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Nutrition and lifestyle in fitness As a nutrition and lifestyle coach I follow 6 foundation principles, which I also use when advising clients. The majority of people I consult rarely have an issue or problem with just their diet. One example of this is a family member whose diet over the past few years has included deep fried chips with most evening meals, alcohol daily, an average of 6 cups of coffee a day and frequently skipping meals, especially breakfast; he also had late nights with less than 6 hours of poor quality sleep and no exercise apart from walking the dog daily. He was affected by severe hypertension, high cholesterol, swollen joints, was sedentary and obese. I advised him to consult his GP prior to starting a nutrition and lifestyle programme.
Firstly, we personalised his diet, focussing on the variety and quality of his food. A 4-day rotation menu plan was devised including a full breakfast, a good size lunch and a smaller evening meal; small snacks were also included to help regulate his blood sugar. With regards to his caffeine intake, 2 cups were replaced with lemon and ginger tea, which is great for inflammation. It was important that we did not completely withdraw coffee and worked on gradually reducing it down to a more acceptable level of 1 to 2 cups a day. By reducing caffeine intake and stabilising his blood sugar level his sleep patterns should improve. I recommended that it was important to ensure that he achieved a minimum of 8 hours sleep per night. In order to increase his activity levels he was given a pedometer and a set number of steps to achieve each day by walking the dog. I felt it was also important to prescribe a home exercise programme. Within 1 week there was a marked improvement in his energy levels. He felt more satisfied with each meal and his cravings greatly reduced. A few weeks after this he started to ‘clock-up’ the steps on the pedometer and felt motivated enough to join a gym. Within the month he had decreased body fat, lost inches around his stomach, increased his aerobic fitness and generally felt more vital and healthy. We even got to the point were he was even able to reduce his medication. For free Careers Advice please call 01329 829444. |
After completing a number of questionnaires and an interview, we came up with an action plan that covered all the foundation principles. It was important to make the plan easy to follow as he was in a lifestyle habit that needed to be changed gradually, and he needed to be able to understand and conform to the plan. |