If you subscribe to the belief that a combination of eating nutritiously and regular exercise effectively promotes a healthier you, you’re absolutely correct in sharing that belief. There are elements of both sides of the equation that work together to give you the best mind and body that you can get.
What you probably didn’t know, however, is that how and what you eat can significantly impact the results you get from exercise!
Use these tips for boosting your workout potential:
- Have a healthy breakfast. Breakfast has many benefits: it helps you maintain your energy, cope effectively with the challenges of your day, and boosts your brain power. If you’re a morning workout person, breakfast is even more important to having an effective workout.
- You can vary your breakfast intake as follows so you have the right amount of fuel to maintain high energy from beginning to end:
- Eat healthy breakfast options like juice, bananas, whole-grain cereal and low-fat milk one to two hours before your morning workout.
- Have a lighter breakfast or a carb-filled drink like a banana smoothie if you want to work out within an hour of waking up. You’ll get your blood sugar pumping enough to achieve an effective workout.
- Have a substantial late night snack or sports drink if you’re really not a fan of eating breakfast before your workout. That way, you’ll still have some unused calories when you wake up to fuel your exercise routine.
- Watch your portions. Portion control is an essential part of healthy eating to promote effective exercise. Sure, what you consume can either help or hurt your workout, but the portions you take in have an equal effect. Use the guide below to determine how to control your portions before exercise:
- If you need to eat within an hour before your workout, have small snacks. Eating too much before you exercise can result in sluggishness and lack of will to exercise.
- Have small meals two to three hours before exercising if you have that time at your disposal. With so much time before your workout, you definitely don’t want to eat too little because you’ll feel your energy slowly slipping away.
- Larger meals should be consumed at least three to four hours before you exercise. Doing that will allow you to fuel your body with the right amount of energy to work out without causing the sluggishness.
- Snack healthily and in a timely manner. What you snack on and when you have it are absolutely important. Great options for snacks include bananas, yogurt, whole-grain products, energy bars and granola bars.
- These snacks can be eaten at least one hour before your scheduled workout.
If you exercise regularly, you might as well get the absolute most from it that you can. By following these guidelines, you’ll find that your workout results are more significant than what you’ve been experiencing to date. Start planning your menus today for eating to boost your workouts! You’ll enjoy the difference.