No matter what your health and fitness goals are, your diet plays a big role. That doesn’t change when your workout schedule gets derailed. Keeping some helpful tips in mind will help you stay on track over the busy holiday season.
We know that our body needs proper nutrition to fuel us throughout our daily activities, and if your activities drop, it likely means you need to make small adjustments to your portion sizes while keeping focused on the quality of your food choices. Whatever your fitness goals are, focus on clean eating and staying hydrated to make sure your body is healthy and ready to jump back into action.
Goal: Weight loss
If your main focus has been on losing weight, then when you’re not exercising as much or at all, your diet will play an even bigger role in your success. Look for foods high in fibre to help keep you feeling full while focusing on proteins. Fad diets or cleanses are an easy trap to fall into because they promise fast results but won’t offer you much long-term success. It’s best to focus on how your body processes and uses food, not overeating and staying active even if you can’t make it to the gym.
Goal: Size/strength gain
When you’ve been working hard building up your strength, it might seem like you can actually feel your muscle mass shrinking when you’ve been out of the gym. To hang on to your gains, focus on including quality animal and plant protein in every meal. You should aim for about 3 to 5 ounces of protein (like poultry, eggs, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds) at each meal and then an additional 3 ounces in your snacks.
Since the body uses carbs as energy when you’re working out (but stores them as fat when you aren’t), you should be mindful of the amount of carbs you’re consuming. The amount you should have at each meal will depend on your fitness goals and your body’s individual needs.
Make sure you listen to your body and stick to clean, filling foods to keep you strong and healthy.