You can’t out-train a bad diet. If there is one thing that rings true over and over, it’s that what you put in has a huge impact on your overall fitness and well-being. It’s early summer, and with that comes all the summer snacks. I’m guilty of over-indulging on chips from time to time, and even when I factor in the calories, it has a big impact. High carbohydrate, high (bad) fat, high sodium — they are just a bad idea. Calorie counting can’t account for water retention, inflammatory responses, or just not digesting this stuff well. And this notion got me thinking.
In his classic book “5/3/1” Jim Wendler made a comment about when he was trying to lose weight, he’d just reach for a protein shake whenever an odd off-meal craving came over him. I liked this notion — I’ve used it to decent effect the past few weeks. But still, it reminds me that my nutrition is out of whack and that more than anything else, I need to address it. So, good. More protein is always welcome. But I’m also not 25 years old. Being in my 40’s, just tracking macros isn’t enough. I need to get a little bit more granular.
Reduce the sodium and I reduce the water retention. Drinking a gallon or more of water helps even more. Add more carbs that are high in fiber, and help scour everything out. It’s a far better recipe, one that forces me to look not only at my macro counts, but the quality of those macros as well. I mean really, how much fiber was I eating? It turned out, not so much. Those garbage snacks were a big part the only fiber I ate. So things have changed. It’s summer! Blueberries are 3.5g of fiber per cup and a medium sized pear is nearly 6g. Veggies are always a good idea, and now I’m trying to make sure I add more and more of them. My goal is 30g a day. One more thing to track, but the idea is easy enough.
Less Junk. More Water. More Fiber. Yeah, sounds like a plan.