healthy | | Epi Life Coach

Being healthy and energetic are the most important things for athletes. As an athlete, the foundation of your health depends on what you eat.

You need to manage your diet and take a close look at how the food you eat are prepared to make sure they provide the proper calories and nutrients your body needs to achieve the good health needed to provide good results at competitions.

The foods you eat can affect your performance as an athlete in a competition. If you eat the wrong type of food, you will end up in a poor health state and may not perform well in competitions. And on the other hand, if you consume the right food, you will end up in a good health state, and you will notice a boost in your performance in competitions. In this article, I will discuss 5 important tips for healthy nutrition for athletes.

Getting the right amount of protein is essential for your body’s ability to repair and rebuild your muscles after using them. Some athletes tear their muscles for almost every function they perform. Both training and exercising, as well as an adequate amount of protein, will ease the process of your muscle restoration. High protein foods include, but are not limited to meat, beans, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products.

Vitamins and minerals allow your body to process chemical reactions at an accelerated rate. B-complex vitamins offer great health benefits as they help to break down the carbohydrates further, which will really provide you with energy. Though you receive vitamins and minerals from certain foods you eat, they are usually not enough for those involved in physical activities such as exercise and sports..

With more than half of our bodies made up of water, it is imperative that athletes remain properly hydrated while competing. Drinking the adequate amount of water needed will reduce the risk of heat illness. Athletes that are large can lose up to 10 to 12 cups of water when they are exercising or practicing in a warm/humid weather. Even a slight lack of hydration can adversely affect athletes’ performance. Therefore, it is very important athletes drink water before, during and after the game/practice.

Fat is very important in maintaining a healthy diet. Fats are not only good for you and really reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. They also help your sugar and insulin metabolism which contribute to weight loss and weight maintenance.

When it comes to good nutrition for athletes, people often do not talk about macronutrients. Macronutrients contain proteins, carbohydrates, and fat. Without them, you cannot survive as an athlete. If you consume the right amount of macronutrients at the right time, you will be on the right path to achieving your goals, no matter what sport you are in. Hence, it is important you know the right ratio of macronutrients you should consume.

Let me know in the comments below.

I will be happy to read and reply all of your comments. also feel free to share on any of the Social Media listed below and start the "Conversation".
As always, thanks for popping in and see you soon.

Sarah O'Connor

Sarah is part of the Team ELC and she helps people discover what makes their life happy, meaningful, and full of ease. She is a writer, meditator and loves painting, an art she happily gets to practice a lot in her spare time.

Banana Diet is a very popular diet and is well known in Japan. Many people claim to have great success with weight loss since others say they are not for them. This plan is not the fastest way to lose weight, but it’s exceptionally healthy.

The banana diet consists of eating bananas in the morning for breakfast and with water (preferably at room temperature) and nothing else. After that, the day begins, then you can have a sweet snack all day, and you can literally eat what you want for lunch and dinner (although meals should be reasonable in size).

People who defend this diet say that bananas have enzymes that help us burn fat. Others say that banana has starch that makes people feel full, so people eat less during the day and lose weight. Both statements can give you a hint of truth, but by taking bananas, a person will probably have fewer calories than usual for breakfast, and drinking lot of water is also an excellent way to remove calories from your diet. These reasons are combined with a short list of things you should not take which include alcohol, dairy products, and desserts.

Another thing you should know is that bananas are filled with potassium and fiber. Filling your stomach with fiber will surely make you feel full longer, so it will regulate your appetite and even the desire to squeeze on junk food as well. Since this banana diet is visualized to work that way, you will really lose weight without difficulty.

You have to remember that bananas do not burn fat. It’s not a fat-fighting food. The only thing that this diet does is that it helps you suppress your appetite for food. While this may be true, your food intake should be carefully selected. You always have to make the right decision with the food you eat.

This diet creates a very strict eating habit that is difficult to maintain, but it promotes healthy eating habits. There is no doubt that you will see results with this diet, but it’s the same for the water if you follow the list of foods you should not eat.

If you are interested in a diet and weight loss plan that will allow you to eat what you want, try the banana diet. All you have to do is eat a few bananas before each meal. Bananas are rich in fiber and potassium, which are very healthy. Remember, this diet is not a guarantee that you will lose a lot of weight.

There is no guarantee how much weight can be lost when you are on a diet of bananas.

