We have always heard that exercising is good and you know it, although taking the weekly habit of doing it costs you a little more. Perhaps you have already decided that the time has come to put on and to that you want to add the diet or a suitable diet. As you know, they are the two pillars that are related when it comes to getting serious about eating and exercise routines and their good combination will make you start noticing results right away.
No. You already know that it is not miraculous and that to follow a strict diet in accordance with the exercise you are doing, you should consult a dietician-nutritionist and, if he is specialized in sports nutrition, much better. However, there are some basic tips for your diet if you are going to start playing sports that we are going to tell you about in Women’s Daily. Take note!
Basic tips for your diet or nutrition if you are going to start doing sports
1 Balance and constancy
As we have told you before, exercise and diet are not something miraculous that you notice on the second day, but if you keep in mind the word perseverance, you will see results very soon. This means “slowly but surely”. We must be flexible, it does not matter if one day you choose to eat pizza with unhealthy ingredients or have a beer. However, try to eat healthy the rest of the days, avoiding industrial pastries, highly processed products rich in sugar or rich in salt, choose whole grains, nuts, legumes, introduce much more fruit and vegetables… this way you will ensure that your diet is of quality, healthier. If you make it your routine (constancy), nothing will happen if one day you don’t eat in a healthier way, because you will have achieved a balance.
2 Don’t skip meals
It is something that you have heard many times, but is it really necessary to eat 5 meals a day? The answer is no, because many other factors are involved. But it is important not to skip meals, thus reducing daily energy, you have to eat! First, because in this way our body maintains the rhythm of metabolism. Second, because we manage to satiate ourselves in such a way that, when lunch or dinner time comes, you don’t want to devour everything that comes your way.
3Be careful with light foods
Do not get swollen to eat light foods because many times they are not what they seem, some have ingredients that leave much to be desired nutritionally. The same happens with precooked and ultra-processed products, frozen or not, which will not help you much either. As we said before, sometimes you can “break the norm” but, in general, try to keep your food fresh and made by yourself.
4 Regarding the water…
Another thing you’ve heard is that you have to drink water . If you’re used to it, great! If not, don’t worry! Not only can you drink water, prepare flavored lemonade-type water (try not to add sugar), with peppermint, cucumber slices, and pieces of fruit… If you have any of these things nearby, it will remind you to drink every so often and, of course, , remember that when it comes to doing sports, hydration is essential!
As for fruit smoothies as a way of drinking water, it is not so recommended. The ideal is to consume whole fruit than in smoothies, since more than one piece is usually added and they are amounts of extra fruit. Another thing is to drink these shakes after exercise to recover.
5 Reinvent the recipes
Eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring, far from it! We are sure that there are thousands of recipes that are not typical and that you will love. Look for fun ideas, experiment with culinary techniques, such as stir fry, papillae, wok, steam … play with the spices and colors of the food . When you get the hang of it, you will end up loving every dish you make and the best thing is that it will be super healthy!
6 Good planning is vital
Dedicate some time a week (or a month, whichever suits you best), to plan your meals a bit. What do you need? Do you have or do you have to buy? This way you will avoid that, when you start cooking, you realize that you do not have the necessary ingredients and you end up throwing anything fast.
7 The body is wise, listen to it!
Learn to listen to what your body asks of you and eat when you are physiologically and emotionally hungry. With this we mean that, sometimes, without realizing it, we have “whims” of certain foods or because the body needs energy, or the craving and the urge to consume a food that can give you instant pleasure jumps out (these are usually very calorically dense foods with very powerful flavors), as happens with emotional hunger. Sometimes our body asks us for things without realizing it and learning to listen to it (and also to educate it) and differentiate the type of hunger is essential. If hunger is emotional, maybe you should detect the emotion that drives you to eat without real hunger
