Short answer? Of course it does!

Long answer? Lend me your ears for a spell and I'll explain.

Proper nutrition is the backbone of your health plan. No ifs, ands or buts about it. I don't care if you hit the gym 3 times a week, play hockey with your friends and still go for a lengthy bike ride with your family on the weekends. If you eat like crap, you're defeating the entire purpose of training at all.

Don't believe me? You think you're an exception to the rule? Okay smart guy, let me ask you a few questions.

At the weight pit in the gym, for just how many weeks have you been stuck at that bench press plateau?

When you suit up for that game of shinny with the guys from work, how often are you out of gas going into the second period no matter how many nights a week you play?

Does that bike ride with your family always leave you just a little more winded than you're comfortable with?

If you answered "No" to any of these questions, maybe you are a genetic mutation. More likely though, you're lying to me. You're lying to your friends. And most importantly, you're lying to yourself.

I used to be like you guys. Really and truly. I used to pound iron, do my cardio, play some softball with my buddies and say "Yep, I'm doing fine. Let's grab some Burger King and a few road beers."

And like you guys, I saw few if any gains.

There is just no substitution for proper nutrition. No magic pill. No fad diet. No quick fix. The really bad news is that physical fitness activities only do about 10 per cent of the job when it comes to changing your body and improving your overall health.

Let that number sink in. That's right, on average proper nutrition makes up for almost 90 per cent of the gains and changes you will make to your body.

And I know it's not easy. Heck it's brutal to be going out with your friends and watching them scarf down their cheese and chili fries while you're sitting there with a chef's salad complete with a sugar free iced tea. What you have to remember is that making positive changes to your body and your health is an investment for your future. When you're 60 years old, do you want to be the guy in the wheelchair hooked up to an oxygen tank, or the grey haired gazelle who can still go for those bike rides with his grandkids on the weekends?

I know which one I want to be.

So be smart about it. If you're dying for a burger or really craving some pizza, I say do it up. Have a slice. Grab that whopper. Just don't make it a daily thing. Skip the fries. Have a diet soda. Make the smart changes that will benefit you in the long run. Just realize good food doesn't have to suck. Do your research. You're on the Internet right now reading this, so go to Google and look up recipes. Find the foods you like that are still good for you and get yourself over those plateaus and onto the better well-being highway.

Now if you'll excuse me, all this talk of food has made me hungry. Time for a grilled steak with some steamed veggies covered in medium salsa. Mmmm.

Learn more about this author, Adam Knight.
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