Nutrition plays a vital role in your Fitness Journey and it can be a controversial and sometimes confusing subject. The bottom line is in order for you to see any major changes to your health, performance and physique, you have to pay attention to what you eat. Having said that, it’s not just as simple as being mindful of what you’re consuming. There’s nuance and also what you eat and how much of what you eat will depend on your personal goals.
Understanding Energy Balance will help you tremendously on this Journey. Your body is always burning calories, even at rest. The amount of activity you do throughout the day will affect the amount of calories you need to consume and the food you eat will go to work fueling your body. If you’re eating adequately for the amount of activity you’re currently doing, you will stay the same weight. In order to lose weight, you have to consume less than your maintenance and in order to gain weight, you’ll need to eat slightly more than maintenance. If your goal is to build muscle, you’re going to need to be at maintenance or a slight surplus, but you’ll also need the building blocks to create that muscle. The star of that show will always be Protein.
There are many different approaches to nutrition and many different Diets, you’re more than welcome to chose what works for you. But again, the only way you will lose weight is a calorie deficit and the only way to gain weight is a calorie surplus. You can determine your maintenance calories easily by using an online total daily expenditure calculator. This will give you an estimate of what your daily calorie needs will be.
Make sure that your calorie budget is in line with your goals and be sure to fuel yourself properly. Having a basic idea of what Macronutrients you need will be essential. You’re going to need Fats to function your body properly, Carbohydrates to fuel your workouts and you’re going to need Protein to recover and build muscle. Overconsumption of calories can lead to weight gain in the form of body fat and underconsumption can cause you to lose weight too fast, cause more fatigue and hinder your muscle gain.
I personally follow the flexible diet approach or the 80/20 rule where you make up your diet of mostly whole ingredient, nutrient dense foods and balance it out with the occasional fun foods. This approach has helped me curb cravings and stop binge eating.
Remember to be patient and just like your exercise routine, ease into it and stay consistent. It can be a huge culture shock to go from not tracking your food to tracking and it can be hard to drop your favorite foods for healthy alternatives right away. Give yourself some time to adjust to this new lifestyle and the results will come. Now, let’s eat!
