Have you practiced today?
Outside The Studio Or Dojo
Martial art skills are taught in a dojo or studio and the lessons are integrated into our being every day by how we live our lives. Besides fighting skills and exercise, it forms our thoughts, teaches us morality, and gives us health (Besides the injuries from the training). However, exercise isn’t enough for health. Most of our health comes from how we eat. And therefore, how well we can train.
Nutrition and health are directly linked to martial art training. If you are a few-classes-a-week-martial-artist or an everyday-hard-core-martial-artist, your ability to train properly depends on your health. Below are some things to consider changing your life.
Just to be clear, there’s a difference between diet and nutrition. A diet is a style of eating: paleo, keto, vegetarian…. Nutrition is what you get out of what you eat. Eating vegetables is not a diet. Vegetables have nutrition that you need to be healthy. Therefore, if you are on a ‘diet’, be sure you are getting the nutrients your body needs as you train. Your food intake needs to reflect your body’s needs. I’m going to keep it simple for the general ideas of health without going into which diet to choose. Also, these are simply my thoughts on, and personal practices with, nutrition and should not be considered as medical advice.
Here are some basic questions you need to ask yourself. Everyone is different so everyone’s needs are different. But here are some basics:
How Much Water Do I Drink?
Water is the key to nutrition. The body and mind break down if you’re dehydrated. Your blood will become too sluggish, your kidneys won’t be able to clean your system, and you’ll be constipated, not to forget that you won’t be able to think straight. How much water you need depends on how active you are. If you are active but not too intense and sit at a desk most of the time, the basic rule of how much water you need is half your body weight in ounces. For example, I weigh around 150 pounds. Half my weight is 75 lbs. I change the pounds to ounces and so I need 75 ounces of water per day. That’s roughly 2 liters. I have a 40 oz water bottle that I fill at least once a day for water for times that I am not eating meals.
It also depends on how much you sweat. I don’t sweat very much, even in a heavy workout. My wife will sweat just sitting in a warm room watching tv! It also depends on which season it is. You don’t need to drink as much during winter as you do during the summer. So, my wife and I need different amounts. She will need more because she sweats it out faster than I do.
A good way to tell if you are getting enough water is to see how yellow your urine is. You are not getting enough if it is dark or even somewhat yellow. It should be a light yellow color. You are drinking too much if it is clear, and you’ll be losing some of the electrolytes you need. However, if your pee looks like a highlighter yellow, and you took vitamin B complex pills, then you do not need to worry about that.
Diuretics (things that make you urinate more) don’t count; coffee, caffeinated tea (herbal is fine), alcohol, and sodas actually do you a disservice for how much water you need. Diuretics will dry you out. So, if you like to drink these, you’ll need to drink more water.
Do I Eat The Rainbow?
This is about fruits, vegetables, and roots (carrots, potatoes, etc, not Skittles). This is a simple enough idea. It is not hard to do with a little paying attention to what you eat and how you shop. The idea is to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. The more variety the better. Fruits come in so many colors, and although most vegetables are green, cauliflower comes in white or purple and tomatoes are red (even though tomatoes are technically a fruit, we cook and eat them like a vegetable). Next time you have a meal, pay attention to the colors of your veggies and fruits. (Sauces don’t count here. You need straight-up vegetables.)
How Much Junk Food Do I Eat?
Hopefully, this is obvious. However, to many, it is not. Fast food, pizza, chips and so on are well known to be bad for our health. It is not what it is, but what it is put inside it. Preservatives are put into food to give it a longer shelf life at the store or restaurant. A homemade hamburger is much healthier than one bought a fast-food restaurant. A basic rule of thumb is it is ok to eat if it grows mold and will go rotten when left out.
Pretty much any food that is processed can be considered junk food. Even fruit bars that are labeled as nutritious are not as healthy as you would hope. Anything labeled as “all-natural” is still not healthy. Legally speaking there are no rules to say what is, and what is not actually natural. The best way is to read the ingredient list. If there are words that are hard to pronounce, then it is probably not “all-natural”. If a label has more than 5 things, then it isn’t a great healthy choice. Also, companies try to fool people with “healthy” sounding terms for added sugar. There are around 60 different kinds of names for added sugar which you can read here. You do not need to be militant about it, that is up to you. Just be wary of what you put into your body.
Don’t Laugh! How Often, Or How Much, Do I Poo And What Does It Look Like? (This Is Very Important! Your Poop Tells You So Much About Your Health.)
Different experts have different opinions on how many times per day. Some say 3, some say 2. Personally, I recommend at least a good size bowel movement once a day. Yet, some people go a few times a week. This is definitely not healthy. A simple solution is to eat more fruits and vegetables. (If you eat a lot and you’re not accustomed to it, you will be gassy.) Perhaps start taking psyllium husks in water and drink plenty of water with it otherwise the psyllium can get stuck in your intestines, causing constipation.
Many in the West eat too much meat and too little fiber. Fiber is key. You won’t poo without it. The government recommends 5 cups of fruits and vegetables; equaling roughly 35 grams of fiber a day. Some experts say to eat more. One study showed that 55 grams of fiber was best.
Look at your poo before flushing. Is it soft and formed? (Healthy) Is it hard like a rock or log? (A little unhealthy, slight constipation) Is it loose? (A sign of poor digestion and possible inflammation.) These are signs of a healthy or unhealthy microbiome. More and more studies have shown how good vs bad bacteria in our gut affects our emotions, strength, and overall health. You promote healthy bacteria by eating more fruits and vegetables. Consequently, you will promote bad bacteria by eating too much sugary junk foods.
Do I Get Enough Sleep? Is It A Restful Sleep?
You might be thinking, “how is sleep important to nutrition”? Bad sleep will affect your digestion, emotions, and hormonal balance. All of which have a huge impact on your body’s ability to metabolize the food correctly. If you are overweight, perhaps it isn’t your diet, perhaps it is poor sleep.
The 8 hour of sleep rule is an average for most people. Some may need less; some may need more. You will know if you get enough sleep if you wake rested and energized.
The human body needs rhythm. A lack of sleep during the week and making up sleep on the weekends isn’t actually helpful. It is ok once in a while, but consistency in waking and sleeping is best. Go to bed and sleep at roughly the same time every day.
We set the alarm to wake up, why not set an alarm to go to bed? Be sure you have a comfortable bed and pillow so you can have a good rest. You might need to change your pillow or bed if you wake up with a crank in your neck and/or an achy back. Try to be structured around bedtime. Do your best if you have kids, and especially if you have a baby. I have 2, so I know the challenge.
Wrapping It Up
If this is all new to you, do not worry about organic or not, non-GMO or not or seasonal or not. These come after you pay more attention to what you are eating. Some of these changes are kind of easy to start off with, like getting enough water. Start with easy changes and make them habits. Then take control of other habits bit by bit. These are not fad diets. These are just things that give you nutrition and how to check if you are getting at least the basic nutritional needs.
And as always, Keep Training!
I recently finished writing my book on virtue. Please go to my Facebook page of Virtues Path and follow for more essays on virtue. Also, please visit my website thevirtuespath.wordpress.com
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