While you may be clued up on the necessary exercises to meet your fitness goals, it’s not always so simple. Your diet is crucial when working out, and is essential in achieving optimum results. Proteins and carbohydrates are vital nutrients, whether you aim to lose weight or build muscle. Add these foods to your diet.
Fitness experts at Breaking Muscle have highlighted the best foods to eat to help you to see results quickly.
Greek yogurt
High in protein, Greek yogurt is an indispensable addition to your diet. With low fat, calories, and even sugar, it helps to promote weight loss while simultaneously building muscle. As well as this, it contains probiotics to improve your immune and digestive health to contribute to a healthy gut biome. Add a handful of almonds for an even bigger protein hit and a dose of healthy fats.
Brown rice
Containing fiber, complex carbohydrates, proteins, and antioxidants, brown rice is an excellent food to complement exercise – and with healthy fat, it supplies your body with long-term energy during workouts. Plus, the high fiber causes your body to feel fuller, thus reducing your intake of calories to help with weight loss. Pair with kidney or black beans for an increased protein intake to contribute to lower body fat and lean muscle gain.
Oatmeal
Oatmeal is great for boosting endurance and strength for your workouts. Not only does it provide complex carbohydrates and protein to aid your progress, but it is rich in fiber too. You can also add in extras for more flavor, like berries, which contain inflammation-fighting antioxidants that help your body to heal after exercise.
Sweet potatoes
Another great source of complex carbohydrates is sweet potatoes, which contribute to a full stomach due to being high in fiber and water, helping to reduce your calorie intake. They contain vitamin A, potassium, and riboflavin, to name a few, which all aid the muscle-building process. A flavorful pairing for sweet potatoes is red peppers filled with anti-inflammatory antioxidants to ease pain after a workout.
Eggs
Eggs are very high in protein and are fantastic for building muscle – and they can even help with weight loss, too, due to the high protein and healthy fat levels, which make you feel fuller. To help muscle gain and weight loss, poached or boiled are the healthiest way to consume eggs as they retain most of their nutrients and don’t require adding more calories from extras such as oil. Serve your eggs with whole-grain bread for a high protein and fiber intake.
A spokesperson from Breaking Muscle has commented: “It can often take time to become familiar with the right workouts for your fitness goals, and to add to that, it can be challenging finding where to start when it comes to the best foods to eat. Thankfully, plenty of foods are packed with important nutrients that fit different fitness goals, whether to increase muscle mass, lose weight, or both. Those into exercise must understand that meals and snacks don’t need to be complicated, and something as simple as oatmeal and bananas for breakfast won’t take a chunk of time out of a busy day.”
