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| Post Workout Nutrition is very important |
Nutritional Tips To Maximize Your Success
As
someone who’s very busy on a daily basis, going to work meetings, performing
presentations possibly meeting clients after work, and so on, it’s going to be
important that you are finding the time to look at your overall nutritional
strategies.
One
mistake that some people make is thinking that if they just do their workouts,
results will come. That’s all they need
to be concerning themselves with.
While
there is no question that performing the right workout on an ongoing basis is
going to yield excellent results as far as your progress goes, there’s also no
question that if you aren’t looking after your diet, you results will not be
nearly as good as they should be.
In fact, diet can account for up to 80% of the total results that you see, so this is not something that you want to be taking lightly.
Fortunately,
for many people, they can see vast results simply by improving their diet
slightly and making a few changes here and there.
Rather
than doing an entire diet overhaul and becoming overly strict with an intense
plan that you know very well you’ll never be able to stick with for more than a
couple days, it’s far smarter to get yourself on a moderate plan that’s easily
sustainable with your busy work schedule and something that you actually do
enjoy doing.
That
will be your ticket to success.
So
this said, let’s look at some of the fast nutritional tips that you should be
keeping in mind as you move along with your program. If you implement these,
you can be sure that you will see the results that you’re after.
Get Your Calorie Intake Set
The
very first thing that you’ll need to do if you want your diet to be successful
is to make sure that you are setting your calorie intake. How many calories you
take in on a day to day basis is going to influence the changes in your body
weight that occur, so it’s important that you are regulating this to some
degree.
While
there are a number of fancy calculators out there that you can use that will
give you approximations for how many calories you should be taking in daily,
there is also a very simple and straightforward method you can do that does
prove to be highly accurate.
This
is to use a multiplier factor based around your body weight.
So
for those who want to lose weight, you should be eating around 10-13 calories
per pound of body weight, assuming you work at an office job. If you happen to have an office job where you
are out and about quite often throughout the day, you may be able to take that
slightly higher up to 13 calories per pound of body weight as this will help to
account for the additional activity that you are doing on a regular basis.
If
you’re someone who wants to maintain their body weight, then the typical
maintenance recommendations for you, as we mentioned above, will be 14-15
calories per pound of body weight.
Typically
males should use the higher end of the spectrum while females should use the
lower end. Since males do contain more
lean muscle mass tissue than women do, this increases their metabolic rate
slightly higher.
Finally,
if you’re someone who wants to build muscle mass, then you’ll need to eat a few
more calories than you burn each day in order to support these mass gains, so
you’ll want to be using an intake that’s up around 16-18 calories per pound of
body weight.
Keep
in mind that the higher you take your calorie intake here, the faster you will
gain weight, however the higher the chances will be that you’ll gain fat along
with muscle, so just keep that into account.
You want to eat more calories, but don’t want to overdo it or you will
start noticing you’re getting more body fat on your frame.
Keep
things in check and you’ll be fine gaining straight lean muscle mass.
Focus On Protein And Vegetables
The
next important thing that you should be doing is placing your focus around
protein and vegetable based meals for the most part. This will be adjusted slightly depending on
your goals for your body weight (lose, maintain, gain), with the goals of
maintaining or gaining having you consuming some carbohydrates/dietary fats
with each meal as well.
But,
the basis of your diet should focus around lean protein sources such as
chicken, fish, lean beef, seafood, eggs and egg whites, low fat dairy products,
and whey protein powder. These are going
to provide your body with the raw materials it needs to generate more lean
muscle mass and help to calm your appetite and keep your blood glucose levels
under control.
If
you can get in some form of lean protein with each meal and snack, you’ll be
one step ahead of the game for maintaining an ideal body weight and body
composition level.
In
addition to your protein, you should also be eating plenty of vegetables as
these will supply the needed fiber in your diet that will help ensure that you
are keeping yourself feeling full and satisfied and also making sure that you
further control blood glucose levels at all times.
Vegetables
have so few calories in them as well that they are very easy additions to any
diet plan without having to worry about weight gain coming on because of
them. Eat them as much as possible and
in as high of volumes as possible.
Time Your Carbs Properly
Moving
on, when it comes to carbohydrates, you’ll want to be sure that you time them
properly.
There
are three types of carbohydrates in the diet: complex carbs, simple carbs, and
fibrous carbohydrates.
Fibrous
carbohydrates are the vegetable carbs we mentioned above and should be eaten in
bulk quantities throughout the day.
Complex
carbs, on the other hand, are those that are going to be more energy dense and
that are going to be digested more slowly in the body.
Examples
of these would include oatmeal, brown rice, millet, quinoa, barley, whole wheat
pasta, whole wheat breads, sweet potatoes, and yams. These should be primarily eaten around the
workout period as well as earlier on in the day when you need the fuel the
most.
For
those who are looking to control their body weight, you should avoid eating
these carbohydrates later on in the evening hours or before bed as you’ll have
a higher tendency to store excess body fat if you do and go over your calorie
intake.
