Marianne Gutierrez: Health Practitioner: Exercise and Nutrition

Exercise and Nutrition · 21 November 2006

We know that we need to eat to be able to cope with our daily lives.

However, did you know that exercise supresses the appetite?

This may sound like a good thing but actually it isn’t.

The body needs a certain amount of nutrients to stay alive.
Then on top of the basic amount of nutrients it needs a few more depending on the life style we lead.
Then on top of that, we need more nutrients depending on the exercises we do.
And lastly we need even more nutrients if we do a lot of exercise.

So as exercise supresses the appetite, those that do exercise may not be getting the nutrients they need because they may skip meals or skimp on what is eaten.

What the body requires in nutrition is measured in calories. So if there are more demands on the body because of lifestyle or exercise then it is considered that more calories are needed.

But actually I think this is a false way of measuring our nutrient requirements.

A calorie is based on an amount of food (I think it is a gram in weight) heated and producing a certain amount of degrees of heat ( I think it is one degree). (I don’t know the percentages)

It has been worked out that a woman needs to burn approximately 1800 calories and a man 2000 calories every day.

So one could eat only carbohydrates and get the calories one needed.

But the body needs more than carbohydrates.

We need a balance of all the nutrients from carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water, vitamins, minerals and fibre.

Our lifestyles including exercise actively stops what we eat and when and how and we need to get our lives back in balance so that eating properly is not skimped on.

It is not good enough to eat a piece of wholemeal toast for breakfast and feel that at least we have eaten. We need a good quality breakfast of all the 7 aspects mentioned above – carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water, vitamins, minerals and fibre.

Even when we have exercised and don’t feel hungry, we must put fuel in the body. In this situation, I find I need to eat easily digestable food like fish or eggs or salad.

Our bodies need to eat between 3 and 4 times a day. The meals do not have to be huge they just have to be nutritious.

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