There are three things clubs should know about nutrition:
1. Nutrition is much more than a sum of calories broken down into protein, fat and carbohydrates. In fact, research has shown that weight loss does not depend on balancing calories in with calories out. We know that restricting calories and fad diets does not work, and that 98 percent of people dieting will re-gain the weight they lost within five years. Instead, members should think of food as information for their physical body, as well as their mental and emotional well-being.
2. Recent research points towards inflammation and an acidic body as a likely, and common cause of all diseases, including obesity. Heart disease is linked to an inflammation of the arteries, Alzheimer’s by an inflammation of the brain, Eczema by an inflammation of the skin and obesity by an inflammation of the gut, according to research. Therefore, any weight loss program should start with decreasing inflammation, reestablishing the body’s alkaline balance, healing the digestive system and balancing hormones.
3. As a result, “Integrative Nutrition” is the new trend. The more cutting-edge clubs adopting integrative nutrition programs in-house become a one-stop shop for their members by helping them to transform their health and lives, alongside a traditional exercise regimen.
Integrative nutrition counseling looks at the food, but also looks beyond the food at everything that creates a sense of nourishment and fulfillment in a person’s life, such as relationships, career, physical activity and spiritual awareness. These are essential forms of “nutrition” which, when balanced, render what we eat secondary and cure emotional and mindless eating, food cravings and eating disorders. Most of my overweight clients are also emotional eaters because of a stressful and boring job or an unsupportive family environment. A personalized integrative nutrition program gets them unstuck and provides lasting results.
Members struggle the most with what to eat in order to lose weight and cure diseases, to increase their energy levels and to power or recover from their workouts. They also worry about the quality of the food supply because of the alarming news about arsenic in chickens; cancerous cows; radiated seafood, and the dangerous side effects of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, food additives, artificial coloring and sweeteners. People are demanding an unprecedented quality and transparency in their food supply, and are also increasingly interested in raw, vegan and vegetarian foods. This is why clubs need to take a leap in the right direction and raise the quality of their supplements, foods and smoothies to meet customer demands.
Emmanuelle Galland is the CEO of Goji Fitness LLC , a Certified Integrative Health and Nutrition Coach, NASM CPT and the Co-Founder of Zenberry Mix. She can be reached at emma@gojifitness.com and 646.256.0006.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
