Last Updated on January 7, 2013.
Start off the new year the right way by incorporating these nutrition and lifestyle tips for 2013! Make sure you stick to your Kickboxing or MMA schedule while using these tips and you’ll see results faster and will get you ready for swimsuit season!
By: TSMMA Rego Park
Nutrition and Lifestyle Tips for 2013
- Don’t skip the warm up: Warm up properly before your workout by raising core body temperature along with a few light sets of appropriate exercises to prepare the body for the work to come and avoid injury.
- Get your heart rate up aka “moving”: Effort + intensity = results; stick mainly to interval training or metabolic conditioning as opposed to long, slow distance training. Our Kickboxing program focuses on getting results you want…Fast and in a fun environment!
- Birds of a feather. . .: Don’t waste your time at the gym chatting with those that don’t work hard. Train with intense like minded individuals who are equally passionate about achieving their goals. Our friendly and family orientated atmosphere helps you surround yourself with motivated people who enjoy taking the kickboxing class with you. That way, you’ll always be motivated and never have a boring workout!
- Fuel your machine: When you’re a hard training athlete, aim for 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight from pastured animals and wild seafood.
- Sugar & the bitter truth: As good as it may taste do yourself a favor and take it out. This includes sodas. Sugar is addictive, toxic and linked to many diseases. A little raw honey or maple syrup as an occasional treat.
- Go organic: Lose the pesticides by purchasing as many organic fruits and vegetables as you can. If the bugs won’t eat them why should you.
- Smart snacking: Be prepared by carrying a cooler filled with healthy items like fruit, nuts, veggies, raw cheese and organic deli meats when you’re you’ll on the road or away from home/office.
- Immunity, vision, heart and brain health: Eat garlic, onions and cruciferous veggies along with yellow, orange and reds, blues and purples and plenty of leafy greens to keep your body and mind functioning its best.
- Say goodbye to Mickey D: No fast foods— that goes for Chick-fil-a too which is no better despite what some say! Make it yourself – that includes ditching processed and packaged foods.
- No artificial sweeteners: These are not food! Creepy laboratory products with sketchy safety record. They have been shown to produce an insulin response.
- Leggo the Eggo: Or muffin, cereal, bread, pasta and pseudo cereals. Limit your grains to traditionally prepared (sprouted, soaked, or sourdough) if you eat them and if you don’t, get your carbohydrates from roots, tubers and starchy vegetables such as potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, yucca and plantains instead. And limit those if your goal is fat loss or you have metabolic derangement.
- Dairy: Go raw from grass-fed cows or ditch it completely.
- Spice up your life: Add spices to your food to give flavor and even burn a little extra fat. Cayenne, mustard, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove will all do the trick depending on the dish.
- Go alkaline: The use of alkaline water has been shown to remove acid wastes, improve immune function and hydration status. Make water your main beverage; aim for about ½ oz per pound of bodyweight a day.
- Declutter your home/work space: Having excess “junk” around makes it hard to think and be productive. Start your spring cleaning early by getting rid of stuff you don’t use.
- Chill out: Schedule down time into your daily/weekly planner. It will save your sanity. You will never get it all done; the list will never be all crossed off. You will be more productive and refreshed after down time.
- Black Out: Use black out curtains in your bedroom for a sound nights sleep, cover all LCD monitors so that the room is pitch black and aim for 8-9 hours of quality sleep per night.
- Be positive: It takes more energy to frown and be negative than it does to smile and be positive.
