Diet, exercise work hand-in-hand

Jan. 5—New Year's resolutions are full of good intentions to diet and exercise, and when done appropriately and with help from professionals, both goals can meet with success.

Jon Bloodworth, director of the Northeastern State University Fitness Center, said most people shoot too low on their weight loss goals, and a personal trainer can help determine the best weight for them. Bloodworth said proper diets contribute to overall success with a program.

"The Mediterranean diet means to eat the foods found in that area, like fish, whole foods and with high nutritional value, as opposed to keto and Atkins, where you are actively eliminating entire food groups," Bloodworth said.

The keto diet, or ketosis which is the body using fat as energy instead of sugar or carbs, was created for people who actually have health issues.

"But then it was discovered if a person eliminated carbs from their diet they lose weight. Now, you go to the store and there are foods advertised as keto-friendly. That's a marketing thing," Bloodworth said.

The goal should be fat loss, not weight loss, Bloodworth said. Weight is the "gravity on the scale."

"We want to lose fat and retain muscle so we can be active into our advanced ages and be self-reliant. The Mediterranean diet is great, but other diets like keto need to be prescribed by a doctor, in my opinion," Bloodworth said. "You can work out all you want, but you are never going to defeat a bad diet."

Jon Lee is a personal trainer at The Fit, and teaches his clients — those who are interested in the diet aspect of training — that protein is the most important element when on a training program.

"Once we have mastered their workout, then we move on to their diet, if that is what they need. You may feel better with a workout plan and may be feeling stronger, but the results aren't coming in," Lee said. "That's when we dive more into the diet plan and make changes."

Lee encourages his clients to make small changes so the shifts made in a diet can be tracked to the progress in the workout.

"If you change too much at once you don't know what the factor is. We look at your protein intake. If you don't have enough, we up that a bit, which is a big factor on muscle growth," Lee said.

Lee tries to stay on a consistent diet of eating every two hours. In the morning, Lee might have two or three eggs with toast or steak, or maybe yogurt.

"I try to consume 30-40 grams of protein every two hours and fill in my carbs and fats throughout the day to meet my calorie intake. Snacks between meals is a beef jerky stick or protein yogurt or protein bar," Lee said. "For dinner, it could be protein and carbs, which is chicken and rice or fish. Potatoes are a great source of carbs, and sweet potatoes."

Jon does meal prep in advance depending on his week, and cooks it fresh at each meal or for the day.

"Sometimes my diet gets a bit boring, but those boring things are the things you have to stick to in order to stay consistent," Lee said.

Chance Adams and his wife, Jade, own Peak Health and Performance, and also believe diet is the most important aspect of maintaining health.

"The most harmful things people eat are junk food and sugar, without a doubt. If you are looking to make immediate changes that will have major impacts on your health and fitness cut out sugar, especially added sugars," Adams said. "And understand that sugar has 200 names now on food labels. If sweet, processed or ultra-processed, you've got to get rid of those."

In the South, Adams said, the diet of fried foods — especially using vegetable oil — is damaging human cardiovascular systems, and people consume a lot of sugary foods.

"We have a ton of sugar intake and we drink a lot of pop. Seventy percent of Dr. Pepper sales in Oklahoma is in Green Country, according to a study I read," Adams said. "In general, the American diet is made up of processed and ultra-processed foods like frozen dinners and fast food."

It takes little time and intention to make a nutritious meal, but ultimately, everybody deserves it, Adams said.

"And you can really turn your health around if you do that," Adams said. "When you eat chemicals and preservatives or different foods in excess, it hinders the operations of our body that leads to mental health issues, hormonal health issues, being overweight, obesity, and high cholesterol."

Human bodies turns carbohydrates like breads and starchy foods, cereals and high glycemic grains into sugar. Adams said the kind of bread a person eats can help avoid additives that keep bread stable on grocery store shelves.

"Most people do well on homemade artisan-types of breads. There are folks in Tahlequah who are making sourdough and multigrain breads on the daily. It might be logical to assume the processed breads on store shelves probably aren't the best thing," Adams said. "Natural foods will kind of perish over time and it comes back to the processing of the foods. It might not be the bread, but what has been added to the bread to make it last longer on the shelf."

Nutrition is the key to getting one's health on track, Bloodworth said.

"You are going to have an uphill battle if you are not paying attention to nutrition. You really are what you eat," Bloodworth said.