Everything in our lives is much faster paced these days, if you consider the internet, mobile phones, iPads etc – and the food we consume is exactly the same, it’s produced much quicker than ever before!

If we went back 100 years, the bread we ate was homemade, the milk was farmed straight from a cow and drunk whole, and the cereals would be grown. All of these items would go off within a day or two if not consumed. However now days, in our busy and hectic modern lifestyles we no longer have time to grow and produce our own food, or room to keep a cow!!

So what does this all mean?

It means that today we are eating food that is lower in nutrients and high in calories (energy). The convenience of food these days comes at a price to our health and wellbeing. A low nutrient diet can lead to a list of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, dental diseases and osteoporosis. The good news is the majority of these diseases are preventable, and some reversible.

What can we do to increase the nutrients in our food?

• Try to buy from locally grown food markets. Not only will you be supporting your local small business but these stores are lot more likely to farm organically, increasing the foods nutrients. We are blessed on the northern beaches to have quite a few organic markets to choose from, you might fancy Narrabeen or Frenchs Forest market for example.

A lot of people think “Oh but it’s so expensive to purchase organic food” – let us challenge your perception…That nice car you’re driving, do you put average petrol in it, or do you pay that little bit more and put premium fuel in it?? Your body is the same – it needs good quality fuel, be proud of your health & your body like you are with your car!!

• If you are shopping at one of the larger supermarket chains, try and keep majority of your shop to the outer ring of the supermarket, this is to avoid as much processed foods as possible – pretty much everything within the centre shelves will generally be processed.
• Be aware of what YOU as an individual need to consume, Macronutrients (Protein, Carbohydrates, Fats) – also add water as essential part of your diet, and be aware of how much you need to consume.
• An obvious one is to really eliminate the fast food/take away food that you consume; this includes purchasing “healthy” options from take away stores.
• If time is an issue (especially in the morning), grab yourself an easy to use blender and mix up all your required nutrients into a quick shake.
• Being conscious of what you eat is actually a really important part – keep a food diary so you can look back on what you’re consuming, then if you’re unsure if what you’re doing is correct – chat with a trainer who has a nutrition background, or a nutrition expert for advise J

 Remember the gym is an essential part of your health & fitness; however you can work your bum off in the gym and achieve little results if your food doesn’t reflect your goals!!