Let me know in the comments below.

I will be happy to read and reply all of your comments. also feel free to share on any of the Social Media listed below and start the "Conversation".
As always, thanks for popping in and see you soon.

Franco Nero

Franco defines itself as a person trapped in a sedentary lifestyle, however, he is an avid fitness "addict" and like, many more in his environment spends vast parts of his leisure time on a gym, running, cycling.

Read other posts from Franco Nero

How epigenetics and nutrition can affect your kids

As the common saying goes – “We are what we eat.” And with more knowledge and information about health, diets and nutrition, one would be more aware about what they put into their mouth. Whether it is low-fat, gluten-free, organic, pesticide-free, or whole-range, we would want to consume what would be the best for ourselves and our bodies (though, whether it tastes good or if it is easy on the wallet, is a separate matter).

For a family person, one would be choosing the best food for his or her family to consume – giving the best to their loved ones, in order for them to be healthy and nourished. But, what if our children’s well-being does not begin when you start feeding them the right food since they are young… or even if they are properly fed when they are in their infancy stage? What if, it starts with us, way before your kids are conceived?

Epigenetics is the study of how individual genes can be activated or deactivated by life experiences.
Through this study, scientists have discovered that the biochemical process of the genes occurs not just during gestation and early development but throughout adulthood, switching genes on or off and altering our mental and physical health.

What one eats can directly affect the DNA through epigenetic modifications – altering the genetic expression. These changes are not limited to one’s own self; they can and are passed onto your children. For example, prenatal diets that are low in folic acid, vitamin B-12, and other nutrients containing “methyl groups” have been linked to an increased risk of asthma and brain and spinal cord defects in children.

By joining Epi Life Coach, we would be able gather information on your Epigenetic features – which could help provide better alternatives to improving your health – hence optimizing your well-being.

We have specifically and consciously chosen products which have proven positive results. Many of these products are available exclusively for our members – from body care, skin care, and modern day anti-pollutants to e-books that will allow you to understand how to optimize your wellbeing.

In order to complement and synchronize your wellness, Epi Life Coach has chosen to also promote stress reducing, downloadable music for workout, relaxation, meditation which can help you to achieve your goals.

Explore the Epi Life Coach web app to find out more about your epigenetic mapping information.

Home made popsicles and….how to enhance your kids intake of vitamins and make them happy.

I recently started to make home made popsicles as a “fun activity” with my kids and soon realized that not only I had achieved on the fun but also increased the intake of vitamins for them as their popsicles are made in essence from fresh fruit juice.

The all thing started when I was out for shopping and I found a popsicle making kit for home users and thought of bringing some fun to the weekend as my kids where having some of their friends at home.

As per any other new activity, I normally see references online and I was surprised to notice that most of the sites I had visited showed how to make “proper” popsicles but also included in the recipe large amounts of sugar and other ingredients such as corn syrup.
This alone to my opinion was a bit of a bummer as I am teaching my kids to try and avoid sugar whenever possible so we all sat down and discuss the matter, finally we decided to substitute sugar with fresh home made honey and everyone was happy with it.

The home making is a great activity for the kids because they get together and they can have fun, we found out that most of them agreed for our trial to go for orange, lemon and watermelon. All three are quite easy to source and very refreshing once ready. The activity included a trip to the local market, showing the kids how to search for the best fruit shops, and of course bargain in prices without compromising quality.

Once back home there was a great deal of washing and peeling, and another learning curve on how to safely peel the fruits skin using a “sharp enough” knife.

Here is a quick how to make

"As written by the kids"

What you need

How you do it

Wash fruits
Peel
Cut in small pieces, (watermelon)
Remove seeds, (watermelon)
Combine ingredients in a processor (watermelon)
Squeeze juice using a presser, (orange and lemon)
Add warm water
Mix fruit / juice and honey with the processor
Fill the popsicle mold
Freeze for 6 / 8 hours

In the weeks following this event we have now started to make popsicles regularly, we have tried as many different fruits as we can, to our surprise, orange and lemon remain everyone’s favorite.

There you have it, the results are great, incredible taste and lots of fun.

Do you have a secret ingredient?, or do you prefer your popsicles made with yogurt and other creamy ingredients?

Let me know in the comments below.

