You are what you eat
Lets’ face it, there are sumptuous food varieties available all over, but the choice that you make will eventually affect and reflect in your overall health! Eating is a topic that is hugely misconceived about. People starve in the name of dieting, and thus give up soon. On the other hand if taken up correctly, eating right becomes an indispensable part of one’s life.
What is healthy eating?
Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, stabilising your mood, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible – all of which can be achieved by learning some nutrition basics and using them in a way that works for you. You can expand your range of healthy food choices to create and maintain a tasty, healthy diet.
What to eat
Eating right is a key factor in weight loss and weight gain. The requirement of each individual is different.
- For lean muscles – High proteins, low carbohydrates and low fats and a lot of fibrous food. This will increase your metabolism, which will aid in fat reduction and also h
help you remain active throughout the day. - For muscles and weight gain – High protein, high carbohydrates
- Before Workout – You require a lot of energy to work out so you must consume some good carbs. If you run out of the energy provided by your pre-workout diet, the body will start to feed on your muscles for energy leading to muscle loss
- After workout – Have a liquid diet and not a solid diet immediately after your workout. The body needs nutrition at that time, which can be easily digested through a liquid diet. Have your after-workout protein supplement in water and not in milk. Milk takes a long time to digest whereas water aids in digestion and supplies nutrition to the body faster.
In addition to this, have4-5 L of water per day to ensure that your body is hydrated, and this will also detoxify your body, keeping your blood pressure in control. This also helps avoiding cramps in muscles.
How to eat
For staying healthy and keeping metabolic rate at a good pace throughout the day, it is ideal that you:
- Break up your total food consumption into 5-6 small meals a day
- Think smaller portions. Use smaller plates, think about serving sizes in realistic terms, and start small. If you don’t feel satisfied at the end of a meal, try more leafy green vegetables or rounding off the meal with fresh fruit.
- Do not have a gap of more than 2 hours between each meal
- If this is not possible, have snacks such as fruits, nutritional diet biscuits or diet bars, etc. instead
How much to eat
If you are into strenuous workouts se
ssions to enhance, built or maintain your muscles then foe every Kg of your body weight, you need 2 gms of protein per day. So if your weight is 70 Kg then your daily protein requirement is 140 gms. This heavy amount of protein is consumed by their body because of their extreme training regime. However, this amount is not recommended for people who are not working out regularly.
The amount of protein needed for a person not involved in bodybuilding should be according to his/her diet, weight, age and health. As a rough guide, the recommended dietary intake for protein is:
- 75 gms/kg for adult women
- 84 g/kg for adult men
- 1 g/kg for pregnant and breastfeeding women
- 1 g/kg for people over 70 years
But I miss pizzas and kebabs
Well those tempting pizzas, those sizzling kebabs and spicy rich foodwill definitely lure you all. No one is advising you not to have them. If you are following a strict diet regime then have a weekly cheat day. Choose one day and eat whatever you feel like. This will satiate your taste buds, and curb the craving also. It is important to have everything in moderation.
How to build your healthy diet regime
The best way to make sure you have energy balance is to make better choices before you or your family sit down to eat. Make sure to:
- Choose foods that are lower in fat and have fewer calories
- Start slowand make changes to your. Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a salad your diet once a day or switching from butter to olive oil when cooking. As your small changes become habitual, you can continue to add more healthy choices to your diet.
- Try not to think of certain foods as “off-limits.”When you ban certain foods it is natural
to want those foods more, and then feel like a failure if you give in to temptation. If you are drawn towards sweet, salty, or unhealthy foods, start by reducing portion sizes and not eating them as often. Later you may find yourself craving them less or thinking of them as only occasional indulgences.
It is important to eat right and eat well, as the lack of food and nutrition may lead to a weakness and demotivate you towards exercising.
Bio
Gaurav Kumar is a fitness trainer, fashion photographer and an author. He has represented India at the World Bodybuilding & Physique Sports. He is the author of the book ‘Foray Into The World Of Fitness.’ Gaurav was a finalist at the Grasim Mr. India 2006. He is also the proprietor of Star Flare Entertainment, an event management firm.
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