The Relationship Between Nutrition And Exercise

So you keep saying you want to tone, lose weight or build muscle; you beat yourself up at the gym for what seems to be endless hours, day after day and week after week, but you still never see the results you work so hard for. If this statement just summarized your lifestyle, maybe you should keep reading.

Fitness and training is not just about hitting the gym and putting your body through immense torture through lifting, cardio, high-intensity interval training, or any other form of exercise you’re into. Other equally important factors, that are more often than not overlooked, come into play. If you are a fitness junkie, you probably already know what this article is about to address even before reading further.

To cut to the chase, we will bet anything that what you eat, your daily water intake, and how much rest you get play a CRUCIAL role in supporting your health and fitness goals, but the last two we will leave for another day. For now, let’s focus on what you throw in your mouth every other day (note that no one will tell you no to eat at all, because dieting, or trying to, is probably the second-worst mistake you can make in the matter).

You’ve probably heard carbohydrates (the dreaded carbs), protein, vitamins, and unsaturated fats being mentioned a lot. Whether you’re trying to bulk up or cut down, you need to know how to eat all this in the appropriate portions. There is no one meal plan that ‘fits all’, because the ideal meal plan can change depending on individual factors such as goals, metabolism, and more. We're going to discuss what your meals should include in fair depth just to give a general guideline.

Carbohydrates

Though they have bad rapport, carbs play an important role in keeping your body functioning seamlessly and are your primary source of energy. It's best to avoid refined carbohydrates like white rice, white wheat bread, artificial sweeteners, and soda. You want to choose a diet with 45 to 65 percent of your total daily calories from complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal, brown rice, and whole wheat bread, among others.

Protein

You probably already know that the body uses protein to build and repair tissues such as muscle, internal organs, hair, skin, and nails. You should consume an adequate amount during any given day (as a general rule of thumb, shoot for 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, spread throughout the day). You can opt for lean animal protein from sources like chicken, fish, and skim milk for your daily protein intake, or plant protein from sources like beans which are also healthy protein choices and tend to be good options for vegans. We recommend getting the best of both worlds.

Healthy Fats

Fats like omega-3 should provide about 20 to 35 percent of your total daily calories and be mostly in the form of unsaturated fats from plant and fish sources. Go for healthy fat options like salmon, tuna, olive oil, nuts, and avocados. Ideally, you want to shoot for half a gram of healthy fats per pound your body weight for your daily intake.

Water

There's not much to say about this. Hydrate! Your body composition is about 80% water, which is lost through a number of biological processes, with sweating during a hard workout being one of them. It is recommended that your daily water intake be at least 2 liters to prevent dehydration and heat exhaustion, so keep sipping!