Healthy Eating For An Active Life
As a physical therapist I have a lot of opportunities to talk to patients each day. We obviously talk a lot about things such as their accident or injury and what they can do to maximize their outcome following a back injury or knee surgery; but it’s also a unique opportunity to discuss family, careers, life, and wellness. At the Fit Stop we are concerned about your overall wellness as well as your current injury. Over the years I have asked hundreds of individuals what they do to stay in shape and how they manage to stay healthy. Today on the Fit Stop Blog I wanted to share with you a few of my findings – specifically what you can do to eat healthier and enjoy many years of healthy, active living. Read more below…
Throughout the years I have conducted my own little non-scientific research project about how people individually control their weight. I always make it a point to ask those individuals who are especially fit what they do to control their weight. You may be surprised to learn that the great majority of these patients admit that they don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to it! They typically don’t count calories or monitor activity in great detail, but there is usually one commonality. Generally they just don’t eat much! The phrase I like to use is that they “eat to live instead of live to eat”. When asked more directly they tell me that they eat a majority of their calories in the morning – a large breakfast, and a moderate lunch so that by evening they have already consumed 80% of their daily calories. They will then have something minimal in the evening.
This eating style correlates well with a recent study done in Israel where Tel Aviv University researchers put two groups of overweight women on a 1,400 calorie diet, those who ate 200 calorie dinners and large 700 calorie breakfasts lost 50% more weight than the group who ate their largest meal in the evening instead. The group who ate the large breakfast also lost twice as many inches around their waists than the larger dinner eaters.
As a young man I used to follow my 135 lb fruit farmer grandfather around his farm. I was exhausted at the end of the day trying to work alongside him. He actually lived to be 90 years old. He would eat a substantial breakfast, a homemade lunch but usually wouldn’t finish all of it (he would stop when he was satisfied), lie on the day bed for a 30 minute nap, work till the sun went down and eat homemade bread and milk for supper. He was lean and mean throughout his whole life and I’m a firm believer this was largely due to his healthy eating and active lifestyle.
If there are any of you out there looking to loose some weight, drop a few inches, and just feel better, I recommend giving this plan a try! Try to stick within the recommended daily allowance of 2000 calories (women a little less: 1800-2000; and men a little more: 2000-2200) and try to eat about 80% of your daily calories before 2.pm. While this might be difficult transition at first, research has shown that following this plan yields more efficient weight loss and including dropping pounds and shedding a few inches.
If you have any questions or would like to follow up with Alan re: healthy eating for a more active life, please contact him at our Downtown Salt Lake location.
Looking for more great health tips and advice? Check out some of our other popular posts her on the Fit Stop Blog (click on the pictures to be taken to the post):
Alan Bluth, PT
Fit Stop Physical Therapy– Downtown Salt Lake
(801) 656-2091