Nutrition Help

Question
Hi there, you seemed like the best guy to ask, basically I dont eat too healthy, I eat crap most of the time, mainly chocolate, I snack a lot. I go through phases of eating fruit and drinking water, but water gets boring and I end up needing to pee every 10 minutes, besides I heart that as long as you drink a certain amount of fluids every day it doesnt have to be water.

I get very low engery levels and I need to build this up, I have multi-vitamin tablets and iron tablets but i get into the habit of forgetting to take them. I like to play football when I can and will eventually get my butt down the gym.

I need to know what sort of things should I be eating and drinking each day to be healthy and more energetic.

Ironically im 21yrs old, 6ft1 and only 12 1/2 stone which is not overweight at all. I do appreciate if I carry on the way I am that will change in years to come.

Thank you for your help in advance.

Sean

Answer
Hello Sean,
Great question. First off, I know where you're coming from about having to go to the bathroom frequently, as I drink water all day long.
 You mention you have very low energy levels. We get energy from food which provide us with calories thus giving us energy. I would suspect you're not eating enough, and not frequently enough. I suggest for people to eat every 3-3.5 hrs of a lean protein, starchy carb, and fibrous carb free of simple sugars and processed flours.
For example
chicken breast, baked potato, broccoli
or
egg whites, oatmeal, peppers

Other examples of lean proteins would be turkey breast, seafood such as salmon
Other starchy carbs, would be brown rice, 100% whole wheat bread
And most of the green vegetables are your fibrous carbs
Granted eating this often of this type of meal can be some what tough to do, just realize that is optimal eating. If you can't get to a meal that often just do the best you can.
By eating these meals you will provide your body with ample calories and stabilize your blood sugar. This is key to help maintain energy levels. When you consume sugar, whether that's from chocolate or soda, the sugar is digested rapidly and enters the bloodstream.
So, for a moment you have high blood sugar but that's ok since your pancreas secretes insulin to remove the excess. It does such a great job however, that it leaves you with low blood sugar, which makes energy levels plummet, and will lead you to crave more sugar.

I hope that's been of some help to you. I'd also like to let you know that I put out a free monthly email newsletter keeping people up to date on nutrition and exercise, if you'd like to join just email me [email protected]

To Your Health!
Mark Shields  

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