This article aims to provide some beginner tips and advice (not medical), about how to being findings the balance between fitness and diet. Diet, in the context of the article, is about eating in a healthy manner, rather than focusing on a specific fad diet.
Introduction on Fitness and Dieting
The majority of gym-goers are not able to balance fitness and diet. One always comes before the other, with most people prioritizing either diet or fitness first. Unfortunately, this means that they will never achieve their full potential in either one.
Challenge with Balancing Fitness and Diet
Fitness is a huge part of our lives, but most people have no idea how to fit it into their daily schedule properly. A lot of people say that they do not have enough time in the day to workout, which leads them towards hiring a personal trainer or joining a gym.
While this may seem like a good idea at first, it has its draw backs. For example, some personal trainers are expensive and most people simply do not have the money to hire one on a regular basis. On top of that, many of them offer extremely restricted times during which you can work out with them, which limits your daily schedule even more.
An even bigger problem with hiring a personal trainer is that they are often times not able to offer you the one-on-one help that you may need due to their busy schedules (and because of client demand). With all these problems, it is probably best for most people to simply try and fit fitness into their daily schedule on their own.
A big problem with people trying to diet is that they often have unhealthy relationships with food. Many people view food as just a form of pleasure and this makes it difficult for them to maintain a balanced diet. A lot of diets are simply not feasible in the long term, with even more being extremely dangerous when followed for an extended period of time.
Understanding the Role of Fitness and Diet
People often associate fitness with a healthy diet, but they are not the same thing. In order to lose fat, you need to have a caloric deficit. This means that you need to burn more calories than you consume. This means that the only way for someone to lose weight is if they eat less calories than their body needs.
Fitness and healthy eating are often times correlated, but there is no direct link between them. When it comes to weight loss and gain, calories are the most important factors. If someone works out for 5 hours a day but eats an unhealthy diet then they will most likely not see any results from their efforts. Fitness is also an extremely time-consuming activity, which means that it can easily be difficult to fit it into your daily schedule if you still wish to maintain a healthy diet.
People often struggle with maintaining a healthy diet because they do not understand what it means to be truly healthy. Many people believe that if they eat low-fat then they are eating 'healthy', but this is often the case in name only. Most processed food products that claim to be low-fat rarely contain any real nutritional value and will not fill you up in the long term.
People also tend to over complicate their diets, which is another reason why many people struggle with maintaining a healthy diet in the long term. There are too many questions and concerns that seem to go through people's minds about what they should and shouldn't eat on a daily basis. This often leads to many people failing at their diets because of the stress that they put on themselves.
Tips for Maintaining A Healthy Diet
When it comes to weight loss, the majority of people are very good at following simple rules (such as 'eat less, move more'). If you want to maintain a healthy diet then here is what you should do:
1. Keep your total calories below the number that your body needs, every day.
2. Do not eat anything that has a negative impact on your overall health (no trans fats, refined sugars, processed food).
3. Eat foods with a positive health impact (vegetables and fruits).
4. Get enough protein in the diet, but don't go overboard.
5. Do not try to create your own diet plan.
6. If you are struggling, then just follow the 'eat less, move more' rule for a while until you get back on track.
Tips for Starting Out With Fitness
A big obstacle that people face when it comes to fitness is time management. Most of us lead very busy lives, which makes it difficult to find the time to go and work out. Even if you attend a gym that is open 24/7, there is still a limited number of hours where someone would want to spend at the gym. The average person usually has around 3-4 hours per day that they can use for working out, but this usually does not include either commuting to/from the gym or time later in the day when people are tired.
People often struggle because they leave their workout for later in the day, but this is a big mistake. There are always exceptions where someone can make this work, but it is usually not sustainable. People who work 9-5 jobs generally have much more free time during the day than people who work nights or weekends.
If you are working out in the morning, then it is much easier to eat a healthy breakfast/snack before you work out. If you are working out after work then your routine becomes more complicated. There is no easy way around this because there is no reason why someone can't work out in the evening. The only issue that people run into is that they are tired in the evening, which means that they will usually not want to go to the gym.
If you are struggling because you do not have much time, then try using 15-minute workouts every few days a week for a few months. These exercises can be simple ones found on YouTube or Pinterest or invest in a treadmill and try a brisk walk ever few days for 15minutes.
This will give you a big boost in your weekly workout volume, which means that you will start seeing results faster. This is an especially good option for those who are struggling with time management but still want to maintain some sort of fitness routine.
After some time following this simple plan, you should be able to make some more complex changes to your diet and workout routines. This can be a good next step to take, but always make sure that you do not go too fast or else you will end up burning out and quitting.
Remember, there is no need to over-complicate things when it comes to diets and exercise routines. A simple plan with consistency is all that is needed for sustainable results.
