Welcome back to part 2 of this blog series, why we eat what we eat. Last week we talked about the very basic use of nutrients that we take in every single day. What is the purpose of taking in protein, carbohydrates and fat? That’s what we talked about before, if you missed out you can check that out here. Today we are going to apply the knowledge we talked about before and apply this to 3 important pillars in our daily lives. How can I optimize these 3 pillars?

To me, our energy level is one of the most important things in our daily lives. Without the proper energy levels, you will never live life as you could be doing if you just had more balanced energy. Weight management is important too because that will decide whether we lose, maintain or gain weight on a daily basis. And finally, performance, which builds on the point of energy level that we’ll have covered already. However, there is a difference between the two. Performance truly shows how ready we’re to attack whatever task is ahead of us, whether mental or physical.

Energy level

Energy level is pretty self-explaining. How much energy do you have during the day? Are you tired? Are you feeling sleepy? Or are you feeling excited? Are you feeling fired up? Those are all indicators of our energy level throughout the day.

We have to analyze our lifestyle so we can make the best decisions when it comes to our food. Our nutrition will either add or take away from your energy level. Taking what we learned last week, we know that fat is a slow and sustainable energy source whereas carbohydrates are a fast and unsustainable source. If we know this, it’s easy to look at our lifestyle and make a decision on what our primary source of energy should be.

If we sit down behind a desk all day long, we’re looking at a more sustainable energy source. That is clearly our fat supply. If we are being more active throughout the day, we’re looking towards an energy source that is ready to give us energy on a moment’s notice. Those are our carbs.

Weight management

Weight management is important to a lot of people because it has a significant impact on how they see or feel about themselves. This obviously has great implications on how you go through life day to day.

Weight is managed by how much we eat but also by what we eat. If you eat 1000 calories under your maintenance levels but all those calories come from sugar, you may lose some weight but you won’t be happy with the way your body looks.

Being in a slight caloric deficit is a great start, but eating the right nutrients will make the difference in the way your body looks. Go back to the first point we talked about in this blog and analyze your lifestyle. Is your body burning more carbohydrates or fat? Then make that your primary intake.

On top of this, are you eating enough protein to fill you up and hold on to your muscle mass at the same time? While protein holds onto and will help build muscle mass, it is also a great source that keeps our hunger satisfied for longer periods of time.

Performance

This point will feel and look very similar to our first one, but there’s one big difference here. When we talk about energy level, we are talking about the way you feel on a daily basis. This is a pretty wide margin. Whereas performance narrows it down to a single task. A presentation, a workout or a business meeting are all examples of tasks that force us to perform well. You could feel tired all day long but you could still perform your task as well as you can if you fuel properly.

All roads lead back to analyzing what our (in this case) performance task asks of us. Is it an active task like a workout? Or is it a passive task like a business meeting? Both of these tasks require different needs. During your workout you will probably use carbohydrates as a fuel source so load up on that. In your business meeting you probably need your brain to function really well while being in a passive active state. This means we would probably like to get some more water into our system and eat more fat and protein to make sure the mind is sharp.

The point that ties this all together is this; ask yourself the question what your body is using as its fuel source. During a workout, while you’re sitting on the couch watching tv or in a meeting. What is your body using? Then start fueling your body with that nutrient first.

6 nutrition rules to follow, part 2

Welcome back to part 2 of this series, nutrition rules to follow. Really what this blog should be called is nutrition rules that you COULD follow. There’s already enough people out there that will tell you exactly what you should be doing and how to do it. Instead, I just want to give you the…

by kees1996 2 July 202225 June 2022

6 Nutrition rules to follow, part 1

Welcome back to another blog where we cover the wide topic of nutrition. The reason why I keep coming back to different topics related to nutrition is because the nutrition space is filled with false and misleading information. My goal is to simplify the message and give you honest information. I never want to tell…

by kees1996 25 June 202225 June 2022

5 Steps to getting stronger

Welcome back to this week’s blog where we cover a topic that I am super passionate about and that is getting stronger. Why am I so passionate about it? Because it has never come easy to me. Even since the start of my fitness journey I have always looked at other people in the gym…

by kees1996 11 June 202227 May 2022