The Winner's Toolkit!

Graphic & article courtesy Arjun Lall, CEO & Founder of Gold Standard Training: linktree.com/goldstandardtraining

Whole, natural foods are what fuel high-quality performance, physique enhancement, and mental health. Many fad diets and marketing schemes promise the world and fail to deliver. Sticking to the basics is what allows high-performance athletes to run faster, be more explosive, increase strength, and ultimately win in competition.

As you can see in the graphic on the right side, a variety of whole foods, such as high-quality fruits and vegetables, lean meats, nuts and seeds, and some complex carbs fuel performance. A combination of these foods result in a well-rounded diet for both macro and micro nutrients. This fuels us to perform at optimal levels physically, mentally, and emotionally.

If we take a look at the right side of the infographic, there are a variety of "shortcuts", that when advertised, seem to produce better and quicker results than the foods displayed on the left. As humans we are designed to want immediate results, which contradicts what we actually need. Although some of these may provide very short-term results, long-term performance, health, and wellness definitely suffers. This is because these "quick-fixes" provide some sort of suppression in another part of the body which deteriorates its functional capacity.

Find out what is going into your food, eat as many natural and whole foods as you can, avoid processed food, and most importantly, make a plan to do this. Consult a nutritionist to assist in developing a plan.