Most people who exercise and workout regularly know–diet and what you put into your body is just as important, if not more important, than exercises you perform during strength/calisthenic workouts!
If you really want to get into great shape and be in top health, you need to eat right most 100% of the time. Folks, for the most part, already know the importance of healthy eating and dietary habits, and I’m certainly not coaxing you here in any way to hammer that point home. What I am here to do, is testify to this often overlooked fact: just a few minor diet changes can propel your efforts further than you think! (It’s a long, long way for your $2 dollar’s effort, for real).
Let’s draw an example-a lot of people eat dinner sometime between 5-7 PM and they usually consume a rather big meal (proportionate.) There’s just a couple issues with scarfing down your “biggest” meal at night.
1. When you go to bed, your metabolism slows down–so if you really over do it at dinner, some of that food is prone to get stored as fat, especially since you won’t have the chance to burn it up quickly enough.
2. Somewhat opposite of a dinner table problem for people, myself included, is they don’t over-do it at dinner, opting for lighter fare, then rebounding a couple hours later while eating a “snack” that usually turns out to be not the healthiest choice of possible snacks, healthy person, you! What you want to do, is try and make sure your after hours snack is low in fat, or perhaps even fat-free, with a healthy calorie balance. Personally I have a nice little protein shake a couple hours after dinner (has only 1 gram of fat and 1 gram of sugar, totaling merely 120 calories.)
This keeps me from being hungry and feeds my body optimally, which is good fitness habit. The shake works since it isn’t filled with fat or many calories, and satisfies deep like a bowl of ice cream, sugary cereal, or greasy bag of chips would during a late-night hunger strike. Hey, we all need fuel to keep pumping a healthy body daily and you’re definitely gonna’ be hungrier when increased fitness takes shape in your life, but that doesn’t mean you don’t owe it to your healthy body and diet to keep it reasonable!
3. Another consideration is the type of snacks you’re eating, analyzed right down to each bite you take, every single day. Could you possibly replace those unhealthier choices with a protein bar or a delicious, fresh pieces of fruit? Try eating a piece of fruit between breakfast and lunch, paired with a handful of walnuts or almonds. These things are much better for you then the average snacker chooses at work or home to eat, and won’t ever poison that healthy body! Also keep in mind, nuts contain excellent sources of “good” fats for you and the ol’ diet, and those fresh fruits contain natural sugars which are also good, since your body can easily break these down (compared to complex sugar carbs) when summoned for energy!
Another diet improvement that can make a huge difference is eating every couple hours, but not big portions. Eating every 2-3 hours with only a few bigger meals, that aren’t too big, will keep your metabolism up and you will burn through your food easier. This is much better for you then eating say just three big meals a day that give you a calorie overload. You over eat then sit down and watch TV and go to bed in a few hours, not giving your metabolism a whole lot of time to burn off all those calories from dinner before you go to bed and it slows down for the night. When you eat more often in lighter portions your metabolism will stay buzzing all day and you will burn things off faster.
So recap.
-Eat every few hours in lighter portions to keep your metabolism up.
-Eliminate the late night snacks that are high in fat or sugar
-Choose fruit, nuts, veggies, anything that is natural and good for you instead of high sugar or high fat snacks.