The Secret to Outperforming Your Competition…It’s Not What You Think – Part 2
In Part 1 we introduced the concept of high-performance eating into business and how it can dramatically impact your results in outperforming your competitors. Part 2 focuses specifically on the key foods to be eating every day to optimise your health and how to create high-performance meal plans without dieting ever again. Do you want to be Outperforming Your Competition?
The concept of super foods
The concept of superfoods is used in the media frequently, but are these so called “superfoods” beneficial? I hate to burst your bubble, but there is a problem if you believe these products have purported “super” nutrient qualities with unparalleled benefits. The reality is that there is much scientific debate about these superfoods and the only people using the term “superfood” are the manufacturers of the foods. Afterall, the term “superfoods” is much sexier than the science and marketers know the power of branding a superfood to generate more sales. The bottom line is that it’s not a term used by nutrition experts because reference to a single food as “super” can imply that you can limit your intake of foods to the nutrients derived purely from these foods, potentially ignoring the vast array of other nutrient rich foods that are not commonly referred to as superfoods.
Take a holistic approach
It is important to take a holistic approach to your food so that your daily nutrients are obtained from a larger variety of sources. I prefer people to think of ALL plant-based foods as being superfoods to keep it simple. Don’t limit your thinking to branded superfoods such as kale, broccoli, chia seeds, quinoa or goji berries. We have access to such a delicious rainbow of plant-based foods including carrots, corn, capsicum, zucchini, tomatoes, berries, sweet potato cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, peas, mushrooms, nuts and seeds, just to name a few.
Imagine for a moment those foods in a big bowl as if you were going to present it as a decorative display. What would it look like? Colourful, crunchy and delicious, loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Although individually some of these foods may have a higher nutrient value than others, the key is to select a range of these foods to optimise your health.
8 super tips
Here are 8 super, easy to follow tips to optimise your health and enable you to create your very own nutrient-dense super delicious, super meals with super ease!
- Super Tip #1: Select a lean protein source with your meal from a choice of 100g of chicken, turkey, fish, pork, beef, tofu, half to a full cup of egg whites or a serve of 100% whey protein. Protein consumption in small quantities throughout the day promotes muscle repair and muscle growth which has a positive impact in increasing metabolism, a key to burning unwanted fat.
- Super Tip #2: Most of the meal volume should comprise colourful and crunchy plant-based foods.
- Super Tip #3: Pick mixed fruits and vegetables with at least three colours. The more colourful the fruit or vegetables, the more antioxidants present. The assortment of fruits and vegetables available for consumption is enormous, so pick ones that you love, but mix it up regularly to ensure you take up nutrients from a wide range of plant-based foods.
- Super Tip #4: Don’t overcook your vegetables, keep them crunchy. This will give your metabolism an invisible boost by making your digestive system work harder for the nutrient uptake. Super powerful! Aim for two to three cups of plant-based food with your meals.
- Super Tip #5: Even though fresh fruits and vegetables are wonderful, utilise the convenience of frozen fruit and mixed vegetables. They’re super convenient, available all year round, very economically priced and the “snap frozen” process soon after harvest helps ensure the nutrient value is not lost. Fresh vegetables and fruits begin to lose their nutrient value after four days of storage.
- Super Tip #6: Include a serve of high-energy carbohydrates from your choice of foods such as a quarter to one cup of brown or long-grain rice, sweet potato, quinoa, couscous or one to two slices of wholemeal bread.
- Super Tip #7: To make this meal complete, add a touch of omega-3 fats. Omega-3 fats are critical for our long-term health and most of us are very deficient in these fats. There are some simple ways to add omega-3 fats to every meal. My personal favourites include flax seeds, flax meal and flaxseed oil due to the nutrient-dense qualities within flax seed.
- Super Tip #8: Drink at least one and a half litres of clean, fresh water per day to help keep you hydrated and naturally eliminating toxins daily.
Just remember that this concept of superfoods is purely a marketing reference to sell products. Don’t be fooled into thinking that there are short cuts to optimising your health. Follow the 8 Super Tips above and you can ensure that you are doing the best job possible to obtain all the nutrient value you require to optimise your health.
Gain an edge over your competition
Recall from Part 1 how you can gain an edge over your competition and create a high-performance team through high-performance eating? Watch how your team goes from ordinary to extraordinary by following these high-performance Super Tips to dramatically increase the nutrients they’re consuming.
Food is our fuel for energy. You can obtain energy from abundant nutrient sources or you can obtain it from nutrient deficient sources. Switching to nutrient-rich sources of nutrition will increase your team’s energy levels, reduce the feeling of being bloated, help them feel “cleaner”, lighter and more focused to bring a greater level of impact, output and results to your business.
My challenge to you is to have your team follow the 8 Super Tips listed above for 10 days so that they can feel the benefits for themselves. It’s one thing to talk about high-performance eating, it’s another to live it.
As the great Motivational Speaker Les Brown says, you don’t have to be great to get started but you do have to start to be great.