You may have heard the phrase, “you can eat Nutella all day and lose weight, as long as you’re eating the right amount of calories.”
While there’s a glimmer of truth there, there’s so much more to what you eat and drink and how it affects your fitness results than just calories in vs. calories out.
Eating the right foods can make all the difference to your results. Whether you’re attempting to gain weight, lose weight, gain strength, or just improve your general fitness, eating a balanced diet rich in macro and micronutrients is an important part of any fitness plan.
In this article we cover why your diet matters, the simple equation for losing or gaining weight, what to eat before and after a workout, and more!
Macronutrients
Your diet is thought to account for up to 80% of your fitness results.
The food we eat provides the energy we need for daily function but it also provides nutrients that are essential for growth, repair and maintenance of the body.
The type and quantity of food we eat can affect how much energy we use and how much fat we store. Understanding macronutrients can help with that.
Protein
Protein is one of the three macronutrients and one that gets a lot of praise in the health and fitness world.
Protein helps build muscle and keeps you feeling full for longer periods of time than other nutrients. Consider choosing lean sources of protein, such as chicken breast and tuna, over fatty meats such as hamburger patties or bacon.
Protein is especially important to focus on because we are heavily focused on building lean muscle. In order to increase your muscle (and strength) it’s important to consume a sufficient amount of protein to grow your muscles.
Carbohydrates
Carbs get a bad rap, but in fact we need carbs to sustain energy levels. Your body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose. Glucose, or blood sugar, is the main source of energy for your body’s cells, tissues, and organs.
A good rule of thumb is to choose whole foods such as vegetables and fruits and whole grains, while keeping refined grains and sugars to a minimum.
Fat
Dietary fat also gives your body energy and also helps to absorb vitamins.
Fat has twice as many calories per gram as proteins or carbohydrates, making it easy to gain weight with an excess of fat in your diet – so it’s helpful to be aware of your fat consumption.
Consider choosing fat sources such as avocado, nuts, nut butters, and coconut oils.
Unless you already have specific macro goals to achieve each day, it might be best to focus on hitting just a protein goal, while staying within a caloric goal range… we’ll get into that later!
If you aren’t already seeing the results you’d like and want a better understanding of your own personal diet, we suggest observing how much of each macronutrient you are consuming on a regular basis. From there, you can alter your diet to better reach your goals.
Calories In vs. Calories Out
Although we don’t recommend solely focusing on calorie counting, the formula for losing or gaining weight is actually quite simple:
You burn calories by exercising and by simply being alive. You also burn more calories with additional activity. The more lean body mass (muscle tissue) and activity overall, the more calories burned.
By eating more calories than you burn, you gain weight.
By burning more calories than you eat, you lose weight.
If you want to lose weight, then reduce your calorie intake by increasing your activity levels (burning off more calories) or reducing both your calorie intake and increases in activity (burning off fewer calories).
In general, it takes 3,500 calories to make 1lb (0.45kg) of fat. If you reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories per day then you should lose about 1lb every week without making any changes to your exercise routine.
But there are many other factors that affect your body composition (how fat vs. how lean your body is). These include genes, hormones and the amount of physical activity you do — all of which can be influenced by what you eat and drink.
The type of food you eat also matters. A high-protein diet may help build muscle mass and preserve lean body mass during weight loss, while a high-carbohydrate diet may lead to more fat loss but less muscle gain.
In general, if you want to lose weight and keep it off, focus on eating whole foods in moderation rather than relying on packaged foods or fad diets that promise quick results with little effort required.
What to Eat Before and After a Workout
Fueling and refueling your body with the right nutrients after workouts will help maximize fitness gains.
What to Eat Before a Workout
If you have time before your workout, try eating foods that are high in carbohydrates or protein because they will give you energy for exercise.
Here are some pre-workout snacks to try:
- Banana
- Oats
- Greek Yogurt
- Smoothie
What to Eat After Your Workout
Fueling up after a workout can help your muscles recover faster so they can get stronger. It’s more important to hit your total daily protein intake than it is to have specific amounts of protein within a “window” of time after a workout. However, shooting to consume a high protein snack within about 30 minutes after exercise can be a helpful approach to getting in enough protein.
Carbohydrates such as fruits and vegetables are ideal post-workout snacks because they replenish glycogen stores that were depleted during exercise. Protein helps rebuild damaged muscle tissue as well as repair small tears – we suggest prioritizing protein after your sessions.
Here are some post-workout snacks to try:
- Whey protein shake
- Vegan protein shake
- Deli turkey wrap
- Chicken breast and vegetables
- Salmon and sweet potato
- Tuna salad and crackers
- Cottage cheese and fruits
If you’d like help building these new healthy habits schedule a Nutrition Intro session today!
Be AWARE of what you’re eating and drinking if you want to get the most out of your workouts and fitness program.
While no diet is the same for everyone, the right diet for you will have a tremendous influence on your fitness results. If you want to see results, eat the right foods for your goal, choose nutrient-dense choices and keep foods with extra saturated fats, sodium, and added sugars to a minimum.
For weight gain, eat more calories than you burn. For weight loss, eat fewer calories than you burn. Fueling and refueling with the right nutrients after workouts will help maximize fitness gains. Be aware of what you are eating and drinking and customize your diet as necessary depending on your goals.
What you eat and drink absolutely affects your results, but it can be an experiment to find what works best for you. Try some of the suggestions above and tweak your approach as needed.