Fuel your body for optimal performance

From everyday physical activity to weekend warriors to Ironman finishers, performance is directly tied to your diet. If you want to live and train at the peak of your ability and recover quickly, you must be intentional about what you eat, taking care to feed your body what it needs. Trying to work out with a body that is starving for essential nutrients will end only in frustration; and frustration eats your momentum and leaves you with a voracious appetite.

Make the most of every day by fueling your body sensibly. Let’s look at the basics. The big three nutrients that you need to be concerned with are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. An eating strategy that balances these three macro-nutrients will skyrocket your daily energy level and fitness results.

Carbohydrates: Some have argued that carbohydrates are the most important nutrient that an athlete consumes, because carbs fuel muscle. Every time you move one of your muscles, you are using carbohydrates. Your body breaks down carbs into sugars and then stores them in your muscles and livers. However, if you eat more than can be stored in either of these two places, the excess is stored as fat in your body. Good sources of carbohydrates include whole grains, vegetables, fruits and beans.

Protein: In order to build and maintain muscle, you must have protein. Muscle is the foundation of everyone’s body and nobody can function without a solid muscle base. Muscle also plays an important role in protecting you from diabetes. The more muscle you have, the more efficiently your body can uptake glucose from your bloodstream.   

It is important to eat protein daily, because your body cannot store protein very easily. Protein from animal sources is the easiest way to get complete protein, but plant-based proteins can be combined to provide complete protein as well.

 Fat: It is unfortunate that fat came under such fire during the last decade or so. Fat is essential and you need a lot of it. The key is to know what kind of fat to eat. Avoid anything that is hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. These fats are also called trans-fats and are very unhealthy. Instead try to get the majority of your fat from olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, seeds, avocado, wild-caught fish and free-range animal products such as butter, cheese, yogurt, beef and poultry.

If you are like many people, you are often confused about how to balance out the different kinds of foods you eat. It seems as though there is a new diet promotion every day, promising all sorts of miracles.

The key, however, to fueling your body for peak performance is balance and moderation. Try a ratio of 40/30/30 (carbohydrate/protein/fat) and then adjust the ratios to see what best suits your body, because everyone is different and your needs will vary from someone else’s.

Remember, you must give your body what it needs to perform. If you don’t, you will end up tired, weak and prone to frustration because you won’t have the energy or strength to live the active life you want to. The better you fuel your body, the better it will serve you in your pursuit of optimal health.

If you like reading my column every week and want to meet and chat with me this Saturday, Feb. 6 from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m., I will be holding an open house with Orthopedic Rehab. I would love for you to stop in, say hi, tell me your thoughts and ideas about the column and tour my training studio. There will be prize drawings and healthy snacks, too. Hope to see you there.

Liz Whalen is a personal trainer and health fitness specialist who lives and works in Libby. She also blogs at lizwhalenhfs.com.