Infinite Life Fitness

When it comes to starting a new fitness plan one IMPORTANT thing that also has to change is your eating habits. 

I know far too many people who are gym rats, but then come home and chow down on anything they can get their hands on.  Then they get frustrated that they are not losing any weight…

It is because you have to learn what is the RIGHT portion size when it comes to meals. A typical meal that you get at a restaurant is actually two to three portion sizes! And most people will sit and finish the whole plate in one sitting!

First you need to figure out how many calories you need to intake on a regular basis to just maintain your current body weight or to lose weight.  This can be done by going to this web site:

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-goal.php

Follow the instructions and this should give you some indications of how many calories you should be eating each day.

I personally eat about four small meals a day with one to two snacks (which is usually a cup of fresh veggies or granola bar) to help me make it to my next meal just in case I get hungry.  I am not about starving yourself to get to you goal! It is about eating to be satisfied and eating the right things!  I personally calculate to eat about 2,200 calories a day (because I work out for about an hour and a half which burns most of that which allows me to maintain my current weight and helps me to tone up and build the muscles that I want).  I target to have two main meals (my breakfast and usually dinner) to be about 400-500 calories.  The other two meals are about 300-400 calories and the snacks I have in between is about 100 to 200 calories.

This may sound hard but to be honest your body will tell you when you are hungry when you get on a regular routine. I will later post a food diary that I have made of things I eat on a typical day to give you guys some ideas. 

Here is a good picture to help you get an idea of what your portion sizes should be like…

according to the image above these are the suggest portion size of each meal

• 1 serving of meat is 3-4 oz. and should be about the size of a deck of cards, or the palm of your hand.  
• 1 cup should be used for carbs such as cooked rice, cooked pasta and ice cream. It is about the size of a tennis ball. 
• 1 serving of cheese is the size of 1 domino (oops… I may eat more cheese than that!)
• 1 medium piece of fruit is the size of a baseball.
• 1 serving (1 tsp.) of fats like butter, or margarine is the size of 1 die.
• 1 small baked potato is about the size of a computer mouse.
• 1 cup of beverage is equal to the size of a woman’s fist.
• 2 Tbs. of fats like Peanut Butter, jam, or salad dressing is the size of a golf ball.
• 1 oz. of chocolate is the size of package of dental floss. 

In future post I will post some good meal options and menus for people to use to help them creat healthier meal options.  But for more personal information on portion sizes check out this web site:

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/QandA/index.html

Another important thing to start putting in your diet…WATER! Water is a very important tool that the body needs to function.  Here is an amazing article I found about water.  You can read it here:

http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=296

I do have friends who hate the taste of water, but it is needed! There are so many new water options now (such as Vitamin water and powders you can put into water).  So there is no excuse at all for someone not to get more water in their diet (start to substitute other beverages that you consume regularly with water. I am not saying cut out all other drinks cold turkey but compromise! If you have one coke, say you will drink one to two glasses of water after you have your one coke for the day).

So now that you are starting a new fitness routine, now you can start a new eating habit as well!