Eating healthy is one of the goals that most people set for themselves at some stage in their life. This proposal mainly arises with the need to lose weight and the first option that is proposed is to make a fast diet that allows us to achieve it as quickly as possible. In this way we arrive at the error of thinking that this is eating healthy.
Learn the importance of food to help us achieve our goals and know the basic principles that should govern a diet proper to a fitness lifestyle.
Why is food important if we go to the gym?
Most people who go to a weight room focus their efforts on doing very intense and exhausting workouts. They put all their strength into training well, but once they get out of the gym they forget about their goals. This is a very serious mistake since to achieve the goals that we propose we must accompany these workouts with a good diet, since without it, the efforts at the time of training will be useless. In fact, eating is about 70 percent of the fitness process.
This does not mean that you go crazy looking for one of those diets that are advertised on the Internet or in any magazine aimed at bodybuilders, quite the opposite. The best advice is to learn to eat healthily , without focusing on a specific diet that governs your meals for a whole week. To do this, you must begin to understand your body and become aware that we are not machines that always work in the same way or with the same energy requirements.
How much food should I eat if I do sports?
Nutrition for humans is an inexact science, that is, we cannot plan perfectly or millimetrically what we should eat, since our body needs a specific diet at all times. For example, you cannot eat the same thing on a day that you have only left the house to go shopping, than on a day that you have done strength training and also, you have gone out for a ride with the bicycle. If these two days we eat identically we would be making a serious mistake, since we have not been spending the same number of calories.
It is time to forget about weight or take food by “eye”. To do this, you must learn to measure the portions with the help of the palm of your hand . If you are one of the people who have big hands, you are in luck. With the help of this we will learn to measure the amounts of protein, fat and carbohydrates.
How do I distribute the macronutrients if I go to the gym?
- Proteins : Take two servings like the palm of your hand.
- Carbohydrates : measure two servings with the palm of your hand cupped for grains like rice or pasta, and two servings the size of your fist for vegetables.
- Fat : the measurement for these nutrients is two servings about the size of your thumb.
Do not be obsessed with taking exact measurements, as I mentioned above, food needs fluctuate throughout the days. If you are a woman, take half the measurement we have mentioned.
From what food sources should I get the macronutrients?
Here are some examples of the different macronutrients in a classified way. We name the most common and the ones that I usually include in my diet. By this I do not mean that you cannot add others from the same group, it is more, they should be alternated and taken as varied as possible, since the properties that some have, do not have others.
- Proteins : beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, legumes, etc.
- Carbohydrates : oats, sweet potatoes, potatoes, whole grain breads and pasta, rice, etc.
- Fats : all types of nuts and seeds, avocados, olive, flax or fish oils, etc.
How to plan your meals if you do sports?
Get used to having three strong meals plus two light ones. Try to find the 3 types of macronutrients in all of them and eat every day at the same time.
Conclution
- These tips are a starting point to get you to acquire adequate eating habits for sports , being totally open to increasing the amounts or decreasing them if it is considered appropriate.
- If you maintain these healthy eating habits throughout the week, take a break at the end of it and make the well-known cheat meal . This meal is about eating whatever you’ve been depriving yourself of throughout the week. For example, if your passion is sweets or ice cream, allow yourself to eat some at the end of the week. This will keep you motivated and put your anxiety aside.
- Use supplementation whenever necessary, being aware that a supplement should never replace a meal.
- Avoid alcohol consumption, as it provides us with many calories, of which our body cannot take advantage of, hence the so-called empty calories .
Reference
- Borland, Brad. The quick and dirty guide to eating clean. For Breakingmuscle. ⌊Revised August 2016⌋.
