8 Ways To A Better Diet

As athletes in training we tend to burn a lot of calories, and in doing so it's easy to become complacent about our dietary habits.  How much harm can those Twinkies do when it's interval day at the track or when 6000 yards await us at the pool?  Perhaps we can be less rigid with what we ingest than the average sedentary citizen, but to optimize the training effect or for just good health, it pays to be diligent about what we put in our  stomachs. The following are some good eating habits to blend into your day to day.  While you have probably heard some of these a hundred times before, this time get serious and watch your performance ratchet up.  Here are a few of my favorites.

1.  Incorporate fish into your diet at least once or preferably twice a week.  The beneficial properties of omega-3 essential fatty acids have been clinically proven time and time again as a tremendous weapon against cardio-vascular disease, cancer, and arthritis.  Go for fresh or flash-frozen instead of processed.

2.  Turn to whole grains for bread and pasta.  Replace refined white flour as much as possible in your diet.  Whole wheat and spinach pasta noodles are great choices.  Buckwheat pancake mix is a good option.  Read bread packaging carefully before you buy as it can be very misleading.

3.  Learn to love olive oil.  Use it for your garlic toast, vinegar and oil dressing, and just about anywhere you use butter.  Contains mono-unsaturated fats (the good kind) which reduce LDL (low density lipoproteins) in the bloodstream.  This in turns keeps the arteries cleaner.  Olive oil has other health benefits   such as a mild laxative characteristic and anti-oxidant properties.  It makes artery walls  suppler and increases skin luster. 

4.  Replace canned with fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables.  Fresh is always best with frozen being a close second for retaining nutrients before consumption.  Canned vegetables contain inordinately high amounts of sodium.

5.  Buy a juice extractor.  Making your own fresh fruit and vegetable juices is easy and fun.  The versatility of these machines goes well beyond juices.  The lower priced versions are noisy, less convenient, and have shorter life spans.  When you get hooked, you can always step up to the Champion model for $200 found at health food stores.   It's a quiet, powerful dream machine that will last a lifetime.

6.  Try rice or soy instead of cow's milk.  Check out the health food department of the grocery store for non-refrigerated boxes of these products.  They are great for mixing with protein and meal replacement powders.  They are available in regular, vanilla, and chocolate flavors.

7.  Water, water, water.  Ok, we all know what percentage of water constitutes the planet and our bodies.  That alone should intuitively tell you how important it is.  If you don't have a large bottle of the stuff by your desk to sip on all day, you're missing a great opportunity to stay properly hydrated, particularly during the warmer months.

8.  Minimize diuretic drinks like coffee, tea, soda,  and alcohol.  These have the propensity to dehydrate.  If you must have your java jolt in the morning, it won't cause irreparable damage, but avoid over-consumption.  Green tea is 20-30 times more powerful than other individual anti-oxidants.  As much as I love Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, and the rest, I don't think much good can be said about any flavor of sugar water.  Daily consumption of twelve ounces of dark beer or four ounces of red wine can reduce risk of coronary heart disease by 30-50%.  What better reason do you need to have a brewski?