Simple
carbs, on the other hand, are those that are going to break down quickly in the
body, causing a high surge of blood glucose to occur and insulin to flood your
system. These should be avoided as much
as possible in the diet regardless of what your goal is because they are simply
not ideal for sustaining good health or an ideal body weight.
Examples
of these include cakes, cookies, crackers, cereal bars, sugary snack foods,
soda, and fruit juice. Cut these out as much as possible.
The
one exception to the rule is real fruit, which can be eaten throughout the day
in moderation. While fruit does contain some simple carbs, it also contains
some dietary fiber along with a whole host of other nutrients such as
antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, so is an ideal food for your diet plan.
Choose Healthy Fats
When
it comes to healthy fats in your diet you don’t want to shun these entirely,
but rather, choose properly. Healthy
fats are going to be important for maintaining good hormonal balance in the body
as well as for making sure that you sustain long term energy levels.
Plus,
because they won’t influence blood glucose levels at all, they earn top marks
for keeping your hunger under control.
Healthy
fats are more calorie dense than both proteins as well as carbs (which each
contain four calories per gram while fats contain nine), so it’s imperative
that you are making sure to carefully regulate your serving sizes. Don’t overdo them or the calories will add up
quickly.
The
top sources of healthy fats to include in your diet are:
·
Nuts and natural nut butter
·
Seeds
·
Olive oil
·
Flaxseeds and flaxseed oil
·
Avocado
·
Fatty sources of fish
If
you can stick primarily to these sources, you’ll be doing your body well while
encouraging an ideal body composition. Also
keep in mind the fact that healthy fats should never be eaten around the
workout period as they can cause you to become sluggish due to the lengthy
digestion process they require.
Instead,
keep them to the other meals, most notably the later meals in the day when your
carbohydrate intake is being reduced.
Know Your Pre And Post Workout
Nutrition
Moving
along, next you need to be strongly considering your pre and post workout
nutrition. Since what you feed your body
before and after the workout session will have a direct influence on your
performance level, it’s a must that you are going to be eating correctly.
You
want to be focusing on getting in a lean source of protein at both of these
times as the protein is what will supply the amino acids that will kick-start
the repair and recovery process.
In
addition to that, you’ll also want to be sure to get in some complex
carbohydrates as well such as the ones listed above. This is the primary time when your body needs
the energy, so you definitely do not want to be cutting yourself short.
Each
snack should be around 200-300 calories for most people. The pre-workout snack
should come around 30-60 minutes before the workout and the post-workout snack
should come immediately after.
If
you want to use your meal before the workout as the ‘pre-workout’ snack, this
works as well and may be necessary if you’re on the calorie reduced diet plan
to experience fat loss.
Schedule Cheat Days In Wisely
One
question that’s always on the back of many people’s minds as they go about
their diet is where cheat meals fit into the picture. Can they have them and how often should they
be doing them?
Cheat
meals can definitely fit into the picture when planned properly and can help
you see greater levels of success.
The
important thing to keep in mind with the cheat meal is that it should come at a
frequency rate of around once every 1-2 weeks and should be kept in control.
A
500-1000 calorie cheat meal won’t upset progress all that much. A 4000 calorie cheat day will. Keep it in moderation and you’ll be fine.
The
nice thing about cheat meals is that they can serve to jump-start your
metabolic rate as your body will instantly be getting the sign that more food
has become available.
In
addition to that, cheat meals also work wonders on your mental point of view,
making sure that you are staying sane on the diet plan. Ongoing dieting can really wear you down and
a brief break from time to time can refresh and re-energize you to continue on
track to faster results.
Try New Recipes Regularly
Speaking
of falling off track due to struggling to stick to the diet plan, another way
to combat this is to make sure that you are trying new recipes regularly. It’s a must that you are making sure to liven
up your diet, in a healthful manner, so that you don’t suffer from dietary
boredom.
If
you’re constantly eating the same five foods over and over again, you know for
certain that boredom is going to set in.
Make
a commitment to try one recipe each week and you’ll have that much of an easier
time staying on track to see optimal success.
Always Track Your Progress
Finally,
last but not least, remember that the process of putting together a nutrition
plan and seeing success on it is an ongoing one. It’s going to be imperative
that you are always making sure to adjust and adapt the diet as needed so that
you can continue to go on and see the results that you’re after.
If
you’re never monitoring how you’re doing and making adjustments, you’re never
really going to know why you are or aren’t progressing as you are.
The
more customized you can make your diet, the better you’ll do.
If
you aren’t seeing the desired change in body weight (if that is the goal),
adjust your calorie level. If you aren’t
feeling as well as you think you should be, alter your meals slightly. Perhaps you need more dietary fat and fewer
carbs or vice versa.
Continually
trying to learn your body is what will make sure that you are going to see the
long term success you’re after.
If you keep these points in mind, you should
have no problem seeing the success you desire on your diet program.
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