Make your training pay off

So for months, even years, you have invested considerable energy in regular training, but without the results you were hoping for in terms of weight loss and appearance? So where is the problem?

“Yet I eat well!”

Even though your “anti-sedentary” lifestyle is almost perfect, your eating habits may be responsible for the status quo. You may be under the impression you “eat well”, but certain habits can keep you from reaching your goals. Having been involved personally in the selection process for the candidates of the various I’m Taking Charge Challenges, I know very well that most of the seriously overweight persons interviewed considered their eating habits as “quite good”. Studies conducted by Stat Canada reveal that 61% of Canadians are overweight while 80% say they eat well! In fact, self-declared participation in physical activities or eating quality tends to be over-estimated!

“If only I’d known”

Sitting down with a nutritionist can enlighten you quite a lot about food choices you think are suitable, when in fact they are defeating your goals. Contrary to what most people think, self-assessment of the quality of eating habits usually produces unreliable results.

Healthy eating habits result from learning how to put your meals together properly and listening effectively to your eating and fullness signals. You also need to establish the number of calories you require to fuel your daily energy expenditure while creating a calorie deficit that will allow you to attain your weight loss objectives.

People, who sincerely believe they eat well, often write to tell me they would have consulted a nutritionist a lot sooner had they known what they would learn. Nutritionists who work together with personal trainers form a highly motivated team with your personal success at heart! Give them a try!

Three unsuspected mistakes

Here is a glimpse at some unsuspected errors the nutritionists at Nautilus Plus frequently come across.  I’ll reveal three sizeable ones that, once corrected, could make your training efforts pay off:

1. You eat more than you think between meals! If you record in a notebook everything you eat for a period of three consecutive days, you’ll realize how much food you truly ingest. You will be able to quantify more easily all those “extras” you eat between meals. Go ahead, and see for yourself!

2. You eat instead of drinking—water. The brain doesn’t always differentiate between hunger and thirst. A large glass of water will ease hunger with the added advantage of hydrating you. Furthermore, a well-hydrated body burns fat more effectively.

3. You don’t eat snacks. This would seem to contradict the first mistake, but a healthy snack can stop you from being ravenous at the start of your next meal. A post-training snack, for its part, helps trigger the recovery process. Adequate recovery promotes improvements in fitness and enables you to undertake your upcoming training sessions more vigorously. So plan a snack and eat it 2 to 3 hours after your last meal or within 30 minutes of training. As far as the content of your snacks is concerned—ask your nutritionist! Healthy snacks eliminate flagging energy, help you control your hunger at meal times, and promote optimal training effectiveness.

So take advantage of the expertise of our specialists in nutrition, all of whom are members of the Ordre professionnel des diététistes du Québec. They will accompany you on your health and weight loss journey, and make sure that the efforts you make based on their precious advice will pay off—a lot faster than you think!

By Karine Larose

References consulted on February 18, 2015:

http://www.cqpp.qc.ca/fr/epidemie-d-obesite/statistiques

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-624-x/2014001/article/11922-fra.htm#n3

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-625-x/2011001/article/11552-fra.htm

Make your training pay off is a post from Nautilus Plus. The Nautilus Plus blog aims to help people in their journey to fitness through articles on training, nutrition, motivation, exercise and healthy recipes.
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