Do you indulge in French fries, burgers, a large coke and an ice cream sundae after two hours at the gym?
Four cups of black coffee, a hectic workout session, and a salad for dinner five days a week, a bag of chips, coffee and cookies and a pasta dinner on the weekends. Really?
Where is the balance?
CANCEL these awful habits today.
Many people assume that if you want to lose weight you need to exercise. While this is definitely a contributing factor, your food choices are the primary factor. In other words, you can’t outrun the effects of a poor diet simply by exercising more. Regular physical activity and good dietary habits go hand in hand when it comes to your long-term health and longevity.
NOTE TO SELF: its 80% diet and 20% exercise to stay healthy and fit.
While, food can work as fuel, and contains building blocks and nutrients for a healthy body, unhealthy eating can increase your risk of several diseases and early death.
Fitness on the other hand shouldn’t be forgotten as it keeps your muscles and bones strong, keeps a healthy heart pumping and balances your moods and hormones.
NOTE TO SELF: You can’t outrun the effect of a poor diet by simply exercising more.
Here are some reasons why you can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet —
You won’t burn enough calories —
Have you ever eaten a big bowl of chips(1000 calories) and made yourself feel better by saying you’ll go to the gym to work it off? We’ve all been there. Realistically though, you’re only likely to burn 600 to 700 calories after an intense workout.
The truth is, it’s easy to consume a large number of calories very quickly but much harder to shed, Choosing whole, minimally-processed foods like whole grains, vegetables and lean protein increases your satiety, and are low in calories, will take the pressure off your exercise routine. Unfortunately, life isn’t all peachy and it is harder to burn calories than it is to load up on them.
Exercise increases your appetite —
When we exercise, our brain triggers a signal to tell our bodies, “eat more, you need to recover.”
But don’t let your body fool you into eating anything, you could end up consuming more calories than necessary and gain weight. Get the low down on nutrition so you’re aware of what you should be fueling up on.
You won’t be able to tone your target areas —
Having a hard time getting that bubble butt or washboard abs?
Maybe it’s because of your diet. When you consume excess calories you can’t burn them all off solely from your workouts. All the unburnt calories head straight for your trouble zones. So even if you’ve gained muscle in these areas, it will be covered by a layer of fat. Keeping your diet in check will help you stay toned.
Your diet impacts your performance —
You’ll never be able to perform at your best on the wrong diet. Unhealthy food choices be it eating too much fat, too many calories or not enough of either will most likely make you feel lethargic and less driven to exercise. If you aren’t eating enough you won’t have the energy to exercise and if you eat too much or eat all the wrong foods you won’t have the energy or motivation to exercise too. A very restrictive eating plan or an eat everything in sight diet paired with hardcore exercise is equally detrimental. You need to eat the right, energy building foods to have a good workout with long lasting and sustainable results. Diet and exercise are a feedback loop- when you eat well, you are motivated to move and when you move, you are motivated to eat well.
You could get sick or hurt —
High carb and high fat diets or low carb and low fat diets can be mentally draining and even impact your health negatively, making you more susceptible to injury and illnesses. It’s imperative to make sure you are eating the proper foods and balanced meals to keep your health up.
A rule of thumb
| Early morning exercise | Midday exercise | Evening exercise |
| Have something small before working out like a banana, rice cake or a smoothie. Make sure you end your workout with a scrumptious and nutritious breakfast. | If you’re training between your main meals, make sure you have a low calorie snack before you exercise and refuel after with a larger meal. | The same applies for an evening workout. After your workout, make sure you refuel. If you’ve already had dinner, a carb and protein-rich snack will optimize your muscle recovery. |
Building sustainable habits —
- Exercise is a healthy component of any plan to lose weight, but it does not change bad eating habits that allowed the weight to pile up in the first place.
- Fitness keeps your muscles and bones strong, keeps a healthy heart pumping and balances your moods and hormones.
- Where exercise is concerned, most health experts are advocates of finding an exercise you actually enjoy so you are most likely to be consistent. If you try to force yourself to do something you do not enjoy, you won’t be able to sustain it. Once you’ve found a type of exercise you enjoy, find ways to build it into your routine and above all else, start small and gradually build up. Most importantly, always listen to your body.
- Food is not only the fuel your body needs to produce energy, it also contains all the building blocks and nutrients for a healthy body. Foods of vibrant colours (think fresh fruits and veggies, beans, legumes, fish, meat, eggs, nuts) are full of antioxidants. Ensure that you eat enough quality protein and fat.
Parting note — Begin adding nutritious and beneficial foods into your diet today!
