9781422272138

Thanks to her nutrition, Athlete Awill havemore energy at practice. As a result, she’ll be able to go farther and faster. She’ll recover better after practices and games, and showup the next day energized, ready to train. Her reaction time improves. She gets more out of drills and skills. Athlete A gets 1 percent better every day. Athlete B, on the other hand, runs out of energy 30minutes into practice. She has motivation to go farther and faster, but her body is out of fuel. Still, she drains every last piece of energy, becoming exhausted after one tough practice. The next day, her muscles are tired frombeing overworked. She is one step behind, and her skills start to suffer. Athlete B gets 1 percent worse every day. Who’s going towin the state championship? Even if you don’t have an athletic goal, the same applies to general health andwellness. Those who invest in their bodies will continue to grow and flourish. Those who drain their bodies will feel sluggish, tired, and rundown. THE BLUE ZONES—THEWORLD’S HEALTHIEST POPULATIONS During a National Geographic expedition, scientists investigated certain places around the world where people consistently have longer, healthier, and happier lives. In fact, people in these places are living to age one hundred at 10 times the normal rate. They dubbed these areas the “Blue Zones,” and they can be found in California, Costa Rica, Japan, Italy, and Greece. But what makes these populations so different? Well, as it turned out, it appears to be due to their way of life. In addition to having a strong purpose, sense of community, and less stress, these uber-healthy people ate well and exercised regularly—

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Connecting Fitness and Nutrition