Okay, so now that we’re all “trying” to live a healthier life, I think it’s important to talk about healthy eating. Fitness is great, I myself have become so much more passionate about fitness than I ever was, but what goes inside your body is so much more important than what you do to your body in the gym. Here are some tips you can follow to make sure your diet matches your level of fitness.
1. Eat Colorful!
Yes, cake is good and so is ice cream, but colorful fruits and veggies have so much more nutritional value than the cake, ice cream, and even cookies. Plus, the more colors you have the more fun your food looks, and you can make your food to your liking. For example, you like ranch dressing? Awesome! You can make a salad with different color peppers, onions (if you like them), some avocado, and nuts (for protein). You can even add fruit like kiwi, strawberries, grapes, bananas and whatever else your heart desires and before you know it, you’re eating the rainbow.
2. Eat Protein!
Protein is so healthy for you especially if you lift weights and strength train, because as your body adapts to taking in more of those vitamins and minerals and less of junk, your muscles won’t disappear. Trust me, loosing weight or becoming healthier without working on your muscles (in the gym and with the food you eat) will leave you dissatisfied with your body’s shape. Afraid of bulking? Don’t be. Lifting weights doesn’t guarantee bulking and the only way this could happen is if you’re in a calorie surplus (meaning eating more calories than necessary to maintain your weight) and training specifically for muscle gains.
3. Desserts are Okay!
Guys, eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring, neither do you have to completely cut out sweets and desserts from your life. The problem comes in when overloading your body with sugary desserts doesn’t help you get optimum performance throughout the day and can severely slow you down. But, having a balanced diet of fruits, veggies, and occasional desserts allows you to eat healthy, reach goals (if you have them), and still have a little fun. Discipline is the name of the game!
4. Find Healthy Alternatives!
Usually we don’t know something is going on or is wrong with our bodies until the physical signs start to show. Finding healthier alternative to the foods we love is difficult because sometimes it just doesn’t taste the same. Trial and error works well for this because as you search for healthy alternatives and find something you like, you’ll never regret it! I personally found that I prefer dairy free options with my food (some reasons are obvious) but after going without it for a while and then introducing it back into my system, I could tell a HUGE difference in the way my body responded. Your body speak to you, but are you listening?
5. Enjoy the Journey!
This one is tricky because I love making positive changes to my diet and seeing my body change and grow, but sometimes I want to rush. Making healthy lifestyle changes can be hard and challenging, but if we all stick together we can be happier and healthier! This is a marathon, not a sprint, but if we all run the marathon together, we can help each other and stay on track!