Do you think that simply lifting those weights and completing your yoga sessions will earn you the body you desire? Think again. Whether your goal is about losing weight or building muscles, proper diet is important to achieve the best results.
Achieving a healthy body is said to be 70 percent diet and 30 percent exercise. According to Dr. Todd Astorino, an exercise scientist at the University of California, San Marcos, people who eat well can “look like an athlete” and be healthy even if they do not exercise. Furthermore, he also emphasized that poor diet will never be made up with any kind of exercise.
True enough, physical activity is only a leverage when you have a goal to fitness. Our previous blog has discussed some nutrition strategies for healthy muscle growth where you have learned what nutrients should be included in your daily intake to achieve the form you want. We are going to take you in a discussion about the importance of proper diet when exercising, as well as some of the disadvantages when you fail to eat right.
What Happens When You Forget About Proper Diet?
You may probably have experienced skipping meals during the day, or simply not taking lunch. More often than not, you may feel light-headed and dizzy. Similarly, the effects are far-reaching when you do not eat right as you hit the gym for your fitness program. Let’s take a look at some of them.
1. Bad Workout Gains
It may be due to pushing yourself to the gym or coming in right after work – the inability to take at least a short meal before working out has repercussions on your gains. If you have tried this and felt fatigued during the session, you have to change your ways. Most probably, not eating before the workout will let you suffer from low blood sugar levels and there will be fewer gains than when you engage yourself in a proper diet.
2. Increased Risk For Anemia
Failure to consume enough food before the workout will increase your risk of anemia and other nutrient deficiencies. Your pre-workout meal replenishes your body’s carbohydrates, protein, and fat content. This gives you strength throughout the session, and that is why skipping that meal leads to workout fatigue and weakness.
3. More Difficulty In Losing Weight
You may have noticed other people in that dance class being unable to transform their bodies from being fat to the right shape despite attending those classes for a long time. The problem might be in their diet. The habit of starving yourself before the workout will make it harder for you to lose weight. Moreover, it will also make you more prone to diseases such as heart attack and decline on bone density.
The Importance Of Diet
A balanced meal – you have heard this regimen from so many circumstances, from so many people. This may be a cliche but this is an absolute truth. It has been said that exercise should be partnered with a diet that has the right amounts of protein, carbohydrates, good fats, vitamins, and minerals.
1. Exercising Alone Is Not Enough
Many of you might think that exercising can compensate for the calories that came from the food you eat. Hence, they believe that it’s alright to eat so much as long as it’s paired with the right exercise. However, this is only half true. Food fuels your workout routine and without the right intake, you may not be able to gain the best results.
2. Take Advantage Of How Working Out Increases Your Appetite
Hormones responsible for your appetite are stimulated during a workout. You might have felt hungrier after every session and you may feel you are more inclined to grab tons of food in the days that come after. This is scientifically normal as two appetite-stimulating hormones – ghrelin and peptide YY – are affected during exercise.
3. Diet And Weight Loss Go Hand In Hand
But what if my goal is toward weight loss? If exercise increases my appetite, will this increase the chances of consuming more food? Let go of these notions and your mindset should be along the route of managing your diet. Studies have shown that people who are able to eat right experience short-term weight loss at least. According to the American Dietetic Association, overweight people may never to be able to produce the required daily energy deficit without managing and reducing the food they eat.
What Should Be On Your Diet Bucket List?
1. Real Food
You may be a fan of healthy meal plans, but you have to separate processed food from real ones. Pre-cooked meat and protein sources are usually high in calories but low in nutritional value. It is still better to hit the market for fresh ones.
2. Vegetables
These food sources are the ideal ones when talking about high nutrition value but still low in calories. Always make this a part of your diet bucket list.
3. Your Cheat Meal
Cheat meals as part of the diet bucket list? You heard that right. All work and no play is also not good, so whether that’s about occasionally opening those chocolate bars and saving room for some potato chips, this will balance out everything.
4. The Best Supplements
Last but definitely not the least, supplements are always part of this bucket list. The required and the ideal nutrient intake may need you to consume literally a basket of fruits every day. But since this is not always possible. It is during these moments that supplements could help. You can notice that bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts with the best figures are backed by these supplements.
Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise-eating-healthy#takeaway
http://www.lifehack.org/363322/6-reasons-why-diet-more-important-than-exercising-for-weight-loss
https://www.livestrong.com/article/548187-what-are-the-effects-of-not-eating-and-then-exercising/