For any person who wants to lose weight or build muscle, it is important to consider the hard work put in through calorie counting or weight training is worthwhile. There are supposedly magic supplements or potions, which promise fantastic results, but these often require an additional boost to help them work, like following a calorie-controlled diet. Calorie counting is not always possible, and it is very time consuming. A reduction in calories will often reduce the fat intake, but it is important to reduce the correct fats, especially saturated fats, contained in cheese, biscuits, crisps, for example, and consume more of the essential fatty acids, such as tuna, mackerel, peanuts, olive oil, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. They are wonderful at burning off the bad fats in the body. They lubricate the organs to keep us warm and protect the heart.
Many experts state the importance of consuming a healthy diet full of protein, carbohydrates, fibre, and fat, but in the right quantity, specifically the 80/20 rule. Following a healthy diet does not relate to a slimming kind of diet, but food consumed daily in the diet. You can see your current health by looking at yourself in the mirror. Does your skin glow? Are you slim or overweight? Do you suffer with skin ailments? Write down the problems you image you have, what you are happy with, and what you aim your long-term results to be.
Remember the saying, ‘You are what you eat’. This is very true. A healthy person is full of vibrancy and energy, whereas a person who carries extra weight is slow, their complexion may be mottled, and they may be unhappy inside. Whatever food is consumed, whether healthy or unhealthy, it will affect your emotions. Unhealthy sugars contained in cakes and biscuits give an instant rush of sugar to the body and make you feel fantastic for a short while, until insulin spikes and the body is back to square one, craving the hit again. A quick sugar rush can be very effective with some sports, such as cycling and running, because the body requires a surge of instant energy with the long training. Bananas, jelly babies, or gel drinks are forms of instant energy.
For most people, it may be tough to follow a wholesome diet 100% of the time, so stick to the 80/20 rule. Consume healthy foods 80% of the week, and keep those unhealthy naughty foods for the last 20%. This gives the body something to look forward to, especially if it is already sick of overdosing on fruits and vegetables. A healthy diet should contain sufficient amounts of proteins contained in meat, fish, and eggs, carbohydrates in bread, vegetables, rice, and pasta, water contained in fruits and vegetables, fibre in wholemeal products and skins of fruits and vegetables, and fats like olive oil, nuts, seeds, and oily fish.
Try to stick to the 80/20 rule in the diet, and it may help anyone on a weight loss programme. Including one cheat day a week where you allow your body to consume your favourite treats is a healthy strategy with any weight loss or muscle gain programme. The wrong foods eaten on a muscle-building programme can be total waste of time if consumed all the time, so stick to the 80/20 rule. For example, eating unhealthy burgers on a weight gain programme may not be sufficient enough to build muscle, so make your own burgers with fresh mince meat instead. Eating healthily 80% of the time can teach your body to crave healthy foods and, gradually over time, this should take place. There is always a healthy option so swap chocolate for yoghurt or fruit, crisps for vegetable crisps, and flapjacks for cereal bars full of healthy ingredients like nuts and seeds coated in honey.
