this article, “You Can’t Outrun a Bad Diet.

I bet most of you, if not all of you, can relate to using exercise (training) as a means to be
able to eat whatever you wanted. And I’m guessing that didn’t work out very well for
you.

The Importance of Training

There are several pieces that make-up a healthy lifestyle: exercise, nutrition, sleep,
self-care/stress management, social support, education, etc. But the two main
components are exercise and nutrition.

Even though exercise is important for many reasons, you can exercise to the moon
and back but still be overweight or obese because of eating a poor diet. Or
you could be of normal weight and exercise but still be unhealthy because of a poor
diet. Exercise itself doesn’t lead to weight loss long-term.

Of course, exercise does have many wonderful health benefits! Regular exercise reduces
the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and some
cancers by at least 30%.

The Role of Your Diet

In the last 30 years the percentage of people who exercise regularly has stayed about the
same, while the percentage of individuals that are overweight and obese have
skyrocketed. Clearly there is something else going on here. It’s the food that we eat!

What else has happened in the last 30 years? The number of processed foods have
increased dramatically!!! These processed foods are full of sugar, artificial dyes,
preservatives, and other chemicals. For every additional 150 calories in sugar a person
consumes per day the risk for diabetes rises 11-fold, regardless of how much or little
exercise they engage in.

If you are trying to lose weight, exercise alone will not be enough. Exercise is what
sustains weight loss, but a supportive nutrition plan is what drives it.
5 Reasons You Can’t Out Train a Bad
Diet
1. Your amount of exercise will likely not make-up for a BIG
INDULGENCE. Justifying an indulgent meal or food with exercise just doesn’t work
with the amount of training that most of us do. Not to mention the fact that all
calories are not created equal. It’s not as simple as calories in vs. calories
out because different types of calories affect our hormones and metabolism differently.
Calories do come into play in certain instances, but you first want to focus on the quality
of the food you are consuming.

2. You can’t fuel your body with junk and expect it to perform. Just like you
wouldn’t expect your car to run without proper fuel, you can’t expectyour body to
perform with junky fuel. Processed carbohydrates, sugar, or soda only give you a sugar
high. They do not give your body the building blocks that it needs to perform in the gym
or life.You won’t be improve your performance and results week after week without
eating quality protein, non-starchy vegetables, healthy fats, and the right amount of
carbohydrates for your body and activity level.

3.You won’t have the energy to train if you aren’t eating enough calories
and/or carbohydrates. Skimping on calories and/or carbohydrates will leave you
without the energy your body needs to train consistently. A very restrictive nutrition
plan paired with hardcore training, could leave you leaning on muscle mass for energy.
Also, by not eating enough healthy fats to provide your body with fat-soluble vitamins
like A & D and essential fatty acids like omega 3s. Your body is then unable to produce
energy and grow muscle tissue because of lower levels of hormones like insulin and
testosterone. Both of these hormones (in the right amounts) are important for building
lean body mass.

4.You won’t have the motivation to train if you aren’t eating right. Diet and
exercise are a feedback loop. When you eat well, you are more motivated to move, and
when you move you are more motivated to eat well. Not eating quality nutrient dense
foods can leave you feeling tired and bogged down - not exactly how you want to feel in
order to get after it in the gym.
5.You are more likely to get sick and/or hurt. When you are sick or injured you
can’t train. Poor nutrition can lead to a weakened immune system. The bulk of your
immune system is housed in your gut. Therefore, if you are constantly eating foods that
cause inflammation and lead to leaky gut (sugar, alcohol, processed carbohydrates,
gluten, dairy, soy) you are much more likely to be sick.

Eating a low-quality diet it can also lead to micronutrient deficiencies and increased
inflammation throughout your body, both of which can make you more susceptible to
injury. Studies have shown that not getting an adequate amount of healthy fats into your
diet may raise your chances for overuse injuries (such as stress fractures and
tendonitis), as well as not allowing your body to protect itself in order to stay healthy.

Eat to Support Your Training

Until you have down some basic supportive nutrition habits and are consistently
practicing them 80-90% of the time, don’t get bogged down or worried about how many
grams of X you’re eating or “should I be taking a metabolic booster supplement?” Small
changes over time lead to the big changes - little hinges swing big doors.

3 things you can do to optimize your nutrition and

support your training.
 Eat protein with each meal. Women want to aim for 1 palm size portion (20-30 grams)
and males 2 palm size portions (40-60 grams) with each meal.Protein is made up of amino
acids that are the building blocks for muscle. YOU MUST EAT PROTEIN!
 Eat 1-2 servings of non-starchy vegetables with each meal. Non-starchy vegetables
are high in fiber and packed with phytonutrients to support your body in many ways.
 Eat starchy carbohydrates after your strength training sessions. Add in the
appropriate amount of starchy carbohydrates (yams, sweet potatoes, potatoes, plantains,
etc.) in the meal that follows your training session.To optimize fat loss, have this be the only
meal that contains starchy carbohydrates.If you are looking to optimize performance, you
may need to/want to add in starchy carbs at each meal.

The amount you need will vary from person to person and depend on your goals, the
level of intensity at which you train, and your body’s ability to use these carbohydrates.
A starting point for women with the goal of losing fat would be approximately ½ - ¾
cup and for men 1-1 ½ cups. As I stated, this is individual so you will likely need to
adjust based on how you are looking, feeling, and performing. When it comes to
carbohydrates LESS IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER!