Ok, so all of us know to some extent how diet and exercise play a vital role in the success of weight loss and weight management. As exercise is important for your heart, body, and soul: nutrition is the key factor in seeing the results in the mirror and on the scale. Essentially, “You are what you eat.” It may sound clique but it’s so true, with the only exception being genetics playing a small part as well. I, myself, believed that as long as I exercised at least 3x a week, I could eat what I wanted and could look like the models in today’s popular fitness magazines. Boy was I wrong! I had so much to learn and it wasn’t until I hired a personal trainer that I started to fully understand the concepts and science behind it all. Believe me, it takes time for it all to register and to make sense. It’s a lot of trial and error, failure, and more trial and error before I finally made the commitment to develop this new lifestyle. You must submerge your whole way of thinking when shopping for food, preparing food, and knowing when and how much to consume. Everyone is different, so you must toy around with it before you become a master at knowing “your body” and how it responds. Once you figure it all out, it’s actually quite simple. A typical menu day for me consist of oatmeal and egg whites in the morning, a apple or a banana with almonds for a late morning snack, fish or chicken with a veggie for lunch, yogurt for a mid-day snack, fish, chicken or beef with a veggie for dinner, and cottage cheese for the nightly snack. Who doesn’t have the night time munchies? Not anyone I know. Six, small portioned, clean meals is truly the healthiest way to eat. “Clean” means no heavy sauces or gravies, nothing fried or processed, nothing high in unhealthy fats (unlike omega 3’s, which are good for you), and nothing high in sugar or carbohydrates.
I have seen my body transform and the scale drop since sticking to this diet. I also have noticed that I have more energy, my skin, nails, and hair look better. But, most importantly, it’s what changed on the inside that made such an impact. I suddenly became more confident and I didn’t need food anymore to soothe and comfort me to suit my mood. Food is just fuel that I need to supply my body with the proper nutrition. I obviously enjoy a nice meal (with dessert) on occasion but this is a special treat and not the norm. Once I had a hold of my diet I decided to take it to the next level and compete in figure competitions. I was hooked on being healthy (addicted if you will). I caught the fitness bug and there was no stopping me! Competing is definitely not for everyone. It is extremely challenging and requires tremendous discipline but it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I could have never competed and would not continue to compete if it wasn’t for the proper nutrition and healthy eating habits. In my opinion, it’s 80% nutrition, 15% exercise, and 5% genetics that determines your results.
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