A Balanced Diet
Dietary advice for all types of athletes is the same as for the
general public. That is, eat a well-balanced diet from a wide
variety of foods in sufficient amounts to meet energy needs.
Experts agree the key to healthy eating is the time-tested advice of
balance, variety and moderation. In short, that means eating a
wide variety of foods without getting too many calories or too
much of any one nutrient.
Because people need more than 40 different nutrients daily for
good health, it is important to eat a variety of foods. No single
food supplies them all. Diets that include a wide variety of foods
not only reap the nutritional benefits, but may also help prevent
disease and consequently live longer. Recent studies have found
that people who ate wide varieties of foods had a lower risk of
premature death than those who ate the same food year after year.
Your daily food selection should include bread and other whole-
grain products; fruits; vegetables; dairy products; and meat,
poultry, fish and other protein foods. How much you should eat
depends on your calorie needs. Nutrition experts like the
American Dietetic Association recommend that we eat a diet low
in fat and high in complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates
are foods such as pasta, rice, potatoes, and breads. Generally,
nutritionists suggest that we consume no more than 30 percent to
35 percent of our calories as fat, at least 55 percent as
carbohydrates, and the remainder as protein.
|
The Food Guide Pyramid shown below is a practical tool to help
you make food choices that are consistent with the Dietary
Guidelines for Americans. Using the Pyramid enables you to eat a
variety of foods daily so that you can get the nutrients you need.
Fitness
Exercise and Weight Loss
The key to weight control is keeping energy intake (food) and
energy output (physical activity) in balance. When you consume
only as many calories as your body needs, your weight will
usually remain constant. If you take in more calories than your
body needs, you will put on excess fat. If you expend more energy
than you take in, you will burn excess fat.
Exercise plays an important role in weight control by increasing
energy output, calling on stored calories for extra fuel. Recent
studies show that not only does exercise increase metabolism
during a workout, but it causes your metabolism to stay increased
for a period of time after exercising, allowing you to burn more
calories. There are two basic forms of exercise: anaerobic and
aerobic.
Anaerobic Exercise
Anaerobic activity is short in duration (0 to 2 minutes) and high in
intensity. Anaerobic activities include activities such as
racquetball, downhill skiing, weight lifting, sprinting, softball,
soccer and football. This type of exercise requires immediate
energy to be supplied by blood glucose and muscle glycogen, and
focuses more on increasing muscle mass and building power.
|
Anaerobic exercise is very important in improving strength to
perform daily activities and train for sporting events. Additionally
anaerobic activity increases your metabolic rate for several hours
after exercising, as well as your resting metabolic rate. The
quickening of the metabolic rate may make it easier shed
unwanted weight.
Aerobic Exercise
In the strictest sense, moderate-intensity activities that can be
sustained for more than 2 minutes are called aerobic exercise.
More commonly, aerobic exercise is defined as using the same
large muscle group, rhythmically, for a period of 15 to 20 minutes
or longer while maintaining 60-80% of your maximum heart rate.
Examples of aerobic activities include cross-country skiing, biking
rowing, jogging or walking.
Aerobic exercise is highly effective in improving the
cardiovascular system because it conditions the heart and lungs by
increasing the oxygen available to the body and by enabling the
heart to use oxygen more efficiently. Other benefits include:
- Reduction in body fat.
- Increased energy and general stamina.
- Toned muscles and increased lean body mass.
- Reduced tension, depression, and anxiety.
- Sleep better.
- Special of the Month.
The Ultra Rider Model UR-3200 Exercise Bike
$499.00 (plus tax and shipping)
Refer to the catalog for a full description.
|