A Little About Me and My Philosophy
A Little About Me and My Philosophy
• I’m a personal trainer: Certified through the National Federation of Professional Trainers. I have a psychology degree from the University of Oklahoma. I played select/competitive soccer for over a decade, competed in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and have over 14 years experience in weight lifting.
• Generally speaking, an ideal healthy diet will not differ between men and women. However, each individual is unique and he or she needs to find what works best for his or her body. A great way to start on this journey to optimal health is get back to the basics. This means stop eating preserved, processed, packaged, genetically modified food, which are discordant with our genes. And start eating whole foods from the Earth that our ancestors ate for millions of years, which shaped our genes into what they are today. The idea is to shoot for roughly 1/3 of the calories coming from protein (lean grass-fed beef, wild caught fish and shellfish, free-range poultry, organic eggs with omega-3), 1/3 from fat (meat, eggs, avocado, nuts, seeds, oils), and 1/3 from carbohydrates (berries, stone fruits, brassica vegetables, green leafy vegetables). If you need to lose a lot of weight cut back on the carbs a little more. Also, it is very important to try to drink close to 1 gallon of water everyday. If one chooses to eat lean meats, veggies, berries, nuts, seeds, and oils there should be no need to count calories. It is only necessary to count calories if one consumes processed foods, dairy, refined sugars, and grains containing gluten.
• Although the majority of the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients should come from the foods one consumes, I believe there are a few essential vitamins and supplements that can promote health and longevity. The first and most important being a plant based raw multivitamin or prenatal multivitamin that is free of gluten, dairy, yeast, sugar, and artificial preservatives/flavors.
The second would be probiotic containing live cultures and also being free of the same ingredients. The third would be digestive enzymes free of the same ingredients. I really try to focus on absorption of the nutrients, and to do that one has to have a healthy gut. Okay, and probably throw in some vitamin D and fish oil as well.
• The food one eats on a workout day or non-workout day should not vary. The only recommendations I have are that one eats 3 square meals a day that adhere to this diet, one of which should be consumed 2-3 hours prior to the workout.
• Here are some overall healthy lifestyle tips for men & women:
• Wake up at the same time every morning
• Drink at least 16 oz. of water upon waking
• Each meal should contain protein
• Take vitamins after breakfast with water
• Eat 3 meals a day
• Exercise 1 hour a day, 5 days a week
• Lift weight 3 days and some form of cardio 2 days a week
• 2 snacks if necessary in between meals
• Make as many home cooked meals as possible
• Eat your meals as close to the same time every day
• Eat until satisfied and no more
• Drink at least 96 oz. of water daily, but 128 + oz. is ideal
• 8-10 hours of sleep every night