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Proper Diet for Staying/Getting in Shape
In the article by Samuels, “Importance of Diet & Exercise for a Nutritional Lifestyle” from
Livestrong online, he discusses the importance of diet and exercise. In summary, the author writes on how
you can lose weight and improve your health and body composition with diet or exercise, but it shouldn't
be a case of either/or. One of the best approaches is to partake in an intelligently planned training routine
and eat a healthy, balanced diet. Our diet should not only support our health and weight goals, but also
improve our training performance. In the Learning Your Carbs section, Samuels talks on how the more
active we are, the more our body needs carbs. I have learned that carbs are our body's main source of
energy. If we're only exercising for recreation, however, we may not need quite this many carbs, whereas
if you're extremely active or a competitive athlete we'll need toward the higher end. He teaches us that our
carb intake should come mainly from high-fiber sources, such as whole grains, starchy vegetables,
beans and fruit. Samuels then goes on to speak on how fruits and vegetables are a foundation of
good health. Then explains how although carbs, fruits and vegetables help, we cannot forget the
proteins and fats. It’s good to include a source of lean protein at every meal, from sources like
chicken or turkey breast, low-fat cheese and yogurt, white fish or soy. We can find healthy fats in
oily fish, olive oil, eggs and different types of nuts and seeds. Lastly he has a section on Exercise
Basics, Samuels states that we need a minimum of 2 1/2 hours of moderate or 1 1/4 hours of
vigorous cardio each week, with optional two or more strength-training sessions. We use our
exercise performance to judge the success of your diet. If we're maintaining our weight, or losing
body fat and feeling good, it's likely your diet is doing what it should. If we're gaining weight,
we'll need to reduce your calorie intake a little. If our exercise performance and energy levels are
dropping, we may need to eat more, or look at reducing your consumption of high-sugar,
processed foods and eating more fibrous carbs, fruits and vegetables.
As we all know, regular exercise and the consumption of a healthy diet can lead to a host
of benefits, including increased energy, happiness, health and even a long life. Although there
