Bodycomp News & Views Issue#14 April 2011

In this issue:

  1. Nutrition Basics

  2. Handstands!

Handstands (you know you want to!)

The handstand is a functional movement that we often consider to be the domain of children and female gymnasts, but it is an incredibly fun activity and is nearly unrivaled at building upper body strength and mobility.

However, going upside and down and walking with the hands seems nearly impossible when unpracticed. There are many activities one can attempt as they build the strength and coordination required to get inverted.

Check out the video to see how you can get started on this playful and highly functional movement.

 

 

 

Nutrition Basics

We spend a significant portion of our lives eating. We eat for fuel. We eat to engage others socially. We eat to manage stress. We eat to celebrate. We eat too much.

The first corrective step to reduce overeating is education. By learning the basics of calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, we can adjust our consumption so that it matches our actual needs.

We obtain calories or food energy from eating carbohydrates (mostly from grains, vegetables, fruits and refined sugars and starches), protein (lean animal protein, egg whites, smaller amounts from vegetables) and fats (oils, butter, nuts, seeds, and from meat and dairy.

One gram of protein or carbohydrate yields 4 calories, while fat is a more dense form of storage producing 9 calories per gram.

Eating properly requires obtaining enough calories from these macronutrients as well as obtaining them in the proper ratio. I find that people eating about 30% of total calories from protein and fat, and the remaining 40% of calories from carbohydrates yields a great balance of fullness and reduced hunger. The relatively high protein intake slows digestion and allows for muscle growth and repair, even on a lower total calorie diet.

Follow this link for an in depth look at nutrition for beginners:

http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/index.html