Here are some basic but very important tips that will help you get the looks you want. These are very fundamental steps that will give you a solid foundation, to go hand in hand with an effective exercise programme.
1 - Prepare meals in advance
Preparing what you have to eat the day before is a great way to make sure you don’t go off track with your nutrition programme. Prepare the bulk of your meals the night before using plastic containers, and be ready to hit the ground running the very next day. You may be tempted by all the restaurants or fancy fast food places which may not be interested in providing the healthy food choices, but are more interested in providing foods that taste good and will only make your goal harder to reach. Don’t give in to what’s out there, bring your food with you and stay focused on what you are wanting to achieve.
2 - Eat small but often
Eating meals every 3 hours has been proven to speed up your metabolism, burning fat at a more effective rate. Peaking or spiking your metabolism in this way is much like stoking a fire, keeping the fat burning revving along and not giving the fire a chance to die out. Each time you eat, your metabolism kicks into play, and begins to burn away at any fat stores. So as you can see, keeping your metabolism active is essential for dropping off the pounds and acquiring that lean look. Eating more frequently say 5-6 times a day means you will need to eat smaller meals with 3 hours between each.
3 - Do not eat until you are full
If you eat too much in one sitting you will not be able to eat your next meal 3 hours later, so if you have eaten until you are full you have eaten too much. Eating too much may lead to some of that food being stored as fat and also you will not want to eat your next meal, so you will be back to square one.
4 - Eat lean to become lean
With each meal you should try and incorporate lean protein as the main component. Include things like egg whites, chicken breast (lean meats), fish, fat-free dairy products like cottage cheese, etc. These food sources provide the lean protein you need to help keep you metabolism spiked, build muscle, and keep you feeling fuller during meals.
5 - Eat natural foods
Eating natural foods rather than processed foods will be more beneficial to you. Natural foods provide the essential nutrients your body needs to make the changes you want, keeping your body in a healthy condition. So stay away from synthetic foods and go with the good old fashion foods and you can’t go wrong. You should eat things such as whole grain foods, fruits and vegetables, and lean meats, etc. For example, rather than drinking apple juice, why not eat an apple.
6 - Cut out those beverage calories
Many people look at drinks/beverages and assume because they are not a bulky food source they do not have an effect on their diet, well this is false. Some drinks are packed with calories and are an underlying problem that people tend to ignore. Most of the juices we drink are loaded with fruit sugars which are not good for you. Avoid soda based drinks like coke and Pepsi. There are 139 calories in a can of Coke (330ml). Now imagine how much exercise you would have to do to burn off those empty calories. Well let’s put it this way, walking briskly for about 20 minutes (13 minutes if you're walking uphill) burns about 100 calories. If people drink these high calorie drinks, and don’t do the equivalent exercise needed to burn the calories off, the end result is those calories will undoubtedly store as fat. Drink plenty of water or even green tea. Green tea has been shown to reduce the risk of certain cancers and also helps boost your metabolism.
7 - Indulge in one cheat meal per week
If you are following a strict nutrition programme the temptation to stray is so easy to do. Having cheat days during your programme is a good incentive for all the hard work you may have done to get this far, letting you indulge in some of the foods that may not be good for you as a treat. HRather than have a cheat day, it may be better to have one cheat meal per week. This means you are still rewarding the hard work you have done, but will not offset the progress you have made so far during the week. Taking a whole cheat day may lead to a higher intake of calories than you had previously burnt off during that week. So limiting it to one cheat meal per week should overcome this problem, but at the same time reward you for all your hard work.
Sticking to these seven fundamental tips should hopefully set you on your way to achieving your goals and make a change to how you look. Remember, getting in shape is not all about how much work you put in at the gym, it’s also about what you eat. So follow these steps, keep focused, and good luck!
Trev
Sprint Personal Training
1 - Prepare meals in advance
Preparing what you have to eat the day before is a great way to make sure you don’t go off track with your nutrition programme. Prepare the bulk of your meals the night before using plastic containers, and be ready to hit the ground running the very next day. You may be tempted by all the restaurants or fancy fast food places which may not be interested in providing the healthy food choices, but are more interested in providing foods that taste good and will only make your goal harder to reach. Don’t give in to what’s out there, bring your food with you and stay focused on what you are wanting to achieve.
2 - Eat small but often
Eating meals every 3 hours has been proven to speed up your metabolism, burning fat at a more effective rate. Peaking or spiking your metabolism in this way is much like stoking a fire, keeping the fat burning revving along and not giving the fire a chance to die out. Each time you eat, your metabolism kicks into play, and begins to burn away at any fat stores. So as you can see, keeping your metabolism active is essential for dropping off the pounds and acquiring that lean look. Eating more frequently say 5-6 times a day means you will need to eat smaller meals with 3 hours between each.
3 - Do not eat until you are full
If you eat too much in one sitting you will not be able to eat your next meal 3 hours later, so if you have eaten until you are full you have eaten too much. Eating too much may lead to some of that food being stored as fat and also you will not want to eat your next meal, so you will be back to square one.
4 - Eat lean to become lean
With each meal you should try and incorporate lean protein as the main component. Include things like egg whites, chicken breast (lean meats), fish, fat-free dairy products like cottage cheese, etc. These food sources provide the lean protein you need to help keep you metabolism spiked, build muscle, and keep you feeling fuller during meals.
5 - Eat natural foods
Eating natural foods rather than processed foods will be more beneficial to you. Natural foods provide the essential nutrients your body needs to make the changes you want, keeping your body in a healthy condition. So stay away from synthetic foods and go with the good old fashion foods and you can’t go wrong. You should eat things such as whole grain foods, fruits and vegetables, and lean meats, etc. For example, rather than drinking apple juice, why not eat an apple.
6 - Cut out those beverage calories
Many people look at drinks/beverages and assume because they are not a bulky food source they do not have an effect on their diet, well this is false. Some drinks are packed with calories and are an underlying problem that people tend to ignore. Most of the juices we drink are loaded with fruit sugars which are not good for you. Avoid soda based drinks like coke and Pepsi. There are 139 calories in a can of Coke (330ml). Now imagine how much exercise you would have to do to burn off those empty calories. Well let’s put it this way, walking briskly for about 20 minutes (13 minutes if you're walking uphill) burns about 100 calories. If people drink these high calorie drinks, and don’t do the equivalent exercise needed to burn the calories off, the end result is those calories will undoubtedly store as fat. Drink plenty of water or even green tea. Green tea has been shown to reduce the risk of certain cancers and also helps boost your metabolism.
7 - Indulge in one cheat meal per week
If you are following a strict nutrition programme the temptation to stray is so easy to do. Having cheat days during your programme is a good incentive for all the hard work you may have done to get this far, letting you indulge in some of the foods that may not be good for you as a treat. HRather than have a cheat day, it may be better to have one cheat meal per week. This means you are still rewarding the hard work you have done, but will not offset the progress you have made so far during the week. Taking a whole cheat day may lead to a higher intake of calories than you had previously burnt off during that week. So limiting it to one cheat meal per week should overcome this problem, but at the same time reward you for all your hard work.
Sticking to these seven fundamental tips should hopefully set you on your way to achieving your goals and make a change to how you look. Remember, getting in shape is not all about how much work you put in at the gym, it’s also about what you eat. So follow these steps, keep focused, and good luck!
Trev
Sprint Personal Training