Hey everyone, happy Thursday. I hope everyone is ready to enjoy a nice long Columbus Day weekend. It’s great weather here in Boston and hopefully we will see a few Red Sox victories and a Patriots win on Sunday.
When people are looking to lose fat and get a lean, tight body; they often focus their efforts on hitting the gym and getting some great workouts. This is awesome and motivation to train is one of the key factors to success. One thing that usually does not get as much attention is the nutrition of fat loss.
Most people WANT (or say they want) to eat healthy but often times they just do not know what to do. Other times people lack will power and will just use every excuse in the book about why they can’t eat healthy. Let’s assume for the sake of this post that people are on a mission to lose fat and get fit. If you are not motivated and willing to MAKE CHANGES in your life; let’s face it, you won’t.
Whether you want to lose a lot of weight and change your overall composition by losing fat and gaining lean muscle, or you just have a little bit to lose and building some lean muscle to increase your metabolism will shift your body composition quickly; your nutrition needs to be on point. If you bust your butt in the gym or hire a trainer to help you get fit, and you go home and eat crap or do not eat enough, you won’t see results.
Here are some quick nutrition tips that you need to implement TODAY if you want to get lean, drop excess body fat, feel energized and healthy, and just look great.
1. Eat 5-6 small meals and snacks per day
2. Eat breakfast (with at least 20g of protein)
3. Drink 80 ounces of water per day
4. Cut out sugars and starches (white bread, sugary cereals, snack mixes, crackers)
5. Eat 5-8 servings of fruits and veggies per day
6. Eat a small amount of protein with every meal and snack
7. Consume 8-12 ounces of chocolate milk after your workout (the perfect recovery drink)
8. Protein sources should come from lean meat, low fat dairy, and other natural sources such as beans and nuts
9. Eat every 3-4 hours to keep your metabolism elevated, regulate energy levels, and fuel working muscles
10. Do not deprive yourself of any essential nutrient (carbohydrate, protein, fat). This means no restriction diets. Just choose the right kind of nutrients (whole grains, healthy fats)
11. Think of food as fuel for your body, but make sure you enjoy eating. Healthy food can taste good too
12. Follow the 80-20 rule. Have a clean nutrition plan for 80% of the time and give yourself 20% leeway. In order to be successful you must allow yourself to live. No one can eat perfectly all the time, and allowing yourself a “cheat” meal will make all of the hard work worth it.
Get yourself in the right mindset for a successful healthy lifestyle plan. Focus on solid strength training, interval conditioning and proper nutrition. You will see huge gains in overall fitness, fat loss, and energy levels. Leave some comments below about how nutrition has helped your lifestyle!