I will be happy to read and reply all of your comments. also feel free to share on any of the Social Media listed below and start the "Conversation".
As always, thanks for popping in and see you soon.

The food that we eat provides the body with what it needs. One of its most important jobs is to contribute to the body’s growth and repair. The body is made up of millions of cells. A large proportion of each cell consists of substances called proteins. Proteins are sometimes called the ‘building blocks’ of the body and without them the body cannot grow or repair itself. Some foods are particularly rich in protein, e.g. milk, fish, meat, eggs, cheese.

Malnutrition is a major cause of serious illness worldwide.

Food for energy
The concept of ‘energy’, is somewhat difficult for many of us to grasp as we usually associate it with work or movement of some kind. In many cases we tend to relate energy to muscular work and we find difficult to explain ourselves that energy can be stored in materials like coal, oil and, in this case, food, and then released.

The release of energy from food through the process of digestion is what follow.
The food that we eat cannot be used by the body unless it has been changed into simple chemical materials; this happens as the food passes down the process of digestion and is turned into materials that can be absorbed by the body.

Why does the body need energy?
At this stage, it would be sensible to remind ourselves that the body itself needs energy to keep ourselves alive and well by controlling the most basic functions such as:

keep the respiratory system working
keep the heart beating and the blood circulating in a proper manner
keep itself at the right temperature

Although all foods provide the body with energy, some are richer in starch, some in fats, same in oils than others and so on, all of these can be converted into energy by the body.

In addition to their body-building and energy giving properties, foods contain substances called minerals and vitamins which are essential to the healthy working of the body.

Discriminating from one or another and allowing the intake of safe doses is a good way to avoid non healthy foods and still getting the right amount of energy our body requires on a daily basis.

Let me know in the comments below.

I will be happy to read and reply all of your comments. also feel free to share on any of the Social Media listed below and start the "Conversation".
As always, thanks for popping in and see you soon.

Having said no to sodas, this week I am trying to fight my thirst with an old classic refreshing drink, one that you can make at home with nothing less than a few ingredients.

Despite the general knowledge and consensus on how “bad” fizzy drinks are for our body and health in general, especially when frequently ingested, we all like to indulge into something “sweet” and “refreshing”, every once in a while for some, more often than ever for others.

It is indisputable, the resistance to carbonated sodas sometimes can be hard to fight. However, this category of drinks are not all the same, while some brands are fighting to stay afloat by trying to lure the more savvy of us by eliminating or substituting sugar with other “artificial” substances, high fructose, corn syrup etc. which are as much if not more damaging than sugar, some other smaller and cheaper brands are including even more artificial ingredients to make the taste more captivating and to claim loud how good they are for a clever “diet”.

Imagine a drink that contains the following:
Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Orange Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Sodium Benzoate, Natural Flavor, Caffeine, Sodium Citrate, Gum Arabic, Calcium Disodium EDTA, Red 40, Brominated Vegetable Oil, Yellow 5, Blue 1. How good that can be? I don’t mean the taste.

Introducing

Lemon, Honey & Mint Fresh Iced Tea

What you need

200 ml water
3 tbsp fresh honey
1 tbsp any branded tea (or 2 teabags)
1/2 fresh lemon
For garnishing
1 lemon slice
3 to 4 fresh mint leaves
4 to 5 ice-cubes

How you do it

Bring the water to boil in a kettle
Pour it in a non aluminum pot or saucepan
Add the Tea, Honey and a few mint leaves
Let it cool
Pour it in a large glass and add the ice to it
Top it with fresh mint leaves
Add a slice of lemon to it

Preparation Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 5 mins

Total Time: 10 mins

Voila, refreshing tea is ready to beat the heat

Do you have a preferred healthy drink, and if so, which one is it?

Let me know in the comments below.

I will be happy to read and reply all of your comments. also feel free to share on any of the Social Media listed below and start the "Conversation".
As always, thanks for popping in and see you soon.

Sarah O'Connor

Franco Nero

sarah O'Connor

Here is a quick how to make

"As written by the kids"

What you need

How you do it

There you have it, the results are great, incredible taste and lots of fun.

about the author

Malnutrition is a major cause of serious illness worldwide.

about the author

Introducing

Lemon, Honey & Mint Fresh Iced Tea

What you need

How you do it

Preparation Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 5 mins

Total Time: 10 mins

about the author

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Epi Life Coach

Login with your Social Account