Eating Right and Fueling the Body Right...This
is a true nutrition lifestyle for a lifetime. TeamKattouf® Nutrition is not a
food fad or a diet. Diets and food fads are disastrous and do not ‘work’;
hence, that is why a new one pops up virtually every day. When individuals
follow a diet or a food fad, they will not achieve meaningful and sustainable
results. Rather, they will simply get "temporary change" when it
comes to weight loss. For example, going on a diet and losing 20 pounds and
then quickly putting on 20 or more pounds is not a success and the initial 20
pound weight loss is not ‘results’; this is simply change and change is
temporary. Always remember, a DIET is a Disaster Imminent Every Time®! We want to achieve meaningful and sustainable results for a lifetime
and that is exactly what TeamKattouf® Nutrition will help assist you with.
No matter what your goals are; body transformation, improved overall health & fitness and/or improved athletic performance, there are three key nutrition principles that we want to focus on in order for our goals to become a reality.
#1: Fueling Frequency: we want to be sure to keep a very high fueling frequency (fueling the body 5, 6, 7x/day) all throughout the day as this will help to stimulate our metabolic rate. All too often, when individuals are trying to change their body composition, the thought becomes "eat less." When individuals adopt this and start to eat less frequently, they will disrupt the balance of blood sugar, insulin and serotonin levels in their bodies. This can lead to food cravings which then leads to overeating and binge eating which of course then leads to body fat and body weight increase. And notice, we are talking about fueling the body, not just feeding the body. There is a big difference between the two, more on this later.
#2: Nutrient Timing: let's keep this simple… Feed the body immediately upon awakening and then every 2-3.5 hours thereafter all throughout the day. This is where the fueling frequency and nutrient timing lock horns and join forces. Keep in mind; the right food is fuel for your body. If body composition change is your goal and no matter how overweight you may be, food/fuel is not your enemy; food is your friend. Food is the fuel that powers our brain and body.
#3: Macronutrient Balance: if we were to ask most individuals what the key is in order to reduce body fat and weight, most would have a response such as, "just eat healthy" or "just eat clean." These are fad-like phrases people like to throw out there, post on social media, etc. "I eat clean." Really? What does that even mean? I'l tell you what it means...it means nothing. It's truly meaningless and again, it's just fad-like terms folks like to throw out to make themselves feel as if they are doing right with their nutrition. But they are not, not even close. And again, these are just fad/diet terms that swirl around and become buzz words for a short time. Refer to the above as to what a DIET truly is.
Eating healthy is not the key to success, not even close. Sure, we want to and need to eat healthy in order for our goals to become a reality, but just eating healthy does not work. We all know what healthy foods are… Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. So, if it were just that easy, well, it would be that easy. Here is a big key to success; we have to cross the bridge from the world of eating healthy… Into the world of "eating right." These are two completely different worlds. In order to eat right we have to be sure that the balance of carbohydrate-protein-fat at every meal/snack is properly balanced. As a general rule, here is our goal at every meal/snack… 45-65% calories from carbohydrate; 15-25% protein; 15-25% fat. This is how we Fuel the body and not just feed the body. Think of it like this; water and gasoline are both liquids, yes? Ok, so, why can't we just put water in the gas tank of our car? That's not going to fuel and power the car, right? The same holds true with the human body. The aforementioned 'healthy meal' is noting shy of, water in the gas tank. Let's put fuel in our tank, not water!
Now that you have these numbers, start to log your meals and snacks and there's a very good chance, even if you are eating healthy, that you're probably not eating right. Here's a perfect example… Take a look at all the crazy food fads and diets that instruct the user to cut out carbohydrates (never, ever adopt one of these food fads or diets). A staple meal for dinner when it comes to these diets is all the same; it's overused verbiage such as, "for dinner, be sure to have a lean protein and vegetables." Okay, let's say we do this and we have a grilled chicken breast with vegetables. Sounds like a perfect meal, right? Well, this meal is nothing shy of a train wreck. It's feeding the body but in no way is it fueling the body.
Remember what we said earlier, food is fuel for the brain and body. This "healthy meal" is going to provide zero fuel for the brain and body. Protein and vegetables? C'mon folks, stop playing with your food and let's get down to business and fuel the body! No way-we need some complex carbohydrate (and no, vegetables are not carbohydrates) and some dietary fat in order to balance out this meal and create the proper macronutrient balance. Let’s take this healthy meal and make it right… Keep the vegetables; they're good for us of course as they provide vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Reduce the chicken breast by 1/2; most likely, this was far too large a portion of protein. Add a side of carbohydrate such as rice or pasta and let's add a slice of avocado for some dietary fat, BOOM! Now we are on the right track.
As
you start to make the nutrition changes above and really start to adopt the
TeamKattouf® Nutrition lifestyle, in time, you will find that your energy levels will
be higher and more stable and you will find that your food cravings will be
reduced. And each day, as you continue to fuel your body properly, you will take one more successful step on this amazing journey!
Download the TeamKattouf® Nutrition LLC app:
Workout Smart, Eat Right, Get Results®!
Rick Kattouf II, O.D. is a 2x Best-Selling Author and Fitness & Nutrition expert and has been named one of America’s PremierExperts® and one of the World Fitness Elite® Trainers of the Year. He has been seen on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates around the country as well as in the USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Ironman.com, Livestrong.com, FIGHT! Magazine, Florida Cycling Magazine and The Independent in the UK. Rick is the CEO/Founder of TeamKattouf® Inc, CEO/Founder of TeamKattouf® Nutrition LLC, CEO/Founder of Virtual Gym LLC, Creator of TeamKattouf® Nutrition Supplements, Host of Rx Nutrition, author of Forever Fit, Creator of 5-Round Fury® Nutrition Supplement, 5-Round Fury Fitness® workout app, Creator of Coach2CEO, Creator of Fuel Keeper®, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. Dr. Rick has personally coached individuals in 30+ states and 10+ countries.
