Due to social media, the fitness world has exploded in the last several years. It’s so easy to get lost in between the lines of the different fads and lifestyles. You hear phrases that sound foreign; Paleo? WOD? Meal-prepping? Cleanses? Fasted cardio? There are so many variations of healthy eating and exercise, it can be hard to make sense of it all. No fear, I’m here to help you decipher what these trends mean and how to incorporate them safely into your own daily routines.
The Paleo Diet
The Paleo Diet, AKA The “Caveman” Diet. This diet is based on how our ancestors ate during the Paleolithic Era. There is basically one rule: If you can’t kill it or harvest it yourself, don’t eat it. During this era grains were not available, so legumes, wheat, rice, oatmeal, quinoa, etc. are not included in the list of ok foods. Your source of carbs comes from sweet potatoes, bananas, and squash. Healthy fats—avocado, plant oils, eggs—are encouraged, as are all meat sources, including BACON! Made popular by Crossfit ™ athletes, it is extreme and not recommended for everyone. If you are a long distance athlete (think marathons & cycling) or do a lot of cardio, this is not the diet for you.
WOD
WOD (Workout of the Day), is also a Crossfit ™ trend. This is usually something short and sweet made for those who have little time to workout. A WOD does not have to be anything in particular. You can create your own or skim through YouTube videos to find workouts that fit your time/space/energy for that day. Search suggestion: “Tactical Athletes Bodyweight WOD”, these exercises are done with little to no equipment and would not take more than 30 minutes to complete.
Meal Prepping
Someone once told me, “you can tell the difference between a regular person and an athlete, because one will say ‘I cooked last night,’ and the other will say ‘I meal-prepped last night’.” Meal prepping is exactly what it sounds like. Making your meals for the week. I like to do this on Sundays. I make a big batch of something healthy (i.e. – chicken, rice, and my favorite green veggie), then divide it into Tupperware to take to school/work. Bodybuilding.com has a great meal-prep guide. This is cost effective, time saving, and will significantly help you control your daily caloric intake.
Cleanse
The most important thing to remember about cleanses is that they are not a means of weight loss and not a lifestyle. They’re tools to help your body reset itself, meant to detoxify your organs. Cleanses are meant to be completed in a short amount of time, and not to be done very often. There are many kinds of cleanses like: juice cleanses, The Master Cleanse, green cleanses, tea cleanses and cleanses done with supplements. The details change for every type of cleanse, but the bottom line is you abstain from eating for several days to several weeks. Before beginning something so extreme, consult a doctor or nutritionist.
Fasted Cardio
I first heard of fasted cardio when I started following Dr. Sara Solomon M.D. on Facebook. Fasted cardio is when you sleep, your body goes into fasting mode, and burns fat. If you wake up first thing in the morning for a high intensity cardio session while still in that fasting state, fat burning will be maximized. Cardio is an effective exercise to increase your heart strength and the efficiency of your blood flow, regardless of the time you do it. However, your body will directly burn up fat—use it as an energy source—when you haven’t eaten for several hours, because your insulin levels are low, allowing for easier lipolysis, or the breakdown of fat. For more information check out Dr. Sara Solomon’s page.
At the end of the day, fitness models and trainers make a living out of extreme lifestyles. Individuals outside of the fitness industry do not have the same demands as those who are competing at the level of professional athletes. Don’t get too caught up in trying to match what they do, unless you have consulted a doctor and nutritionist. Go ahead, try new things and figure out what makes your body feel the best, then incorporate it in moderation. If you have any requests of any other fitness trends you have heard of, and want to know more about them feel free to comment below! I can look into them and give you the scoop!