March is National Nutrition Month!!

March is National Nutrition Month. Beach season, summer, bikinis, and board shorts are right around the corner and now is a great time to properly refine your diet to get the lean summer look that you’ve been working so hard for. Your trainer will be able to help you in your specific plan, but here are a few universal tips to keep your nutrition a priority.

1. Eat the whole rainbow. Forget your first thought of “Yes! I love Skittles!” Eating the rainbow begins at the produce section of your grocery store or farmers market. Try to get produce of every color. A few suggestions; red – apples, tomatoes, peppers, cherries. Orange – oranges, tangerines, apricots, carrots, peppers. Yellow – bananas, banana peppers, squash, lemons. Green – broccoli, green beans, peas, cucumbers, spinach, lettuce. Blue – blueberries, blue raspberries. Purple – grapes, plums, prunes, and so on. Different colors in nature usually represent different vitamins. To eat the rainbow is to ensure that you are eating a variety of nutrients.
2. Go nutrient dense. Sure, potato chips come from potatoes, and do contain some nutrients. A hamburger from a fast food chain does contain some protein, and fried chicken is still chicken. The difference between these foods and the foods you should be eating is that they add in extra calories that come from sources that provide only extra calories without any benefit. A french fry contains roughly half of its calories from the potato, and the other half comes from the deep fryer. Calories are essential, but try to make as many of the calories that you consume, count.
3. Eat early and regularly, then know when you’re full. Eating a nutrient dense meal early in the day will provide you with sustained energy throughout the day. Don’t let the momentum of a good breakfast be stopped by skipping meals all the way until dinner, where most likely you will be so hungry you won’t be concerned with what you eat. Plan snacks throughout the day and take good foods with you. If you feel hungry, eat something nutrient dense.

Use this month to focus on your nutrition and to talk to your trainer about ways to refine your plan. Be conscious of nutrition during this month and enjoy the carryover into the summer.

– authored by Jason Rice