I am writing this blog just after the Christmas and new year’s period has finished, but these tips I am about to give you are not limited to the post-Christmas period. If you’re coming off a holiday period throughout the year or another social event that throws your nutrition off balance, you can use the tips to get back on track.
Why these tips? I know how nice it is not having to think about every single thing you eat for a day (or more), but I also know how nice it is to understand how to get back on track once those days are over. I know that not everyone is able to get themselves back on track. This is why I am writing this blog, to help you get back on track.
#1 Focus on your macronutrient intake
What are macronutrients and why should you focus on them? Macronutrients are nutrients your body needs in large quantities that are measured in grams. The macronutrients are protein, fat and carbohydrates (and alcohol). It is important to prioritize these nutrients because they make up the biggest part of our food and daily nutrition intake. For example, If you’re focused on salt intake, that is great and all but you’re covering a very small percent of your nutrition. If you focus on your protein intake for example, you’re covering about 20-25% of your nutrition, obviously a significant impact there.
#2 Eat whole foods !
Focusing on macronutrients will get you far, but it won’t do everything for you. There are plenty of protein, carbohydrate or fat sources that won’t get you to where you want to go. Let’s take cereal for example, a great carb source no doubt but it is also filled with sugar. Let’s take a sausage roll for example, I am sure there’s plenty of protein in there somewhere, but it’s mainly filled with processed fats, carbohydrates and other nutrients your body doesn’t need. Now let’s take grass-fed beef, you get out of it what you want and need. It consists of protein and some fat, everything it’s advertised to be.
focusing on whole foods comes down to this, It is everything that your body needs and nothing that it doesn’t need or want.
A simple rule for whole foods, if it comes in a package with more than 5 ingredients on it, if it has ingredients that you can’t pronounce or if it has a long shelf life, it is not a whole food.
#3 Don’t starve yourself
You get back from 3 days full of Christmas foods and drinks and you want to get back to it, it’s easy to tell yourself to simply eat less but that is not how the body works. The ”damage” is done but your body is still going, by starving yourself you will simply end up being hungry without seeing any benefits. You can be in a slight deficit but starving yourself for days on end will stop your body from losing weight and fat.
Remember how important the macronutrients are? Obviously, we get these nutrients from our nutrition/food. If we don’t eat enough, we are not able to get the nutrients we need. In turn, this will lead to your body becoming weaker, it won’t be able to function as well etc..
Unless you’re fasting for a good reason, there’s no need for you to starve yourself after a little bit of time off.
Check out next week’s blog for part 2, How to get your fitness back on track after the holidays!
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