Eat Like You Surf: Lean and Mean!

Still trying to beat the bulge leftover from the festive season, here's a little inspiration for you from Jim Kempton's "Surfing The Manual" on a healthy surf diet:

"Martin Potter, the 'super-kid' from Durban who started his surfing career by beating future three-time World Champ Tom Curren for the 1981 NSSA International Team Challenge and then just weeks later won the final against 1978 World Champ Shaun Tomson, was a gregarious partier in his early days on the tour. I could go out and have a big night, drink heaps of beer, and wake up the next morning without a hangover, he would recall. My body dealt with everything. There were contests I won after staying up all night. Not enough of them though - he was as inconsistent in his first five years as he was flamboyant. Potter had the talent in spades - but not the discipline to prevail in the clutch. Then in 1989 he got serious, started training in a non-surfing fitness routine that got him in the very best shape of his young life - and promptly won an unprecedented six contest victories on his way to the World Title. The moral of the story? You can survive a lot when your body is a 24 year-old temple, but given two equally talented opponents, a well-trained, highly-fit, health-conscious competitor will triumph every time.

Diet may be one of the most debated health topics being discussed today. There are dozens of diets purported to help you lose weight or stay fit - eat only meat, don't eat carbs, eat more protein, eat only at lunch - the list goes on and on. None of these diets will actually keep the weight off, make you fit, or sustain your nutritional needs long-term. In fact most diets are harmful, either because they remove needed nutrients of some kind, or set you up with bad eating habits themselves. Studies have shown time and time again that dieters on a long-term basis end up gaining more weight than those who don't diet. Don't let anyone kid you: the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you eat. And there are only 2 ways to do this: eat a little less and exercise a little more. No diet will work properly if you do not have the balanced nutritional components. You need fruits (almost all kinds are good and much better than fruit juice) and vegetables (the green leafy kind are best), for essential nutrients; protein for strength (best to get them from fish, chicken, soy bean products and limited lean meats); carbs for fuel (try to get your carbs from whole grains high in fibre); healthy limited fats (like salmon, nuts, peanut butter and avocado, and some dairy (skim milk, low fat cheese, a few eggs a week)."

As Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz says, "Set your sights right now on being a champion. Live high on the best health habits you can muster. Make greasy foods, salty snacks and sugary pops a seldom, not a frequent mischief. Follow the song in your heart that tells you that the sweet sea is the greatest high"