Nutrition in Martial Arts Training
Changing Lives provides you with the best Virginia Beach Taekwondo and Mixed Martial Arts Instruction. Changing Lives Martial Arts teaches karate, taekwondo, kung fu and krav maga to everyone from tiny tigers and kids to adults and seniors and any skill from beginners to advanced students.
Nutrition is a scary subject for newcomers. The nutrition section of most bookstores is filled with literature featuring healthy recipes and flashy diets. Recipes and diet guides are nice, but most people don’t know how to put that information to effective use in their everyday life. The diet theories contained in the books don’t work under real-life circumstances.
In our quest to make information on healthy eating easy and accessible, we here at Changing Lives Martial Arts have compiled a list of things that everyone can agree on. By following these TOP TIPS guidelines, you’ll be well on your way to a healthy diet.
1. Don’t eat deep-fried food! It’s really that simple. KFC’s grilled selections contain significantly less calories, fat and carbohydrates than their fried counterparts. Deep-frying food will drastically increase the fat content in most food, which sends the calorie count skyrocketing. None of that is good for your body. Avoid. Eating deep fried foods will slow you down and prevent you from performing top notch in any sport activities such as, taekwondo, krav maga, karate, kung fu, martial arts, soccer etc.
2. Eat slowly and pay attention. Many of us simply don’t take the time to enjoy eating. We grab a muffin on the way to work or munch popcorn in front of the television. Forcing ourselves to eat quickly leads to overeating because we want to make sure we’ll feel full afterwards. Eating while distracted by something else—like driving or watching television—leads to overeating because our minds are too focused on the task at hand to worry about how much we’re eating. “STAY FOCUSED” states; Tracy Lee Thomas of Virginia Beach Martial Arts.
3. If you know it’s bad for you, don’t eat it or drink it! This applies mainly to things like soda, candy, potato chips and things of that nature—“junk foods.” They contain few nutrients and tons of sugars, fats and calories. For most, these foods are comforting, with the sugars causing a fleeting feeling of euphoria and happiness. Recognize these foods as what they are: sources of temporary pleasure that should be eaten in heavy moderation. Many martial art styles like the American Taekwondo Association knows too well that eating junk foods before a martial class or activity causes the body to crash and slow down.
4. Have meals with others as much as possible. The American Taekwondo Association Martial Arts Instructors and Karate for Kid students believe in eating with others, socially. It has a number of social and emotional benefits. It gives us an opportunity to observe others’ eating habits while also allowing us to model our own healthy eating habits. Finally, the flow of conversation during the meal forces us to eat slower, which helps us avoid overeating. Digestion aids in the process of feeling you have ate enough at on meal.
5. Go out of your way to eat fruits and vegetables. Every nutritionist repeats the same line—you should get five servings of fruits and vegetables every day—yet hardly anybody ever listens. Fruits and vegetables are high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and make great healthy snacks. Grand Master H. U. Lee of the American Taekwondo Association believed in eating healthy and organic foods such as fruits. Fruits and vegetables should be involved in everything you eat, whether that means orange juice with your breakfast, lettuce and tomato on your sandwich or a helping of corn with your dinner.
6. Cook for yourself! The best way to know what you’re eating is to prepare it yourself. Don’t push yourself, but try to plan on cooking a simple meal three or four nights a week; when you do cook, prepare enough so you’ll have leftovers. You don’t need to use more than three ingredients—who doesn’t love whole-wheat spaghetti with tomato sauce and aged Parmesan cheese?
One final tip: Don’t overcomplicate things! Unless you have a life-threatening medical condition, you don’t need to completely change your routine tomorrow. Try to make one or two small tweaks at a time. Add a salad with lunch. Cut out the Coca-Cola. Only you have control over your diet—make sure you’re getting the most from it.
Changing Lives Martial Arts Senior Master Instructor, Tracy Lee Thomas states; “everyone should have their own common sense eating habits for their personal life style. There is a vast amount of knowledge on this subject and it is important to understand what food can alter our well being. Try creating your own common sense tips for your daily lifestyle.”
Changing Lives Martial Arts in Virginia Beach offers the best Chesapeake, Virginia Martial Arts Taekwondo Instruction. Programs are available for all ages and skill levels of proficiency from beginner to advanced. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOUEE0JP2E0
