Starting your nutrition routine

I get a lot of people asking me for nutrition advice, and while I can easily make recommendations based on my experience with my own body, I always include the caveat that I am not a nutritionist. I have taken several nutrition courses over the years, I have taken the course for my CPT (though I haven't taken the test yet  because I need a different CPR certification), I have grown up in a family full of medical professionals, and I am still NOT a nutritionist.
I can however, share my own routine as far as keeping my body fueled for my workouts and an active lifestyle.

The first thing that I recommend people do is download a nutrition tracker such as My Fitness Pal. This is the one that I prefer, and have the most experience using. I also recommend that people get a food scale. This is an inexpensive item that will inevitably become priceless as you continue to work toward your fitness goals. You can't properly manage your diet until you know exactly what you are eating. Log EVERYTHING. Every bite, every sip, it all adds up. When you become more conscious of these eating habits, you will know for yourself where you need to begin to make changes.

Because I have been logging my food intake for so long, at this point I have a pretty good idea of portions and measurements (though I often still weigh out my food to be sure), and I don't need to stress so much about making sure everything is measured ahead of time. Don't get me wrong though, I still put everything into my food tracker.

At the moment I'm training to run a half marathon, and I know that my body is going to require additional carbohydrates to keep my energy levels up for such a long period of time. I am putting more of an effort into making sure that my body is getting plenty of healthy carbohydrates to fuel it for training, as well as for the race itself.

I follow a fairly strict paleo diet, which consists of:
Meat
Vegetables
Nuts
Seeds
some Fruit
little Starch
No Sugar

I look for low glycemic foods that are high in nutritional value. Although I don't eat grains, Paleo is not a "low carb" lifestyle. I get plenty of carbohydrates from vegetables and other sources. I also practice carb cycling in order to use insulin to my advantage whenever possible.

I will be posting paleo recipes on the site, as well as additional resources, so stay tuned and let me know if you have other questions you would like answered! ;)