There's a lot of information floating around about what to eat, don't eat this... don't eat that... how much protein to get and when, etc. Indeed, you should be very mindful of everything you put in your mouth, considering it will be the fuel you need to draw upon during that last 15 minutes of a grueling workout on the bag. Complete success at the end of a 10-week session means fully incorporating everything in the program, the cardio, strength-training, a rest day and nutrition. It can be so easy to get caught up in wanting to do everything just right when it comes to food prep and grocery shopping, selecting brands, etc.
But if the topic of eating and nutrition is leaving you overwhelmed always remember, just keep it SIMPLE! Keeping it simple can mean a lot of different things to different people. It can mean you make the same dinner and lunch 4 or 5 days out of the week. It can also mean sticking to 3 or 4 recipes and rotating them on your calendar, so you are always shopping for the same types of ingredients. Therefore, you always have the same key ingredients on hand. It can also mean thinking of portion sizes in terms of proteins the size of your palm, six times a day and carbohydrates the size of your fist, six times a day, in addition to vegetables and water. It is also important to remember to eat every 2-3 hours, and in general, before you start to feel really hungry.
If you have a sandwich for lunch, for example, and you use two slices of bread, those two slices are likely bigger than your fist. Try switching to an open-faced sandwich, with only one slice of bread or swapping the bread with a thinner, lighter whole wheat wrap or lettuce leaf.
When you are at the grocery store, remember to try and spend more of your time and food budget in the produce and refrigerated sections of the grocery store, where the least processed foods are. The more preservatives, (chemicals) a food has, the less fuel it will have for your body. Highly preserved foods are also very hard for your body to digest, further hindering the success you are trying to achieve. Finding the least preserved foods, is simple too, the shorter the ingredient list, the better.
Those are just a few tips in keeping your eating "simple."
Now this has been a very brief overview on how to think "simple" when choosing foods. Truly getting into the specifics of nutrition would go on for pages and pages. Fortunately, for all FXB Members, you have an AWESOME manual, which gives complete information on how to "fuel" your body. Please take some time and re-visit the manual you got on your first day. It might take reading through a few times but the benefits are large... At Level 10!
