Leaded vs Unleaded

Some of my clients have been asking about their diets in relation to their new workout regimen with me. We follow a high intensity, functional way of training that burns a lot of gas in a short period of time. So with that being said, I will once again compare our bodies with our cars.

This particular client is concerned that her diet is sabotaging her gains from this new way of training. She has been a jogger for years. Our type of training is basically the opposite of that. She is now craving more food and is worried about calorie consumption.

Along with our analogy, this person has been driving her car like an old couple taking a Sunday stroll home from church - steady-state, consistent, and very fuel efficient. Now all of the sudden, she is taking that same car and racing it like a 16year old with a new drivers licence.

It is real simple. If you want better performance from your car, especially on race day, you have to give it better fuel than leaded gasoline. The same goes with the food we eat. We need to eat as clean as possible to get the best performance possible from our bodies. If you are topping off your fuel tank with high calorie foods, you can't eat as many and it will definitely hinder your performance. The best part about eating the right foods is that most are very low calorie which means you can put more fuel in the tank.

I learned this lesson by actually writing down everything I ate along with the nutritional facts. I found that I could load my plate with lean meats and vegetables and still reduce my calories compared to when I ate half of that portion size in pasta, breads, and fattier meats. You could basically eat a plate of good food for the same amount of calories as a soft drink.

So the next time you are ready to fill your tank just remember what my football coach from high school used to tell us, "You can't drive a Cadillac on leaded gasoline."