If you’re one of the many people with a weight loss goal beginning from the new year, these tips and tricks will help you get your nutrition on track. The hardest part about weight loss is knowing what works and what doesn’t - there is a lot of clashing information out there, so we have come up with 10 tips to help you on your way. 1. PROTEIN INTAKE If you’ve been training hard, you’ve got to take in more protein. A diet that is higher in protein should be a given for anyone who exercises, but you’d be surprised how many people forget this essential element of their diet. You need around 1.5 grams of lean protein per kilogram of body weight per day - if you’re not hitting this, you should consider adding OxyWhey Lean Whey Protein to your breakfast, or IsoPept Zero immediately post-workout. 2. SUPPLEMENT WITH OMEGA-3 FATS Omega-3 fats, such as those from fish oils, help you recover from exercise, can increase muscle tone and improve your mood. It not only increases signals in the muscle to increase lean muscle recovery and decrease muscle breakdown caused by strenuous exercise, but it also helps nerve cell growth and improves your aerobic capacity. It also improves your eye health, reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, improves your metabolism and helps to fight inflammation which assists to keep your joints healthy. 3. SUPPLEMENT WITH CREATINE MONOHYDRATE Most people will shy away from creatine because they think it’s going to make them get big - it’s actually quite the opposite. Creatine increases your strength, power and improves your endurance so you can work out harder for longer. You won’t ‘feel’ creatine working like you would a pre-workout, but you’ll know when you’re not taking it. 4. EAT MORE OF THE GOOD STUFF, DON’T EAT LESS! Cutting calories actually decreases your recovery capability and reduces the effectiveness of your workouts. Focusing on whole foods and reducing your consumption of packaged and processed foods improves nutritional intake, increasing the Caloric density of your diet and increases satiety to help prevent overeating. Consistent and healthy eating is the best way to achieve your goals - making small changes each week will add to big changes over time. Starving yourself is a recipe for disaster, so focus on eating better and less on “diet” foods! 5. BE REALISTIC Most people give up before reaching their weight loss goal because of a perceived lack of progress. Keep in mind that a healthy, realistic rate of weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week. Even so, most people will lose weight at a slower rate. A deficit of 3,500 Calories is required to reduce weight by 1 lb each week, BUT this isn’t an exact science so start slow and see what works for your body. If you can’t maintain the diet for longer than 6 weeks, it’s not right for you. 6. REST AND DIGEST - GET 8 HOURS OF SLEEP PER NIGHT While you’re sleeping, your body regulates your hormones, repairs muscle damage and increases recovery in almost every area. A lot of the amazing things your body does while you’re sleeping can’t be done while you’re awake, so focus on getting 8 hours of high-quality sleep per night. 7. EAT FAT TO LOSE FAT Every single cell in your body is made from fat, so don’t deprive your body of this much-needed nutrient! If you don’t have any fat in your diet, your body will hold onto those fat stores as much as it can. Consume around one gram of healthy fat (nothing deep-fried) per kilogram of body weight, split evenly between monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fats. The key here is healthy fats; things like avocado, coconut, seeds and fatty fish. 8. YOU CAN’T OUT-TRAIN A POOR DIET Even the most demanding hour-long workout is only likely to burn 500 calories. That means, to burn off that not-so-happy 1000 calorie burger and fries, you would need to exercise for two hours NON-STOP. And two hours of exercise only counterbalances that one meal – what about the rest of the food you eat during the day? It is very easy to consume a lot of calories but much harder to exercise them away. And yet, that’s exactly what so many people attempt to do. At best, trying to out-train a bad diet will slow weight gain but is unlikely to result in meaningful weight loss, let alone sustained weight loss. 9. EAT IMMEDIATELY AFTER A WORKOUT There is quite a bit of debate going on at the moment around the best time to eat after training. It’s really simple - eat after you train. Eat something nutritious containing protein and quality carbohydrates that make you feel good, NOT sleepy. If you weren’t prepared with food, or you simply don’t have time to eat afterward, take a scoop of IsoPept Zero or OxyWhey Lean Whey Protein with water to start the recovery process. 10. FOLLOW THE 90/10 RULE Eat clean and healthy 90% of the time, so you can treat yourself the other 10% of the time. This makes any diet or nutrition program much easier to stick to and gives you an outlet to enjoy the things that you love. Just remember, they are treats - enjoy them, but in moderation, there’s a difference between a handful of potato chips and an entire bag.
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