If you've ever experienced an injury or pain; you know how important it is to get over the injury as fast as possible while maintaining your previous strength and conditioning! A big mistake athletes often make is limiting caloric intake, decreasing their protein intake, and decreasing their fat intake while they are injured. All due to not wanting to gain weight and "get fat" while they are less active.
But, did you know that the majority of your daily caloric expenditure actually comes from your resting metabolic rate (the energy used at rest)? And, when injured your resting metabolic rate actually increases due to the healing process!?! Here are a few nutritional tips to optimize your recovery process: 1) Eat enough total food!
This may be tough. You may not be hungry and you may not want to eat. Try and listen to your bodies hunger cues. Because your appetite may be decreased, I recommend trying to eat on your normal schedule and forcing yourself to eat your normal amounts. If you count your calories or macros, hit your same daily calorie goal. You body needs energy to heal! 2) Minimize processed foods!
These foods may increase inflammation within your body and they contain less of the nutrients that you truly need. I recommend sticking with unprocessed, natural, nutrient dense foods. Think meat and vegetables from sustainably grown sources. 3) Eat a diet high in protein and healthy fats.
When recovering from injury, you need to repair damaged tissue. Your body needs protein for tissue repair, and getting enough protein is important during the rehab process. You should be eating 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight at a minimum. Healthy fats can be anti-inflammatory and can positively influence recovery. Some healthy fats that I recommend are coconut oil, olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, fatty fish, grass fed butter, and ghee.
The #1, absolutely most important thing that affects your recovery and health is nutrition. You need to optimize your nutrition to speed recovery and to build resilient tissue! There are a lot of myths floating out there on the internet. No carbs, high carbs, no fat, high fat, high protein, intermittent fasting, keto, paleo....Which one is the best? And most importantly, which one is the best for you? Many individuals "spin their wheels", fall victim to Fad diets, and make little real progress towards their goals. They may lose a little weight but they feel drained, depleted, and "hangry". They miss their favorite foods and they hate their new restricted diet! They decide to "rewards themselves" with their favorite snack...next thing they know, they've fallen off the wagon and reversed any progress they previously made. Does this sound familiar?
What's the solution to this problem? Easy, hire a coach!
Whats the PRO's in hiring a nutrition coach?
1) You are able to weed through all the myths on the internet. This means no more confusion and no more guessing!
2) Develop an effective, sustainable plan thats 100% tailored to your goals and your life. Your schedule, your training, your likes and dislikes, your job, and your stress levels all factor in to developing the best nutrition plan for you.
3) Accountability. Your coach holds you accountable to the goals you have set for yourself!
4) Support! Your coach is able to help you overcome the challenges you experience along the way. Keeping you on track even when times get tough. 5) Results! Plain and simple. A nutrition coach will be the catalyst helping you achieve results you want. 6) Working with a coach for 6-months can absolutely change your life. You learn all the skills you need, you develop a sustainable nutrition program that works, and you create a complete lifestyle change which enables you to continually see results.
Interested in learning more about how a nutrition coach could help you?
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