Day 41 - Sports Nutrition Series: Full Day Nutrition

There is the common misconception that sports nutrition is solely in reaction to the workout. We have the pre, during and post workout nutrition protocol that we follow to the T. The error here, though, is that our level of health is a product of the whole day, week or month. If we feed our body in reaction to movement or center our awareness on only the athlete self we will no doubt develop roadblocks in our journey.

Here are my tips for discovering your own full-day nutrition program:

1. Step 1 - Cleanse: Drink an 8-16 ounces glass of water before every meal or snack. Our body as a whole is made up of around 70% water; our muscles a whopping 75%. It is so common to focus on every morsel we eat and to ignore this essential mega-nutrient that actually increases your strength gains, protects the joint and aids in digestion. Water promotes a muscle and athletic-building environment in  the body. 
2. Step 2 - Be Present: Release distractions and focus on chewing when you eat. You can eat the healthiest food and have it go to waste if you do not allow your body to utilize it. If you are multi-tasking while eating you are decreasing the memory bank of food in your body and upping the stress hormones that store fat. 
3. Step 3 - Savor: Un-apologetically enjoy your food. If you look at food as just a means to an end your body will eventually betray you. The reason why you are in a body is not to just move and compete, but to have moments of pure pleasure and taste sensation that feed your soul. 
4. Step 4 - Feel: Feel your body, it is the wisest gauge. Honor your hunger; eat when you are hungry. Feel your fullness; stop when you are full. The eating process is a practice for becoming the most powerful athlete that exists - an intuitive one. 'Professionals' will always have numbers, figures, and techniques for you to follow yet none of them will have meaning if you do not listen to the vehicle of your body. You will know how much food is enough, and what foods are best for feeding your own unique physiology. When you become a master at this it expands its way into your sport; you begin to listen to the knee, glute muscle or sniffle that is lingering forward you respond faster than any competitor.

Although the above may not seem like the usual 'nutrition' advice, the Awake Eating Method steps above provide the foundation for a healthy and 'tuned in' relationship with fuel - fuel that gives us energy and makes every single physical part of us exist. It is a marriage of food with intuitive body that will make an athlete become the best they can be.

Nat