3,2,1

Combined shanghai-beijing district youth conference 2010!

Finally the tests are over. WHOOHOOO! all the AP tests. whee.
So finally back to blogging. Nutrition. Food intake. We talked about what to eat now we will talk about how much to eat.
If you can countdown 3,2,1 then you are more or less ready to go.

3 part carbs, 2 part protein, 1 part fat. This should be your intake of food in that proportion. Of course ensure that you have an almost equal proportion of veg. and fruits as you have carbohydrates. Lets talk abit about why these proportions.

Well physiologically speaking, your body can do without carbs. All it really needs for energy are protein and fats. Yet, it is advised that we eat more carbs. WHy? Carbs are easy to digest. And in our fast paced life, we need food that we can process fast, food that can give us energy fast. Thats why we load up on carbs. Its not the healthiest food (in fact, the nutrition per gram value that carbs give is the lowest of almost all food) but we are asked all the same to ensure we have a high portion of carbs. But since we need carbs, what kind of carbs should we consume. I'm rather sure our diet revolves around white rice, white bread etc. The thing is that white rice is white and white flour is white because it has been polished, bleached and processed. In other words, most nutrients are removed. Healthier option of carbs include Quinoa, brown rice, wholemeal bread etc.

and so how often should we eat? It is good to eat 6 times a day. 3 main meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner. 3 snacks in between each meal. Try to eat something every 2 hours. Your body needs food. If it doesn't get the energy it needs, it will go into starvation mode. Starvation mode means that the next time you eat, the food will be converted into fats in preparation for another starvation run. This is why breakfast is the most important meal. Not because its in the morning -.- its because your body has gone (hopefully) 9hrs without food. say you skip breakfast and eat lunch only at 12, your body would have gone about 14hrs without food. that=MEGA starvation=MEGA fats as your body moves into starvation mode.

When should you stop eating then? Some people say that after 8pm they won't eat anything else. Is it good or bad? Starvation mode right? Well in all honesty it depends on your activity level. Not just physical activity, but mental activity too. Bottom line, if you eat more, make sure you work as much (: I eat after 8pm. yes yes that buttered popcorn (which on its own without butter is actually healthy heh) and Lord of the Rings movie xD but i make sure I work it all off and only do that once in a blueeeee moon.

I know i just scratched the surface briefly. But these are the 3 things i touched on in this post:
1) Get your proportions right.
2) The more processed it is, the less nutrients there are
3) Eat regularly.
4) Eat what you burn, burn what you eat!
I will revisit these topics in more detail soon.