At Inside Out we like to keep things simple with our iO Nutrition. When it comes to nutrition we believe simplicity is key. We believe in eating whole foods, limiting processed foods, sugars, dairy, grains, and seeking higher quality ingredients when possible.

Why Limit Processed Foods? 

We have found for the iO athletes we train and coach their bodies respond well to eating REAL food.  We can also personally vouch for feeling better when as a family we eat clean, minimally processed foods.  By making the choice of getting away from the packaged and processed foods we can eliminate a big barrier to achieving your health and fitness goals. The highly processed foods can be filled with sugars, chemicals and ingredients that really aren’t necessary to consume - especially when you’re looking to look and feel your best.  Let’s think about the example of “eat what your grandparents ate” or for some of you it may even be what your great-grandparents ate.  They lived in a time where food was more often locally sourced and did not have many if any preservatives or additional ingredients. The mainstream food industry has found ways to sneak in sugar, chemicals and preservatives that can irritate your joints and overall body function. By consuming less processed food you will simultaneously be eating foods that have higher nutrient levels too! 

Why Limit Sugars, Dairy and Grains?

In our world today, we hear of many people impacted by diabetes, low energy, obesity and joint or tendon pain.  What does our food have to do with any of these? Well, it has a lot to do with what we eat.  Our bodies are made up of and run on the foods we put into our body.  By removing inflammatory foods like dairy, gluten, sugar we can experience a life free of brain fog, joint pain, bloating, GI distress, diabetes, ‘hangry’ blood sugar episodes, just to name a few.

Nutrition Game Changer? Quality of Food.

Whether you’re a weekend warrior, boot camp boss, entrepreneur or a parent looking to be active with your family, we want to encourage you to take a look at what you’re putting in your body to gather valuable information.

• Learn how you feel
• Learn how you respond to particular food groups (quantity and quality of the food)
• Learn how the food you consume can impact your energy levels and exercise recovery  

What does better quality food look like? Simply put - it can look like buying food in its most whole, unprocessed form. Here are some examples:

• Ingredients label being short and not a long list of chemicals and unfamiliar words
• Buying foods at a local farmers market
• Seeking out protein sources that are sustainable, pasture raised and grass fed
• Seeking out foods that are organic

We understand that finding food that is high quality can be a challenge depending on where you live, your stage of life, or financial resources available.  This is why we like to think of our nutrition on a spectrum. By implementing a spectrum for nutrition we can choose the next best option available when it comes to quality of food.

Let’s take a look at these examples of what your nutrition can look like when living life through the filter of iO Nutrition.

More of These:

• Vegetables (organic, and local when possible)
• Fruits (organic, and local when possible)
• Meats/Fish (Sustainably sourced, grass fed, free range, local when possible)
• Eggs (pasture raised)
• Some nuts and seeds
• Foods you typically find on the outer edges of the grocery store

Less of These:

• Dairy (especially low quality dairy products)

• Packaged and highly processed foods (think about things you typically find in the middle of the grocery store)
• Foods that your body responds poorly to (bloating, gas, acne, brain fog, low energy, disrupted sleep) 

Nutrition and eating to fuel your body to work WITH you, not against you is possible. If you are interested in learning more about iO Nutrition protocol included in our iO Athlete Membership, fill out the contact form here for a free consult for next steps.