5 Easy Nutrition Tips for Healthy Living and Getting in Shape
Nutrition is key. You can have the best workout plan in the world, but if your diet is not balanced and you keep eating junk food all day long you will not achieve your health and fitness goals. Just not going to happen.
Every serious mass building, weight loss, or general health goal starts in the kitchen. Period.
Dietary and nutrition advice seems to be quite contradictory sometimes. One issue that fosters this perception, even more, is the difference between nutrition intake for optimum sports performance versus aesthetics, or versus general health for better living.
The good news: There are also things that are generally applicable and everyone agrees on. This is the focus of this article.
The following 5 tips are useful no matter your specific goal.
Tip #1: Avoid Junk Food
It does not matter whether you want to build muscle, lose fat, or stay healthy in general. The first thing you need to consider is nutrient density within your diet. Eat nutrient-dense foods that contain a lot of fiber, minerals, and vitamins. These things are not just good for bodybuilding but are also good for your general health. Stay away from processed foods as much as possible. The refining process will destroy even healthy foods to a certain extent and make them more or less useless. Yes, you are correct. The majority of available food out there is probably processed. It requires a little effort to figure out how to avoid processed food consistently.
Tip #2: Perfect Your Proteins
Proteins are the most critical component in your fitness diet, especially for mass gains, but also for losing fat. I recommend building your diet around your protein intake. Try to consume around 1.5 to 2.0 grams of proteins per kilogram of body weight if you do resistance training on a regular basis or any other high-intensity activity that requires strength. Don’t be afraid to use a protein supplement to reach the necessary intake per day. Good protein sources are Chicken, Beef, Tuna, Salmon, Whole Eggs, Egg Whites, Cottage Cheese, etc.
Related: Beginner’s Guide to Resistance Training
Tip #3: Complex Carbohydrates
If you take the right amount of protein, you have to work on your fuel intake. Carbohydrates are mainly responsible for fast energy supply during the day. If you are sitting around all day long, try to limit your carb intake slightly, but make sure to consume enough carbohydrates around your training sessions. Good carbohydrate sources are Oats, Full-Corn Pasta, Full-Corn Bread, White & Brown Rice, (Sweet) Potatoes, etc.
Tip #4: Healthy Fats
Fats are the second major source of energy. Fats contain a lot more calories per gram and hence can provide the most energy out of all macronutrients, which is the reason why our body tends to store fat for the future as it will provide the most energy possible. The main sources of healthy fats are mainly vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fish. Adjust your diet based on that information. It is not very difficult to do so actually. Good healthy fat sources are Nuts (Almonds), Olive Oil, Fatty Fish (Salmon, Mackerel), etc.
Related: 10 Kick-Ass Tips to Defeat Your Excess Body Fat Within 4 Weeks
Tip #5: Do Not Forget Vitamins & Minerals
Simply try to add different types of vegetables to your diet. They are usually very high in fiber, have many vitamins and minerals, and almost no calories. Perfect for losing weight. Good sources are Broccoli (the king!), Spinach, Kale, and Bell Pepper. Fruits are awesome as well, but be a little careful with them if you are on a fat-loss program. Fruits contain a healthy amount of calories. If you want to gain size and stay healthy, go ahead! Good sources are Bananas, Pineapple, Oranges, Raspberries, Blueberries, etc.
Conclusion
A basic healthy lifestyle with a diet that does not kill you is easily achievable. There is also no reasons to go overboard with sticking to a chicken salad for the rest of our lives. As long as the diet is balanced, we eat around our maintenance level, the occasional tasty treat is perfectly fine. If you are into fitness make sure to eat carbohydrates around your training to fuel your workouts and eat proteins with every meal.
If you are not sure where to start, have a look at the following article, which is a step-by-step guide on how to gradually adjust your diet to reach your health and fitness goals.
Recommended: 10 Steps to Gradually Adjust Your Diet (coming next week)
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