You get out of your body what you put in to it. When you want it to perform at a high level, you have to put the best in to the system. Poor eating hinders how well your body feels and functions, even at a young age.
HOW YOU CAN EAT TO WIN
1) Eat Fruits and Vegetables - Your body needs vitamins and minerals to work. Lacking these essential nutrients causes your mind and body to not work so well. This should be 1/3 to 1/2 of all your food intake. Your body goes through MILLIONS of different internal processes at any given moment that these nutrients are needed to help make happen. Having as many as possible not only helps your muscles work well, but helps your cells function properly which can decrease cancer risks, assist proper brain function and improves the chemistry that CAN have a positive effect on SOME mental health issues, as well as have your immune system functioning optimally.
2) Eat Plants for Carbs/Starches - Plant carbs (sweet potato vs white rice or sweets) allow a slower blood sugar increase given you sustained energy without a crash. The fiber also allows you to be fuller requiring less food. Plant carbs also tend to be lower on the GI index which means that the sugar enters the bloodstream slower, allowing you to have a steadier fuel supply when training and competing. Even just getting through the day, low GI foods help keep you from have large blood sugar spikes with hard crashes after.
3) Quality Protein - Most of your body is made of water and various types of protein. Your muscles need this to recover and perform. Any challenging form of exercise breaks your muscle fibers down and you need to protein to rebuild them. Eating enough protein throughout the day, especially close to training times, will help decrease how long you are sore for as the muscles can rebuild sooner!
EAT TO HURT
ADDED SUGAR PRODUCTS, cheap fast food, candies, desserts, greasy foods, low vegetable diets, etc lead your body to:
- sluggishness & fatigue
- prolonged soreness
- mental fog
- joint and muscle pain or discomfort
Poor eating can really drag your body down to not feel at it's best. And as you age, the effects of poor eating feel worse and worse. Training is harder, competing is harder, recovering is harder, and living is just harder.
Eating plants is for champions. A body that feels good, performs good. Winning and besting your efforts matter far more than a craving! Eat quality meat (if you eat meat) and eat a variety of plants.
