Upgrade Your Health & Performance Through Optimal Nutrition Part 1

This information is provided for your education and is not medical advice.

Upgrade Your Health & Performance Through Optimal Nutrition (Part 1)

Your food intake is the fuel for your body. Your machine. The most advanced machine on the planet. Your body is capable of amazing performance. But you must fuel it properly for optimal performance and results.

The truth is, First Responders suffer from obesity at rates higher than the general public. In the United States, 73% of adults are overweight or obese. A federal government study said 80% of police officers were overweight. Another study showed 40% of police officers were clinically obese. 

The good news is that 80% of your body composition is determined by how you eat. The other 20% is determined by healthy lifestyle habits like minimizing stress (proper mindset) and exercise, as well as genetics.

The other good news is that changing your food intake for lasting and successful results is the easiest change you can make in taking control of your life. You can start with dinner tonight!

To learn, sometimes you have to unlearn, then relearn. In Part 1, I’m going to tell you what the problem is with a typical American diet. 

When you read “diet”, think “eating style” not the concept of eating less or being on a special plan of rice cakes, chestnut butter and butterfly wings.

The number one reason for people being overweight or obese is the Standard American Diet, aka The S.A.D. 

For most people the S.A.D. means overconsuming grain-based carbohydrates (in the range of 500-600 grams per day!). The biggest issue with this is you don’t need that many carbohydrates, so short story–it gets stored as fat. That’s why you weigh more than you should. That’s where you got your dad bod. The other big problem with overconsumption of carbohydrates is you’re basically running on fast burning fuel that doesn’t last. Your machine constantly must be refueled. You eat, snack, eat, snack, eat, and have dessert. Every time you put food in your mouth, you’re asking your body to produce insulin to deal with the extra glucose in your blood. More on that later. 

I’m not blaming you if you have been consuming the S.A.D. The industrial food giants, corporate America and the government have all been lying to us about nutrition for 80 years or more. For example, when you look at nutritional labels that the government requires, you probably didn’t know that the Food and Drug Administration uses a benchmark of 2,000 calories per day for an adult. The problem is that in a 1961 study, the average daily caloric consumption was 2,800. In 2020 the average person consumed 3,600 calories (that’s a 24% increase!). 

So again, you’re overfed. On highly refined carbohydrates that aren’t what your body is designed for. 

You CAN do better. To get a good handle on where you are right now, buy a cheap spiral notebook or a small journal to track your food intake. Write down everything you eat and what time you eat. When I started on this journey, I weighed almost 260 pounds, and I was surprised to see what all I ate over the course of several days. Writing down your food intake will allow you to clearly see how much unnecessary food you’re taking in. You can also buy a food scale for less than $20 if you want to get an idea of how many grams of a particular food weigh. I used both tools to get a handle on what my food intake really looked like on a daily basis so I could start tuning it in the proper direction.

In part 2 I’ll detail how you use the journal and what your S.A.D. is doing to you. 

If you or a family member are struggling with mental health, please reach out for help.

Responder Health (responderhealth.com) is an organization that offers resources specifically for first responders and their families. Responder Health provides confidential and full-service solutions that support first responders through stress and traumatic events, and provides them with the education, resources, and community they need to live healthy, happy lives. Our peer advocate hotline (206)459-3020 offers a confidential 24-hour crisis referral service for all public safety employees, all emergency services personnel, and their family members nationwide. Our peer advocates can assist you in locating a qualified provider that understands the issues first responders deal with and have been exposed to.