Working Out and Eating! Before and After! Natural Energy Boosters.......

Those of you who want both a more fit, leaner body, AND optimal health, know already that it is a combination of eating less processed and more whole/real foods, AND burning calories and sculpting the body through both cardio and weight resistant training.  If I had to pick ONE part of that lifestyle that would hold more "weight," (bad pun, I know) in being most valuable, while I dearly know many of you love your exercise, like the hubs, ( who almost gets obsessive, ) it would be........the consistent, healthy eating.  Now don't go, WHAT is she saying?   I am endorsing exercise and working out, and MOVING in general, as paramount to health and fitness.  But one of the most renown fitness people recently said that proper eating, (as much as she loves exercise to control her weight) over a lifetime,  will play the greatest role in superior health, and keeping a constant fit size!  Before I expound on that, let me say, that the folks with the greatest health, will be indeed the people who BOTH eat quality whole foods, and do things like walking, treadmill, pilates, zumba, yoga, hitting the gym, and certainly building their core area!  But, if you are exercising, and the size of a minute and eating junky, processed, grab me quick food, not planning and paying attention to quality food, whole food, clean/real food, then being trim, being thinner means little.  You would still be prone to degenerative disease, even heart disease and cancer.  So be balanced!  Be moderate.  Be wise. But DO NOT depend on your exercise to let you under eat, or in other words eat dead, processed foods, too much dairy and meat laced with hormones and antibiotics and to forget the long range benefits of live veggies/fruits and juicing!  

The younger you are, the easier it will be to control your weight with rigorous exercise, and even have some thinking they are able to get away with not paying so much attention to the quality and portion size of your foods.  But as one ages, it requires more and more exercise to keep your body at it's proper weight, due to hormone fluctuation, metabolism slow down, and the natural decline of body mass and muscle.  IF you have slowly reprogrammed to only mainly complex, whole carbs (I hope gluten free) in moderation, (namely quinoa/brown rice/sweet potato, etc.)  healthy protein choices such as nuts, wild seafood, beans/legumes, lean meats if you choose (mainly chix/turkey) hormone/antibiotic/nitrate free of course, and have a routine of salads, steamed or raw veggies and fruit by itself, (and don't forget juicing!) THEN your exercising will continue to work at the level it should. Otherwise, get ready to pound, pound, pound, and possibly look healthy, while your health, longevity, and protection against disease may be compromised!  I hope this is making sense!

About a decade ago, I was painting inside my house by myself, and stepped out onto the back concrete landing with my paint tray, lost my footing and fell 16 concrete stairs to the bottom to the basement landing where I laid unconscious.  Having no cell phone then, and not having close neighbors to hear my cries,  I crawled up (in shock) to a neighbor's.  I had one badly broken right ankle and a small fracture and sprain to my other ankle!  For six months I could only go from the bedroom to the restroom with a walker  w/great difficulty and spent much time rehabbing.  Due to my healthy lifestyle that had been in place for two decades, I healed slowly but amazingly to the doctors surprise. (I had such great bone strength from spinach/kale/dark greens, NOT dairy, smile) Now think of it though!  What if I had depended on my Exercising to keep myself at a certain weight??  I am now able to walk, and do adequate exercise, but if I had not already reprogrammed to whole/live foods, small portions often, I would imagine instead of gaining five pounds during that time, it may have been fifty!  And now being past that big SIX O mark, it is my eating habits that help me not balloon up, even more than the valuable exercise I am still able to do. I tell this story, so you see that the workouts are valuable, exercise rocks, but will you be able to keep up your level you are doing in your 20's/30's/40's without also empowering your body with whole/live/real foods as you age? I think you see, we want to do BOTH.  But it is VITAL you program to the proper foods and portion sizes if you want to ensure a naturally fit, good weight size, for LIFE!

NOW: Food tips and energy boosters while working out!  BEFORE you work out, I find it valuable to use some complex carbs (those not refined, and hopefully NO WHEAT) as they fuel the body slowly, with no insulin spikes, as the body has to break through the outer intact exterior and does a time release type effect of ENERGY RELEASE!  But it is also important to add just a little protein to lock in that energy as well.  You could eat a small bowl of lentil soup,  have a half a sweet potato and just a few almonds as well,  a small slice of udi's raisin bread with a thin layer of butter and then almond butter, a little bowl of leftover brown rice with some rice  milk on it, and some chopped walnuts, (like a cereal) w/a smidge of pure maple syrup and cinnamon....well these are just some ideas!  DURING your workout, consume water, water! And if you are doing RIGOROUS workouts, consider the healthy equivalent of Gatorade, Knudsen's Recharge!  AFTER your workout and cool down, it is then time to consume anywhere from 10-25 grams of protein depending on your size, gender, and amount of workout done.  Perhaps you do your coconut oil and scrambled eggs, or a smoothie made w/rice milk/almond milk and whey or rice or pea protein (not soy isolate, please)  You can add some frozen berries OR that lovely expensive but well worth it, highend cacao powder, for a dark chocolate boost!  And follow in awhile with more water, of course.  Other pick me ups, could be a KIND nut bar, a handful, (about 12) of almonds/cashews/walnuts that may be roasted but NOT oiled or salted!  It is perfectly OK to later, have a few squares or small bar of dark chocolate, if it is at least 62% cacao or more...and a good brand from the health food store!  Ask an employee if you need help in choosing one!   B vitamin supplements also help w/workouts, as well as L-Carnitine, an amino acid and CoQ10.  Avoid the urge to use sports drinks with caffeine/guarana, etc. as they pick you up and drop you later!

So keep up the good work! Slowly follow along to learn how to totally reprogram to more whole life living, allowing and planning for snacks and desserts that are "legal," meaning they are still yummy but have been "tweeked" with different flours/sweeteners, etc. to be less refined, less health zapping and less likely to cause weight fluctuation. I welcome questions, and also comments that give good ideas to all of us who are trying to live to be a 100, and enjoy getting there!  CHEERS all!