy.
Do No Harm to Your Tummy
Just because you ate it – doesn’t mean you absorbed it!
If you get heartburn, bloated, gassy, indigestion, diarrhea, irritable bowel or any other related digestive problem. That’s a sign that your body didn’t like WHAT You Feed it or How You Feed Yourself. How do you expect to extract and utilize all those important and possibly expensive nutrients in your food, especially protein, when your gut gets all knotted, inflamed or irritated?
Whether your digestive distress is more of a Dietary Choice or Dietary Habit problem, it’s needs to be addressed and resolved first, or you could be caught in this Vicious cycle. Is your tummy all distressed because of What You Eat (too much refined, processed food) or How you Eat (on the Go, In a Hurry, In the Car)?
The ONLY thing you should feel after eating… is Less Hungry!!!
When it’s time to eat… that is when you should Sit, Eat, and Relax. We’ve been eating in a relaxed state since the beginning of time. Watch any old classic movie, like Braveheart or Gladiator… you don’t see them racing down the hill on the way to work swinging a sword in one hand, and a turkey leg in the other!
- FYI… You don’t digest protein without hydrochloric acid (HCL)!
- And you don’t make much if any HCL when you eat on the go, in a hurry, in the car!
- HCL is what purifies and kills off any microbes, germs, bacteria, viruses, and other critters that might be in your food. Remember that the next time you wonder if the cook or waiter washed their hands.
You could be wasting your money on expensive protein and supplements if you don’t first get your gut working properly. There’s an old saying my dad taught me when we were building things, and it was… First Things – First!
Has Your Metabolism Shifted
The second part of Eating Right deals with keeping your metabolism in it’s Fat-Burning mode.
Burning Calories isn’t the problem – Burning calories from stored body FAT is!
Every time you let your blood sugar swing from high to low throughout the day. You’re Shifting your metabolism, your Metabolic Burn Rate.
Your metabolism is shifting from let’s say 80/20; to maybe 70/30 or 60/40. What I mean is that instead of burning 80% of your calories from Fats and the other 20% from carbohydrates and proteins (lean muscle) throughout the day. You could be burning 70 or 60 percent of your calories from FATS and the other 30 or 40 percent from carbs and protein (lean muscle).
Anyone can burn calories… the key is in burning stored body fats.
The Last Thing you want to burn for energy is Lean Muscle (protein), but it happens all the time and a primary reason why people can’t get rid of the Fat and Flab.
What throws your blood sugar off and out of balance?
- Skipping meals
- Waiting too long to eat between meals
- Too many refined, processed carbohydrates
- STRESS
STRESS – The Usual, Unusual Suspect
Lastly, Stress is more than Worry, Fear, and Anxiety. Exercise can be an additional stress. So can skipping meals and letting your blood sugar drop. An inflamed tummy is causing more cortisol to be pumped in. So, stress is essentially anything that keeps your adrenal glands pumping out more cortisol and norepinephrine (noradrenaline). The reason I mention stress as part of the Eat Right principle is two-fold.
If you’re adrenal glands are constantly pumping out more cortisol. What do you think it does or signals to your metabolism? Cortisol is in pursuit of quick energy, like a lion after a gazelle. It’s going to breakdown protein for energy, Not FAT’s if there isn’t enough glucose available! So, if you’re constantly on the go, pushing your adrenal glands for more cortisol… that could be why you’re having a hard time losing the fat. And wondering why you’ve lost the firmness in your arms, legs and backside.
For more bad news, all the cortisol is also tearing up your digestive system, so you end up in this vicious cycle of ill-health. As I said at the beginning, you can easily diet and exercise incorrectly in your 20’s and early 30’s, but after about 35 it’s important to Eat Right and Train Smart!
As I said earlier, getting healthy is like getting out of debt. You also need to STOP doing the things that are working against you!
