If you wish to improve your surfing body, your strength or your performance you have come to the right place. It does not matter if you are man, women, child, complete novice or professional surfer, these Surfers Nutrition Performance Points are golden as they create the base of who you are and affect every operating system, hormone and cell in your body (of which there are billions). These nutrition points are the foundation for optimal performance for every athlete, celebrity, CEO, friend or surfer I have ever worked with.
I encourage you to take information from this post that works for you and put it into ACTION.
Surfers Golden Nutrition Performance Point #1
Eat what Grows and Limit the Rest
In my mind foods fall into two categories.
1: Live Foods: Foods that live and grow (Vegetables, Fruits, Animals, etc) or,
2: Dead Foods: Creations that have never had a natural growing life. (i.e. All man made products)
Living foods – the ones that live and grow – build and sustain life energy. Man made products (anything that has a shelf life) rob life energy and vital nutrients from your body. Long shelf life ‘foods’ have very little value and tax your body by having to be broken down and eliminated. This is a cost to the body, a stress. We all want less tax and less stress right? So profit your brain and body by aiming to eat most of your foods (80% or more) from the ‘Live Foods’ category – the ones that grow and contain natural life energy.
Please note that organically grown foods will contain more life and less toxins therefore more sustenance for consistent growth, repair, detoxification and long term optimal performance. Be aware however that not all organic foods may be best for you, please read point three below.
Surfers Golden Nutrition Performance Point #2
70-80% of You is Water: Your Most Vital Nutrient
It really is very simple. Without water we die. Your brain, your body, your internal environment, energy levels, your life, can only thrive with good quality water. You are primarily made up of water. And water is the catalyst for so many functions in your body yet is often undervalued and over looked as a key component to vitality, performance and health.
We are designed to consume quality water. We are designed to be hydrated. Sure, I know… a beer, a smoothie, a hot coffee, a nice cuppa tea, are all nice to have once in awhile. Once in a while – this is key – your body requires adequate amounts of good quality pure water to function. Period. You can find out exactly how much for you and your body through the Surf Coaching Secrets to Consistently Boost Your Surfing Performance e-book.
I believe that drinking pure water regularly is one of the most important, cheapest and easiest actions to improving performance and energy for life. Consuming quality water however is crucial – tap water is not up to par. Unfortunately there are many potential hazards that leach into our water ways that negate drinking it. Choline, fluoride (regarding fluoride; this is especially true outside Europe), mercury, bacteria’s, farm & industry chemicals, herbicides, pesticides, hormones, even pharmaceuticals etc, In even the smallest amounts these chemicals can affect your physiology, psychology and obviously your performance.
Please also be aware that many bottled waters are just re-cycled tap water. These plastic bottles are also often exposed to the sun which further increases toxins and estrogens leaching into your water. Keep your water in the dark (if you drink from plastic bottles) and choose good quality reputable companies known for sourcing Artesian (deep in the earth) water. A good idea is to research home filtration water systems.
So there you have it – Hydrogen with two Oxygen’s attached – H2O – Vital elements for life. Always remember that cellular hydration can seriously affect performance and surfing, salt water, sun, wind and training all dehydrate the body. For every hour of surfing or surf training aim to consume and extra 1 – 2 L of quality water per hour.
Surfers Golden Nutrition Performance Point #3
There is No Such Thing as a ‘Healthy Diet’
You have (we all do) your own unique individual requirements when it comes to balancing internal bio-chemistry and individualizing your own optimal nutrition plan.
A wise man once stated something like, “Ones persons food is another persons poison” This knowledge has been practiced for thousands of years by ancient physicians who knew that every single person, including you and I, are all uniquely tuned and wired (so to speak) and require individualized nutrients, herbs, and foods to flourish. They knew that the performance levels of one person may improve with one food, yet the exact same food in another individual may create internal havoc, decreased performance and even disease. This is because any nutrient may positively or negatively affect numerous other nutrients in your body, either helping or creating a negative stress. (So be careful what supplements you throw in your system)
We tend to forget that in today’s world any food can cause problems in the wrong person. This includes eating the most ‘healthy’ organic products you can find – if someone is intolerant or allergic to those healthy organic foods or they interfere with metabolism for your physiology, ‘random’ symptoms may arise in your body. This internal havoc upset’s the balance within the operating systems of your body and can only lead to decreased performance. This is commonly associated with a range of symptoms that people generally accept as a ‘normal’ part of living and aging. Muscular aches, physical pains, excess body fat, muscle loss, low energy, brain fog, poor sleep, low libido, depression, anxiety, poor workout recovery, etc. to name a few. This is not normal. Good news, there is A LOT we can do to improve.
You have your very own individual metabolic pathways that require unique combinations of macro and micro nutrients for you, your body chemistry and your life. If you are eating ‘healthy foods’ and ‘great supplements’ yet they are wrong for your physiological make up, it is like putting 2 stroke fuel into a Ferrari engine. Every system gets strained, pollution is created and sooner or later symptoms of burnout and breakdown appear. Your individual requirements regarding macro and micro nutrients are so important as they create the basis for your;
* Metabolism, Energy Production, Fat and Protein Metabolism and Assimilation
* The Ability to Detoxify Naturally – Your Skin, Liver and Intestinal function
* Immune Regulation and Inflammatory Responses
* Correct and Efficient Carbohydrate Metabolism and Blood Sugar Regulation
* Musculo Skeletal Health – Connective Tissue, Muscle Integrity, Bone health
* Neural Tissue Health: Quality of Moods, Ability to Learn and Memorize, Quality of Sleep
* Hormonal Function – Thyroid, Insulin, Ovarian hormone levels.
Point 3 is very important and often misunderstood. If you are doing everything to improve your performance yet choosing the wrong foods to fuel your unique energy pathways you are wasting time and money. For private nutrition and performance coaching simply contact me at info@surftrainingsecrets.com to set up an appointment.
Points 4 and 5 are in the next post – Surfers Nutrition Performance Points (2)
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