How to Create the Body You Desire
How to Create the Body You Desire
The Right Exercise and Diet for Yourself are Key
All too often, I have clients who believe that working out equals weight loss, and they become frustrated when the pounds do not “melt” off as they had expected by adding exercise to their routine. This is when the real work begins for both myself and my client as we navigate their diet.
First of all, I never promote diet “fads or trends”. Atkins/Keto and intermittent fasting all work until you stop doing them… and you stop because they are unsustainable.
What I DO promote is eating large quantities of high-nutrient foods to be the secret to optimal health and permanent weight control. This is crucial in deciding what to eat. We need to eat foods with adequate nutrients, so we won’t need to consume excess “empty” calories to reach our nutritional requirements.
Appetite is not controlled by the weight of the food but by the fiber, nutrient density, and caloric density. Since the stomach can hold about one liter of food, let’s look at what types of food are the most nutrient dense - it will come as no surprise to many of you that the foods that will let you feel fuller with the least amount of calories are fruits and vegetables. Green vegetables are so incredibly low in calories and rich in nutrients and fiber that the more of them you eat, the more weight you will lose.
Dark green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach and arugula have a nutrient-density of 100 points. Romaine, bok choy, cabbage, brussel sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, green beans and peas are also at the top of the nutrient density pyramid. You can also enjoy non-green vegetables such as beets, eggplant, mushrooms and peppers as well as a myriad of fruits, beans, raw nuts, seeds, and whole grains, as well as colorful starchy vegetables such as butternut squash, sweet potatoes, corn and turnips.
So let’s get back to the stomach. 400 calories of chicken will fill approximately 1/8 of the volume, but 400 calories of spinach, eggplant and beans will completely fill your stomach’s volume.
Let’s go a step further. Every day I eat a large salad for lunch. The salad is mostly dark greens like spinach, arugula and romaine. I add beets that I have previously boiled and peeled, leftover cooked veggies like asparagus/brussel sprouts, and grilled chicken. I dress the salad with a homemade dressing of olive oil and red vinegar. This salad fills me up so completely, yet I do not feel stuffed. I feel satisfied and ready to keep moving through my typically very busy day.
Through the years I have learned what works for me. So I never tell my clients or anyone who asks that they have to eat what I eat to achieve their goals. What I will do is look for ways to make their diets healthier and more satisfying. Still, it is not easy to change; eating has emotional and social overtones and it can be especially difficult to break an addiction. But if you give yourself the opportunity to make small changes in your dietary choices that allow you to not only look better but to feel better, then that’s really something special to gain.
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Kim Duke is a certified personal trainer and owner of Core Performance Fitness and Training, located at 55 Bristol Lane, Ellicottville, NY. Kim resides in Ellicottville where she raised her two sons, Zach and Nik. For more information about her studio visit her Facebook page, go to www.coreperformancefitness.com or call her directly at 716-698-1198.
