When you want to become physically fit, it is important to remember that regular exercise is vital, but you must also change your daily dietary habits. While you might lose a little weight while exercising, if you aren’t eating properly, you aren’t going to hit your goals or create a sustainable lifestyle. Here are a few tips to help you combine your exercise and dietary needs.
Understand the Correct Portion Sizes
It can be tempting to just eat what sounds good until you are full, but that can easily lead to overeating. When preparing your meals, make sure you are eating the correct portion sizes, in both quantity and proportion. Remember, portion size and serving size are not the same thing. You can eat a full portion of something without eating a full serving size. Make sure you do your research to figure out what is best for you and your diet.
Choose Foods from All the Food Groups
Consuming a balanced diet is one of the best ways to get enough nutrients each day. You should be eating from all the food groups as often as you can to make sure that you get all the nutrients that you need. The majority of your meal should be made up of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and lean proteins. You can also consume dairy and oils, but these should be used in small amounts.
Use Supplements
If you are having a hard time losing weight even with your diet and exercise, you may want to look into using supplements to assist you. These won’t magically melt the pounds away, but they can help you control your appetite, reduce water retention, and help you increase your energy levels. However, you shouldn’t rely on supplements alone.
Understand Your Caloric Needs
If you are working in a strenuous job, then you will need a lot of calories to maintain your energy levels. However, when you are sitting in an office throughout the day, you must reduce your level of daily calories. By exercising, you can eat more food without gaining weight. When you want to lose weight, you should reduce your caloric intake each day while also increasing your physical activities. The average human needs between 2000 and 2500 calories a day to maintain their weight and between 1500 and 2000 calories to lose a pound a week.
Whatever your weight loss goals are, you need to look at more than just one area to achieve them. A healthy lifestyle is made up of proper nutrition, exercise, and taking care of yourself. Make sure you don’t neglect an area, or you won’t get the results you want.
Eileen O'Shanassy is a freelance writer and blogger based out of Flagstaff, AZ. She writes on a variety of topics and loves to research and write. She enjoys baking, biking, and kayaking. Check out her Twitter @eileenoshanassy.
