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| Training Tips |
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| Eating the Right Foods for All-Day Energy |
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Having plenty of zip to
meet the demands of your job and personal life starts with your diet.
To
maintain your energy level, your body breaks down the food you eat into glucose
(blood sugar) -- the body's main fuel -- and sends a steady stream of it to your
cells. But here's the trick: "To feel energized throughout the day, your
blood-glucose level should stay within a certain range," says Neva Cochran,
M.S., R.D., a Dallas-based nutrition consultant. "If your blood glucose drops
too low -- which can happen if you go too long without eating -- you're going to
feel lightheaded and lethargic." If you eat the wrong kinds of foods, your
blood glucose can spike and drop, eventually causing the same symptoms.
With
this in mind, here's how to eat for all-day energy and keep your blood-glucose
level stable. |
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| Don't skip meals |
| Not eating meals is one of the fastest
routes to low blood sugar. If you skip breakfast, your ability to concentrate
will likely suffer all morning. Skip lunch, and by 3 p.m. your energy level and
concentration will inevitably crash. The reason: "Your brain needs glucose to
function," says Ms. Cochran. To keep your blood glucose from dipping, and
thus zapping your physical and mental energy, eat three meals or six smaller
meals a day consistently and don't go more than four hours without eating
something. |
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| Balance meals |
| Make sure your meals include a mix of complex
carbohydrates -- such as grain products, fresh vegetables and fruit, beans,
lentils and other legumes, protein and some fat. At breakfast, have waffles
topped with fresh fruit (both are mostly carbohydrate) and a cup of low-fat or
nonfat yogurt (a mix of protein, carbohydrate and fat). At lunch, have a
ham-and-cheese sandwich on whole-grain bread (this provides protein, fat and
carbohydrate) and a piece of fruit (this is mostly carbohydrate). "A
combination of carbohydrates, protein and fat helps moderate blood-glucose
absorption so your blood sugar rises gradually," says Ms. Cochran. On the
other hand, if you eat only carbohydrates, such as the fruit alone, your
blood-glucose level will rise and drop quickly, leaving you hungry and low on
energy within an hour or two after you eat. Similarly, "if you only eat
protein, you'll get calories, but they won't kick in fast enough to make you
feel energized when you need it," says Ms. Cochran. |
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| Snack smart |
| To
counteract energy lulls you feel during the day, eat snacks that mix
carbohydrates, protein and fat. Good energy-sustaining snacks include low-fat
yogurt with fruit; cheese and crackers; an apple with peanut butter; and low-fat
cookies, such as graham crackers or gingersnaps, and a glass of skim milk. If
you experience an energy low that makes you feel shaky or keeps you from
focusing on your work, opt for a carbohydrate-rich snack, such as a whole-grain
breakfast bar or a glass of fruit juice. "Doing so will raise your
blood-glucose energy levels quickly," says Ms. Cochran. "Either way, be sure to
keep your snack light to avoid weight gain." |
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These materials are not intended
as a substitute for professional medical care. Only a doctor can
diagnose and treat a medical problem.
© Health Ink & Vitality,
1245 North Church Street, Moorestown, NJ
0857. |
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Trainer's
Success Newsletter 1-15-03
Please share this newsletter with your
fellow fitness professionals!
The Myth of the "Overnight
Success"
By Terry Merschat - The Fitness Professional's Success Expert
-- Here's a quick piece of advice on a very costly mistake I see trainers make
frequently --
Many trainers see a fitness professional who "suddenly became successful" and
say, "wow that person is an overnight success", or "look at
all the success they have, they are very lucky."
These trainers don't see the work that goes into creating that
success, they just see the result - and that is exactly the key
to why they
are not themselves
successful. Trainers say, "wow, look at how successful a trainer Joe is.
I wish I could be as lucky as he." And they leave it go at that.
These people act as if someone waived a magic wand over Joe and -- bam -- he
was given success. In most cases Joe worked his butt off in a trial-and-error
fashion to create the level of success he currently enjoys. Rarely does someone
achieve success overnight, they almost always have to work for it.
If you take the approach of looking at someone like Billy Blanks
or Denise Austin and saying, "I would like to be as successful as they are, but
they are just so lucky. I wish I could be so lucky!" - you are denying
yourself a true opportunity.
The opportunity is right there in front of you, just below the
surface, waiting for you to discover it, but you fail to see it
because you
are blinded by the
conclusion that their success was handed to them or due to "luck."
When you assume that someone's success was due to luck or someone giving it
to them, you adopt the debilitating belief (either consciously or subconsciously)
that their success was completely beyond their control - and thus there is
no hope for you to experience similar success unless you too are lucky or you
have it handed to you.
Adopting this belief is the easy thing to do. Why? Because there is no work
involved. It's simple. It's pain-free. And yet it will do more to harm your
chances of success than anything else!
Because as soon as you adopt the belief that your success is a result of something
beyond your control you are dead in the water. No success system, tapes, videos,
motivational messages, visual imagery, or any of the many techniques people
use to accelerate success will do any good once you feel success is beyond
your actions.
Indeed if you adopt this belief you will not take action at all, you will
simply "shut
down." After all, why try if you believe that success is a random gift
bestowed by an invisible force?
What do you think would happen if instead you challenged your
belief system? What if you said, "Wow, Joe is really a successful trainer. I wonder how
he achieved that success." What do you think would happen?
Most likely you would begin a course of discovery that could eventually lead
to the true nature of Joe's success.
What if you took it a little further with, "I would like to talk to Joe
about how he achieved success. I am going to schedule an appointment with him." Do
you think you would be closer to understanding what really makes success
happen? Of course you would!
So the next time you come across a trainer who has achieved a level of success
that you desire, ask how they did it! And don't worry about looking or sounding
foolish. Believe me, the successful trainer will more than likely be flattered
you asked, and you will undoubtedly receive a few gems of success wisdom!
To your success!
Terry
Terry Merschat is the author of Personal
Trainer Success Secrets. He is a featured writer for several industry
magazines and is a frequent lecturer on how to be a successful
fitness professional.
To receive your own copy of the Trainer's
Success Newsletter, go to
http://www.FitnessProAdvantage.com/cgi-bin/tsnl01.cgi
Hurry! A $149 value, the Trainer's Success
Newsletter is
FREE only for a limited time!
Fitness Pro Advantage
The Ultimate Resource of Successful Fitness Professionals
http://www.FitnessProAdvantage.com
----------------------------------------
The Trainer's Success Newsletter is provided to personal fitness trainers who
want to get the most out of their career.
© 2002 Fitness Pro Advantage. All rights reserved.
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