How to Eat Properly When Getting Fit

How to Eat Properly When Getting Fit
How to Eat Properly When Getting Fit

If you’re serious about getting fit, you should know that your diet plays just as important a part in getting positive results as your exercise routine does. Yet it can be hard to know exactly what to eat when it comes to getting fit; some food seems to be beneficial when it’s not, for example, and when you eat also plays a big part in how well you do and the positive outcome of all your hard work. With this in mind, here are some of the best ways to eat properly when getting fit to help you understand more and to ensure you don’t miss out on any essential nutrients.

Eat A Healthy Breakfast

Many people like to work out first thing in the morning, and that’s a great idea. It will help you become more energized for the day ahead, wake you up better than a cup of coffee would, and means your exercise is done for the day early on – if you have time for more later, that’s great, but if not it doesn’t matter because you’ve already done what you needed to do.

However, if you work out in the morning, it’s absolutely crucial that you have a healthy breakfast as well. The truth is, a healthy breakfast is going to be beneficial even if you’re not working out, but if you are, it has to be part of your routine.

You might worry about eating and then doing your routine, so you’ll need to eat at least an hour before you do your workout. This isn’t always convenient, but if you want to be fit and healthy, waking up earlier might be a sacrifice you’ll have to make. To make things a little easier, you can invest in one of the great Mirafit Home Gyms. In that way, you don’t have to take even more time out of your day to go to a gym as you can do it at home.

Some of the best food you can have for a healthy breakfast before working out include:

  • Fruit juice
  • Low-fat milk
  • Wholegrain bread and cereal
  • Fruit such as a banana
  • Yogurt

Get Enough Protein

Protein is an essential part of your diet if you are looking to get healthier and specifically if you want to build larger muscles. Protein releases essential amino acids into your body. These amino acids will repair the small tears in your muscles when you’re working out (which is perfectly normal), and when they do, the muscles will become stronger and larger. Therefore, protein has to be part of your diet plan.

Protein comes from many different sources, but many are animal-based, including poultry, lean meat, and dairy products. If you are on a vegetarian or vegan diet, getting enough protein can be more difficult, so you’ll need to investigate supplements and protein drinks to see if they would help you. It’s always wise to get an expert’s advice if this is something you’ll want to do, and perhaps speak to your doctor to ensure it’s something your health will benefit from.

Eat The Right Kind Of Carbohydrates

If you think of carbohydrates, it’s likely you’ll think of them in a negative light. People are often told to cut them from diets because they contain a lot of empty calories or sugar, for example. However, that’s only true of some carbs, and there are others – known as complex carbohydrates – that are actually good for you, especially if you want food that will complement your workout routine.

Complex carbohydrates can be found in food such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and beans. These carbohydrates are digested more slowly and will help you feel fuller for longer, reducing your need to snack between meals. Your blood sugar will also be more stable. Plus, these foods contain all the nutrients your body needs to function properly. With all of this happening, it’s clear that complex carbohydrates should be at least part of your diet, as you’ll get a lot more out of your exercise routine if they are.

Be Careful With Portion Sizes

It doesn’t matter if you have the healthiest diet you can possibly have if you have portion sizes that are too large or too small. Too much food means your body can’t use all the nutrients, and anything left over will turn into fat to be stored for a later time. Too little food and your body won’t get enough nutrients, to begin with, but it might also go into ‘starvation mode’, relying on its own fat stores – this reduces your energy levels, making everything (including working out) much harder.

Therefore, you need to find the ideal portion size that is just enough for you. This might take a little experimenting before you get it right, but there are some things you’ll need to look out for, as your body can tell you if you’re getting the portions right. For example, if you are eating too much, you’ll feel sluggish and uncomfortable. If you’re not eating enough, you’ll be hungry much sooner than you normally would.

If you think you’re eating too much, you can obviously serve up less food, but another option is to eat more slowly. The more mindful you are about what you’re eating, the easier it will be to tell when you’re actually full.

Don’t Cut Too Many Calories

If your focus is to lose weight, you might assume that you need to cut as many calories out of your diet as you can. There is some truth to this, but you need to be careful, and you might not need to cut as many calories as you think.

If you cut too many calories from your diet, you’ll feel fatigued all the time – you may not have the energy to do exercise, which defeats the object of eating more healthily anyway. If you’re trying to lose weight, you should eat around 1,500 to 1,800 calories a day if you’re a man and 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day if you’re a woman. Any less than that, and you might be damaging your health without realizing it.

SHARE
I'm NOT a doctor! I'm just passionate about health and healthy leaving. The information on this website, such as graphics, images, text and all other materials, is provided for reference and educational purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professional. The content is not intended to be complete or exhaustive or to apply to any specific individual's medical condition.