5 Daily Habits for Optimum Health

I often get asked if I ever eat pizza, drink a beer, or have some ice cream, and I say absolutely! Many people’s perception of a person that is in fitness field is that they are perfect and never miss a workout or eat poorly. Well, I can tell you that it is far from the truth. No one is perfect, and it is all about focusing on what you want, and what you can realistically accomplish.  I focus each day on wanting to feel good and if I don’t put some healthy practices into my daily routine I end up having low energy and having less motivation.  Here are  goals that I personally do each day to ensure I feel good! Hope this helps you establish your daily goals and habits.

Habit #1: Top Priority in the Morning, Don’t Skip Breakfast!

Many people either start their day off with no breakfast, or a poor quality breakfast. Try to make sure you get a balanced, high quality meal each morning as soon as you can. This meal should be your most calorically dense meal of the day. You want to feed your body more in the beginning of the day, and eat fewer calories in your snacks and meals as the day goes on. This will keep your metabolism up and fat burning hormones in check. According to the American Dietetics Association (ADA) people who eat breakfast are less likely to become overweight, and are more likely to exercise at some point throughout the day.

JG’s  Breakfast Options:

2-4 Organic Free Range Eggs (any style)

1-2 Pieces Sprouted Grain Bread w/ ½ Tbsp Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

1/2- 1 Apple or banana

            OR

¾ Cup Old Fashioned Oatmeal

¼ Cup Walnuts or Almonds

¼ Cup Blueberries or Raspberries

¼ Cup Rice, Almond, or Soy Milk

            OR

1-Cup Greek Yogurt (Fage or Chobanni)

¼ cup frozen fruit

1 oz. Almonds or other nuts or nut butter

 If you are unable to get food in your body within 30-60 minutes of waking up, take a high quality Branched Chain Amino Acid (BCAA) supplement with 12-16 oz. of water in the meantime.

Habit #2: Invest in Some Green food or Whole Food Based Supplement  

I know very few people who eat enough vegetables, me included. I constantly struggle to get enough veggies in my diet, especially the green ones. That’s why I make sure I use a whole food based multi-vitamin/mineral food supplement, wheat grass cube, and or a powdered green super food drink. Juice Plus is my favorite fruit and supplement available. This is the best way to make sure that your body is getting enough whole food based vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and other phylonutrients that are high in antioxidants. You should make sure that the product you buy is high quality since you get what you pay for. This is one of the best investments for your body.

Habit #3: Take Cod Liver Oil, and eat Loads of Healthy Fats

 As Americans we just don’t eat enough healthy fats, and consume far too much unhealthy fats such as hydrogenated oil, and other poor quality refined oils. Every morning with my green food supplement I take either 10 capsules or 2 tablespoons of lemon flavored Cod Liver Oil. The amount of Cod Liver Oil you take will depend on your needs. My recommendation is to start out with half the dose you need to take, then work up to 1-2 tablespoons a day. In the second meal of the day with my oatmeal I also have 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds. And for snacks I always have some almonds, walnuts, or trail mix throughout the day. These are my favorite snacks because they are easy, nutrient dense, and a quick form of energy!

Habit #4: Keep Your Body Alkaline

Our bodies go through a lot stress throughout the day. Your body is exposed to a lot of toxins as well. Overtime that will make your bodies PH level to high and you will be more acidic. Exposing your body to acidic foods such as too much coffee, soda, and processed foods also causes your body to work harder to stay alkaline. Too much acidity in the body can lead to acid reflux, cellular damage, mineral loss, and low energy. So each day I make sure to consume water in an environmentally safe plastic, and at night I have 10-16 ounces of mineral water. While both sources are alkaline and help rid the body of toxins, mineral water is higher in mineral content, thus more alkaline. I also consume over a gallon a day of pure water to detoxify and hydrate my body. That sounds like a lot but I work out 5 days a week on my own, and train people 8-12 hours a day as well. My body demands a lot. You need to adjust to your water intake to your demands.

Habit #5: End the Day in Control  

Eating too much later in the day, especially late at night will cause a metabolic pitfall. If you are really hungry at night and end up eating way too much, then that is a sign of not getting enough nutrients in throughout the day. Not consuming enough healthy fats, protein, eating every few hours, lack of water, and not having a high quality breakfast, and not paying attention to pre and post workout nutrition will cause you to eat way to much at night, and will push you too make poor food choices. Limit your carbohydrates in your last meal of the day as well. We tend to overeat foods high in starchy carbs such as breads, pastas and potatoes, chips, crackers, and the calories add up fast! To control portions stick to healthy fats, lean protein choices, and tons of veggies. My dinner usually consists of a piece of chicken or fish, roasted broccoli or asparagus in extra virgin olive oil, and a salad with various greens and vegetables. “Eat like a king in the morning and a peasant at night”.

There is no such thing as the perfect diet, and there is no one that is a perfect eater. But if you decide to follow a checklist similar to mine, you will have much more energy, feel less guilt if you eat poorly or don’t exercise that day, get tons of essential nutrients in, and have an increase feeling of  overall health.