Continuous Improvement Fitness

Best Nutritional Advice

So, you are wondering what would be the best nutritional advice that someone can give you? Well, it is simple but not easy. Everybody is different. It sounds a bit lame but both exercise and nutrition work different for everyone. For a Personal Trainer, this is one of the things to pay attention to. It is not important at all to do the latest and most fancy exercises but it is important to have results. You have to do what works.

Don’t Blindly Follow the Latest Fad

You might have seen some celebrity or heard from a colleague who had amazing results with a certain diet, exercise regimen or another fancy thing. It might have done ‘magic’ for them, it does not mean that it will work for you. This applies to both diet and exercise. It might work but it is often better to improve your eating habits rather than doing a rigid and restrictive diet (see also Eating Healthy is Better than a Diet). So, the nutritional advice from the latest advertisements and celebrity diets might work for you but it is not very likely.

The Basics are the Basics

The hard fact with all diets, or nutritional approaches, is that it essentially boils down to the basics. If you gain weight: you ate more calories than you were burning. If you lose weight: you ate less calories than you were burning. It is simple as that. Simple, once again, does not mean easy.

In order to have a sustainable (Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast), healthy and effective way to lose weight, (or better to say lose body fat; read You Should NOT Aim for Weightloss), your calorie deficit should be moderate. Too big of a deficit and you could get all kind of unwanted side-effects. Just go slowly and monitor your weight over a period of time. If you gain weight or plateau (when aiming for fatloss): just reduce your intake a little and work further towards your endgoal.

Everybody is Different

Just like with exercise, everybody responds differently to different types of food. Some people swear by cutting out certain foods but you have to figure out if this is optimal for you. Others get into the current keto-hype but you have to figure out if this is optimal for you. Figuring out if something is optimal for you is referring to the availability of certain food types at the place you live but especially how well you react to certain foods. One best way to test this is, for instance, to cut out a certain type of food from your diet for 30 days. I, for instance, did this with bread. The moment I ate bread after these 30 days, I started feeling bloated and it had a noticeable effect on my digestion. That was a clear indication that my body does not respond that well on bread. 

What to Do

So, what is the best nutritional advice? The best way to approach nutrition is to try what works for you and keep track on the differences you notice in your body and weight. It starts with keeping an eye on (or even tracking) the calories and macros you take in, which creates more awareness about your nutrition. Besides that, you will notice that you feel better when you cut out certain foods. You just have to discover what works for you, what makes you feel better and what helps you reach your goals. If you need any help and guidance with that, feel free to get in touch.

Start now, not tomorrow!