When it comes to working out, a lot of us might not always think about the eating aspect but as the old saying goes, “abs are made in the kitchen”. Without proper nutrition our bodies will not be able to repair itself properly after a workout. What this means is that no matter how hard you work out and how heavy you lift, your results will be less than shocking without the right nutrition. Of course what your fitness goals are will affect what type of nutrition you need so we have devised two different plans in this week's articles: one to lose weight and one to gain muscle and definition to help with the two most common fitness goals.
Lose Weight by Decreasing Calories
To lose weight, the concept is actually simple. You need to use more calories than you consume. You cannot spot train your body, you simply need to lose weight as a whole. Meaning, if you hate your stomach the solution is not doing a bunch of crunches, but doing a combination of strength exercises to tone the area and cardio to lose weight as a whole. The trick with losing weight is to not destroy the metabolism in the process. Many people, when they hear this idea of spending more calories than you consume to lose weight, become tempted to do extreme dieting to get results fast. This is not a good idea for many reasons. For one, it is very hard to incredibly decrease your calories and it often ends with you stuffing your face at the fridge at the end of the day. Second, it is not good for mood or productivity. With too few calories you will become moody and temperamental and will also start making mistakes in your work. The spiral of making mistakes and being moody will increase your stress levels which in turn make you vulnerable to stress eating. Even if you happen to avoid the stress eating, the increase in cortisol will make your body hold onto body fat longer. So please, decrease your calories but not to an extreme measure, maybe by 300 calories or so a day, but never drop below 1300 calories in a day.
Fat in Food Doesn't Equal Fat in Body
Another misunderstanding with eating and losing weight is with fat. Just because an item has high fat does not mean it will make you fat. Consumed fat does not get stored in the body as fat, it is digested just like any other food item. What is true however, is that foods that are high in fat are also high in calories. Fat has more calories than say sugars. So when you consume foods with high fat they do have more calories. Which if you are consuming more calories than you are expelling in the day, you will gain weight. The same goes with consuming cholesterol rich foods. Eating cholesterol rich foods alone will not cause your cholesterol levels to rise. Having a genetic predisposition to holding cholesterol and eating cholesterol rich foods combined with no exercise can cause an increase in cholesterol. I feel it is important for us to realize these small differences because the semantics are so confusing.
Sample Pre and Post Workout Meal Plan for Weight Loss
So now that we have some basics down, we are ready to start with our pre and post workout meals. Note: I personally love fasted cardio first thing in the morning. It is great at getting at our deep rooted fat that never wants to budge. We all have our problem areas and while there is no such thing as spot training, we can get to those areas with fasted cardio. The theory behind fasted cardio is that in order for our bodies to consume stored fat for energy it first has to burn through what you have recently eaten for energy. So if you eat a 200 calorie snack before your workout, your body has to burn through those 200 calories first before it can get to stored fat, by doing your cardio first thing in the morning and without any food, you are cutting out the middleman for calorie burning. Of course the run with fasted cardio is much more challenging than regular cardio. Energy levels can be low which leads to a not so great workout. To combat these issues, our pre workout snack will be a low calorie energy booster.
Pre Workout Snack
My favorite pre workout snack is honestly a glass of water and a scoop of Isopure or another low calorie, high protein protein powder. If energy is feeling low, a little black tea or black coffee are also a great quick boost. If you are not interested in fasted cardio then half a banana or light snack like tuna and crackers are also great solutions. You do not want anything too heavy, especially on hot summer day cardio.
Post Workout Snack
This is the danger zone! Often when we come back from our workout we think we “deserve” a treat. Many times people will end up over consuming calories if they eat right after a workout, sometimes even consuming more than they just burned off! Overeating comes from a combination of perceived effort as well as dehydration from the workout. In order to counteract this we highly suggest drinking several glasses of water after your workout. Let yourself cool off completely, take a shower, relax. When it is time to eat, choose a meal with low carbs. We in no way condone carb free living but for this meal no grains. Stick to a lean protein source such as white meat, fish, or beans with fresh or cooked vegetables. You will be craving a little sugar so my favorite snack while preparing the food is sliced apples. Keep the skins on for fiber boost! Note that your post workout snack can also be a meal with increased portion size, it just depends on your eating habits. Keep it light if you are a grazer or 6 mini meals a day, and heavier if you eat a more traditional 3 meals a day.
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