BodyBack! Boot Camp’s Nutrition & Fitness Tips

When to eat your last meal

I often get asked, “How late is too late to eat?” or “Should I cut off my food intake at a certain time?” The answer is yes and no.  No, I’m not trying to confuse you but there are certain things that are good to eat before bed and certain things you should absolutely stay away from.

The first thing to understand is that your body uses your sleep time to rebuild and repair itself from the day.  Your body doesn’t do too much repairing during the day because it’s too busy doing other things like walking, talking, and functioning.  Rebuilding and repairing is essential if you want true health and fitness.  If you don’t eat in a way that enables the body to recover or you don’t get enough rest to let the body recover it will continue to break down until you end up injured and/or sick.

One of the ways to help your body recover is to feed it the nutrients it needs to do so.  Your body’s preferred “recovery” nutrient is protein.  Protein is the building block of lean muscle tissue and is what the body uses to rebuild muscles that are broken down due to exercise.  Eating a small amount of LEAN protein before bed can help the body rebuild itself while it sleeps and therefore is perfectly fine to eat as long as the portions are correct.  Remember, a portion is the size of your fist.

While carbs are great for recovery directly after a workout, they really don’t serve a purpose while you sleep.  We eat carbs because they turn into sugar inside the body, which the body in turn uses for energy.  But, how much energy do you need while you are sleeping?  Unless you are an avid sleepwalker, my guess is you don’t need much.  When you have more sugar in your blood than your body needs for energy, the excess typically stores as fat.  So, eating carbs before bed can lead to gaining fat.

A few late night snack suggestions are:

Low fat cottage cheese
Lean turkey slices
Natural peanut butter
Protein shake

Krill Oil Anyone?

While krill oil has been around for a while, it is beginning to gain in popularity lately.  Krill are shrimp-like crustaceans that live in the ocean and feed on phytoplankton.  Krill oil contains Omega-3 fatty acids which are incredibly good for your health.  Krill oil is akin to fish oil with a small difference.  Krill oil not only contains omega-3 fatty acids but also contains an antioxidant called astaxanthin.  Antioxidants protect our body cells from damage from free radicals, unstable substances that are thought to contribute to certain chronic diseases. Unlike many other antioxidants, astaxanthin crosses the blood-brain barrier, where it could theoretically protect the eye, brain and central nervous system from free radical damage.

While krill oil and fish oil are similar, there is another subtle difference that has people putting down the fish oil and reaching for the krill oil.  Anyone who has ever taken fish oil knows that along with the health benefits comes another special treat…fishy aftertaste.  Krill oil lacks this delightful characteristic which some feel gives it a leg up.

Whether you supplement with krill oil or fish oil, the omega-3 fatty acids you get are extremely valuable.  Omega-3 fatty acids are thought to help with:

•    Lowering “bad” cholesterol levels
•    Might help with certain types of cancer
•    Help you sleep
•    Reduce inflammation
•    Improve muscle recovery from trauma
•    Provide lubrication to the skin, arteries, veins, and intestinal tract
•    Help prevent cardiovascular disease
•    Reduce high blood pressure
•    Help with premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
•    Reducing arthritis symptoms

Side Effects

People with allergies to seafood shouldn’t use krill oil. People with bleeding disorders shouldn’t use krill oil unless under the supervision of a qualified health professional.

Side effects of krill oil may include loose stools, diarrhea or indigestion.

Quote
I will leave you today with one of my favorite all time quotes.  It hangs in the Florida Gator weight room (maybe that’s why I like it : ).  I think it applies perfectly to health and fitness…

“The Pain of Discipline, The Pain of Regret…Take Your Pick”

Happy Holidays everyone!!

To Your Health,

Jason

P.S. To register for your FREE BodyBack! Boot Camp session, click the link below and register now:

www.BodyBackBootCamps.com

Come and join us for a fat burnin’, calorie churnin’ workout with other people who have the same goals as you! It’s fast, it’s fun, and it works!  There is no better time to begin getting fit than January.  Be sure to register now as spots fill up VERY fast this time of year!

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