In today's quick fix society everybody wants things done fast and people don't like wasting their limited time. This combined with the overwhelming amount of fast food restaurants is causing a massive dent in the general public's level of health.
People grab a fast bite to eat on the way home from work to save time purchasing and cooking a healthy alternative.
Luckily, we as health enthusiasts are more informed about the consequences of following such an unhealthy lifestyle. But, this does not mean we are totally immune to the urges of eating junk food.
Eating a good quality, high protein meals and resisting junk food when you are not 'dieting' can be incredibly hard.
With this in mind, here is a guide to eating right in order to get the most out of your fitness endeavors.
Eat for performance over pleasure
Taking your physique to the next level means eating for optimal performance, recovery and growth.
I always notice a huge difference to my training capabilities and ability to increase strength if I have been eating a good, clean diet.
After supplying my body with the fuel it needs to run at its optimum level I feel fully charged, focused and bursting with energy to make that workout really count. However, I have also felt the reverse, feeling lethargic and no strength as a result of following a poor diet.
This experience motivates me to stay on track with my diet plan as I hate not performing my best in the gym.
It is OK to have one cheat meal a week, the problems occur when this becomes a frequent habit.
Develop an effective eating plan
After you have established what your training and physique goals are, whether it is increase muscle size or lose body fat, it is then important to develop a nutritional plan that is going to make your goals a reality.
When you've determined your nutritional needs it's then important to create an effective eating plan based around your lifestyle.
Plan it out of paper with the various meal timings and what you intend to eat throughout the day.
Carry this plan around with you so you can constantly refer to it to keeping yourself on track.
Record Your diet daily
Every day record your diet and the timing of your meals. At the end of the day calculate you nutrient intake for the day. This will allow you to know if you are accomplishing you targeted meal plans or not. It can also be invaluable in analyzing your current progression.
Often, what people plan on eating daily and what they actually do consume can be completely different.
Even though this practice of calculating your daily intake can be time consuming it is well worth when you start progressing towards your goals.
Keep a daily diet checklist
Keeping a daily diet checklist is invaluable.
In this checklist, write down your nutritional requirements, such as: eating at least 300g of protein a day and drinking at least 1 gallon of water a day.
Devise a chart which allows you to tick a box related to one of these tasks above. Strive to get a complete day worth of ticks.
This daily reminder keeps me on track and motivated to eat consistently.
Seek out new
exciting meals
Eating healthy doesn't have to be boring.
Seek out tasty and healthy meals. You can be inventive. Use spices when you cook to give your food an added kick, use a wide variety of vegetables and create different salads.
With a bit of imagination, trial and error you can develop a whole range of great tasting meals which not only help you achieve you goals but also assists in preventing the temptation for junk food.
Never go longer than three hours without
a healthy meal
If you're not feeding your body regularly it will begin eating muscle for fuel.
This is the last thing that any one wants so always have food at hand.
I try to eat at least every two hours. This doesn't always have to be solid food, but could be a meal replacement or a protein drink with some fruit.
As long as you're giving your body fuel to work with you'll be fine. Also, by eating frequently you help prevent cravings for junk food.
Devise alternatives
to cheat meals
When it comes to your cheat meal, or even cheat day it can be very easy after a long week of healthy eating to go overboard and eat everything you desire and consume loads of useless calories.
A good alternative is to make your own pizza.
In the supermarkets you can buy the base, and then add fat free pasta sauce to it along with chicken, fat free ham and fat free cheese.
It can end up tasting pretty good with less than half the calories and fat than the fast food choice. You can experiment with your different preferences of cheat meals to create a better choice than the quick-fix fast food offering.
Keep your goals visible
Always have your goals in sight.
Put them on the fridge, on your desk at work or in your car. Just so that you are constantly reminded what you really want to achieve.
This will help keep yourself focused and help curtail any urges that might creep in to spoil your healthy eating day.
Get a strong support team
We all need a good strong support team who will help us through the mentally and physically tough times.
By including your family and friends with your journey they will soon become a part of it. They will be there to stop you when you feel like eating unplanned junk meals, and if they're really great they might even make some nutritious meals for you.
Become a mentor
Another great way to keep yourself on track is to become a mentor to someone else close to you who wants help improving his or her body.
Firstly, they will turn to you as they will view you as a trusted source of information and advice on how to achieve their goals.
Then furthermore you will become a role model to them. They see you being strict with your diet and training and achieving great results and they want to do the same.
In this situation, being a role model makes you more accountable for your actions as you want to set an example to them that through hard work and discipline they can attain their physique dreams.
It is always harder to let someone else down who is counting on you for guidance and motivation, than it is just to let yourself down. Furthermore, you'll feel great by actually making a difference in someone else's quality of life.
